Part 7 (1/2)
In the short time she'd been below, the world had darkened into a nightmare of thunder and water. A black pall extinguished any light the setting sun may have shared and the sea was now filled with towering cliffs of boiling grey waves.
Icy rain slashed her with razor sharp daggers, instantly soaking her thin clothes and if she hadn't been holding onto the hatch, the unexpected blast of wind would have blown her down. Within seconds, her hair dripped and her body felt like a giant icicle. She wished Davy had a sailors' pea coat in that locker of his as she could surely use it now.
A violent s.h.i.+ver wracked Ailish as she surveyed the s.h.i.+p. Everywhere, shadowy figures of men ran to secure stray items the wind had stolen and tossed around with careless abandon. This was no place for her.
She was about to turn and head back to her stateroom to ride out the storm when she caught a glimpse of ghostly white movement at the stern of the s.h.i.+p. Wiping the rain from her eyes, Ailish looked more closely and was surprised to see it was Dimples. The foolish animal was wandering loose on the deck! In this gale, she'd be washed overboard and no one would notice.
Ailish immediately sprang into action, struggling against the fierce wind and rain as she groped her way toward the wayward ewe. The deck had become slick and she had trouble finding her footing. She flinched as a bright bolt of lightning sliced through the sky telling her the storm was far from abating.
”Dimples!” she called. ”Come here, you silly sheep!” It was then that Ailish noticed something very odd indeed.
Dimples had lost weight.
In fact, she was positively skinny!
Then Ailish saw the small bundle curled up on the deck. It was a lamb, a wee, newborn lamb. No wonder Dimples had been so fat. She'd had a baby and must have tried to get as far away from the rest of the flock as was possible on a s.h.i.+p.
Ailish wrapped her arms around the soaking sheep. ”Dimples, my girl, your timing is terrible.”
Dimples looked up at her with big brown eyes and made a chuckling sound deep in her throat. Her tone sounded a tiny bit smug and a lot unrepentant.
Carefully, Ailish scooped up the tiny lamb in her arms as she tried to rea.s.sure both mother and baby. ”Come on you two. We're going back to the pen. You'll be warm and safe in the stable.”
As she turned to struggle back down the deck, something out of place caught her eye. She squinted to clear her vision.
Lying on top of the automatic release mechanism was the huge wrench she'd seen Dalton wielding earlier. It was precariously close to the edge of the housing. If the movement of the s.h.i.+p caused it to slip, the wrench would fall into the machine smas.h.i.+ng the complicated gears and wheels and releasing the cable to free fall into the sea!
Ailish hurried to the stable and tucked the lamb safely into a warm dry corner, laying it on the straw, where Dimples contentedly nuzzled her newborn.
The wind was a howling demon as she searched the deck for someone strong enough to lift the tool. She caught sight of Dalton's hulking form, swathed in his foul weather gear, high above on the catwalk that spanned the wide deck.
Not her first choice, but there was no time to find another deckhand. Ailish called out to him. Her words were carried away with the shrieking wind. Scrambling closer, she called again; still it was no good. The clang and bang of the cable machines as they laboured was the only noise loud enough to be heard over the roar of the storm.
With trepidation, she started up the rain-slicked ladder that led to the treacherous catwalk. The force of the wind buffeted her and only by grabbing the metal railing with both hands and pulling herself up rung by rung was she able to climb. Once at the top, the tempest ripped at her mercilessly.
Ailish dragged herself forward. ”Mr. Dalton! Mr. Dalton! You've got to come with me!” She grabbed his arm to get his attention. ”You left a large tool on the release mechanism and it's going to fall in!”
He turned on her, furious. ”I did no such thing! Loose talk like that will get you killed. Now, get off me, you poor excuse for a powder monkey, or I'll flay you alive.” With a mighty swing of his arm, he lifted Ailish off her feet and sent her flying, as easily as one would flick away a pesky gnat.
She desperately tried to grab something to hold onto, but the railing was slippery and she fell, tumbling down the steps and hitting the deck below with a hard thump that knocked the wind out of her. The force of the landing sent her rolling out of control across the rain-soaked planking directly toward the open edge of the s.h.i.+p.
It all happened in an instant.
Screaming, Ailish felt herself flung into the frigid darkness.
Whirling and spinning, she plummeted downward, dread closed her throat as she waited to slam into the icy waves far below.
