2 Deja Blue (26 page)

I felt the boat slowing down and realized we must have reached our destination. I squinted in the darkness to see where we were. Again, it looked as
if we were in the middle of no
where. Dark, black waters disappeared against the
star-sprinkled
sky for as far as I
could see.
The land wasn’t visible
,
and I
had no idea if we were closer to Canada, Michigan or Wisconsin. The boat came to a halt
,
and once again, there was a floating wooden platform. Our little motley crew exited the boat and watched as the Queen went through her torch lighting ceremony again.
When the water was
eerily lit from above again,
I
got
my
first
view
through the watery window to the torture that was waiting for me below.
The usually dark, foggy water was now lit up brightly and we had a crystal clear view all the way to the bottom. 
My eyes got wide and my breath caught when I saw what was down there.

To the far left were some rock formations that
look
ed
like a series of tunnel
s
and caves. The rocks looked ominous,
dark and sharp. My brain was racing
,
and I flashbacked to those awful moments when I was trapped under the boulders and nearly drowned. I glanced up and gave the brazen-looking
Troll
,
Grobel
,
a dirty look. He caught my gaze and simply looked away.

Next to the rocks
and seemingly in the middle of our course,
was a huge bed of seaweed and gras
ses…it looked like a corn field
underwater,
except all of the corn was green, a
nd there wasn’t actually
any
corn.
To the far right was perhaps the coolest and eeriest thing I had ever seen…It was a giant sunken ship, broken in
to
two pieces.
Brennan leaned over and whispered in my ear,
“Graveyard of the Great Lakes…
Superior never gives up her dead. I
t’s Big Fitz,” he edged his chin forward, as if pointing
to
the huge broken freighter below us. I gulped. I knew what Big Fitz was. You couldn’t be from around here and not know. Big Fitz was th
e affectionate term for the 729-
foot ship, the
Edmund Fitzgerald
. Back in 1975, she sunk – split in half – about 17 miles from the entrance of White Fish Bay
. The freighter was leaving Superior,
Wisconsin headed for a steel mill near Detroit, Michigan when she was caught in
a
massive winter storm, with almost hurricane-force winds.
Waves on the Great Lake reached 35 feet high
,
and
the
ship sank in Canadian waters, at a depth of over 500 feet. I
had
grown up hearing tales about the
Fitzgerald
from my dad and just about every
teacher I’d ever had
in school
.
All 29 crewmembers died, and none of their bodies were ever recovered.
Living so close to so much water
, I had
learn
ed
early on through all my swim classes and boat safety courses that bacteria f
eeds on a sunken decaying body
,
which generates gas,
and causes
the body
to float to the surface…b
ut not here. The water in Lake Superior is so cold all year round th
at
bacteria
doesn’t grow. S
o
,
if you drown in Superior, you tend
to
sink and never re
surface.
It was a graveyard
,
alright.
More ships have been lost in the Whitefish Point area than any other part of Lake Superior. It was like our own personal Bermuda Triangle
.
Some people referred to it as
Shipwreck Coast…
Well, at least now I knew where we were. We were near the souther
n
shore
s, between Grand Marais, Michig
a
n
and Whitefish Point. Not that it mattered
, but,
having a better sense
of
where I was
made me feel a bit calmer
.
I felt like
I wasn’t just in the middle of nowhere anymore.
Nope, I was in the middle of the Graveyard of the Great Lakes…and I’d literally soon be swimming among the dead.
I
tried to
swall
ow the lump in my throat
. A creepy-c
rawly feeling started running
through my body, giving me
the
chills.
Boy, what my dad wouldn’t give to
see Big Fitz here, illuminated clearly, in the eerie silence of this warm summer night.
I stared in awe at the humongous broken ship that lay before me.
Her two halves
looked to be at least 100
-150
feet apart from each other. I imagined it was a lot like looking at the Titanic from above.

The King cleared his throat and spoke loudly to us,
“And now, the third and final C
hallenge…the Obstacle Course
. Our competitors will begin at the sunken ship to our right. You will enter through the bow
,
continue through onto the other half
,
and emerge from the stern. Then you
will
make your way through the maze of seaweed plants and
,
finally, through the rock formation arches and
cave
rns
to your left. Each entry point and exit point shall be lit with an illuminator
. (W
hen he said this, he opened his palm and an orb of glowing white light appeared
.
)
T
he first competitor back on this platform will be announced the
winner of this
Challenge
and the Champion
of the
Grá
mo
Chroí
Dúshlán
shall be so determined
.”

The
K
ing
threw the orb of light down into the water, and I watched it
move like
an underwater shooting star
. It was beautiful.
It settled at the bow of Big Fitz
,
and then the King flung out several more orbs of white light to the other entry and exit points of the obstacles on the course.

When he finished throwing the illuminated orbs, the King turned to look at all
of us standing on the platform
and
authoritatively spoke again
in his clear, booming voice, “Competitors, on my mark, you will begin. Please, for the last time, ready yourselves.” He looked at Freya, his face full of determination and hope, as if willing her to win this last
Challenge
.

