CHAPTER EIGHT
The next afternoon, they were met at the dock by Tom the crewman with a motorized excursion raft. He had come to take them back to the ship.
Jennifer greeted him warmly, "How are you today, Tom?"
He grunted a reply.
Jonathan and Jennifer settled into the raft. "Water seems a little rough today, Tom," Jonathan remarked. "Is it supposed to rain or..."
"Maybe so...haven't really heard," was his response.
They headed away from the dock and across the icy waters. They could see the Tikaani in the distance, but Tom seemed to be driving the raft out ahead of the ship.
Jonathan questioned this, "Tom, why are we going north of the ship? You're taking us too far out. Tom?"
Tom said nothing, but kept his eyes straight ahead as if on a mission. His only response was to drive the raft faster and into rougher waters.
"TOM!" Jonathan shouted.
Still no response. The raft was hitting the water at top speed now barely missing icebergs that were jutting out of it's icy surface. Jonathan jumped up from where he was sitting and attempted to take control of the raft. It bounced sporadically on the crest of the water nearly dumping it's three passengers.
"Tom, PLEASE!" Jennifer shouted.
Jonathan made yet another attempt to take control of the situation. This time Tom fought back. He swung around and attacked Jonathan. There was a brief struggle and Jonathan was thrown overboard into the icy water…
"JONATHAN! TOM, STOP! HELP HIM!," she shouted. But he turned a deaf ear and banked the raft heading it back to the ship.
"JONATHAN!" Her last glimpse of him was of his head as he attempted to swim in the rough, cold waters.
When the raft reached the Tikaani, Jennifer scrambled aboard shouting for help. "CAPTAIN! SOMEBODY! HELP ME!"
She ran frantically from the upper deck to the wheelhouse to the galley, but there was no one to be found on the ship. No one at all. She checked the lower deck, the salon, every stateroom. She was quickly coming to a horrid conclusion...she was alone...just she and Tom…
She ran back to her stateroom and locked the door behind her. She had to think. The raft...it was the only escape...and the only way to help Jonathan…
She heard a key turn in the lock...as she turned, the door opened. Tom was standing in the doorway looking at her silently.
"What are you DOING!? Where IS everyone!? What have you done?!" she screamed questions at him. He winced at her anger but silently moved toward her. She backed away slowly.
"Tom! Please...what do you want from me?" She continued to back around the edges of the stateroom walls, he following and watching...finally he stood before her. He reached a hand up to her cheek feeling it's softness. She turned her head away…
"You're the only one who's ever been nice to me. Everyone else is afraid of me since I got out...but, not you. You like me."
Jennifer's fighting spirit and quick mind made her think...if she was going to help Jonathan, she would have to keep her wits about her.
"Yes Tom...I DO like you. You've been very kind to me. But, Tom...tell me, where are the others?...the Captain and the other guests and...?"
"WHY DO YOU KEEP ASKING ABOUT THE OTHERS!?" He struck his fist into the wall beside her face. "THEY'RE GONE!" Then, seeing her frightened expression, he softened and touched her cheek again. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry...please...don't be frightened of me...I'll take care of you."
As calmly as she could, Jennifer said, "I'm not frightened. I just wondered where they were...I wondered if we were going to have some time alone...that's all. You know, Tom. I'm getting hungry...why don't we go to the galley and I'll see what I can fix for us to eat?"
She started to move toward the door and he followed amiably until she reached for the knob to exit.
"NO! No, you stay...I'll go make something."
Jennifer was NOT giving up so easily. She HAD to get away from him. HAD to take a chance. She shoved him as hard as she could and grabbed the doorknob to flee. He stumbled back from her shove, but was back on his feet in seconds. He grabbed her in the hall and dragged her back to the stateroom. Shoving her inside, he slammed and locked the door. She could hear his angry shouts from the other side, "You're just like all the others...and you know what happened to them!"
She could still hear him yelling and muttering obscenities as he went down the hall.
Jennifer was left for hours. She paced the floor. She yelled for Tom to come back. She finally curled up on the bed and had a good cry. She was so worried about Jonathan. He couldn't survive long in those icy waters, and the water was too rough for swimming...his parka would be very heavy if wet...it would weigh him down...oh, where was he? She lay on the bed and watched the sky turn from daylight to dusk to nightfall. And she devised a plan...
Jennifer waited until the knew the ship was stopped for the night. Tom had come down the hallway and listened several times, but he didn't attempt to come back into her stateroom. After a long while, when she hadn't heard him stirring about, she decided to try her plan. She dressed herself warmly before scrounging through her bag to find her nail file. She inserted the file into the lock and moved it about as quietly as possible. It took several minutes. Finally she heard a click and the doorknob moved freely. She turned the handle slowly and quietly and exited the room...then she tiptoed to the lower deck…
It was a dark night, but she could see the lighthouse beaming on shore. She had to make it to the shore, and the lighthouse was her only guide. Jennifer lowered herself quietly over the side of the ship on a hanging ladder made for that purpose. She thought she would have to use the emergency oars, but was greatly relieved to find that Tom had accidentally left the keys in the raft. She decided to put a little distance between herself and the ship before starting the ignition. She didn't want to take any chances. Jennifer pulled the oars out and, with all the strength she had, she pushed off from the side of the ship. The raft moved obediently by her leading. She rowed out about forty feet from the ship and then started the ignition. She searched the small instrument panel...it didn't look too complicated. She took the wheel and moved in the direction of the lighthouse. In the distance she could hear an angry Tom screaming for her...he had awakened! She must hurry before he followed her on a different raft.
The raft was more difficult to maneuver than she had expected. She followed the light, but as she approached the shoreline, she realized she was south of the lighthouse. The shoreline was rocky and she ran the raft aground on a rock. Crawling from the raft, she pushed it back into the water and watched it float downstream. She didn't want Tom to see her raft onshore. Then she made her way carefully across the rocks finally reaching grassy land. The wind was cold even though she had layered her clothing under her parka. She trudged through the wind toward the lighthouse. She was tired both physically and emotionally. When she finally reached the lighthouse, she was thankful to find it unlocked. She entered it's dark interior and sat down her back against a wall. There she fell into an exhausted sleep.
To be continued...
