Murder in the Marsh (21 page)

Forty-Seven

Daniel and Claude could see Rachel and the unknown woman clinging to the log as it floated toward the levee break, but the two women didn’t see them. They yelled as loud as they could, but the hurricane and the roar of the current drowned out their voices. They saw the two women begin to kick feverishly as they approached the current, but without any effect.

              “They don’t see us!” Daniel shouted in alarm to his companion. “They’re going into the rapid. We’ve got to do something!”

              “Come on! Swim!” Claude said, putting Daniel’s words into action.

              At first they had to swim against the current, but soon reached an eddy, which pulled them slowly toward the hydraulic. As they swam, they watched helplessly as the two women drew nearer and nearer the dangerous hydraulic. The women focused on the danger ahead of them, and still didn’t see the two men swimming in their direction.

              Now within fifteen yards, Daniel and Claude felt the eddy pulling them even more swiftly in the direction of the hydraulic. They also witnessed Rachel and the woman finally being swallowed by the foaming behemoth. Both men gasped hard for breath as they swam. Their life preservers were efficient at keeping them afloat, but a hindrance to swimming efficiently.

              A few seconds after the women disappeared into the hydraulic, Daniel and Claude finally entered the surging current and felt their speed pick up dramatically. Side-by-side they hurtled toward the frothing rapid. Daniel understood well the movement of water and its effects on land, stationary objects, and floating objects. He knew a hydraulic rapid was very dangerous, and could trap a person in it long enough for them to drown or be beaten senseless by underwater obstructions. As a college student, he had once taken a whitewater-rafting trip on the Ocoee River in Tennessee. As the inflatable raft floated over a ledge and dropped down into a watery hole, the rear of the raft sank far enough down for him to be sucked out. At that time, he found himself caught in a hydraulic and churned around and around, nearly drowning. Fortunately, he remembered the best way to exit a hydraulic was not to swim straight up, which was the natural inclination, but to swim underwater and downstream away from it. He did so and finally surfaced several feet away.

              As he and Claude neared the menacing rapid, he remained focused on looking for the women. Just before being drawn in, both men spotted the woman in green being expelled from the left side, the side closest to Claude. Daniel had just enough time to point to the woman and yell, “Claude, you take her!” before they both were consumed by the hydraulic.

              Daniel felt his body being drawn down, twisted violently, and then spewed up and over, before landing and drug down again. He could see nothing and had no idea where Rachel was, but he hoped to find her quickly. Over and over again he was cycled and flung about. Fortunately, he had taken several deep breaths, which he could hold for a couple of minutes. Touch being his only reliable sense; he spread his arms and legs out as best he could in an attempt to make physical contact with her. He felt nothing, but kept reaching. He thought of the possibility she had already been expelled, but he wouldn’t have a second chance if she hadn’t. Several times in the process, he smashed into the wooden beams of the collapsed house, but he didn’t allow himself to focus on the pain.

              Quickly running out of breath, Daniel grew desperate, hoping beyond hope he could locate Rachel within the next few seconds. In his growing sense of hopelessness, he prayed simply, “Lord, save Rachel! Intercede on her behalf.”

              Once more he reached out, but felt nothing. Finally, he realized he needed to try and escape, or he too would be lost. It would be impossible to swim straight downstream, because of the collapsed house blocking his way. He swam as deep as he could, and then started swimming out the side of the rapid. Suddenly, he collided with an object blocking his path. It took him only an instant to realize that the object was a body. Rachel’s body!

              He grabbed hold of her with both arms. He could no longer swim, but decided he was willing to die with her rather than swim out alone. For a moment, it seemed as if this would happen, but their combined weight altered the flow of water over their bodies. Suddenly, they shot out the side of the hydraulic and floated freely in the current. Daniel’s life preserver lifted them to the surface, and he inhaled as much oxygen as his screaming lungs could hold. Frantically examining Rachel, he saw her face had turned blue and her body was limp and lifeless. He knew she didn’t have long. If she inhaled water, he needed to remove it out quickly and begin CPR. Spinning his head around, he searched for a piece of land or a solid object he could lay her body on.

