AUTHOR'S NOTE: I am very sorry for not updating this sooner. I am just getting nervous about the end and edited and re-edited this chapter who knows how many times. Please read and review, it really makes all this worth it. Thank you!
P.S: Typos eliminated(including a very embarrassing one). A ton of thanks to BlaqueCat13 !
Rhett, help me Rhett! They are going to kill me and our baby!
Scarlett's voice was muffled in the thick mist, and no matter how fast Rhett ran, he couldn't reach her. Her voice seemed distant still, and he felt tears running down his cheek as he tried to call out to her in vain- his voice was choked. Some acrid smell burned up through his nostrils, and he fought nausea as he staggered on. But the smell was stinging his eyes, and he couldn't go on. The mist around him grew darker and darker, until everything was pitch black and he passed out...
Rhett jumped up. At first he was not entirely sure of his surroundings. His heart was beating painfully fast and the dim light in his room made him panic. Then he realized he was sitting on his bed. He heaved a deep breath. It was just a dream. Though how a dream can be so agonizingly real, he had no idea. He swept the sweat off his forehead, and was about to reach out for a glass of water when he heard loud noises from just outside his cabin. Oh what are these drunken sailors up and about at this hour of the night! He groaned. But suddenly he smelt a pungent odor, which seemed to rise up from the ground.
With dawning horror, he set his foot down and gasped. The wooden floor was red hot. He realized fire had broken out in the lower floor. With unerring agility, he grabbed a heavy coat over his nightshirt and put on his thick-soled shoes. The heat of the floor didn't reach up to the skin through the thick leather. At least now now, he thought grimly. With a quick glance through the window he judged by the waves that they were still a mile or two off the shore.
He touched the doorknob, and breathed in relief. It wasn't too hot- this floor had not yet caught fire. He wrenched his door open. Immediately, thick smoke billowed into his room, choking him. He picked up his scarf and tightly tied it around his nose and mouth, and walked out of the room. Men were running everywhere, shouting at the top of their voices.
"...god help us, they'll not rest till all of us are deep in our graves..."
"...AAARGHHHH, the lower deck is destroyed! I can't swim all the way!"
"God rest yer merry men! Yeh buffoons, how dare ye come bustin' weapons in me land!"
Rhett was shocked to hear such a raw, thick Irish accent. He was sure no one on board spoke that way. He saw a man stumble out of the room next to his, in coughing fits. Rhett caught his arm and led him up the stars towards the captain's cabin. Surprisingly, there was no one up in the relatively open room and the man Rhett had dragged up, collapsed on the floor. As he sat down beside him, Rhett realized it was Jim, the young sailor from Ballyhara. The shouts from below were faint, and Rhett looked at Jim, as his fit subsided and he sat up, wiping his face.
"Want to tell me what's going on?" Rhett asked.
"The Irish." Jim spat.
"What about the Irish?" Rhett asked, but even before he completed the sentence, he realized exactly what was happening. The Irish voice on the lower deck was a mutineer's.
"They attacked. They came in a dinghy and fired at the hull. This boat caught fire, and they jumped on board, stealing the ammunitions, and destroying everything else."
"Where's the captain?"
"They took him prisoner. Reckon they'll just kill off the rest of us and sail away with the loot and a hostage." Jim shook his head in disgust.
Rhett sat in silence for a few minutes. Funny way for things to end. He had finally mustered up the strength to go to Scarlett and now he was going to die in the hands of some brute rebel, and dropped cold in the middle of the sea. He wouldn't even get a funeral, he smirked at himself. So this is what it costs to thank the Lord once in a while, he jested silently.
Rhett almost felt like falling asleep. What did it matter, if he had to die in any case? Why not just doze off and never get up? It sure is nicer than getting sliced at the throat. He closed his eyes. The darkness inside his eyelids was soothing.
Suddenly a flash of light erupted in the darkness and he saw a face. Scarlett's face- teary and begging for help. He jerked his eyes open. He looked around dazed, and saw Jim looking at him curiously.
"You all right there? You looked like you had lightning pass through you."
"Yes, I am all right, and we are getting off the boat."
"In case you were dreaming, we are in the middle of the sea."
