Do Not Answer #3
Rain came through sideways. The sound of it filled the cabin and made everybody step back.
Beyond the door, the stern deck rose and fell behind them. A white storage case was strapped beneath a bench. Keller and Mason crouched over it while water ran around their boots.
The island vanished again.
Mercer leaned toward the open doorway.
“How close are the rocks?”
Keller shouted something Lena could not hear.
Mason worked the buckle loose and dragged the case toward him.
The cough came from the bench behind Lena.
Clearer now.
Two short coughs, followed by a wet breath.
Her father turned.
Ruth pressed one hand to her chest.
Mercer said, “There’s somebody in there.”
The locker was too small for somebody. Lena could see that. Even if the bench were hollow all the way to the floor, a person would have to lie folded beneath it.
Her father stepped closer.
“Hello?”
Lena looked at him.
Mercer said, “Don’t shout. If someone’s hurt—”
Her father crouched.
“Can you hear me?”
There was no answer.
The metal clip on the right side of the bench trembled.
Lena saw it. Ruth did too.
Her father reached for it.
Lena said, “Wait.”
He looked back at her.
She did not know what she wanted him to wait for.
Mason came through the rear door with the raft case.
“What?”
Her father pointed.
“We heard somebody.”
Mason set the case down.
“Inside?”
Mercer said, “A cough. Twice.”
Mason looked at Keller.
Keller had not come back in. He stood on the stern deck staring toward the water.
Mason unhooked one clip.
The bench shifted upward against the other.
Something inside dragged across the bottom.
Lena’s father dropped to one knee beside him.
Mason opened the second clip.
“Back up.”
Mercer moved first. Ruth followed. Lena’s father stayed where he was.
“Ethan.”
It was the first time Lena heard Mason use his name.
Her father looked at him.
“Move.”
He did, but only enough to let Mason lift the seat.
The smell that came out was wet rope and gasoline.
Mason held the lid open.
Inside were orange life jackets packed in netting, a coil of white rope, a canvas tool bag, and a short length of chain.
Nothing moved.
Mercer looked over Mason’s shoulder.
“Well?”
Mason reached down and shifted the life jackets.
The bottom of the locker was wet.
A little water moved from one side to the other with the boat.
Ruth said, “Could water make that sound?”
Mercer answered before Mason could.
“Water doesn’t cough.”
Mason pulled out the tool bag.
Something knocked once beneath it.
He froze.
Lena’s father leaned closer.
“Is there another compartment?”
Keller came through the rear door.
“Close it.”
Mason looked down into the locker.
“What’s underneath?”
“The hull.”
“Anything between?”
“No.”
Mason pressed his palm against the metal bottom.
The boat rose.
For a moment there was only rain.
Then something pressed back.
Mason jerked his hand away.
He stood so fast he struck his shoulder against the sharp edge of the open seat. The fabric tore, and a shallow cut opened beneath it.
Mercer said, “What?”
Mason looked at his palm instead.
There was nothing on it.
“What happened?”
Mason lowered the lid.
“Metal flexed.”
Mercer stared at him.
“Metal flexed.”
“The hull’s under pressure.”
Keller latched the bench.
Lena’s father watched both men.
“You felt something.”
Mason rubbed his hand against his jeans.
“I felt the floor move.”
“From underneath.”
“The boat’s in rough water.”
“That wasn’t the boat.”
Mason looked at him.
“You know that?”
Her father did not answer.
A wave struck the stern hard enough to throw Keller against the wall.
The raft case slid across the floor. Mercer jumped out of its way and nearly fell over Ruth.
Keller grabbed the case.
“Everybody outside.”
Ruth looked toward the rain.
“What?”
“We’re abandoning.”
Mercer laughed.
It came out too high.
“You said rescue was forty minutes.”
“We don’t have forty.”
The boat tilted toward the island.
Lena could hear things sliding behind the walls.
Her father took her hand.
“Stay with me.”
“I am.”
Keller dragged the raft case onto the stern deck. Mason followed.
Mercer stood near the open door.
“I’m not getting into that.”
Ruth looked at him.
“You can stay here.”
He glanced toward the floor.
The locker knocked once.
Mercer went outside.
Lena’s father moved toward the door, then stopped.
He looked back at the bench.
“Dad.”
“I’m coming.”
“You’re looking at it.”
“I know.”
Mason shouted from outside.
“Now.”
They stepped onto the deck.
The wind took Lena’s breath. Rain struck her face hard enough to make her close one eye.
Keller had pulled a cord from the raft case. Mason held the case against the deck with one knee.
“Back,” Keller shouted.
He yanked the cord.
The case burst open.
The raft unfolded in a mess of yellow rubber and straps, then began filling with a series of violent snaps. Ruth cried out and covered her head. Mercer stumbled toward the railing.
The raft swelled between them and the stern.
Keller clipped one line to the boat.
The island was close enough now that Lena could see white water breaking against the rocks.
