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I PUT MY HEAD INSIDE the cavity and looked up and down. As far as I could tell, the ladder led into complete darkness both ways.
“Perhaps we should come back with a torch,” I said.
“By that time they’ll know we’ve been here. Mr Goulding already knows what we’re up to. At the very least they’ll take preventative measures.”
“Maybe we need to consider what we’re doing a little more carefully then. On the basis of a scribbled note thrust into your bag at dinner by someone who probably doesn’t even consider themselves our friend, we’re about to do something that’s probably dangerous and possibly illegal. If we’re caught, it might not just be the cruise we’re asked to leave, it might be university.”
I could see this was the first time this had properly hit her. She looked at the floor. “You’re right, we’re probably on a wild goose chase.”
“We did agree to stop investigating. And now here we are.”
“We must be going mad. What the hell’s got into us?”
Yet I could see this was only part of what she was thinking. She put her head into the cavity and looked up and down, just as I’d done. But when she emerged, her expression had changed.
“Did you hear something?” she said.
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe it’s just me. Put your head in and listen.”
I did as she said, registering the significantly lower temperature within the hole for the first time. She was right, there was something. Very faint, but it wasn’t my imagination.
“Like a ...?” I wanted her to say it.
“Like someone ... crying?” she said.
I took a sharp breath. “That’s it.”
“Hugo, there’s someone down there. A woman, I think.”
I put my head inside again. Perhaps it was coming from up, maybe a freak echo of someone on deck? But no.
There was nothing for it now. The only remaining question was whether we’d be able to pull the sliding panel back into place behind us, forestalling any would-be pursuers.
“I’ll go first,” I said.
She put her hands on her hips. “Er, why?”
“Because I found it. And we don’t know what we’re descending into. It could be dangerous.”
She scrunched her eyes up and cupped her hands round them. “Perhaps ... I don’t know ... Perhaps Mr Goulding wants us to go down there.”
“Some kind of trap, you mean?”
“What if he’s, like, some demented psycho-killer who likes to play games? Piques his victims’ curiosity with a note about someone trapped in the hold, puts his book to hand in the library, then leaves nature to take its course? What if that voice – what if it’s his last victim?”
“If you’re right, we really ought to get someone in authority down here. Midshipman Collins or even Captain Mason.”
“Yet ... yet I still can’t shake the conviction that they’re all in it together; that somehow, that would make things worse.”
“So what shall we do?”
“If it’s a trap, presumably the ladder will give way at some point. We’ll fall into a pit and there’ll be no possibility of getting out.”
“In that case, one of us needs to stay here. You.”
She pinched her chin. “I’ve got the most common sense, so okay.”
“Once I’m inside, slide the panel back and go and sit in the lounge for twenty minutes. Someone’s bound to come by here soon and we don’t want them to find you loitering.”
“I haven’t any money.”
I gave her my last tenner and got inside the cavity and started to descend. The darkness was almost complete when I heard someone climb onto the ladder above me.
Ashanta.
“What the hell are you doing?” I said.
“Did you think I would leave you dying when there’s room on my horse for two?” she snapped.
She slid the panel back and the blackness enveloped us. Only for a split second though, because once my eyes adjusted, I detected a light below. Almost sufficient for me to be able to be able to see the rungs in front of my nose.
“Please go back,” I said.
“Not a chance. I love you. We’re in this together.”
“Ashanta?”
“What?”
“When we get to the Falklands, if we’re still alive, will you marry me?”
I guess the idea had been playing on my subconscious for some time now. When I said the words, I felt an overwhelming wave of relief, like I was one of Arthur Janov’s patients and I’d expelled a primal scream. The fact that I was on a rickety ladder with no guarantee of ever getting off was momentarily lost on me.
“Are you sure?” she said.
“Yes.”
“I’d love to. But let’s leave the details till later, eh?”
I descended half a rung at a time – left foot down, right foot next to it, left foot down, right foot next to it. The crying became louder – a sort of miserable whimper more than a full-blown howl – then stopped abruptly, as if it had heard us coming. The cavity got warmer. Every ten metres or so, chinks of light appeared in the panels behind us, indicating what were presumably lit corridors deep inside the hull. We counted five such and suddenly, my foot touched solid ground.
“I think we’ve come to the end.”
“H - How do you know?”
“There’s a floor.”
“Don’t let go of the rungs.”
Her advice came just on time because the floor gave way with a crash. I yelped and for a moment I found myself dangling, then I managed to get my feet back on the ladder.
“Hugo!”
“I’m okay!”
Suddenly, there was a splash and a screech and a flash. I looked down, gasping. Darkness. Then another flash and what I saw lit up almost made me lose my grip.
About a hundred feet below, the water churned. In its centre, a creature like a merman. Not a mermaid, no, there was nothing beautiful about it. It had eyes on the side of its head like a fish, but they were human. And somehow, it looked utterly desolate. It plunged and leapt out of the water and roared.
A light appeared above me and Ashanta reached down and pulled my arm. I followed her up, shaking. She’d pushed a wall panel aside and she almost fell off the ladder through the gap into the corridor. I followed her. We collapsed on the floor, aghast. My teeth chattered.
“Did you – did you see that?” she said.
I nodded vigorously. She stood up like someone in a dream and replaced the panel. This wasn’t the corridor we’d come in at. That one had been red. This was purple.
“Oh shit, shit shit,” she said. “That - Wh - what was it?”
“I don’t know.”
“A fish? Was it a fish?”
“I don’t think so.”
Whatever it was, it screeched again. We got to our feet and started running. Then we realised we didn’t even know where we were. We stopped, we bumped into each other. We grabbed on to each other. Somewhere, people were hurrying. Other people. Whether above or below or on the same level, it wasn’t possible to tell.
There were cabin doors to either side of us. It struck me, more out of hope than reason, that they probably weren’t occupied. This was the local ghost town.
“Someone’s coming,” she said.
I tried two or three before one opened. I pulled Ashanta inside and flicked the lock. She switched on the light.
The running came nearer and nearer, then passed directly by, then disappeared into the distance.
Ashanta was still carrying the book. “We’ve got to get back to where we started,” she said frantically flipping its pages. Her voice wobbled.
There was a noise from within the room. It hadn’t really occurred to either of us it might be occupied, except right at the start. Once we were inside and the footsteps came and went, we assumed we were alone. But the sound made us turn round both at the same time.
There, tied to the bed and gagged, was someone we recognised. Carl from the roulette table.
Then the key turned in the door and it burst open to reveal Mason, Endersby and Goulding side by side, looking grim. They were armed with what looked like coshes. Ashanta and I backed off holding hands, but it was obvious there was no means of escape.
“You’re not allowed to take reference books from the library,” Goulding said.