"I know we are. And it's not exactly the middle." Rhett jumped up, walking over to the window panes, his thumb in front of his eyes. "The shore is between two to two and a half miles off. Three at most. They came in a dinghy, didn't they?"
"So?"
"You are a sailor. You can easily swim the distance. It's not that cold either, we will have no problem."
"WHAT? You are going to swim to the shore?"
"You are too young to be skeptic, boy."
Jim stood up, his hands stretched out in a gesture of disbelief. "I am not talking about swimming! Do you have any idea how many lunatics are waiting on the shore to peel us off?"
"Well, these lunatics are going to kill us anyway, so why not die on land?"
Jim opened his mouth, then closed it again. Apparently, the argument he had thought out did not look so logical. Finally he sighed. "But, what do you really going to do when they point the gun at us when we reach the shore?"
Rhett smiled, and dug his hand into the inner pocket of his coat. The Colt M1861 Navy he held in his hand knocked the breath out of Jim. The brass muzzle had a latent sophistication about it, but the way Rhett held it professed that it had been put to good use often before.
Jim nodded after what seemed like minutes of admiring. Rhett threw off his coat and stuck the revolver in his belt.
"Alright, we can't jump from here. Too much splash will attract their attention, and they can very well chase us in their dinghy. We have to sneak down to the lower deck."
Jim looked unsure and scowled. "You think any of it is left? They set it on fire! Where were you?"
"I am sure it is not destroyed. The boat would not float, if it were." Rhett's voice was urgent, and he had already started walking down the stairs.
Jim followed, his shoulders sulking like a student who had just got detention.
Once in the middle deck, where the resident cabins were, they were almost blinded by the thick smoke which was still circulating in the corridor. But it seemed to have settled down near the floor, and both Rhett and Jim were tall enough to stand upright above the dense layer.
Jim started coughing again, and Rhett handed him his scarf, silently gesturing him to keep quiet. Rhett had to admit to himself, he was feeling quite nervous. The layer of smoke seemed to have the potential of hiding an average-sized Irish who might jump up and shoot them suddenly. He chided himself inwardly. Fifty two was no age for such imagination! He was happy all the same, that after years, he was so attached to life to actually be afraid to die. He was a man on a mission.
His inspiring train of thoughts were interrupted by a pull on the back of his shirt. He spun around, gun at the ready, to see Jim pointing to his left. Rhett was confused- there was nothing but the whitewashed wall, not unlike everywhere else on the boat. He raised his eyebrow quizzically.
Jim pressed his ears to the wall and tapped. Rhett was surprised by the way the tap resounded- the wall seemed hollow! Jim smiled at the look on Rhett's face.
Jim groped around the wall, and about three feet apart, he dug in his fingers. Something clicked, and Rhett looked on in awe as Jim wrested the white plank away. Rhett squinted in the faint light, and his jaw dropped open. A staircase leading down to the lower tiers was visible through the gaping hole in the wall. He looked at Jim, with newfound admiration.
Jim squeezed in through the hole and beckoned Rhett to do the same. Once inside, Jim carefully picked up the plank covering the staircase, and latched it into place.
"A secret staircase? In an ammunition boat!" Rhett's voice was ecstatic.
Jim shrugged. "When I first joined this boat, they were renovating it. This stair leads down to the lowest floor, but has no bypass. It was no good unless you wanted to go from the top to the bottom. So they constructed the current stairwell, connecting the whole boat, and sealed this one."
"So, unless anyone knows about that hole in the wall, we are the only two people who have access to this?"
Jim smiled and his eyes twinkled. "Isn't it convenient?"
Rhett chuckled. "Brilliant, boy! But it's a too dark in here. We might fall right down- How long is this anyhow?"
"Relax." Jim put his hands to the wall and yanked at another loose plank. The piece of wood came off easily, and a round window was revealed. Moonlight came in through the glass pane, waning the concrete darkness. In fact, Rhett could make out the outline of several stairs. He took a step down, and looked back at Jim who was peering out of the window.
"Come on, get a move on, Jim."
Jim looked at him, and then back at the window again. "They are leaving."
"Well, that's good, isn't it?"
"But why are they aiming- what is that? a firecra- they missed it! Oh, they are trying again. What is this, a celebration?"
