JOHN AND MIRIAM
Chapter Thirteen
John returned about twenty minutes later.
"You're right. We are in trouble. The
area toward the bow has about two inches of icy water, rising fast."
Miriam pulled Mary from her bed and got to
her feet. "We need to get out of here, then."
John nodded. "People toward the bow are
dressing and putting on their lifebelts. Most of them are heading for the main
stairwell." He took Mary from Miriam before she could drop her.
Miriam was already grabbing clothes from the
suitcases. "We need to dress warmly. It'll be cold out there, and those
lifeboats offer no protection. Here!"
She tossed John his wool suit and coat, then
picked up Mary's boarding outfit. "I'll dress Mary. You see if there's any
lifebelts in here."
Miriam helped the frightened, whimpering
child to dress. The action calmed her somewhat; at least she could do something
to help assure their survival. After pulling on her wool Sunday dress, Miriam
helped John search for the lifebelts. They finally found them in a cabinet
above Mary's bunk. There were only two.
John tossed one to Miriam. "Put this on.
You don't know how to swim." He tried to put the other one on Mary, but it
was so large that she slipped right out of it.
"Here, put this one on her," Miriam
said, starting to untie her lifebelt.
"No. Keep it on. I'll wear this one.
There are probably more lifebelts up above. Hopefully, one of them will fit
Mary. A lifebelt won't do her any good if she sinks right out of it."
John's words snapped Miriam back to an
awareness of their predicament. She remembered the icy water closing over head
when she was a small child not much older than Mary, and she shuddered. The
ocean was so much deeper than that fish pond had been; if Mary sank, no one
could pull her out before she drowned.
John noticed Miriam's face pale, and put a
comforting arm around her. "Come on, let's go up on deck. The sooner you
and Mary get into a boat, the better."
"Let's hope you can get into a boat
before the ship sinks, too," Miriam replied.
"Even if I can't, I'm a strong swimmer.
I'll survive."
Miriam didn't voice her thoughts: if he wound
up in the cold water, his limbs would stiffen before he had a chance to swim.
Even if he managed to stay afloat, the cold would probably kill him before much
time had passed.
Trying to push those thoughts out of her
mind, Miriam followed John as he picked up Mary and headed for the main
stairwell.