The weather impeded his field of vision and the waves swamped him over and over again, but he spotted the roof of a home jutting up out of the water at a slight angle. He hoped that underneath the roof he might find a level surface shielded from the storm. The roof rested against the branches of a stout oak tree and seemed stable enough to him. Swimming with Rachel in tow, he pulled her through the limbs and up under the roof. It was dark, yet calmer, and in a few moments he found a place where the flooring from the attic remained. He crawled out of the water and pulled Rachel up behind him, laying her on the plywood floor. He then turned her head to one side and quickly knelt over her astride her two hips. Placing one hand on top of the other, he felt for the abdomen area below her rib cage, and gave her a quick thrust into her upper abdomen. Water began flowing from her mouth. He continued the procedure several more times until no more water trickled out. Believing that he had gotten most of the water out of her lungs, he quickly shifted position and put his ear to her mouth listening for breathing. He didn’t hear a breath, so he adjusted her head and sealed his lips against hers giving her two slow breaths. 

Rachel didn’t respond at first, but then suddenly her chest lurched upwards as she coughed, spitting up more water and gasping for breath. Daniel turned her on her side, allowing her to expel more fluid and to breathe easier. Once she had stopped coughing, he gently turned her on her back and cradled her head in his arms whispering to her that she was safe. She finally opened her eyes and looked up into his, easing his anxiety with a faint smile and a slight nod. Daniel felt overcome with joy and emotion knowing that she would be all right. From the depths of his soul, he thanked God over and over again for saving her.

Claude managed to escape from the hydraulic fairly quickly. When he saw the woman discharged from it and heard Daniel tell him to take her, he started swimming off to the side hoping to avoid the worst of the rapid. He wasn’t completely spared its power, but he fought his way out within a matter of seconds. Surfacing, he immediately began scanning the wind swept waters for the woman. He spotted her about twenty yards ahead, struggling to stay above the surface, but slowly losing the battle.

              Only a minute or two passed before he was at her side keeping her afloat as they continued to drift. Her frenetic attempts at saving herself quickly eased as she felt herself safe. Looking around, Claude spotted a camper trailer, which had come to rest against the marsh levee. They swam over to it, and he forced opened the thin aluminum door. A portion of the camper remained submerged in the water, but the other end was elevated and dry. He checked out the safety of using the camper for cover and decided it would be stable and unlikely to float off again. He and Ms. Dunbar climbed in, taking shelter from the hurricane and spending the next hour and a half monitoring the storm and talking about their experiences. From time to time, Claude looked out to see if he could spot Daniel or Rachel, but not seeing them, he trusted their safety to the Lord.

Forty-Eight

Daniel and Rachel sat huddled close to one another underneath the roof. Daniel wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to keep her warm. Their wet clothes continued to make them shiver as the wind periodically whistled through the wood supports. Rachel coughed every now and then, but felt her strength recovering with each passing minute. She remembered passing out in the hydraulic, but didn’t recall anything afterwards up until the point Daniel revived her.

              Hurricane Katrina continued blowing, but Daniel and Rachel sensed the worst was almost over, and it was passing on to wreak its destruction elsewhere. It didn’t matter to either of them anymore whether the hurricane continued blowing for another five hours or another five minutes; they felt secure in the knowledge God brought them safely through thus far and would do the same for the others. Rachel asked about Ms. Dunbar, and Daniel told her of Claude’s rescue efforts. They had no solid evidence of the safety of either one, but both felt a sense of peace God would protect them. Daniel swam out from under the roof several times to see if he could spot them, but he saw neither and returned.

              “Daniel, how did you rescue me?” Rachel asked, amazed she was still alive.

              “Claude and I saw you and the other woman…”

              “Ms. Dunbar.”

              “…Ms. Dunbar, floating toward the rapid. We waved and yelled at you, but by that time you were so close to the rapid you couldn’t hear us. We started swimming towards you, but we were too late. You had already disappeared. But honestly, it wasn’t me that saved you Rachel. It was the Lord.”

