Seconds later one of the crewmen from the engine room stepped into the doorway. “They’re all secured now, sir.” he said to Hendrik.
The five of them had charged at once, as the pirate was shifting for more comfortable seating. One of the crewmen had been shot in the arm as they tackled him, and he was being taken care of by the others. The pirate was tied and on the deck.
One of the German men blew a whistle, and the two German women who had been hiding appeared a moment later, wiping what appeared to be garbage off of their clothing. They’d buried themselves in the garbage bin on the lower deck. They went to wash off.
The decision was made to set the pirates adrift in one of the inflatable lifeboats with 3 days’ food and water. They included enough for the two pirates that had been thrown overboard, in case they met up with them. The pirates were silent as they climbed down the rope ladder into the little lifeboat. It bobbed like a cork as they paddled away.
The pirate leader glared angrily, raised his fist and… stuck his tongue out at them! Those on the ship raised their eyebrows and turned away from the rail. A rear watch was posted to make sure no mischief came from the lifeboat as the ship sailed away.
As they passed Ireland Mike tried to radio the authorities there about the pirates, but there was no answer. They passed another boat that tried to signal them, and they signaled back that they would report their position so help could be sent. They were not stopping for another boat!
Soon all sight of land was behind them and they started across the Atlantic. They formed a crew that included the Germans and took shifts sleeping. Igor opened containers that indicated food items, and they were added to the fare that the women used to make meals.
One night word spread that the coast of Newfoundland, Canada would be visible by morning. There was excitement on the ship, and it also seemed like a mystery was floating in the air. Carl assumed the women were planning something special to celebrate being within sight of the North American continent. He smiled to himself with satisfaction. They were almost home. Crossing America would at least be familiar territory!
He turned the controls over to the captain of the German fishing vessel and climbed down the stairs. He just knew there was going to be a special dinner tonight, and his stomach rumbled. He sighed in satisfaction as he opened the door to the lounge.
Ribbons, tinsel, garland, and Christmas lights were strung everywhere. The tables were covered with wrapping paper, like bright table clothes. Ornaments hung from light fixtures and curtain rods. The room was full of laughter and good cheer.
“Merry Christmas, darling!” Darlene exclaimed. “It’s Christmas Eve! We found a container full of Christmas decorations among the stuff from China!”
“No Christmas music, though,” said Katy. “We’ll just have to sing all those oldies but goodies!” She twirled around with Dennis and sang “I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus.”
The German women came into the room from the galley and said dinner was ready. The meal was an odd concoction of ship food and Christmas candy, but enjoyed by all. After they were stuffed they began singing Christmas carols. Sometimes they argued and laughed as they tried to remember the words to more verses.
The most beautiful of all was when the Germans sang “Silent Night” in the language it had been written in, their voices blending in beautiful harmony. Darlene felt tears well up as the words “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht” filled her heart, sang to that familiar melody. Carl smiled at her, and they both knew then that they WOULD get back to their home in Montana!
Shouts and cries of terror woke them the next morning. Carl grabbed the pirate pistol he’d been given and ran out the door. On deck people were running to and fro, and Igor seemed glued at the rail. Carl ran to his side and saw the rocks around them, which they were dangerously scooting between. He raced up the stairs to the bridge.
“I didn’t mean to, I fell asleep, I don’t know what to do. This ship doesn’t behave like my vessel did!” the German captain yelled in a panicked voice.
Carl realized they were near the coast and among the reefs and rocks that could sink a ship. He raced to the window with binoculars and tried to see into the water. Then he left the room and ran toward the bow, climbing up to the watch post. The watchman shook his head grimly.
“We were too close to shore before I knew,: he called over the wind. “It was dark. I saw no rocks until it was too late. I didn’t know he was asleep. When I looked up at the bridge he was always sitting upright.” he wiped the sweat and mist from his face and turned back to the water.
Carl shouted to him, “Can you direct him by radio?”
“I have been,” the man yelled back. “But the rocks are getting closer, and some are just under the water and I don’t see them until we are nearly on them. It is almost certain that we will hit. At best, we will be marooned.” He gulped and swallowed.
“At worst, we will sink,” he said, quieter, but Carl heard him. He left the watch post and ran back to the bridge. Several people, including Darlene, grabbed his arm and asked what to do.
“I don’t know yet. Hang on.” When he got back to the bridge Hendrik and Igor were there. Mike was calling a mayday to the coast guard.
“Where are we?” Carl asked.
“Along the coast of New Foundland, south of St. John’s.” Mike replied between breaks on the radio. “I should be able to raise someone. St. John’s should have a maritime center.”
“It’s Christmas morning, that could have something to do with it,” Carl reminded him. “How’s the tide?”
“Ebbing. Should start rising in a little over an hour,” Hendrik said. He stood at the window, scanning the water with binoculars.