“There’s a beach south of us,” Keller said. “Current should carry us near it.”
“Should?” Mercer shouted.
Keller pointed at Ruth.
“You first.”
She shook her head.
“I can’t swim.”
“You won’t have to.”
“I can’t.”
Mason took her by the shoulders.
“Look at me.”
She did.
“When the raft comes up, step down. I’ll hold your jacket.”
The raft rose level with the deck.
Ruth made a sound that was almost a laugh.
“I hate you.”
“Fine.”
He lowered her over the side.
She screamed until she landed.
Mercer went next. He did not wait for instructions and struck Ruth with one knee when he climbed in.
Mason swore at him.
Mercer shouted something back that the wind carried away.
Lena’s father lifted her.
She held on to his shoulders.
“Don’t drop me.”
“I won’t.”
He sounded offended.
The raft came up beneath them.
Mason took Lena under the arms and lowered her. Her feet hit rubber, then Mercer’s shin.
“Watch it.”
She sat beside Ruth.
Her father climbed down after her. The raft dipped low enough that water washed over the side.
Mason stayed on the boat with Keller.
The boat had begun leaning toward the rocks.
“Jump,” Lena’s father shouted.
Keller was pulling a black case from beneath the wheelhouse seat.
Mason grabbed his coat.
“Leave it.”
Keller shoved him away.
The boat struck something underwater.
The sound came through the raft like a blow.
Lena’s father reached for the yellow line connecting them.
“Cut us loose.”
Mason looked at the rocks.
“Not yet.”
Another wave lifted the boat and raft together.
For an instant Lena could see through the cabin door.
The bench at the back was open.
She was sure they had latched it.
The seat stood upright.
The life jackets lay across the floor.
Something dark moved inside the locker.
Not upward.
Sideways.
As though the compartment continued farther beneath the floor than it should.
The boat dropped.
The doorway disappeared.
Lena stared at the place where it had been.
Her father pulled her closer.
“What?”
“The bench opened.”
“Probably came loose.”
She nodded because that was possible.
The boat rose again.
The cabin door faced them.
The locker was closed.
Lena could not remember seeing it fall.
Keller came onto the stern deck with the black case strapped across his chest.
Mason took the knife from Keller’s belt and cut the line.
The raft jerked backward.
Mercer fell onto Ruth again.
Mason climbed onto the railing.
Keller looked toward the wheelhouse.
A burst of radio static came from inside.
He stopped.
Mason shouted, “Keller.”
The radio cracked.
A child’s voice came through.
Lena heard only one word.
Or thought she did.
“Wait.”
Keller turned toward it.
Mason grabbed him by the back of his coat and pulled.
Both men went over the railing.
They hit the water between the raft and the boat.
Ruth screamed.
Lena’s father leaned over the side.
“Mason!”
Mercer grabbed his jacket.
“You’ll tip us.”
“Then help.”
Mason surfaced first. He reached for the raft. Ethan caught his wrist.
Keller came up farther away with the black case pulling him sideways.
He did not call for help.
Mason got one arm over the raft.
“Get him.”
Mercer stayed seated.
Ruth reached across Lena and grabbed Mason’s jacket. Together they pulled him in.
Keller disappeared behind a wave.
When he rose again, he was closer to the rocks.
“Leave the case,” Mason shouted.
Keller kept one arm through the strap.
“Leave it.”
Keller shook his head.
A wave pushed him toward them.
Ethan grabbed the strap and hauled him against the raft.
Mercer finally helped. He caught Keller by the collar and pulled until the case struck the side.
They dragged both in.
For several seconds nobody spoke. They lay across one another breathing and coughing.
The boat turned broadside to the rocks.
Its rear window shattered.
Lena watched the cabin fill with white spray.
The radio continued making noise inside.
Static, mostly.
Under it, a voice kept speaking.
Too far away to understand.
Her father sat up.
He looked toward the boat.
“Did you hear that?”
Lena had.
She said, “I couldn’t tell what it said.”
“It said wait.”
“I thought maybe.”
“It did.”
Mason coughed water into the bottom of the raft.
“Could’ve been the Coast Guard.”
Her father looked at him.
“With a kid on the radio?”
“Signals get crossed.”
Mercer said, “That’s what I said.”
Mason ignored him.
Keller lay on his side with one hand over the black case.
Blood ran from a cut above his eyebrow.
The boat struck the rocks.
The hull split with a sound like metal tearing underwater.
Ruth turned away.
The Alderman rolled once and settled against the stone. Waves passed over the cabin roof.
The radio went silent.
Keller pushed himself upright.
“Paddles.”
There were two clipped inside the raft.
Mason took one. Ethan took the other.
The beach was visible now, a narrow strip of gray between two outcroppings.
They paddled badly.
The wind did more work than they did.
Mercer kept telling Ethan to pull harder on the left. Ethan told him to shut up. Ruth laughed once and then apologized.
Lena looked toward the island.