Crimson Rapture (9 page)

When
no answer came, Christina panicked. "Should I blow the whistle?"

"No
one could 'ear it," Hanna replied and added strangely, "Even if there
was a soul alive up there."

The
suggestion that they were the only ones left alive sank abruptly into her
consciousness just as the cabin spun backward. Beau howled and Marianna
screamed again and for awful long seconds, Christina's weight, as well as Beau's,
was held from crashing into the hard wall only by ropes. She closed her eyes
tight, dug her hands into Beau, and waited, waited for the room to spin back
and Elsie to stop Marianna's screaming.

They
would meet their ends, she knew, and soon too. She confronted the fact with but
mild surprise and, even more oddly, she wasn't afraid. They would die and that
was that. The knowledge somehow filled her with a strange peace and from that
she found strength.

She
said her last prayer, praying first for Madelyne back home, hoping the old
matronly lady was cared for and appreciated in her new position. She then
prayed for Marianna and Katie, who seemed to be suffering the worst. The last
prayer was a hope that the end would be quick and painless for all of them.

In
the midst of the tumult, the furious noise, and the terror, she tried to
comfort Katie. Though no sound now came from that dark corner. Elsie and Hanna
both worked to quiet Marianna's hysteria, a hysteria that rose and fell with
the wind and the waves.

Hours
passed. While she never thought she slept— for surely sleep was not
possible—consciousness became ever fuzzier, like a dream. How long since they
had proper food and water? A day? Two? A week? She couldn't remember. She began
slipping into periods of blissful unconsciousness, always waking at a sudden
jolt of the ship, Beau's howl, a boom of thunder, or Marianna's sudden fright.

She
woke once and Jacob was kneeling over her, trying to brace himself as he held a
cask to her lips. "Come on, darlin', take a sip or two. 'Tis been far too
long without it." She hadn't realized how thirsty she was until that
moment and she tilted her head back and drank and drank.

"Justin?"
she asked, but somehow knew the answer.

"Oh,
he's still fightin'. Takes more than a monsoon to put him out." A sadness
filled his voice and he added, "We've lost a lot of men though. Can't even
say how many."

"I'm
sorry," she whispered. Jacob squeezed her arm and rose to cautiously make
an exit. "Jacob," she stopped him, "please do check Katie there.
She's not well."

Jacob
glanced at the pole, realizing it was too dark for Christina to see.
"Don't worry about the lass, darlin'. She's farin' better than the lot of
us."

She
heard Jacob's footsteps stumble to the door, barely making out the silver hair
disappearing through the door. She looked around. It was so dark. Nothing but
black shapes on black. Katie must be unconscious.

"Elsie?
Hanna? Are you awake?" she called out. There was no answer. Beau licked
her face as though to assure her she was not alone. She smiled weakly and
hugged him. "What a fine brave friend you are," she said softly.

She
lifted the gold whistle and clutched it tightly in her fist. She hugged her
knees and buried her head and prayed yet again.

* * * * *

"Higher!"
Justin ordered and the two men on the opposite side of the mast heaved,
struggling to lift the heavy weight of the half-mast two precious inches
higher. Justin seemed not to struggle with his side, the weight resting evenly
on his braced arms, legs, and shoulders.

Jacob,
tied to the main mast twelve feet above, waited for the pole to rise those two
precious inches. An odd-shaped hammer and ten-inch metal spikes hung from his
belt, waiting to be pressed into use to secure the torn pole to the mast, in
hopes of raising another sail.

It
was a frightening experience twelve feet above the decks. Rain stung like a
bombardment of pellets, the ship rocked with a dizzying motion, and waves
crashed over the side, making him gasp like a woman, expecting to see the men
below washed over. The gale wind was even worse. He had seen one man pushed
over the side by a freak gust and the strength in his arms, the ropes binding
him to the mast, all seemed but a precarious security against the same fate.

