Jimmy shrugged. Claire looked at the floor.
'When you strike me, little children, I always strike back, and twice as hard. It's just a question of waiting for the right opportunity. And now here it is.' He smiled at them, because he knew what was coming. 'You see, Captain Smith and I do not trust each other. He wants to send this man — Jeffers — and this man — Jones? — to the Olympic to get fuel. But how do I know what they will do when they're over there? Perhaps they will sail away and save themselves. Or find weapons and try to lead a mutiny against me. So I have decided to go with them. I am curious about this Olympic — I might just make it part of my fleet. However, if I do go, what's to stop them cutting the rope when I'm halfway across? Captain Smith promises that his men wouldn't do something as uncivil as that, but I'm not so sure. So we've reached a compromise. I will go to the Olympic on the chair, and you,' he pointed at Claire,'will go across on my lap. No one is going to cut that rope. And you . . .' he nodded at Jimmy, 'will go across with my second in command.'
Claire wasn't having any of it. 'My daddy—'
'Claire,' Captain Smith said bluntly, 'your father agrees.'
She stared at him in disbelief. 'My daddy would never . . .!' She turned to confront him, but Mr Stanford had conveniently left the bridge.
'He has, Claire. If you don't go, we may lose both ships.'
'But what if he loses me?' Claire wailed.
'It would be unfortunate,' said the Captain, 'but we have no choice. Jimmy, what do you say?'
'Does it matter what I say?'
The Captain smiled ruefully. 'Regrettably, no. But I want you both to know that this is the bravest thing you could possibly do. Ordinarily I would never, ever consider putting the lives of children at risk, but this . . . this pirate . . . has given us no alternative. All of our lives depend on it. If you were in the Royal Navy, you would most certainly receive a medal for even attempting this.'
'Gee, thanks,' said Jimmy.
34
The Ghost Ship
Fear.
Fear and horror.
Fear and horror and sheer terror.
Jimmy stepped up to the bosun's chair. The wind was howling, the seas raging and the Olympic was drifting dangerously close, threatening at any moment to crash into the Titanic and sink both ships.
And yet — he also felt curiously exhilarated. Hundreds of passengers and crew were crowded along the deck to watch the spectacle. Captain Smith and his senior officers stood outside the bridge. The mutineers jabbered excitedly Because he was going first, Jimmy was pretty much the star of the show. It felt quite good, and would probably continue to feel quite good right up to the point where he died.
After a dozen failed attempts, a line had finally been secured between the two ships: but there was no real way of telling just how safe it was except by sending the first two passengers across.
'Let me just get this straight,' said Jimmy. 'If we get across alive, then we'll know it's safe, but if we fall into the water and drown, then we'll know that it's too dangerous.' Jeffers nodded. 'That's not very reassuring.'
'It's safe, trust me.'
'Why should I trust you? What do you base that opinion on?'
'Instinct,' said Jeffers. 'And experience.'
'Do you have experience of sending a helpless child between huge ships in the middle of a hurricane?'
'Two hurricanes,' said Jeffers. 'And no. So it's just you and him.' Jeffers nodded at Dolphin Arm, who was already sitting in the bosun's chair. Dolphin Arm patted his lap and waved Jimmy over.
'Oh God,' said Jimmy. 'It's bad enough as it is, without having to sit on someone's knee.'
With the change in weather Jimmy had gone back to wearing his overalls over his stolen T-shirt and shorts, and these were now further augmented by an inflatable survival suit. Benson, who had helped him into it, had assured him that if he fell into the sea the suit would keep him afloat and alive for at least an hour.
'And how long will it take to rescue me?'
'In these seas? We won't be able to get near you.'
'This isn't funny.'
Benson had looked at him gravely. 'I know,' he said. But then he added, 'Look on the bright side, Jimmy. It's not me out there.'
'Thanks. I'll try and remember that.'
If Dolphin Arm and Jimmy were successful Jeffers would follow. Then Pedroza with Claire. And finally Jonas Jones.
As Jimmy prepared to step forward, Claire came up and hugged him. 'Good luck,' she said. She was wearing her own inflatable suit.
'Claire — there's something I should tell you.'
'I know. I love you too.'
'No. I can't swim.'
Claire laughed. 'It won't make any difference, Jimmy. Just concentrate on getting to the other side. I'll see you there. And I don't really love you, it's just the sort of thing you say when someone's about to die.'
Jimmy swallowed.
***
Jimmy could hardly take his eyes off the swirling waters far below. He was sitting awkwardly in Dolphin Arm's lap with only a very thin leather strap keeping him in place. The spectators, whom he had expected to cheer him off, had fallen ominously silent.
Pedroza came up to Dolphin Arm and patted him on the shoulder. 'Good luck,' he said. 'If he starts to squirm, throw him off.'
'OK,' said Jimmy.
Pedroza scowled at him for a moment, then stepped back and shouted: 'Go!'
They were suddenly at the very edge; it was the very last moment when they could step back; Jimmy closed his eyes; Dolphin Arm whispered a prayer; then their feet lifted off the deck and they were pulled up and away from the ship. The wind caught them immediately and hurled them to one side. Jimmy could hear screaming and he knew it was him doing it. He was sure they were falling, yet he couldn't open his eyes.
