The Sky Beneath Her(80)

William yanked me forward through the crowd toward the front. “She’s pregnant. She should be first on the boat.”

I faced him. And in a swift impulse, I jammed the knife into his side. The blade met with resistance as the tip grazed a rib. He looked at me, astonished.

“The kitten has claws,” he growled.

I released the handle, leaving the blade in his midsection. He yanked it clear, his fingers now red with dark blood.

Several people paused and looked in my direction, but no one noticed William. Some stepped aside for me. When I reached the lifeboat, a crewman lifted me and set me in the boat. William swayed, but he stepped forward ready to follow. Then he was blocked.

“Women first,” Chief Mate Riggs said.

“I need to stay with her. I can help her,” William insisted.

“Mrs. Werner, do you need his help immediately?” Chief Mate Riggs asked.

“No,” I said.

“Then sir, you won’t board yet.” The sailor’s hand dropped to the service weapon on his hip. “Back away.”

William glared. His fingers gripped the knife at his side. He jerked his coat forward, hiding the blood bloom on his white shirt. “No need to worry, Gertrude. I’ll find you.”

Anger tightened his voice, and I knew I would suffer if we saw each other again.

“Don’t worry about him,” Chief Mate Riggs said. “Stay in the boat, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

I nodded toward Chief Mate Riggs. “Thank you.”

There was no sign of Sigrid or Dr. Brooks as more women were helped into the lifeboat. In the chaos, the lifeboat still had several empty seats as it lowered. It carried only ten women and a young sailor, who looked as terrified as the passengers. The metal cables suspending the small vessel jerked. The gears turned and lowered the vessel. The sailor signaled for the mariner on deck to keep lowering the boat. I recognized Mrs. DuPont huddled at the opposite end of the lifeboat.

We were halfway down the tall ship when the Oceanus rocked again. The lifeboat banged against the ship, and I pitched sideways. The hard, wet metal of the hull brushed my shoulder. I peered down a narrow gap between the boat and the ocean as we dangled above the choppy waters.

Just as quickly, the ship tilted deeper, and the lifeboat shifted violently. The women around me screamed. I pressed my hand against the life vest and felt the metal coin under the fabric. I looked up toward the overcast skies, determined not to ask for help from a being who had tricked me so well before.

The cable on the mechanisms above us shifted, and we fell a couple of feet quickly toward the ocean. We hit the water hard. My hand went to my belly, and I leaned forward as another cramp tightened my midsection. Women screamed. Some wept softly.

A hand rested on my shoulder. Mrs. DuPont now appeared at my side. She was oddly calm as her chin rose in defiance. When she met my gaze, I saw a confidence I wouldn’t have expected of her. “Chin up, Gertrude. We’ll be fine. Your baby will wait until we are safely ashore.”

I nodded, silent, as the spasm eased. “The baby is coming.”

“Is this your first?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Good, the first ones take longer.” Her gaze was determined, as if her order would make it so. “First things first. The sailors need to get us away from the ship. Once we’re clear, then we can figure out the rest.”

Cold ocean air washed over my face, chilling my flushed cheeks. I nodded.

Mrs. DuPont shifted closer to me. “How often does your belly cramp?”

Breathing deeply, I willed my body to hang on. “Every couple of minutes.”

“That’s not the kind of answer I want to hear,” Mrs. DuPont said gently. “Tell your impatient little miss or mister to hold tight.”

I gripped my belly as if I could stop it from expelling the child. “I’m not sure he’ll listen.”

Above us, the other two lifeboats were filling. I pictured William finding his way into one of the boats. I hoped I’d wounded him badly. At least my very impatient baby would be born soon. I could give the child to Mrs. DuPont. And if I was forced to return to Alfred, I would do it alone.

A wave smacked the lifeboat. I lurched forward and barely caught myself. Water splashed as the small vessel pitched back and forth. The sailor set the boat’s motor in the water and cranked on it until it started. He steered the lifeboat away from the Oceanus.

I looked up toward the deck and saw Dr. Brooks standing close beside Sigrid. They were speaking intently, and then he looked in my direction. Their intense gazes floated down to me.

The Oceanus suddenly listed badly farther to the left, and the couple’s terrified expressions came into focus. The lights on the deck flickered as if the generator struggled against rushing salt water. The guns kept firing rounds. Crew members loaded more passengers into the boats.

The U-boat wasn’t in view, and it could be anywhere now, circling, ready to finish off its prey. We’d been warned so many times about their relentless hunting. But each day the ship had crossed more miles and as we had come within a day’s sailing of New York City, I’d begun to think we’d escaped the underwater dangers. I remembered the map Chief Mate Riggs had shown me, and I pictured the jagged coast of North Carolina. How far away was it?

Another explosion inside the Oceanus rocked the interior. Through the shattered portholes, smoke billowed. Above, passengers screamed and shouted. More freshly fired lifeboat engines pulled hard against the sinking ship’s undercurrent.