The
pole lifted but dropped as the ship rocked back and Justin, managing his side,
shouted at the men again. Jacob swore and loudly cursed Cajun who could not be
found and who was the only man strong enough to hoist the pole. Before he had
even finished his colorful damnation, Cajun appeared and as always seemingly by
magic, just suddenly there.

The
huge man took hold of the pole opposite Justin and, exercising an ease of
strength surpassing even Justin, he single-handedly hoisted it into place.
Jacob wasted no time in positioning a spike and swinging the hammer with all
the strength he was worth, still cursing Cajun. No doubt the savage was
smiling, amused by his fellow human beings' inferiority.

The
pole was finally secured and, not for the first time, Justin wondered what
benevolent god had sent Cajun into his life. All his men were good, though, the
best to be had, and, thinking of this, he felt a sudden surge of hope. After
eighteen hours of the fiercest battle of his life, the ship had passed through
the eye of the storm and while she had lost two masts and nearly all sails, she
had survived.

They
had survived!

Justin
raised his voice above the wind and ordered the sail secured before he turned
to Cajun with gratitude. "We're going to make it!"

"Always"
came an expected reply.

Justin
almost laughed and felt his triumph ride his exhaustion. He was just about to
turn the ship over to Jacob and head for the small cabin when suddenly he heard
Jacob shout what could not be believed. "Land ho!"

Justin
braced himself as that sound filled the air, louder than the storm. The hellish
sound of wood crashing on rock. The ship jolted on its side, throwing men hard
to the deck and, before anyone could get to their feet, a huge wall of water
carried them into the churning black water.

Elsie
screamed suddenly and Christina woke with a start. The sound came from the very
bowels of hell; not the wind or waves or rain but all of these, with a
deafening grating sound of two unyielding forces, smashed together. Then the
furious crash of a wave, more grating, and the room turned sideways, not
quickly as before, but slowly, frighteningly slow.

Christina
froze as Marianna screamed. The room was dimly lit by some unknown source, one
she couldn't identify, for the violent black night had seemed to be forever.
Hanna and Katie were both unconscious. Elsie's small face was frozen with shock
or fright and, while Marianna's hands covered her face, she could not stop
screaming.

"What's
happened?" Christina cried out.

"A
crash... the ship crashed on something, but... oh my God!"

The
door, now where the ceiling had been, burst open and a huge wave of water
spilled into the room. Christina watched in horror as the water swiftly filled
the room and within short minutes Beau and she, occupying the far end of the
room, were waist-deep in a pool of water. The waterfall continued, the danger
obvious, and while Christina stared in mute horror, Beau struggled against the
ropes, growled and barked viciously at this.

"The
whistle, Christy!" Elsie cried. "The whistle!"

Christina
brought the whistle to her lips, covered her ears, and blew long and hard. Beau
cried in sudden intense pain and fell desperately into the water to escape,
head and all. The whistle dropped from her mouth and, not knowing what had
happened, she reached forward to pull the dog up. She could only get his front
legs and had hardly enough strength to budge him.

Beau
lifted his head from the water and shook. Seeing he was all right, Christina
lifted the whistle again, but just as the whistle touched her lips, Beau growled
and in a single quick movement, snatched it in his mouth and jerked it from the
gold chain.

"Nooo!"

It
was too late. With whistle in mouth, Beau shook his head furiously and then
sent the offending noise-maker into the water. Christina cried and desperately felt
in the water to retrieve it. Another wave crashed over the ship, the room
tilted more, and water began spilling in with greater force. Marianna's scream
halted abruptly, her head dropped forward, and she fainted, blissfully rendered
unconscious.

Adrenaline
burst through Elsie's small figure, making her terrified brown eyes nearly
white, sending her heart and pulse racing. Water reached Christina's neck and
while she knew Christina's fate was eventually her own, she felt with an odd
certainty it would be easier to drown herself than to watch sweet Christy.

"Christy,
your ropes! Get your ropes off!" she yelled unnecessarily, for Christina
had started frantically struggling with her bindings. "I'm comin'! Don't
panic now," Elsie warned herself out loud. "Just as soon as I get me
own bloody ropes..."