With a bone-jarring whump, she landed, not on the hard surface of the sea, but on a solid wooden ledge. Scrabbling with frozen fingertips, Ailish managed to grip a cleat nailed to the structure and hang on. She groaned as she sucked air back into battered lungs. Terror seized her anew as the waves, like deadly dragon talons, clawed at her each time the s.h.i.+p rolled and her precarious perch dipped closer to the iron-grey ocean.
She'd fallen onto the shroud of one of the huge paddle wheels that flanked either side of the Great Eastern's hull. The s.h.i.+p seemed to sail smoothly enough on the deck, but here, suspended so far over the churning water, she was tossed about like a rag doll with each wave surge. Spray as cold as witch's spit made everything slimy.
Her fingertips grew b.l.o.o.d.y as she desperately clung to the small wooden board attached to the paddle wheel housing. How long she could hang on, she wasn't sure. Ailish struggled to get closer to the side of the s.h.i.+p and away from the edge of the narrow platform. One thing was certain; it wouldn't be long before the sea claimed her.
”Help! Down here on the paddlewheel!” she yelled, then listened intently, hopelessly, for an answering cry. But all she heard was the storm's unceasing wail. To Ailish's desperate ears, it sounded like Davy's voice calling out, a lamentation by her graveside. ”Please save me!” she shouted back into the dark face of the storm, knowing there was no one there.
She thought of her da and tears, as salty as the seawater drenching her, trickled down her cheeks. She hadn't found his magical golden horse. Her father would spend the rest of his days wondering what had happened to her. Rufus Dalton would never tell. She realized with a pang that she wanted to say so many things to her da, like how much she loved him and that they were a great team. Now she wouldn't get the chance.
The water was near freezing and Ailish soon felt a numbness stealing through her entire body. She laid her head on her arms, too weak to do more than wait for the inevitable.
”O'Connor! Up here!”
She must be near death, she decided. She could hear G.o.d calling her name.
”Lad, look up!”
Ailish slowly lifted her head. Someone had called her, and it wasn't G.o.d!
”Here! I'm here!” She rasped weakly as she blinked, straining to see through the blinding rain. Blurrily, she could make out the face of Paddy Whelan, leaning over the s.h.i.+p's side with a rope and round life preserver.
”I'll drop this down to you, lad. Put the ring over your head and I'll draw you up!”
She nodded, no breath left to answer.
With sluggish fingers, she grabbed at the preserver and dragged it over her head and under her arms. ”Pull!” she called.
Paddy hauled on the rope. Ailish held tightly as she was lifted off her aerie only to be dangled perilously over the dark sea below. She closed her eyes, not daring to look down.
She swayed and twirled, holding on with the last of her strength, then after what seemed an eternity, she felt Paddy take hold and gather her to him. She was safe, safe at last. Death moaned in defeat and fled as great wracking sobs welled up from her chest.
”How did you know I was here?” she hiccupped, wiping her snotty nose on her sleeve.
”I went below to meet you and found the note you'd written and beside it, one in the dust telling me to come to the starboard paddlewheel. I heard you calling and looked over the edge. I don't mind admitting, I was scared when I saw you stuck down there.”
”That makes two of us, Paddy.” Her head spun with relief. Had the strange wailing she'd heard been real? Had Davy called to her? Surely, it had only been the wind.
But it must have been her friend. Seeing the desperate situation, had he realized it would take more than he could do to save her? Had he left the second note sending Paddy, who was bigger and stronger, to rescue her while hea what? While he went to round up a posse to join in the rescue? She glanced about for him, then like a thunderbolt, she remembered what else was about to happen. ”Paddy, we have to stop a disaster! There's a huge wrench going to fall into the automatic release mechanism. The machine will be destroyed!”
Paddy didn't argue. He took her arm and together they struggled back to the large piece of intricate machinery. They both spotted the c.u.mbersome tool at the moment it finished its last slide and disappeared into the housing. Immediately, an ominous grinding sound started up.
”It's going to seize at any second. We've got to get that wrench out!” Paddy raced to the wheels and reached into the shrieking apparatus. Ailish watched helplessly as her friend tried to free the tool. After several futile moments, Paddy shook his head. One of his arms was b.l.o.o.d.y from tearing vainly at the wrench. ”It's no good. The blasted thing is already wedged in. If I could pry the gears...”
Ailish saw a lifeboat hanging from a davit against the outside of the hull and ran to it, then faltered, staring down. Sixty feet below, the hungry sea reared up as if trying for a second chance to devour her. Terror squeezed her in its paralyzing fist and her muscles refused to obey. ”No, no, no!” she hissed through clenched teeth, fighting to regain control. Desperately, she wanted to run and hide, but the cable could be destroyed and that was bigger than her fear.