Murder in the Marsh

by Ramsey Coutta

  Rachel looked around at the sky. An hour and a half had passed, and the sun continued to shine brightly in the rich blue sky, while a light breeze blew. The only noticeable difference from a normal summer’s day was the difference in air pressure, which Rachel experienced as needing to continually yawn to pop her eardrums. No cloud cover was visible overhead, though she could see a line of ominous clouds in the distance to the southwest. It appeared to be the back of the hurricane eye wall.

  Rachel considered whether she might be able to make a quick trip to Happy Jack marina to see if Daniel and Claude had returned. She took one look at the street and knew with all the trees and power lines down, she would not be able to make it by driving. She remembered the marsh levee that backed up to the school. The levee separated the school from the marsh, and she frequently used it as a jogging path. She often jogged as far as Happy Jack marina, and sometimes further. The distance was a little over two miles, which normally she could cover in twenty to twenty-five minutes by jogging. She knew Adele wouldn’t be excited about the idea of her taking the risk, but she too would want to know about her husband Claude.

  Rachel decided to tell Adele her plan, and as she expected, Adele tried to discourage her from going. Finally, she convinced Adele she would be all right and it wouldn’t take long. If the men were there, then she would be with them. If they weren’t, she estimated she could jog back almost as quickly. The eye wall to the southwest did not appear to be approaching very quickly.

  Before she departed, she put on her tennis shoes and shorts and carried nothing else with her except a two-way radio, in order to travel light and fast. The radios were multi-channeled and were supposed to have a range of five miles. She kept them charged just in case, and despite the fact the power had gone out, they were already charged and ready to use. Before leaving, she showed Adele up to the second floor of the apartment building and found the hidden key to her friend’s apartment. Hugging Adele and Michelle, she promised to hurry, and checked the time on her watch. She took a deep breath, and began jogging swiftly down the drive leading to the back levee.

  Thirty-Four

  Daniel felt certain the Lord was intervening to provide him and Claude an opportunity to escape to safer shelter. Though he knew the eye of the hurricane was a natural occurrence, he sensed that God had provided it for them both at that moment. He also believed that if they did not take advantage of the calm during the storm, they would perish in the back edge of the hurricane. Fortunately, the storm surge had not yet reached its full potential, due to the easterly blow of the winds. But now the winds would come out of the southwest, and with it mountains of surging water.

  Daniel checked on Claude. He was awake and sitting upright on the couch gingerly fingering the back of his head where the wound was wrapped.

  “How’re you feeling, Claude?” Daniel said, walking in the room.

  “A little better. It don’t hurt as much, and ah don’t feel so dizzy,” Claude responded.

  “Good. That was a terrible blow you took. I’m glad it wasn’t worse. If you think you’ll be alright, I’m going to go next door and see if I can find the gas container.”

  “Go ahead. Ah’m okay. Ah’ll be getting ready.”

  Daniel nodded and headed out onto the dock. He immediately noticed that even though the water was calm, it was higher than usual. It nearly covered the dock and filled the surrounding marsh grass. It must be the low pressure and high tide, he thought. He realized it would be extremely difficult for him to hike through the marsh grass and water to the neighbor’s camp where the gas container was located. The canal itself was filled with wood and marsh grass as a result of the storm ripping it loose from the mud. Even if he could get the boat running, he was unsure how well it would operate in the debris choked water. He went back in to speak with Claude.

  “Claude, do you have a small boat that can be paddled, like a canoe? The water has risen up into the marsh, and I don’t think walking through it will be easy.”

  “Why didn’t ah tink of dat earlier!” Claude said, clearly perplexed with himself. “Yes. Ah have a pirogue slid up under de house. Ah have a couple of paddles lying in it.”

  “Great. I’m going to check on it, and if it’s not damaged I’m going to use it to paddle down to the neighbor’s camp.”

  Daniel went back out and stepped down into the watery marsh. His shoes became soaked again, but he hardly noticed. Looking under the house, he found the pirogue as Claude had said. It was tied off to a piling and lying on its side. He untied it and pulled it out. Unfortunately, both paddles were missing, and though he looked around, he didn’t see them anywhere. The wind must have blown them away, he figured. The pirogue was a slender, dark green wooden craft, somewhat similar in shape to a canoe, but shorter, less rounded, and with lower sides. It also had a flatter bottom, which made it useful in the shallow marshes and mud flats. Daniel readied the boat for launch, and then went back inside to see if Claude knew where another paddle was. Claude stated there were two more in the porch utility closet, which Daniel was soon able to locate.

  At first, Daniel found the balance and maneuvering of the pirogue tricky, but eventually got the hang of it. Navigating through the debris in the water was challenging, and he often had to strain to paddle himself through it. After about fifteen minutes, he docked at the neighbor’s camp. He tied the pirogue off and began to search for the gas container. The container only had about two to three gallons in it when Claude dropped it earlier. He felt certain that even if he did find it, most of the gas would have already leaked out or the container would have filled with water.