"
'Tis no use!" Christina cried. "I've loosened the ropes at my waist
but I can't reach my chest—"

Water
lapped over Christina's chin and Beau barked, growled, barked again, now
practically swimming on his short lead. He knew to rescue drowning
people—rescue anyone—for this was bred into his blood. Rescue was his purpose
in this life and he knew this one could not swim as he could.

Beau
ducked his head in the rushing water and grabbed her arm in his mouth, trying
to lift her higher. No upward motion was possible with the ropes and, realizing
it, he submerged, barked once for air, and ducked under water.

Powerful
jaws tore at the rope, and with a strength few men even owned, paused only to
lift his head for necessary gulps of air. The rope that bound her loosened bit
by bit but she was gasping, choking, desperately struggling to hold life to
her.

Unable
to reach her chest bindings either, Elsie shut tight her eyes, covered her
ears, and screamed at the top of her lungs for help.

Hanna
woke abruptly to the sound of Elsie's screaming and the feel of water swarming
around her. She suffered but a moment of disorientation. She first gasped
seeing Christina's mouth and nose beneath water, but then, unlike her friend, she
never paused long enough to panic.

Jacob
had noted, with a gleam of admiration, Hanna's voluptuous proportions and, so
as not to cause the lady any undo discomfort, he had taken care to tie her
chest ropes beneath her arms but over her bosom. After quickly loosening the
waist rope, Hanna merely raised her arms, swallowed a deep breath, and slipped
beneath the water to freedom.

Justin
fought the ocean for what felt like an eternity. He reached the surface for air
but before he could see his position, a wave crashed over him, sending him
tossing and turning beneath an unimaginable weight of water. Once it subsided
somewhat, he swam with all his great strength, but the tumult of water spun him
in every direction and abruptly he realized he had been swimming down instead
of up. The same frightening sequence was repeated over and over. His lungs
burned and his body stiffened, hardening like lead in a refusal to fight
without air. Just as water was to be his last breath, he felt himself rising
upwards and up and up. With some surprised awe, he realized he had been a good
forty feet under. Like a cork, he popped to the surface and never but never had
air tasted so sweet.

The
ship was sinking and Jacob, along with what men remained on board, worked
frantically to lower the lifeboats. Cajun, staring into the black water, waited
and waited and, and with quick thanks to his god, he spotted Justin just as his
head submerged.

Cajun
had never wasted a single effort in his life. The life line hit Justin in the
face. Justin grabbed onto it and was pulled so swiftly through the water he
knew without a doubt Cajun was on the other end. Cajun secured the rope to a
pole and pulled Justin up the side, lifting his friend over.

"Christina!"
was all Justin said and the two men raced to what remained of the hull. The
lifeboat was lowered and Jacob and two others quickly followed.

Hanna
fell on Christina and, thanks to Beau, she had only to tug once on the ropes
and then lift Christina to air. Sputtering and gasping, and scared, just scared,
Christina held to Hanna, who embraced her tightly in return. Christina trembled
with the struggle for life. Every fiber of her being was alerted and mobilized
to fight. She had never known she possessed such strength. Water still poured
into the cabin and, recovering somewhat, she broke away and flew into action.
"There's no time! We must get help!"

Hanna
hurried to Elsie, crying now, and then to Marianna, while Christina first
rescued Beau and then Katie. Desperately, Christina slapped Katie's face.
"Wake up! Wake up!" Katie's head dropped forward and her skin felt
unnaturally cold to the touch. With great effort, Christina maneuvered Katie's
lifeless form, trying to pull her to the safest point in the room.

Upset
by her actions, Beau barked, then whined, and tried to nudge Christina's hands
from Katie. "Stop it! No, Beau, no!" The dog persisted and Christina
turned to the others. Marianna, too, remained unconscious, despite both Hanna
and Elsie's efforts at revival.