Jimmy was sitting on a pirate's lap on a flimsy chair, strung on a rope between two ships which could at any moment clash together and squash them to a pulp, and yet . . . and yet . . . he was experiencing a huge rush of adrenaline. They had made slow, gut-wrenching progress at first, but now they were speeding up. Jimmy had never been to one of the big theme parks, but this had to be what it was like on one of those mad rides. The difference was that whereas they made you feel like you might die but were actually perfectly safe, you really could die on this one, and that multiplied both the terror and the excitement of it a thousand times.
As they raced towards the Olympic Jimmy screamed again, but this time with a mad kind of joy. Even Dolphin Arm joined in.
They were three-quarters of the way across, with their speed still increasing and the huge bulk of the Olympic looming before them, when the thought suddenly struck Jimmy that the emphasis had been put on getting them across quickly and safely, with no thought actually given to braking and landing. In fact, they both seemed to come to this conclusion at the same time. They were hurtling towards a crash landing.
'Ohhhhhhhh . . . shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit . . .!' Jimmy yelled. They cracked into the guard rail with considerable force, the security strap across the chair snapped and they were both hurled into the air before landing hard on the deck and tumbling head over heels several times before coming to rest flat on their backs. They lay there for half a minute, hardly sure if they were alive or dead.
Then Dolphin Arm said, 'You OK?'
'OK,' said Jimmy.
They sat up — aches and pains, but nothing broken. They almost gave each other high fives, but then remembered that they were enemies.
They had made it, and the line was still secure!
***
It took forty minutes to get everyone across. Dolphin Arm kept his gun trained on Jeffers, even though the First Officer managed to half concuss himself on landing. Pedroza fell heavily on top of Claire when they were thrown out of the chair on landing, then rolled off and stood without even looking at her. When Jimmy asked her if she was all right she just stared at the deck. She seemed to be trying to stop herself from crying. Jonas Jones was the only
one to make a perfect landing. He stepped out of the chair, smiling broadly, as if he was just stepping out of an elevator.
'Fantastic!' he cried.
But his good mood soon faded.
The Olympic was so like their own ship and yet at the same time utterly different, and for just one reason: it was completely empty. There were no survivors, no putrid corpses. The corridors were clean, the kitchens freshly scrubbed. Even the hospital wing had neatly folded beds and cupboards full of untouched medicines. Eerily, muzak continued to play on an endless loop over the public address system as the little party moved along the corridors.
The Olympic was a ghost ship.
***
It was vital to get the transfer of fuel underway as quickly as possible. The hurricanes were getting stronger, buffeting the ships hard and making it increasingly difficult to keep them apart. But this wasn't like filling your car at a petrol station on a windy day. Hundreds of thousands of litres of fuel had to be moved from one ship to the other. It would, Jonas Jones confidently predicted, be 'an absolute nightmare'.
Pedroza stood guard over Jonas and Jeffers while they worked on the fuel problem. He ordered Dolphin Arm to lock Jimmy and Claire in a cabin, and to then search the rest of the ship for weapons.
Dolphin Arm warned them against causing trouble on the way up and gave them a filthy look as he thrust them into a cabin and locked the door from the outside. As soon as it closed, Claire whispered urgently: 'Pedroza tried to kill me again. On the bosun's chair the seat belt was broken so I had to hang on to him, but halfway across he started bending my fingers back — he was trying to make me fall . . .'
'God! But you didn't. . .'
'No — I hit him right in the . . .'
Jimmy winced. 'And he . . .'
'. . . he was in too much pain to throw me off, but he swore and swore, he said he was going to do all sorts of terrible things to me . . .'
'Claire — why didn't you tell Jeffers or—'
'I couldn't — don't you see? What could they do? Pedroza and Dolphin have the guns — what if there's a fight and Jonas and Jeffers get shot? There'll be no one else to get the fuel across, everyone will die.' Claire shook her head. 'Jimmy, I don't think we're going back. He's going to kill us.'
'Claire — you don't know that.'
'Yes I do! Why do you think he made such a big deal about bringing us across? Why us?'
'So Jeffers wouldn't try anything, because you're the owner's daughter . . .'
'Then why you?'
'Because . . .' Jimmy suddenly wasn't sure. Pedroza could have used any one of the many passengers or crew who didn't support his mutiny, but it was Jimmy and Claire he'd insisted on.
'See? He said he wanted revenge — and we thought he meant just making us take the chair, but then he tried to kill me, and now he's going to try again, I'm certain . . . That's why he locked us in here, so he knows exactly where to find us. He'll leave Dolphin in charge of the others and come up here and . . .'
Jimmy was suddenly convinced. 'He'll say we fell overboard by ourselves or we had an accident and got chewed up by the elevators or . . .'
'Then we don't give him that chance. Come on, Jimmy — we have to get out of here!'
***
Claire tried picking the lock with a straightened-out paperclip they found in a folder advertising future cruises, but failed. They tried kicking it, but it held firm. Jimmy opened the balcony doors and hurried across to the guard rail. He had to take a firm grip because of the howling wind and then he hung himself out just enough to be able to see around the dividing wall on to the balcony next door.
