Beneath THE BLEEDING SKY

Episode 9-claimed(II)

Let's see what the radio is saying," said Mrs. Tompkin, turning up the volume as they huddled together under the Ping-Pong table.

With mounting apprehension, they listened to an announcer warning that the full force of the storm would hit the area in less than three hours. Power had already been cut off for miles around Charleston, High-voltage wires lay on the ground, sparking and jumping. Trees were breaking off like matchsticks and the air was filled with flying debris. Huge oak trees like the ones behind the clinic were being uprooted.

"A twenty-foot tidal wave along the coast is carrying boats inland," the announcer reported. "And piling them up like broken toys."

Elizabeth closed her eyes and let hot tears ease down her cheeks. Time passed with excruciating slowness. Davin! Buddy! Where were they?

Davin fought his way through fallen timbers, hurling rain and wind. A mounting crescendo burst in his head. Clanging bells pealed frantically above screams and cries for help in the black abyss of wind and water.

The child? Where was the child?

He couldn't see. An inner blindness blocked his vision. Remembered torment lashed at him. Anguish. Helplessness. Pain. All of the despair was there, like serpents striking him again and again.

The violence around him increased to a horrific pitch. Cracking boards and ripping canvas mocked his helplessness, assaulted his ears, and the violent roll of the ship sent him to his knees. His lungs filled with air and then he shrieked-a cry that rose jagged above the clamor of the storm.

Would the torturing memory ever be over? Would he ever be free? Must he live it again...and again... throughout eternity?

The ship was overloaded. Women screamed in terror. Men cursed or prayed to God to save them. Death was everywhere. Huge masts crashed down upon the floundering vessel with a deafening roar. Blood flowed down his face. He crawled and scratched his way to the deck.

He screamed her name and heard the child's cry, sharp and clear above the deafening din. He plunged forward in the raging tempest. Then he saw her. His beloved golden-haired Alicia. She was at the railing, pushed and shoved by a crazed crowd trying to flee the sinking ship.

He almost reached her when the boat rose up out of the water and fell into a deep trough. He was thrown backward. He nearly lost consciousness as his head struck the side of the hull but he fought his way to his feet again, screaming her name.

He brushed aside the shock of drenched hair hanging on his face. Where was she? He couldn't see her anymore. He staggered to the railing. His heart leapt. Looking below he saw her. Someone had put her into the tiny lifeboat being lowered into the raging sea.

"Alicia!" he called.

She looked up. "Papa... Papa!" She held out her arms just as the small boat hit the water. In the next instant a monster wave engulfed the boat.

His agonizing scream filled the air as the boat's timbers broke apart. His child's fair hair bobbed in the water and then disappeared into the murky depths of the Atlantic.

What if he didn't come back. What if he couldn't find the child? A band of fear brought a sharp pain into her chest. Both of them might already lay buried under collapsing walls and ceilings. "Please, please keep them safe," she prayed. She buried her face in her hands and pressed her fingers against her temples. "It's going to be all right...it's going to be all right." Davin would find the little boy and bring him back safely. They both would escape death. They had to! She couldn't bear to lose either one of them. In some strange way they had become linked in her affections. And with sickening certainty she knew that if she lost one she would lose them both.

She didn't understand what had happened to her. It must be the intensity of the storm's devastation and the immediate threat of disaster, she rationalized. In times of war, people gave in to feelings that bypassed the trivial and ordinary. Time had no meaning when every moment had to be treasured. And maybe there was no time left.

Mrs. Tompkin was visibly shaken. "It's my fault. I should have kept my hands on him. What if Buddy runs outside? What'll we do? Dear God in heaven, it's my fault-"

"No, it isn't. It's... it's all of our faults," Elizabeth said with dry lips.

Marietta wailed. "The evil spirits took him away." "Stop it! I won't listen to this! Davin will bring him back."

The young woman's dark eyes were mournful. "Your captain will not be back. His avenging spirit is appeased. He is at peace. He has claimed the child."