  Looking around the dock where the porch overhang had crashed down on Claude, Daniel saw no evidence of the container. He started scanning the marsh in the direction the wind might have blown it. In a minute, he spotted it. It was about twenty-five yards from him lying in the marsh grass. He stepped down to the mud, grass, and water, and began to make his way towards it. The struggle was a lot more difficult as the water soaked marsh sucked his legs deep into the mud. After fifteen minutes, he reached the red plastic container lying on its side with the spout sticking down into the muck. Daniel picked it up, and as he suspected, some had already leaked out. It only had a gallon or two remaining. He sniffed it and smelt the familiar tinge of gas. He hoped water hadn’t gotten into the container as well.

  After another fifteen minutes, he made it back to the pirogue and put the container into it. The next step would be to make his way down to the patrol boat. Daniel began paddling down the canal through the debris. The distance was longer than he expected and chewed up precious time. Sweating from the exertion, he nearly tipped over when he unknowingly paddled over a submerged log. He managed to avoid capsizing and saved the gas, but proceeded more cautiously and slowly.

  It took him nearly twenty minutes of paddling through the debris to reach the patrol boat. He didn’t see it at first, but then to his dismay, he saw the tip of it jutting up out of the water like the tip of an iceberg, while the rest of the boat lay sunken in the brown water. The rear tie down lines had snapped, leaving the patrol boat vulnerable to the power of the storm. There was no way they would have time to raise the boat. In any event, they would need a crane to hoist it out. Daniel could only turn the pirogue around, dejected about their chances of escaping the hurricane.

  As he paddled, he figured a little over an hour had expired since the eye first began to pass over. Looking back toward the southwest, he could see a bank of thick clouds that had slowly been approaching for the last thirty minutes. He assumed it was the eye wall. He didn’t know exactly how long it would be until the back wall of the hurricane reached them, but he didn’t give it more than an hour and a half. He paddled even more rapidly trying to make it back as quickly as possible.

  Claude was ready and waiting on the dock when he arrived. Checking his watch, Daniel noted it had taken him thirty minutes to make it back to the camp. Claude had rounded up a few left over snacks in the pantry and wa
s carrying these in a plastic grocery bag. In the other hand, he had the two life preservers the men had worn the night before and their raincoats. Daniel edged up to the dock.

  “De boat was not dere?” Claude asked.

  “No, it was there, but it sank,” Daniel said dejectedly. “There’s no way we will be able to raise it. We’ll have to find another way.”

  “What do you tink?”

  “I don’t know. The water is up in the marsh grass. I had a rough time just trying to retrieve the gas container. I don’t think we’ll get very far trying to hike our way out. I’m thinking out best chance is taking the pirogue.”

  Claude thought for a moment and said, “Ah, don’t see any other way either, Daniel. Let’s go.”

  Before they set off, Daniel asked him to hold the pirogue while he ran inside. A minute later, he came out holding the little Bible he had read during the night and put it in his back pocket. Donning their life preservers and placing the rain jackets in the bottom of the pirogue, Daniel and Claude began paddling, trying vainly to establish a steady pace in the debris filled waters.

  Thirty-Five

  Rachel discovered the exertion the day before had taken more out of her than she realized. Her legs didn’t feel as strong as usual, and she quickly winded. She didn’t allow herself to stop, because she knew time was limited. She hoped her body would adjust to the strain as she ran further. Jogging along the levee had been an enjoyable activity for her, particularly in the evening when the sun was setting and radiating off the towering clouds. At the moment, she felt she could be lured into a false sense of security, but she had to keep reminding herself that she was in the middle of one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to strike the United States. It was unreal, she thought. Last night she fought with Adele and Michelle for their very lives. This morning she was jogging on a green, grassy levy in the beautiful warm sunshine.

  She noticed that the water in the marsh seemed higher than she had ever seen. It reminded her of the trauma from the night before, as well as Daniel and Claude who continued to be missing. She ran even faster. Looking down across the drainage canal to the woods, fields, and neighborhoods she passed, she noticed extensive damage the hurricane had inflicted. Numerous trees were blown over or snapped; roofs were torn off of homes; debris lay scattered about; and the lowest areas had several inches of standing water. She wondered how the owners would recover when they finally returned.

  After about a mile, she passed a pumping station with its two massive steel pipes running over the levee from the pumping house into the marsh. The station was designed to pump excess water out of the drainage canal and into the marsh to prevent flooding. To her knowledge they had never failed before. They were operating now, and Rachel saw the brown water churning where it was gushing out of the pipes into the marsh.

  She had already broken a sweat and was picking up speed as her legs loosened up. Up ahead she could see the marina about a mile away. She looked back keeping tabs on the eye wall in the distance, and saw that it had moved considerably closer.

  She tried the two-way radio, and in a few seconds Adele responded. The reception was not as strong as she hoped, but she could still make out what Adele was saying. Adele continued to prepare for the rest of the storm and encouraged Rachel to hurry. Rachel assured her she would.

