Page 30 of 1000 of You
They weremet by another couple who had tied themselves to each other. Like everyoneelse, their sodden clothes were plastered to their bodies as they fought theirway over to whereMuam,Gova,and the other man were gathered. “What do you think our chances are that we’llreach the Americas?” The man and his wife’s faces reflected their trepidation.
The boat shuddered beneath theirfeet, and the wife gave a little shriek of fear. She grabbed her husband’s armwith both hands. “Take me below, Jack! We can’t stay up here on deck! We’ll bewashed overboard!” She pleaded with him as she frantically tugged on his shirt.
The man tried to reassure her.“We’ll be all right, Maura.‘Tisbut a squall. It’llblow itself out soon.”
“Can’t we wait for it to blow overbelow?”
“Didn’t you hear the first mate?The ship’s taking on water. If we stay below, we may be trapped in the risingwater. No, it’s safer up here, even though it feels like the good Lord istrying to see if we can sprout wings and fly.”
The ship groaned as one end of itlurched upward. Simultaneously, a wave of icy cold water leaped over the sides,pounding them with such force that they slammed onto the deck. The shipsquealed again like a wild animal caught in a trap, and rolled onto its side.Jack yelled in fear as he began sliding toward the railing. Maura scrabbled fora handhold, and managed to snagGova’sfoot.Govacried out as she was dragged closer to the edge. Shetried to wrest herself free of the woman’s fingers, kicking at the woman’shead.Muamfelt the strain on his arms intensify tothe point where he thought they’d be pulled out of their sockets.
Suddenly, the ship righted itself.Maura let go ofGova’sfoot and began crawling acrossthe boards toward her husband just as the vessel lolled to the other side. BothJack and Maura stared atMuamandGovain stark terror as they slid helplessly across the water-soaked deck, to theother side, and eventually dropped over the edge, into the turbulent sea.Glancing around,Muamnoticed the deck appearedempty. Neither could he see any sign of the man with the cloth headdress who’dgiven them the rope. Either they’d all been taken by the waters, or they’d soughtrefuge below. In both cases, he andGovaseemed to bethe only people left on deck.
Muam’sarms were aching to the point where he could no longer trust his hands andfingers to obey his will. His body was chilled and every muscle numbed. Yet,somehow he was able pullGovaagainst him, where hewrapped the length of rope around them both, then tied it off on the railing.If the ship continued to pitch, and they were washed away, they’d still be ableto climb back aboard.
Water smacked them across the face.Muamfelt some go up inside his nose, making himchoke. Likewise,Govacoughed up the brackish liquidshe’d accidentally swallowed.
“Muam!” Raisingher face, she placed her cold lips to his ear. “We are not going to survivethis!”
“I know, but I cannot stop myselffrom wanting to live!”
An almost human-sounding screampierced the pounding roar of the waves. Using his arms and legs,Muamheld onto her with every last ounce of strength. “Wewill get through this,Gova! We must believe!”
She lifted her face from whereshe’d buried it against his neck. At the same time, he heard a tremendouscracking sound and caught a movement from overhead. Before he could react, asection of the mast landed on top of them, followed by lengths of heavy ropeand white sail cloth.
He had no knowledge of how longthey lay buried beneath the debris. They were trapped and unable to push awaythe piece of timber, or crawl out from underneath it.
“Gova.”He tried to rouse her. It was hard to breathe with the weight of her and thewreckage directly on top of him. She was lying face down, and he realized she’dtaken the brunt of the impact across her back. “Gova!”He shook her to wake her, but she remained unresponsive.
Fear rose inside him. “Gova! No! No,Gova! Wake up,beloved!” Tilting her face so he could look at her, his worst fear wasconfirmed. Her eyes were open but glassy. Unseeing.
She was dead.
“Noooooo!” Throwing back his head,Muamscreamedat the heavens. No! She could not die without him! She couldn’t leave himthere, unable to follow her into death! “Govaaaa!”
The ship listed hard to the right,so close to the water’s surface that he could feel the waves lapping at hisfeet. Rain continued to pelt him in the face, running into his nose and almostdrowning him.
Drowninghim.
WithGovaand the mast on top of him, he was securely pinned onto the ship’s deck. Therewas no way he could slip out from underneath her and the rest of the rubble,and plunge into the seas to drown.
But there was an alternative.
With great effort, he began to jerkon her body, maneuvering it to where he could bury his face in her soakedclothing. Once she was at an angle where he could manage it,Muamtook one final look around at the raging storm. “Waitfor me,Gova,” he whispered. “Wait for me to joinyou, my beloved.”
With no other choice, he pressedhis face against her cooling body, stuffed the sodden material into his mouth,and slowly suffocated himself as the waves continued to wash over them.
Chapter 17
West Texas, the United States, 1962
DeputyHalliday turned around when he heard the car drive up. He watched as SheriffMandel got out of the vehicle, uncurling his long legs as he emerged from thedriver’s side. Straightening, the sheriff removed his hat and tossed it on theseat. After adjusting his pants, the man started toward the small wood framehouse.
Mandel gave Halliday a nod andascended the short flight of steps to the porch. “I was over inGroftonwhen I heard you radio in. What’s up?”
“It lookslike a murder suicide to me.” The deputy motioned for the sheriff to follow himinto the house. They walked through the living room, past the kitchen, and intothe rear bedroom where both bodies lay.
At firstglance, it was evident that Deputy Halliday’s guess was correct. Two people, coveredin blood, lay on the bed. What Mandel wasn’t prepared for was to discover thatthe weapon of choice was a large butcher knife. Even more shocking was the factthat it was the female who held the heavy blade.
