by Matt Musson
We returned to the living room just in time to hear Freddie's bad news.
“No signal and no ships,” he said, still panting from his three flight sprint.
“The cell phone is out,” said Charlie. “And, we probably shouldn't move her, unless there's no other option.”
Donnie made a suggestion. ”What if I take the boat into Beaufort and call for the helicopter from there.”
“It's not great,” said Charlie. ”But, I don't see another alternative. If only we had some way to contact the mainland,” he wished. “If we could just signal them that we were in trouble, they would send someone here to investigate.”
“Maybe we could build a giant bonfire?” suggested Shad. “That might get their attention.”
“The island is so flat you couldn't see a bonfire a mile away,” Charlie complained. ”Plus they would just think someone was having a weenie roast on the beach.”
Suddenly, Bogdon Peabody jumped up and surprised us all.
“A signal!” he shouted. ”We need to send a signal!”
“Ah… yeah. No kidding Captain Obvious,” Shad agreed. ”That's what we've been saying. But what are we going to signal them with?”
“How about something you can see for nineteen miles?” Bogdon suggested. ”How about we use the Lighthouse!”
In retrospect, it seems so obvious. But, when blood is pumping through your ears and you palms are sweating and you can't think clearly - it is really easy to be stupid!
The good news is because it was so obvious we did not sit around discussing it to death. We just divided up and went to work.
Charlie gave us our marching orders.
“Thor, Jeep and I will bike to the Lighthouse. The rest of you guys stay here and do the best you can. Shad's in charge while I'm gone. Freddie, keep trying your cell phone just in case.”
Charlie pulled an old throw cover off the back of a nearby recliner.
“We might need this later,” he said. Then we ran out the back door.
*************
Chapter 19 - Race for Life
Thor and I trailed Charlie outside and around to the bike rack on the corner of the building. There were several balloon tire beach bikes fitted into the slots, including the ones Bogdon and Toby used on their mapping trip earlier. We grabbed three, jumped on and tore out as fast as we could pedal.
According to the map, it's 1.8 miles from the Camp to the Lighthouse proper. It was a clear night, the wind was light and the moon was almost full. And, at the risk of sounding conceited, we are guys who know our way around a bicycle.
Plus, we'd never been so motivated in our lives!
As we rocketed through the moon brightened night, our bikes kicked up bits of shell and gravel like shrapnel. Since Thor was in the lead with Charlie close at his heels, I was the one getting nicked by the rear wheel discharge. My legs were soon covered with tiny cuts and scrapes.
In six minutes flat we hit the path that splits the Lighthouse and the Keeper's Quarters. As we pulled up to Tizzy's house, we had an unfortunate surprise. The place was dark.
Tizzy wasn't home!
Charlie rode right up to the front door. His bike had a headlight, so he shined it on the wood placard hanging from the knob.
“Closed,” he read. ”Keeper off the island.”
“Great,” I moaned. “How are we going to get into the Lighthouse? The door is always locked.”
Not knowing what else to do, we hopped off our bikes and ran over to the front door of the Lighthouse; just in case Tizzy had left it open.
He hadn’t.
By now Charlie and I were bent over grabbing our knees. We were panting like crazy from the wild ride over. Of course, Thor the athlete acted like it was nothing more than a Sunday stroll.
From out of his pocket, he fished a keychain that had a tiny built-in flashlight. (If the situation weren’t deadly serious it would have been funny. We were using the world’s smallest light to break into the worlds largest.)
“It’s a pretty solid door,” Thor observed. “But, the padlock is hanging off of bracket that looks a little rusty. Did anyone think to bring a pry bar?”
“No way. And, Tizzy is too smart to leave anything like that lying around. ” Charlie said with at touch of irony, “someone might use it to break into the Lighthouse.”
“What are we going to do now?” I asked, panic sneaking into my voice.
“Well, I guess we’ll just have to do it the old fashioned way,” said Thor matter of factly.
I was not sure what he meant. So, I just watched as Thor moved down the boardwalk away from the tower. About fifteen yards from the door, he stopped. Turning back to face us, he leaned forward and took a three point football stance. About the time he exploded out of his position, it occurred to me what ‘the old fashioned way' really meant.
I've mentioned before that Thor is a first string linebacker. However, I may not have told you, Thor is the hardest hitting country boy I've ever seen.
He accelerated toward the Lighthouse. His legs were driving and his arms were pumping. And, about two seconds later he smashed his shoulder on the door, just level with the lock!
“UMPHFFF!”
Of course, I was expecting the door to fly open – or maybe even to splinter. But, Thor smashed it with all the force of a Rhinoceros, bounced off and crumpled to the ground.
We ran over to check on our friend. In the silver moonlight, he was picking himself up. I could tell he was dazed and more than a bit shaken up by the collision. He just wiped sweat and blonde hair out of his face.
“That hurt,” Thor said stating the obvious like it was a joke.
Even with the neoprene padding of the wetsuit, he was going to be black and blue in the morning.
He shined the little light on the bracket again. We were pleased to see that the impact had indeed loosened it. Three screws held it into the brick and plaster. The lower two screws were popped out half an inch.
