“I think I’m going to have to stop off at the gift shop before we go back to the cabin,” Mrs. Lowe said. “Their candy may not be the best, but it’s some—”
Before she could finish the sentence, a loud clap of thunder rocked the boat. It was followed by a brilliant flash of light and a loud crashing sound.
Several passengers screamed.
Mr. Lowe jumped up. “A bolt of lightning must have hit the ship!” he said. He sniffed the air. “I can even smell the lightning. We get a lot of this in Texas.”
Just then a voice came over the loudspeaker. “This is your captain. Unfortunately, one of those Great Lakes storms is passing right over us. Please return to your cabins. These generally don’t last very long, but the ride will be a bit choppy for a while.”
The crew began shepherding the passengers toward the exits. Nancy looked in the direction of Amber’s table and saw Amber look around furtively. She got up and headed toward the kitchen.
That’s strange, Nancy thought. She pulled Bess and George aside. “Amber just ducked into the kitchen. I’m going to follow her,” she said. “You two go on to the suite.”
“Okay,” Bess said, “but be careful.”
“Are you sure you don’t need some help, Nancy?” George asked.
“I’ll be fine,” Nancy said. “I’m just going to see what she’s up to.”
To get to the kitchen, Nancy had to swim against the tide of people leaving. She managed to make it to the side of the restaurant, where it was a little easier to walk.
“Miss!” one of the crew members shouted at her. “You need to go the other way!”
“I forgot something!” Nancy said to the young man, not giving him time to question her.
Nancy finally reached the swinging doors that led to the kitchen, and she slipped inside.
The kitchen staff was so busy securing utensils and cleaning up food that had spilled that they did not even notice her. As Nancy maneuvered her way through the kitchen looking for Amber, she thought maybe Amber had hidden in the kitchen in order to steal some food. After a quick run through the room, though, Nancy realized that Amber hadn’t stayed in the kitchen.
Nancy slipped through a row of sinks filled with dirty dishes and found a rear entrance. When she tried to open the door, it felt as though someone was on the other side, pushing against it. Nancy finally managed to get the door open enough to realize the force of the wind had been pushing the door closed. With a supreme effort, she was able to slip through the door, and she found herself right at the edge of the ship. Only a metal railing kept her from falling into the rough water below.
Suddenly, the ship severely rocked. Another flash of lightning illuminated a huge wave coming right toward her. Nancy tried to open the door again, but it had locked behind her. She grabbed hold of the railing just before she was slammed by the wave.
For several seconds Nancy lost all sense of direction. The force of the water pushed her back toward the door to the kitchen, but she clung to the metal railing with all her might. As the wave washed back off the deck of the ship, it pulled Nancy against the railing. Again, her fingers held tight.
Finally, Nancy was able to stand up—although the ship was still riding the waves at such sharp angles that she was strongly pushed and pulled.
Nancy knew that somehow she had to make it into one of the interior corridors. She had to get away from the fury of the lake.
Nancy slowly made her way around the edge of the ship, sliding her hands along the railing. She tried to recall what she could of the layout of deck 3. She knew the restaurant took up almost a third of it. The kitchen was at one end of the deck. She’d have a ways to go until she could reach a door that would lead to the area where the cabins were located.
Why would Amber have gone this way? Nancy wondered. Surely it wasn’t a shortcut to her cabin. Was she planning to meet someone in another cabin? Who could it be?
The boat suddenly tilted to one side, and Nancy found herself slammed against the deck wall. When the ship tilted toward the lake, Nancy almost fell over the railing.
Just as the ship righted itself again and Nancy had started to move slowly along the railing, a hand clamped over her mouth—and another hand started pushing her over the railing.
It took Nancy’s brain only a split second to understand what was happening. This had to be the same person who had wanted her to have an accident on the stairs.
Nancy tried to scream, but nothing came out through the person’s fingers.
Just then another wave washed over the railing, momentarily freeing Nancy from the person’s grip. She slammed onto the deck, and her mouth filled with water. Out of the corner of her eye, she barely made out a hooded figure rushing away.
Nancy began coughing. She was finding it difficult to breathe. She knew that she had to escape, though, or she’d be tossed into the lake.
Slowly, Nancy started crawling along the slippery deck. It was almost impossible to move forward, as the motion of the ship kept forcing her back, but she mustered as much strength as she could. She had to get away from the person who was trying to throw her overboard.
Nancy could feel her fingernails break as she clawed at the deck floor to keep from sliding backward.
Suddenly, strong hands grabbed her from behind, pulled her up, and once again tried to shove her over the side.
Nancy clung desperately to the railing. The ship was now tilting from side to side. Just as Nancy thought she could no longer hold on, the ship tilted so that it forced her attacker back against the wall of what Nancy was sure must be the restaurant. Unfortunately, there were no portholes along this part, so there was no one who could see what was going on.
The ship quickly tilted the other way, and Nancy found herself hanging onto the other side of the railing.
“Help me!” Nancy screamed. “Help!”
But she knew that the storm was making so much noise that no one could possibly hear her cries.
Her attacker was trying to pry her fingers off the railing. Nancy hung on tenaciously. The ship began rocking back and forth even more violently than before. Suddenly, Nancy’s fingers slipped off the railing. She began falling.
13
Like Mother, Like Daughter
A pile of lounge chairs on deck 2 broke Nancy’s fall. Just as she landed the ship tilted again, so instead of sliding toward the railing, Nancy and the chairs crashed against a wall. Nancy was stunned, but conscious. She struggled to sit up. Nancy knew that whoever had done this might be at that very moment coming down from the deck above to finish the job.