I was worried. I knew the longest I had ever stayed under water was 21 minutes.
(Although, Anya insisted I could stay under much longer, I wasn’t so sure.)
Yeah,
I could swim with lightning fast speed now…so that would work to my advantage…but what if some of these obstacles took me longer to get through? If I needed to come up for air in between, I would surely lose. My only option was to swim as fast as I possibly could and hope for the best.
Freya and I stepped to the edge of the platform and assumed our diving positions. My pulse was racing, but I tried to take big,
gulping
d
eep breaths of air, knowing it would be the last breaths I might take for the next 21 minutes.
My nerves were on high-alert and all of my senses were acutely aware of everything around me
.
I felt the slight breeze on my skin. My nose was filled with the fresh, wet smell of the cold water and the smell of green. People don’t always get
what I mean
when I say things
“
smell green.
”
  It’s the smell of fresh pine o
r grass, of everything green and in
bloom around me.
Lake
Superior was surrounded by green. The smells infiltrated my nose
,
and
I
breathed them in deep, sucking in every ounce of earth I could keep stored in my lungs.
I blocked out all of the background noise in my head so that all I could hear was the sound of my breaths
and
the beating of my heart
echoing in my ears.
Even the water seemed quiet. I listened to the sounds of the waves slowly lapping the sides of the boat that was tied up nearby.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a dragonfly. I smiled. Good luck.

Once again, the King held his right arm high in the air, and began the c
ountdown for the last time. H
is arm dropped
a
s
he bellowed the last number. I
t was like a gun shot rang through the air and my brain was set to sizzle. I dove into the icy water, this time, focusing only on my own descent.
I broke through the glacier-cold surface
,
and
it
felt like shards of glass st
inging
at every inch of my skin. The cold-numbing feeling instantly took over and then the heat from my brain sent waves of warmth down through my arms and legs. It was as if I was channeling some inner power…
I didn’t dare look to see where Freya was. I focused my eyes straight
at
the sunken freighter, zoning in
on
the small orb of light illuminating the entryway at the bow.
I saw Freya enter and realized
that
I was just a few seconds behind her. I used my arms and propelled myself quickly through the sunken ship, barely looking at the bro
wn, rusted, algae-covered wreck. B
ut
,
as I made
my way
past
the port side, I inwardly cringed and felt the fai
nt hint of stomach acid work it
s way up
to
my throat
,
almost causing me to gag
,
when I caught sight of a man’s body. Although I sped quickly by, I saw the bright orange life jacket. Thankfully, he was face-down in the sediment. I tried to block out any other glimpses of orange after that quick
view. I was hot on the
Mermaid
’s tail as we entered into the second half of the broken ship and came out the stern side. Now swimming free toward the grassy maze of seaweed, I used my arms to their full abilities. I glided past the
Mermaid
in three strokes (as she was, yet again, not really using her arms to swim, but merely swishing her huge tail and moving her body fluidly)
and beat her into the maze of grasses. I was hit with a wave
of cool slim
y tickles as the sea
weed brushed over my body. My vision was clouded
for a split second as the greens wavered in front of my face, poking me
in the
eyes and tickling my ears.
Gah
-ross! I slightly shuddered as I wove myself thr
ough the giant weed garden. The seaweed
ti
ckled
and zinged on my skin, like little
light
ning
bugs fluttering on every inch of my body. I kept my arms in front of me and tried to use them not only to clear
my path, but to block the slim
y weeds from hitting me in the face. Although it only took me a few minutes to wind my way through the seaweed maze, I felt somehow energized, as if touching all of the plants somehow gave me more strength, more power.
Perhaps my connection to the Earthen Court helped me draw energy from them?
I had no time to ponder this thought
though
,
and I scolded myself for losing concentration.
There
is
a race to be won here. My arms pulled me through the water like never before. I entered the rock
y
caverns at the small glowing orb and could sense that Freya was hot on my tail. (Or…legs.)
I swam into the dark cave and immediately had to slow down. It was narrow, and the walls
were sharp and jagged, with rocks jutting out at strange angles. I
carefully
wove my way around corners and curves,
and then
I felt a sharp scraping pain
on my
right
shoulder
. I glanced down and saw the bloody scrape. No time to be concerned about it. While I was distracted looking at my shoulder, I suddenly became aware of a whistling sound
. The whistling quickly turned into a low rumble
,
and the rocks around me started shaking. The rumbling noise became louder and louder. I didn’t know what was happening, but I needed to get out of
this cavern
. I began swimming faster, becoming more careless about hitting the sides of the
stabbing
rocks. I felt myself getting cut up, but as the rocks shook more, and the rumbling sounds turned into
a
horrible
roaring
noise, I just wanted to get the hell out of there.
The
thundering sound
of rushing water and
what sounded like
hurricane-
like
high-pitched, whistling
winds
shook my
insides to
the
very core. Water and bubbles were rushing around me
,
and I was quickly losing my sense of up and down.
Rocks were breaking loose and tumbling through the water as if they were on a spin cycle in a washing machine.
I didn’t know what was happening, but it
felt
like a bomb went off, or an underwater landslide and I was stuck right in the middle of it.
I saw the faint white light of the
exit
orb up ahead
and pushed myself towards it.
I
jetted out of the rocky cavern
and began
to head back up to the surface. That was when I heard
it
.
I heard a high-pitched
wailing sound that
sent chills up my spine
. Although I had never heard the sound before, I knew what it was. It could be nothing else.