Wednesday, September 18, 1940, 1:00 AM
Bess had no idea how long it had been since the Benares had gone down. Hail was battering her head and arms on the overturned lifeboat. The ice made it impossible to keep a hold on the keel. The boat rode the crest of a wave, and as it smacked down, she saw Beth lose her grip and begin to slide away.
“No! Beth!” Bess was terrified of letting go, but she was equally terrified of losing Beth. She inched her way to the end of the boat and, holding the keel with one hand, frantically grabbed at the water. Beth was off the boat now, and moving away from her.
Suddenly, Bess’s hand hit a rope lying across the hull. It was attached to the stern. It was so thick that she could barely close her fingers around it. But she managed to thrust it toward Beth.
“Grab onto the rope,” she cried to Beth. “Grab on! Never let go!”
She felt Beth’s grip on the other end. The rope tightened as Beth used all her strength to pull herself back onto the boat.
“Wind it around your wrists,” said Bess. They were now facing each other, sprawled over the rounded hull of the boat, their toes touching the edge of the gunwale. They entwined their hands together in the rough rope. Their weight was balanced on either side of the hull. Their fingers were relieved from the difficult task of holding onto the keel. They were securely fastened.
Bess looked along the edge of the keel. There were no other hands on the boat.
They were alone.
It was the darkest part of the night. The storm was fully overhead. Hail hit her arms like gravel. Ice chunks collected at the back of her neck. With each wave the boat went up and then crashed down. There was a terrible moment at the top of the wave when the boat fell to the sea and they were suspended in the air, tethered only by the rope twisting into their flesh. The next instant their bodies smashed onto the hull.
“Beth? Are you all right?” Bess called weakly. Her throat was raw from saltwater.
“Yes. Mostly. You?”
Yes, she was all right. She was bruised and sore and wet throughout, but she was alive. They’d gotten to this boat together and they would make it through, together. They just had to hang on.
There was no moon. They were in complete dark and intense cold. Bess kept looking for a light from a rescue ship. But there was nothing—nothing but the rise and fall of the boat, the slamming of their bodies into the hull, the slapping of the waves over their bodies.
“They’ll be able to see us in the morning.” Bess croaked. Talking was hard. Whenever she tried to say more than a word or two, salty seawater slammed into her mouth, choking her.
“I’ve got … I’ve got to … make it … for my mother,” said Beth.
Bess thought about Louis. I’ve got to make it so I can explain everything to Mum and Dad, Bess thought. They’ve lost their only son. I have to survive. To tell them.
“We can do this,” she said. “We just have to stick together.”
Up and down. Their hands were locked in position on the rope. The waves crashed over them.
“All right, Bess?”
“Yes. All right, Beth?”
“Yes.”
On and on, wave after wave.
“That was a rough one.”
“Yes, rough one.”
Minute after minute.
Rise. Fly. Fall. Smash. Rise. Fly. Fall. Smash.
Hour after hour.
“It’ll be … light soon.”
“Yes … they’ll … see us …”
Up and down.
A fish … flying …
A plate of food drifting toward her.
School was just starting. Bess was racing toward her desk. She was so happy to see everyone. She’d come out of the bomb shelter. No one was hurt. No more bombs.
There was the rocking horse from the playroom.
And here was Taffy, jumping up and licking her nose. There must be a stick around here somewhere that she could throw for him.
What’s that?
Something has changed, thought Bess. Something is different.
She turned her head slowly. There was a light in the distance. It was the sun coming up.
She was clinging onto the hull of an overturned boat in the middle of the ocean.
She turned to look at her friend. Beth was looking at her.
“They’ll see us now …” she whispered.
As the sun rose, the wind and the waves died down. The rain slowed to a drizzle. The boat rocked gently beneath them.
Bess lifted her head and looked around for the other lifeboats.
There was nothing. Nobody. In the vastness of the ocean, with only water as far as the eye could see, they were all alone.
It was impossible. There had been more than four hundred people on the ship. Where were they all?
The sky lightened and became a chalky grey as the sun inched its way above the horizon. The bright orange light blinded her and Bess turned her head away.
With the movement of the sun she understood the passage of time. The sun rose above the ocean as the sky shifted to pale blue. Bess’s eyes were puffy and swollen, her glasses encrusted with salt. She could see nothing clearly. Once, she thought she saw a lifeboat filled with people coming toward them. But it drifted away without a word, like a dream.
She listened to the sound of her breath. It was the only sound she could hear. She couldn’t feel her hands or feet.