CHAPTER EIGHT

Down, down Albert sank. Darkness enveloped him. Cold, briny water filled his mouth, his nose, his ears. He couldn’t breathe. He pumped up and down with his arms and legs till he rose to the surface. He floated. He spit out water and coughed.

Breathe. Breathe. You’re alive!

Albert looked up. The ship’s huge stacks leaned heavily toward the water. They were going to fall. When they did, everything and everyone close by would be sucked under along with the ship.

Albert paddled hard. He had to get away from the ship. His arms ached. His chest throbbed. But he kept paddling. Could he make it? Did he have the strength? Thank goodness he had his lifebelt.

Every part of him was cold. It felt like he was floating in a giant tub filled with ice. He couldn’t feel his toes or his feet. His hands felt frozen, but he forced them to move, to paddle.

Paddle, he told himself. Get away.

His stomach churned. A sour taste rose to his throat and up to his mouth. He spit, but the sour taste remained.

Paddle. Paddle.

He searched for signs of his father, Grace or her parents. He looked for his aunt, uncle and Lewis. He couldn’t see anything in the dark but bodies and slabs of jagged wood. A drum like the one the Salvation Army band played bobbed in the water. A man clung to a desk, moaning.

A long table floated by. Albert reached out, straining with all his might to touch it, but it was too far. It drifted away.

What had been elegant chairs, desks and tables were now just debris.

Paddle. Paddle.

He couldn’t feel anything anymore. Not his feet. Not his hands. His fingers were getting stiffer, but he could still move them.

A broken dresser floated close by. He paddled hard to get within reach of it. He touched the top, but his fingers slipped off. He paddled some more, then managed to get hold of a long, sharp edge. He curled his frozen fingers around it, then wrapped his arms around the sides of the dresser and drew it toward him.

Albert leaned his head against the dresser and took deep breaths. Then he lifted his head and peered around again. As he did, he felt something loosen around him. He touched his shoulder. His waist. His lifebelt was gone! There was nothing around him but his wet clothes.

Where was his lifebelt? He looked down. It had slipped off and was floating away. He reached out to grab it, but it was moving too fast. He’d need both arms to reach the lifebelt, but then he’d have to let go of the dresser.

Albert’s heart sank as the lifebelt floated away. All he had now was the dresser. And the ship’s stacks were about to fall.