“Well,” said Thor. ”Looks like about second down with nine and a half to go.”
He handed me his keychain. Then he walked back to his starting place and got down into his stance once more.
“All right, Thor!” Charlie yelled for encouragement.
“Let’s go Buddy!” I added. “You can do it!”
Thor exploded once more. If anything, this time he looked more determined and was moving even faster when he tackled the door!
“UMPHFFF!”
Once more, our friend bounced off and crashed to the ground.
“Yeow!” Thor said. “That door is tougher than Lenoir Middle’s entire front line!”
Charlie and I rushed over and helped him back to his feet. He brushed himself off, as I spotlighted the bracket.
The two bottom screws were completely gone. But, that last stubborn screw was dug in tighter than a tick!
“That one screw is beginning to piss me off,” Thor said rubbing his shoulder.
Then he walked slowly back to his starting spot. His face was distorted with intense concentration.
All the joking was over. It was now one dogged but resolute Ranger against one stubborn rusted up piece of steel – Winner Take All.
Thor leaned over. This time he took a four point stance and grabbled the ground with both hands.
Suddenly, Thor leaped from the ground like a Sumo Wrestler stung by a bumblebee. Like an express train, he accelerated toward the door. At the last second Thor pushed off the ground, curled up like a cannon ball, and crashed into his wooden opponent.
“Yeooohhhhwwweeeeeee!”
This time, he did not bounce back or get knocked to the ground. This time he smashed through the barrier and into the entry way beyond.
Son of a gun, that boy can hit!
I shined the tiny flashlight up onto the bracket. To my surprise, that last screw was still there. But, Thor's effort ripped the door side of the hinge clean through. It looked like t
wo giant hands had grabbed the hardened steel and torn it right in half.
We pushed our way inside and Charlie hit the light switch on the wall.
Suddenly we could see. And what we saw was our friend lying dazed on the floor. Together we lifted him up and propped him against the interior wall. He slowly came to his senses.
“I’m okay. I’m okay,” Thor protested like a punch drunk fighter.
Then he tried to move and discovered he was not okay. But, like a hard-headed Swede who did not care that he just crashed through a lighthouse door, Thor staggered to his feet anyway. However, he was in no shape to run up 200 stairs and he knew it.
“I guess I’m done,” he groaned, shaking his head. “You guys have to go on without me.”
Charlie and I did not know what to say so we just stood mute.
“I mean it,” Thor ordered. “I didn’t break the damn door down just to have a Powwow in the hallway!”
Thor was hurting. He was favoring his right shoulder. But, with his left hand he gave us a thumbs up and a smile.
“Get going,” he whispered.
We knew he was right. So, Charlie and I took off up the staircase.
“You’re the Greatest!” I yelled over my shoulder.
“A human rhinoceros!” Charlie added as we disappeared around the staircase circle.
And that was the night he got the nickname ‘Thor the Rhino’.
*************
With adrenalin flowing, we hit the stairs, our legs pumping like pistons.
Up and down. Up and down. Step after step after step. We circled the tower moving up what seemed like an endless track. It was not long before our legs ached and our lungs burned. But, we just kept moving like we were in some kind of trance or dream state.
In my head the staircase was encouraging me as I climbed. Like the ticking of a metronome our feet slapped against the stairs in a rhythm.
Slap, slap.
Slap, slap.
Slap, slap
But in my head I was hearing:
One more.
One more.
One more.
Around and around we circled. It was dark, and it hurt. The heat inside our neoprene wetsuit skins was unbearable, but we just kept moving.
One more.
One more.
One more.
And, suddenly, the stairs ended. We were at the top.
Moving onto the observation landing, we paused to catch our breath. For the first time, we were aware of the intermittent flashing above our heads. There was plenty of light up here.
“What’s the plan?” I asked Charlie. “Now that we’re here, how are we going to get people’s attention? Do we just shut it off?”
“I’ve got something a little more specific in mind,” Charlie answered.
He moved around the tower to a wooden tool box on the floor. Lucky for us it was unlocked. I guess they figured if you can break down the door and run up 200 stairs, you can have whatever you want.
Charlie unlatched the top and opened it. Using the flashes of light from the level above, he found what he was looking for. He pulled out two sets of welders goggles and handed me one.
I took the goggles and following his example I put them over my eyes.
A few seconds later we stepped into the top room of the tower. Inside, two DCB-24 beacons were spinning twice a minute. Each 24 inch diameter drum contained a Quartz Halogen light, a reflector and a lens. And, boy howdy, even through welder’s goggles, those puppies were bright!
Charlie maneuvered around the cramped quarters, making his way to the rotation motor that spun the entire unit.
“First we need to stop the turning,” He said.
A second later Charlie found a big cut off lever mounted on the wall beside the motor.
“Attention engine room,” Charlie ordered. ”All stop!”
He slammed down on the lever.
Immediately, the motor ground to a halt and the beacons quit rotating.
I was caught directly in the beam of one of the 24 inch lights. I blindly staggered out of the brilliance into the shadows.
“Great,” said Charlie. “The beacon on this side is pointing almost directly toward Morehead City.”