He looked confused, but Rhett felt his breath was knocked out of his lungs. He launched forward and dragged Jim down, running down the stairs, in the darkness. He stumbled and caught the sideboards jutting out of the wall, but he didn't stop running. Jim tagged along, tripping a few times himself, but he seemed to have been intimidated by Rhett's urgency and kept on the unsteady trot.
"What is the matter?" Jim panted.
"Don't stop, you fool! They are torching the ammunitions! That's why they left. The boat will explode any second now."
Immediately, Rhett felt Jim tense up behind him. But within a few fractions of seconds, he resumed running down the rusty steps, with more vigor and brushed past Rhett.
Rhett slid on a plank, and faltered, and heard a loud thud. They had come to the base of the staircase and Jim, who was a few steps ahead of Rhett, had bumped right into the wall.
"Oh! We are here- ah, my head hurts! - Come on, find it- the door- somewhere around this wall..." Jim was unable to string words together to a sentence, but Rhett got up frantically sweeping his hands on the wall. Jim was shaking violently beside him, and he felt some tremors in his own gut. He bashed himself for being such a coward. Was this the man who risked his life to get frill and lace for ungrateful, gossiping biddies of Atlanta?
It was then, scratching through the rust and mould of the hull, they heard a thundering sound. Rhett felt his heart stop for one long moment, then started beating so furiously, his rib cage might have burst open. Jim let out a sound, which could have been anything from a snivel to a roar. Rhett felt he should say something, so that the boy wouldn't give up hope, but he was unable to voice anything. There were knots in his throat.
Suddenly Jim let out a squeal. "Found IT!" he shrieked, and Rhett felt tears would flow out of his eyes in relief. But another thundering explosion deflated his hope and he dug his fingers into the narrow crevice Jim had cracked open.
What seemed like hours of wrestling, there was a snap, and the upper half of the door broke and came off. Immediately cool air flowed in tingling their sweaty faces. Jim poked his head out of the hole, and groaned in frustration. It was still not big enough for either of them to squeeze through. Rhett grabbed Jim's collar and pulled him away. The he turned to his side and started banging at the door. He couldn't believe how strong the rusty scrap of metal was, when they heard a deafening crash.
With terror in their eyes, they saw a large chunk of the ceiling fall down, burning. Immediately a hot blast of air blew in and slithery flames were licking away at the ceiling. Through the newly formed hole, burning chunks of debris kept falling in and the whole roof creaked, threatening to fall in.
Rhett knew in a matter of seconds, the fire will hit the ammunitions chamber, and everything will be up in smoke. He closed his eyes, willing to summon up every ounce of strength and courage he had. He took a deep breath and released it heavily.
He took a few steps back, his face set in determination. He was not going to stop, not now, not ever. No one can stop him from having Scarlett back. Not some rebels, not a fire, not God if he had intended him to die today...
He broke into a run, going as fast as his half a century old body would permit. When he neared the half broken door, he closed his eyes. He had only one chance...
With a loud bang the door gave away to his momentum, and Rhett opened his eyes to find himself floating in the air. It was blissful, the weightless feeling, the cool night air caressing his face. As he splashed into the water, there was a sound behind him, which he couldn't compare to anything, except to what it was- five ton of firearms and ammunitions blowing up. Rhett didn't try to swim up, but sunk a good few feet, afraid the flying chunks of iron would smash right into his head. He flailed his arms about to swim away from the inferno raging around the boat, spewing balls of fire all around. After almost a minute he surfaced, and gasped, letting the air fill his burning lungs. Jim surfaced only seconds after him, coughing and choking.
Rhett was about to swim towards the younger man, when the boat let out a final eerie hiss, and the remains of the hull plunged into the water with a loud gurgle.
Jim had stopped coughing and they both floated still in the water, trying to assess the events of the previous minute. When the last of the burning flotsam had sunk, Rhett spoke quietly, careful not to let the thumping of his heart be heard in his voice." Are you ready?"
Jim looked his way, and nodded. "We have to swim that way."
"Thankfully the water is not cold, so we won't cramp up easily. We'll have to stay within three feet of each other."
"Don't worry. Feel the warm water beneath your feet? It's the Norwegian Current. It'll guide you right to the east coast of Ireland."
The eastern corner was showing the slightest hint of dawn. Without another word, both of them launched forward, into an easy swim, with very different thoughts coloring their minds.