Carl paced back and forth. He sent everyone out of the bridge except himself, Mike, and Hendrik. Then he paced some more. He ordered the ship turned to face into the waves and just enough power to hold it in place. He assigned a watchman to the stern of the ship, in addition to the one at the bow. Then he ordered provisions be put in the lifeboats and motorboat: food, water, blankets, First Aid kid, and radio. Some basic supplies were always stored in them, but he ordered extra to be added.
The waves this close to shore were different than those at sea. These waves rolled off land and rock, and came back to meet the incoming ones, and the ship, although a container ship, was not a huge ship, and it rocked sickeningly. The rhythm wasn’t steady like the swells far from land. People staggered as they went about their work.
One of the containers contained footwear. Igor broke into it and they pulled out cases and cases and dumped them on the deck. Everyone picked through until they found warm boots, and it turned out that ‘footwear’ included socks. One case held thick, warm-looking socks, so they distributed them as well.
They opened more cases hoping to find gloves, but just found more shoes. Darlene and Katy used a pair of meat scissors from the galley and cut wool blankets from beds into long strips, then gave everyone a ‘scarf’. The wool helped against the wet snowflakes and damp wind.
Darlene checked her and Carl’s daypacks to make sure everything was in them. She gathered the few things they’d unloaded and stuffed them in. She made sure Carl’s knife blade was in the outer pocket. She added a small waterproof jar of matches from the galley. She came across packs of nuts from the airline, which seemed so long ago! Was it only a week ago they were standing in their driveway saying good-bye to Walter and Sue? She wondered how much they knew about what was going on in Germany and Europe? What and how much was the media reporting? How were things in America? In Montana?
She zipped the packs shut and left the room. She checked with Igor and he told her to throw them in the motorboat, that she and Carl would be in that boat if they had to abandon ship. She secured them to the rails above the seats, then returned to the galley to see if she could help with anything.
There was a sickening thud and a grinding sound as the bottom of the ship hit a rock underneath. Everyone was tossed sideways, then the
ship dragged free of the rock and floated again. Igor and a few others scurried down to the hold to look for damage. No water alarms sounded, and no damage on the inside was spotted. They nervously returned to deck.
Watches were now posted on all sides, but it did little good. There was no better place to move the ship. Low tide passed and the water, ever so slowly, began to rise. Light snowflakes had been falling but over the morning they increased until they were falling so thickly it was difficult to see much beyond the ship.
Someone had gone around and handed out life jackets. Darlene helped the German women fit the life jackets snugly on the 3 children. While they weren’t young toddlers, they were smaller than adults, and much smaller than the big sailors who were normally the only ones on board. Even Darlene had to tie some loops in the straps of her life jacket.
As the tide reached it’s high point Carl made the decision to try and make it back to sea, out away from the rocks that lined the shoreline. The ship was pointed seaward, and he and Hendrik spent much time with, and without, the binoculars, studying the rocks they could see, and the wave patterns to look for submerged rocks they couldn’t see.
When they reached a decision Carl marked a piece of paper with a line and some crude rock sketches, for a reminder since he knew things would look different as they went through.
Everyone who was not on watch was told to go inside the lounge, in case they crashed. Those on watch secured themselves to the ship with ropes that could be released quickly if they needed to get loose from the ship. Carl steered manually, turning the ship’s wheel with the concentration he saw in his sons when they were on some bazillionth level of a video game.
Just before leaving the rocky area the current caught the ship and slid it sideways. With a sickening THUMP the ship shook and began to turn as it hung up on a rocky outcropping near the starboard stern. Carl spun the wheel to turn the ship to port, away from the rock. The current continued to push the ship southward, and it began to list to starboard as the rock stubbornly kept it’s hold on the ship.
Those in the lounge braced themselves. It was dead silent. Everyone was too frightened to scream and they looked at each other with wide eyes. Darlene traced the route to the motorboat in her mind, going over and over it. She imagined doing it with her eyes closed. How far was it? What would she hold on to? What would she reach for and what shape was it?
Suddenly a wave tossed them free and the ship scooted forward. Carl kept nudging it out to sea, fighting the current that would have kept them along the edge of the rocks. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and started shaking and talking. Before long the phone rang and Hendrik gave them the good news that they were out of danger from the rocks, but to please stay in the lounge while the crew checked for damage.
They heard footsteps and voices go by, then all was silent. The lounge was on port side and the damage was on the opposite side.
Igor was with the crewmen when they saw the water seeping in. They hopped down to study it and two of them decided to try to weld a piece of metal over it and seal it off. Igor went to report the news to the others, and the crewmen went for their equipment and supplies.
Hendrik and Mike studied maps and advised pulling into one of the inlets that lay ahead. The closest was Bay Bulls, and the map showed a town there. The water would be calmer, making it easier for the crewmen to work.