              Rachel turned her head to better look at Daniel, surprised to hear him giving credit to God, “Did you say the Lord saved me?”

              “That’s right. I know it must sound strange to hear that from me, especially after I talked about God not intervening in our lives. But I’ve got to tell you Rachel, I’ve learned differently. God intervened to save my life and He intervened to save your’s too.”

              “I’m amazed to hear you say that Daniel, but I’m also very glad.”

                “There’s more,” Daniel said, his voice slightly breaking. “Not only did he physically save me, but He also saved me spiritually. I’ve come to a point where I realize he is my Savior.”

              “Daniel! Really?” Rachel hugged him in her excitement “I am so happy for you! When did this happen?”

              “In the marsh during the hurricane. But it really happened when I realized that there is a God that loves me despite my flaws, and wants to be involved in my life. It happened when I turned everything over to him, and gave up thinking that the only person who controlled my life was me.”

              “I can’t think of anything more wonderful to hear, Daniel. Hearing that has made it all worth it!”

              “What about you, Rachel? You’ve been through a lot also.”

              “Oh, I have Daniel. But so have Adele and Michelle. Do you know anything about them?”

              “Claude and I found them at the apartment like your note said. The apartment building floated off its foundation, but they both made it up to the second floor and are all right. When I heard you came to find us and got caught in the storm, I began to worry. How did you survive so long with the levee break and the flooding?”

              “The same as you,” Rachel said with a smile. “I guess God just had plans for me here. It got pretty scary at times, but he didn’t let any serious harm come to me. He also helped me spiritually.”

              “What do you mean?”

              “Well, though I’m saved, apparently my faith wasn’t as strong as I thought. Fear kept me from having faith that whether I was injured or killed, God’s will would be done, and He would receive the glory. Like you, I learned the importance of trusting Him in all circumstances.”

              “Praise God, Rachel.”

              Daniel and Rachel continued to talk about their experiences for the next hour, and barely noticed the hurricane steadily dropping in intensity. When the winds finally dropped down to a stiff breeze, Daniel suggested he swim out and search for Claude and Ms. Dunbar. Rachel agreed, warning him about the alligator.

              After Daniel swam out from under the roof, he looked across the flooded landscape and saw two people paddling around in a little silver flat bottom boat they must have scavenged from somewhere. He raised his arm and yelled, and the lady in the front spotted him in the water. A few minutes later, a smiling Claude and Ms. Dunbar paddled up next to him, just as glad to see him, as he was to see them. Daniel told them to hold on, and swam back under the roof, returning with Rachel swimming beside him. Claude and Ms. Dunbar were excited to see both Daniel and Rachel safe and sound, and helped them in the boat. 

              As the four of them began to paddle south towards Rachel’s apartment, they could only stare in silence at the scenes of utter destruction around them. The whole community of Port Sulphur appeared to have been immersed and destroyed. They shuttered to imagine the scene once the water receded and the rest was pumped out. The flooding covered everything, and left nothing intact. Houses, cars, boats, citrus groves, public buildings, gas stations—everything and anything—was twisted, busted, collapsed, flooded, or missing. Animal carcasses floated about freely, and cattle stranded on the marsh levee, bellowed loudly in their fright and confusion.

              After a couple hours of paddling, they finally reached Rachel’s apartment building in the same location and condition they had left it. Claude quickly bounded up the emergency escape stairs. Inside, he found Adele and Michelle safe and joyful at his return. Daniel and Rachel helped Ms. Dunbar out of the boat and up the stairs as they followed along behind. At the top, they looked in the door and down the hallway seeing the LeBlanc family in an embrace of love. As they stood at the top of the steps, they were the first to witness the sun breaking through the clouds as it set in gorgeous reds, pinks, purples, and oranges across the watery expanse of the marsh.

              “Do you think our lives will ever be the same, Daniel?” Rachel said, taking his hand and smiling as she looked up into his eyes.

              “I hope not, Rachel,” he smiled back, interlacing his fingers in hers. “I truly hope not.”