“Now, let’s see if we can get their attention.”
Ever since we left the Center, Charlie had been carrying that throw cover wrapped around his neck like a cape. I did not understand why until now.
I moved to one side of the Beacon, and he took the other. Then he handed me one end of the cover.
“How’s your Morse Code?” Charlie inquired.
“It’s a little rusty,” I told him. “But I believe I can still remember how to send an SOS. Isn't it three dots, followed by three dashes, followed by three dots?”
“That's right,” He confirmed. “So, let's start sending.”
Raising and lowering the blanket, we began our transmission.
. . . S
- - - O
. . . S
Pause.
. . . S
- - - O
. . . S
It was a beautiful weekend evening on what the North Carolina Tourist Bureau likes to call the ‘Crystal Coast.' And, from Beaufort, to Morehead City, across to Atlantic Beach, Salter path and Emerald Isle, tens of thousands were enjoying a gorgeous summer night.
I don't know how many people actually saw our messages flashed from the Cape. And, of those who observed the dots and dashes, I'm not sure what percentage could read Morse code. But, lucky for us, there were enough people who decoded our message, that they jammed every single phone connection to the Carteret County Emergency Response System, calling in for help.
Though it seemed much longer as we lived through it, exactly fourteen minutes elapsed between the time we left through the back door of the Environmental Center and the first emergency call came in to the County Sheriff's Office.
We sent the SOS ten times. We paused and sent it ten more times. After a second pause, we sent it ten final times.
Thirty messages was all we could manage.
If we thought we were hot after running up the Lighthouse stairs in our wetsuits, it was nothing compared to being roasted alive by those giant spotlights in the lamp room. I was ready to pass out, and we were both seeing spots from our punished eyeballs.
“No Mas!” I pleaded. ”No Mas!”
Charlie was a little unsteady himself. He did not argue with me. He just threw the blanket over his shoulder, and we climbed down to the cooler observation platform below where we removed our goggles and laid them on the tool box.
A tide of weariness broke over me like the surf. My feet suddenly weighed a ton. But, most of all, I was hotter than I have ever been in my entire life. Sweat was pouring from my body. I could not stand it anymore! If I did not get out of this suit immediately, I was going to dissolve into tears.
I don't know if Charlie realized I was approaching heatstroke. But, he did come over and unzip the top of my wetsuit.
I struggled to pull the damn thing over my head and break free. And, I finally emerged from the neoprene like a butterfly from a stifling hot cocoon.
Sea breezes blow briskly 150 feet off the ocean. And, when I stepped out onto the Lighthouse observation platform and up against the iron rail, a cooling wind poured over my body like cold rain. It was the most refreshing moment of my entire life.
Feeling almost steady again, I helped Charlie with his zipper. He removed his shirt, and together we stood facing into that rejuvenating wind. Once more, we were on top of the world.
It was peaceful out on that little deck. With the rotation motor turned off, there was hardly any background noise. For some time, there was only the whistling of the wind through the iron bars.
After two minutes we perceived mighty engines drumming in the distant night.
“I think someone heard us.” I said.
“Sounds like
a chopper to me,” Charlie replied. “I guess we better go downstairs stairs and meet them.”
Charlie climbed up a level and restarted the lamp rotation. Then, at a steady pace, we began descending the two hundred steps down to our door busting linebacker and deliverance.
*************
Chapter 20 – Strangers in the Night
It dropped out of the sky on the back side of the island. Which I guess was sensible, since the Lighthouse was positioned near the calmer Sound shoreline and away from the more punishing Atlantic. But, that was the only thing sensible about the darkened intruder.
Of course we heard it coming. But, we were used to aircraft flying miles above the horizon. This thing flew fast and low, striking out of the darkness. Showing no lights or colors, only the plentiful moonlight revealed the bizarre outline of the blacked out creature.
Like an enormous mechanical bat, it materialized out of the night, perhaps lowered on a giant string. Because there was just no way this impossible beast could ever fly!
More unbelievably, the shadowy phantom transformed itself, as it assaulted our location.
Suddenly, throbbing engines were echoing off Lighthouse bricks and noise battered us from both sides. Our ears were attacked by drumming and throbbing and pounding. Whirlwinds of dust and gravel kicked up from the surface and sandblasted our skin.
“Holy Monster in the Night!” shouted Charlie above the din. ”What the heck is that?”
Thor and I stood mute against the wind. We had no answer. At least not until we were bathed in landing light and the creature self illuminated, as it maneuvered toward a grassy clearing 200 feet to the east.
Maybe they lowered the rear facing ramp on the way down, or maybe the thing just flopped open on contact with the earth. But, at the exact instant of landing an infantry squad poured from the back of the aircraft. Running beneath the upward pointed wings with their helicopter sized propellers, the troops established a perimeter radiating out from the craft. Suddenly automatic rifles, grenade launchers and light machine guns were all trained in our direction.
I don't know about Thor and Charlie, but I dropped my wetsuit top and reached for the sky. (And, I almost did a Freddie in the bottoms.) I did not want them to mistake me for a target of opportunity and trigger a one-sided fire fight.