They reached the bay and turned into it. After some time they reached the dock area and Mike was on the radio, talking to those on shore. At first he was talking with men who spoke French and only a little basic English. They rounded up an Irishman to talk to him, and other than the accent, he could understand the man.
This was a shallow port, he was told, and they probably could not dock at the pier. But they could anchor and send a boat ashore. So that is what they did. Hendrik, Carl, Igor, and one of the crewmen headed ashore with the motorboat. Darlene was itching to go too, but didn’t push it.
On the pier they were met and led to a small wooden building with windswept boards. Inside the wind whistled through gaps around the poorly sealed windows. There were two Frenchmen and the Irishman; and a big hound dog in the corner, if he mattered! Igor absently began to scratch the dog behind the ears as he listened to Hendrik tell their story. They questioned the crewman about the needed repairs.
Everyone was invited to come ashore. It was, after all, Christmas, and the little village didn’t see many outsiders this time of year.
As they left the little shack to return to the ship Carl asked the Irishman about the riots. The Irishman looked at him like he was nuts and translated it for the Frenchmen. They narrowed their eyes at Carl and spoke several sentences in French. The Irishman hesitated and replied that the Frenchmen had heard about Europe and that it didn’t affect them, and they didn’t want talk about it in the village.
Carl thought that it might not affect them now, but it might as time went by. But he nodded his head at them and followed the others to the motorboat. They ferried the others to the pier. Darlene and Katy were delighted to be going ashore, and were filled with gratitude when they stood on the hard, frozen ground.
They walked along the path into the village and were led into a coffee shop. Several locals had already heard they were coming and had packed the place. Most only spoke French but there was a scattering of English among them. The waitresses were kept busy for a while delivering coffee to everyone.
Laughter and talking filled the room, and much pantomiming was being done to overcome the language barrier. A tiny woman slipped into the booth with Carl and Denise. Her cheeks were reddened from much time spent outside.
“The big man,” she indicated Igor, “says you’re from Montana.” Her voice carried the familiar flattened-out accent of the American west, so Darlene and Carl perked up. Darlene leaned forward.
“Yes, we are! We’re trying to get home to there!” she said fervently.
The woman sipped her coffee and looked at them over the steam rising from the cup. Then she set the cup down.
“I’m from Alberta. I live near Winnipeg now, but I’ve been here on the Island for a Dogsled race. Tomorrow I’m flying home. I have my own plane so I can fly my dogs my way. If you can stand the yapping of 17 sled dogs for six hours, I’ll take you that far. You won’t be able to bring much gear, though. It would handle the weight, but there are space issues.” She picked up her coffee cup again.
“I’m Thelma, by the way,” she added.
“Um, yeah! Wow! That would be great!” Darlene and Carl spoke at once, talking over each other. “We love dogs. Not a problem. Wow. Is there anything we can help with, getting ready to go?”
She smiled at their enthusiasm. “No, I have a pretty good system, pretty efficient. I run the dogs every day to keep them in shape. If either of you want to go joy-riding on a dogsled, meet me at the edge of town around 2:30 and I’ll take you for a run.”
She finished her coffee, rose with her cup and nodded at them, then left, setting her cup on the counter as she walked toward the door.
“I can’t believe it! We’ll be almost home!” Darlene said, clasping her hands in glee.
“It’s a big step, that’s for sure. Still a ways from home but brings it a lot more closer!” Carl was trying to be nonchalant about it but couldn’t help grinning.
“Hey, what’s with all the happy faces at this table?” Mike said, plopping into the space vacated by Thelma. They told him their good fortune, and then their faces became solemn.
“I’m sorry, man!” said Carl. “I guess this leaves you and the rest of the crew in a tighter spot. I know it only leaves you Heimlich to pilot the ship.” Carl had never figured out exactly what the German fisherman’s name was, but it sounded pretty close to Heimlich, so that’s what everyone called him.
“It’s okay,” Mike shrugged. “I’d do the same, if a chance like that came along to get me home. Staying with us only takes you farther out of the way. We’re grateful for all you’ve done to get us this far.�
�
“I hope Hendrik feels the same way. He’s been a real stand-up guy. We’re grateful to all of you for getting us this far!” Carl clasped Mike on the shoulder.
Igor leaned over from behind them and said, “Hey, don’t get all mushy over here! And you’re welcome, for me setting you up with the little lady!”
They laughed and thanked him over and over until he put his hands in front of his face in protest.
That afternoon Carl spent a few hours with Hendrik and the German, going over everything he could think of to teach them both what they needed to know to pilot the ship on down to the States. They both had a fair grasp of how it worked, but neither were confident about it. Carl made several notes and posted them around the console. They looked over maps but Hendrik still wasn’t sure where they would try to make port.
Prepper Fiction Collection: Four Books in One Page 20