X X X X X X
Rhett's limbs were aching, and the sight could not have made him any happier. The lush green strip separating the sky from the sea was beckoning seductively. The sun was too hot in the sky and judging by its position, Rhett calculated it must be nearly noon. He looked towards Jim, and saw the man had gained more speed at the sight of land. As it turned out the current had kept them on track, but slowed them down by more than an hour.
Finally when Rhett and Jim trudged up languidly on the rocky beach, both of them could swear they were seeing stars in front of them. Rhett dropped flat on a smooth rock. His body had endured more than it can take in the last few hours, and all he wanted was to curl up and go to sleep right there on the rock. He closed his eyes, and shielded them from the sun.
Rhett woke up with a start. Immediately, his eyes were dazzled and he squinted in the bright sunlight. Rubbing his eyes, he slowly rose from the rock, looking around him. Jim was fast asleep and snoring a few yards away, his back turned towards him.
Rhett walked up the beach, looking around for any sign of humans, but the beach ended within a few meters, and thick forest grew right from the edge. It looked an unlikely place for human habitation, but Rhett needed to find someone. He had to know where he was and how he could get to County Meath from here. He couldn't afford a moment of relaxation. Rhett briskly walked in the other direction, hoping to find a clearing, when he saw a tattered post.
Stay off the beach from 2pm to 6pm.
Beware of high tide.
County Mayo
Rhett let out a quick breath. County Meath was at least a day's journey, and this place looked like No Man's Land! He felt crying out obscenities in frustration. Why were so many obstacles being placed in his way? Why was he being put to test every minute of every day?
He kicked a rock and it flew off to hit Jim in the back.
"Ow! Who is it- where- what?" He sat up, confused.
"Sorry, I kicked it, and it landed on you. Anyway, you should be up, we have to get going."
Jim groaned, but stood up anyway. "Where are we?"
Rhett pointed to the signpost. Jim stood looking silently at the post.
"So, let's go off into the forest, shall we?" Rhett said and walked towards the trees.
"I cannot believe it. We swim for what, six or seven hours, and now we have to go hiking too?"
"Would have liked if some Irish rebels stood on the beach welcoming us with a shower of bullets?"
Jim snorted.
"Do you know where we have to walk?" Rhett asked.
"I cannot tell if I don't get to a road. We'll have to walk to the railway station, I suppose."
"Do you think the trains are still running?"
"Who knows?"
X X X X X X
They walked for almost an hour, before Rhett had to say, all his energy was drained out and he could not push ahead anymore. Jim's shoulders drooped, and he looked ready to collapse any second. Rhett leaned against a tree, trying to catch a breath, and he could see white balls bouncing in front of his eyes. He slid down the trunk of the tree, until he was squatting on the floor, head tilted back.
He was about to say they should rest for sometime, when he heard a sound. A distant, yet clear rattling sound. Rhett's eyes grew wide in shock, and so did Jim's.
"Trains..." he whispered, shock and elation sending ripples through his body.
The next thing they knew, they were both scurrying on their feet, running wildly through the trees, all the exhaustion well forgotten.
The forest had stopped as abruptly as it had begun. Or maybe it had been cleared away abruptly. There, in the middle of nowhere, lay the parallel beams of steel and the rattling sound was growing louder. Jim got down on his knees and pressed his ear to the track.
"It's just half a mile away. I think we can jump in, it's slow enough." He let out a nervous laugh. Rhett smiled wide and pulled him up.
Surely enough, within minutes, they could see the red engine chugging towards them. They stepped back a little, wary that the wheels might pull them in. Once the engine passed, they started running along the wagons. It was a goods train, ferrying coal across the country. They grabbed an iron ladder on the side of one of the wagons and hoisted themselves up the rungs.
Once they were safely on the heaps of coal, Jim let out a howl of joy. His face shone with tears, "Do you know what train is this? This is the coal wagon that goes from Kilrush to Monaghan. And it goes right over River Boyne in Meath!"
Rhett laughed out loud to himself. The young man's joy was euphoric, and he couldn't deny the rush of happiness inside himself. He lay back down on the coal.
The solid chips dug hard into his back, but he was too tired to feel it. He closed his eyes to a comfortable sleep.