  As Rachel finally neared the marina, she could see Daniel’s truck still in the parking lot. She jogged down from the levee along the gravel drive to the truck and looked in. It was locked, and didn’t look like anyone had been in it recently. She looked around, wondering if possibly the men were holed up in one of the camps like the women had done the night before. She wondered whether one of them could be injured. She checked her watch and saw it had taken her twenty-five minutes to run the full distance. The eye wall seemed closer and approaching at a faster pace than she expected. She knew it was unwise, but she decided she would have enough time to run down the length of the camp drive to see if she could find the men. She ran quickly, shouting Daniel and Claude’s name as she went. Minutes later, she reached the end of the gravel drive. Before her was the camp they had taken refuge in last night. She noticed the door was hanging open, so she started up the wooden steps to see if Daniel and Claude were inside.

  In her haste, she didn’t notice a wooden support for the steps had taken a direct hit from a piece of flying wood, which snapped it. The other supports remained undamaged, allowing the steps to continue standing, but unsound. Though she didn’t weigh much, the structure gave way. The steps below her began to collapse. She tried to grasp hold of the steps in front of her as she fell. At first she fell forward, then straight down, landing awkwardly feet first on a collapsed portion of the stair casing. The piercing pain in her right ankle immediately told her she had strained or broken it. She lay in the gravel trying to determine if anything else was injured. Other than bruising her side, the ankle was the only thing hurting.

  Upset with herself, she rolled down her sock to check the damage, and saw the ankle quickly beginning to swell. She tried to rotate it, but the intense pain forced her to stop. She didn’t know whether it was strained or broken, but knew it was one or the other. She called out Daniel’s name, in the vain hope he might actually be in the camp, but no one responded. The realization that she was injured and all alone left her feeling panicky.

  She took a deep breath to calm herself. She knew that regardless of how bad her ankle was, she had to get up and get moving. If she didn’t get to the other side of the levee, she would be caught in the surge. She took a moment and asked the Lord to provide her the stamina to make it back, then pushed herself up so she was standing on one foot. She placed some pressure on the injured ankle, but found the pain unbearable. She started moving in the direction of the levee, trying to figure out the best way to ambulate. Hopping was exhausting, and she nearly fell. Finally, she learned she could put just a little pressure on the toes of her injured foot to maintain balance, and use the other foot to propel her body forward. She also found a long stick that served as a makeshift crutch.

  Rachel considered calling Adele on the two-way radio, but knew she wasn’t in any position to help. If she tried, she would only put herself and Michelle in danger. Rachel finally decided against calling, and slowly began making her way back down the gravel drive toward the levee. She checked her watch again, and noted twenty-five more minutes had passed since she started back. She determined it had been about an hour and forty-five minutes since the leading edge of the eye passed over. She realized she had very little time to make it to safety. Indeed, looking between the camps to the southwest, she saw the hurricane eye wall rapidly filling the sky. She could even make out growing bands of black clouds ready to vent their fury.

  Thirty-Six

  The little pirogue didn’t maneuver easily in the debris-encrusted canal. Daniel and Claude proceeded slowly out of necessity, as they frequently encountered large wood pilings, remnants of demolished building structures, and other dangerous objects submerged in the murky water. If they capsized, it would be nearly impossible to recover and right the pirogue. Claude also began to re-experience the debilitating effects of his head wound. Shortly after they started paddling, he began experiencing dizziness and a throbbing pain at the site of the wound. Daniel had taken a seat in front of the pirogue, since Claude was the more experienced navigator, but now they both began to question their decision. Claude found it difficult to concentrate on the hazards in the water, as the blinding pain shot through his head. Once or twice it became so intense he felt nauseous.

  As they paddled southward down Grand Bayou Canal, Daniel calculated they were rapidly losing the race against time. Thirty minutes had expired, and they had just passed the sunken patrol craft. The dark eye wall to the southwest filled the sky and nearly encircled them on all sides, except to the northeast. A light wind picked up, blowing against them, making the going tougher. They tried to pick up their pace in the face of the oncoming storm.

  Fortuna
tely, they made better time the next thirty minutes without capsizing. As the canal widened out slightly, the debris became less compacted and easier to navigate. They were only a short distance from the turn in to Happy Jack Canal when the first light rain began to fall, increasing in severity with each passing minute. Claude kept a plastic bailing jug tied to the boat and was able to remove some of the rainwater as it began to fill the pirogue. They pulled the raincoats over their life preservers, and continued paddling as best they could. In the steadily increasing rain, it became even more difficult to identify hidden dangers in the water. After twenty more minutes, they covered half the distance they needed to go to make it to the first camp at Happy Jack.

  Daniel sensed it would only be a matter of minutes before the full fury of the hurricane broke over them. He soon realized they wouldn’t make it to the camp before the full force of the hurricane struck.

  The light wind quickly gave way to a full gale as the hurricane fell upon them. They struggled to avoid capsizing in the rough water. Ten more minutes passed, and then disaster struck. A giant burst of wind slammed into them from the back right side. The little pirogue pitched over before they could react, dumping them into the troubled waters. They both struggled to the surface, instinctively clinging to the slowly sinking pirogue. In a few seconds it slipped below the surface, leaving them stranded in the water, with only their life preservers keeping them afloat.

  “Claude! Are you okay?” Daniel shouted.

  “Yeah. Ahm ok. How ‘bout you?”