apprehension, must surely be about as wild as the sea could get.
The lights of the fishing boat penetrated the blackness of the night, bringing a shimmer to the rolling waves and outlining the dark bulk of the boat that suddenly lurched and heaved beneath her, knocking her off balance. She grabbed for the rail with one hand while turning her face into the wind, alarmed at its ferocity and yet totally intoxicated by the crashing of the waves and the salty tang of the ocean. She felt closer to her dad here than she had in the brief time she knew him, for this was his world. The sea had been his whole life and she owed it to him to make it his final resting place.
The wind howled menacingly in the cloudy black sky above and her apprehension gave way to real fear as the wooden deck seemed to suddenly disappear beneath her, thrusting her back up again as a mighty wave took the boat in its grasp. A wall of water towered above the cabin, crashing down onto the deck in a rushing mass of rippling white foam that almost took her feet from under her as she desperately clung to the urn with one hand and the rail with the other. The water forced her up against the side of the boat, but despite her looming awareness of the danger she was in, she kept her focus.
“I have to do this for you, Dad,” she cried as the next wave rolled across the deck beneath her feet, knocking her off balance. The urn slipped from her fingers and she released the rail, dropping onto her hands and knees to make a grab for it.
“Ali! Ali!” Bobby’s voice sounded distant against the howling wind. She glanced back for just a second and saw his bright young face beneath the waterproofs that hid his thatch of red hair. “Ali,” he yelled again. “Hang on... I’m coming.”
The boat leveled for a moment, and everything went strangely still. This was her chance. Seizing the opportunity, she grasped hold of the urn and unscrewed its lid, fighting back fear as she struggled to scatter the contents of the urn into the sea. The boat rolled violently as the next wave hit, and she hooked her fingers around the rail with a sense of relief. But as she upended the urn, the mighty wind whipped the gravelly dust and hurled it back in her face as if in mockery of her plight. Dust filled her eyes, her mouth. Panic seized her and for a moment everything froze. And then her fingers were slipping...slipping.
Bobby’s voice rang in her ears. “Ali...! Ali... Hang on, I’m coming.”
His words stalled as the next wave hit, lifting her off her feet. She fought for breath as it hurled her against the railing, tossing her like a rag doll up and over the side of the boat, down toward the raging black sea.
As she fell, Ali felt strangely distanced from the events overtaking her. Was this it then, the end? Was she to join her father in the roiling sea? Was that what he’d wanted?
“Ali...! Ali!” She heard Bobby’s voice again, screaming in fear, but it was too far away.
Something suddenly grabbed her, stopping her fall midflight but almost tearing her arm from its socket. The icy water numbed her legs as she hung half in and half out of the ocean, gasping for breath as the boat sank down into the sea before lifting her out again to gulp in air. The noise overpowered her; the howl of the wind, the crash of the waves and all the time, in the background, the steady throb of The Sea Hawk’s engine. It felt like her heartbeat inside her head. She tried to move; a wave of agony ran down her arm and she started to scream. “Bobby... Bobby! Help me!”
IT WAS JUST as Bobby reached the hatch that Tom saw them. Ali was standing right by the rails, outlined against the formidable black sea by the boat’s flickering light; her face was bright with a kind of raw exhilaration that took his breath away.
“Ali!” Bobby yelled, heading toward her. “Ali!”
Tom cursed silently. Didn’t she realize just how dangerous her situation was?
“Ali!” Bobby yelled again, his voice now a scream that was whipped away by the howling wind. The boat rose on a wave, then dipped down suddenly. Ali lost her footing and the urn she was clutching fell from her hands onto the deck. “Leave it,” Bobby cried.
Ignoring his plea she dropped down on her knees, reaching for the urn that was rolling across the wooden deck. Grabbing hold of it she turned to look across at Bobby, and Tom noted with a jolt of apprehension that the exhilaration in her eyes had now been replaced by raw fear.
“Hang on to the rail,” Bobby yelled as the boat leveled out once more, but Ali determinedly began to unscrew the lid, trying to scatter the ashes into the sea as he made his way toward her. The wind whipped the contents of the urn into her face.
Tom saw the panic in her eyes as the storm took the boat back into its grip and for an endless moment time seemed suspended. The deck rose violently beneath their feet as another huge wave hit; Ali looked up in horror as the water towered above them, as high as the mast itself, before crashing down with a violence that stopped Tom in his tracks and forced Bobby back.
“Ali...! Ali!” his brother yelled again, his voice breaking as the wave hit her. In desperation she tried to hang on to the rail, fighting to stay on her feet as the powerful wave took her. Tom watched helplessly as she slid, over the side and into the raging sea.
“Bobby!” he screamed. His brother headed straight for the railing with no thought for his own safety.
Tom struggled along the rolling deck, watching the scene play out as if it was all happening to someone else. By now Bobby was leaning precariously over the rail, peering into the heaving ocean, the black water flickering and glistening in the yellow lights of the boat. He yelled Ali’s name over and over, despite the roar of the wind.
To Tom’s horror, he started to clamber over the rail... “I’m coming, Ali,” he called. “Don’t worry.”
“Get back, Bobby,” Tom shouted as another wave hit. He struggled toward the rail. “It’s an order, Bob... Don’t be stupid.” His words were lost as the wave crashed down over the boat hurling him against the side.
Hearing the cries, the two other fishermen, Mike and their father, Jed, appeared on deck, struggling to balance against the force of the water as they went to help...but it was too late. By the time they joined Tom at the rail Bobby was gone.
Desperately scouring the heaving waves, an empty space where his heart should be, Tom detected a shape in the water. “There,” he yelled. “Look!”
Mike peered down to where he pointed. “It’s the girl.” he said in a heavy tone.
“You get her,” ordered Tom. “I’ll keep looking for Bobby... Dad, can you get the floodlight out onto the sea and grab a life belt ready to throw out to him...and call Search and Rescue.”
* * *
ALI FOUGHT TO stay conscious, fought to breathe, fought for her life against the raging sea as the icy cold water crashed over her again and again. A burning agony ran down her arm. She was stuck, caught up in something. All the while she could hear Bobby calling her name. His face was a blur as he looked down from the boat, the sea raining over him like a shimmering waterfall. And then he was a part of the waterfall, plummeting toward her. As the weight of his body thudded against her she tried to grab hold of him, clinging desperately onto his arm. For an endless second their eyes made contact and then he was gone, torn away by the cruel sea. Desolation hit and she closed her eyes, the whole world going black.
The