'What are you doing?' Claire shouted as she struggled out to join him.
'If we can get over here, their balcony doors mightn't be locked. Maybe we can get out that way.'
'You mean climb over the rail, without even the tiny amount of safety the bosun's chair gave us?'
'Exactly.'
'OK — but this time, let me go first.'
'OK.'
'Aren't you going to ask why?'
'No.'
'Because you took the risk last time with the chair. Now it's my turn.'
'OK. Whatever you say. Personally I just think you're trying to prove you're braver than me.'
'I don't have to prove that. I know I'm braver than you.'
In ordinary circumstances it would not have been that difficult a manoeuvre. It was, essentially, nipping over a neighbour's fence. But if you fell from a neighbour's fence you might graze your knee. If you fell from this one, you would lose your life. Jimmy took a firm hold of Claire, supporting her as she forced herself up the rail in the face of hundred mile an hour winds. She gripped the rail on her side and then felt around the corner for something to hold on to.
'All right — I'm just. . .'
Her foot slipped suddenly on the damp rail and she screamed. The wind seemed to grab at her and pull her out, but Jimmy held tight. Slowly, slowly, he pulled her back down over the rail and they both collapsed, defeated.
***
Two minutes later she said: 'I'm trying again.'
'It's my turn,' said Jimmy.
'No — it's still my turn. It was the shoes — no grip.'
She showed him the sole of her shoe. Then she took them both off and stuck them inside her jacket. 'C'mon!'
Jimmy helped her back up on to the rail, and this time held her even tighter. She felt for her grip on the other side, made sure it was secure, then nodded at Jimmy to let her go.
He held on.
'Jimmy — now! I'm fine!'
Jimmy took a deep breath and released his grip. Claire pulled herself around the fence and dropped down on to the balcony next door.
'OK,' Jimmy shouted, 'here I come.'
He just about made it round — the force of the wind was incredible. But when he landed, Claire was already looking grim.
'The doors are locked!' she shouted. 'What do we do now?'
'We keep going until we find one that is open!'
'But what if they're all closed? The wind is going to rip one of us off eventually!'
'It's the wind or Pedroza — up to you!'
***
Four times they climbed from balcony to balcony, growing colder and weaker with each attempt, but finally they found an unlocked door and collapsed into the cabin. They lay on the big double bed and laughed and laughed and laughed.
It wasn't funny, but they couldn't help themselves. It was a heady mix of adrenaline and relief. When they could manage it they rolled over to the mini bar and feasted on Toblerone and Diet Coke. Claire opened a bottle of champagne and drank. Jimmy refused. 'I drink it all the time with Mummy,' she said. 'She buys a new bottle every time one of my ponies wins a . . .' Then she stopped. 'My poor ponies. Do you really think they're dead?'
Jimmy thought about it. He liked Claire, and knew the right thing was probably to spare her feelings. On the other hand, he was who he was. He said, 'Of course they are. Their flesh has been consumed by wild dogs and their bones boiled for soup by starving plague victims.'
'Sometimes you're very cruel, Jimmy Armstrong.'
'Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.'
Claire's eyes blazed. 'No! You should never be cruel to be kind. It's horrible. The truth is horrible.' She wiped at her tears. 'Everyone is dead, Jimmy. The world is dead. I have to believe my lovely ponies are still alive. I have to.'
'All right,' said Jimmy. 'I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better, then they are still alive. Albeit in soup form.'
Claire hurled a Toblerone at him.
35
Pedroza
From the fourth deck, Jimmy and Claire could see that a second line now connected the Titanic to the Olympic, a flexible pipe used for ship-to-ship refuelling. It was being blown violently from side to side and looked as if it might be swept away at any moment. The wind seemed to be getting even stronger.
They ducked back inside and took seats opposite each other in the Olym
pic's library. They had to decide what to do next.
'If we go down and stand with Jonas,' Jimmy suggested, 'then maybe Pedroza won't try anything.'
Claire shook her head. 'No, Jimmy. Jonas said it could take four or five hours to refuel. Pedroza could just take us away again and they wouldn't be able to do anything about it.'
'Well what then?'
'What if we wait until the last possible minute to go down? Once we see the pipe being retracted, we'll know it's safe. Or safer.'
'But it'll just be the same when we get back, won't it? We know he wants to kill us. We have to do something to stop him, right here, right now.'
'Like what? If Captain Smith and the whole crew haven't been able to get rid of him — how can we?'
'I know. But over there he's got his whole band of mutineers; over here there's just him and Dolphin Arm. And if he has to leave Dolphin Arm to guard Jeffers and Jonas, then there's just him . . .'
'And a gun. And several knives.'
'But he hasn't got what we have.'
'What's that?'
'Your big arse and my lucky penny.' Claire gave him a look, and he quickly apologized. 'Look, all we need is a plan. Something not too complicated. Something that doesn't depend on him doing this, and this and this, before we can do this, and that.'
'We need to lure him somewhere, trap him and . . .'
'Kill him.'
They stared at each other.
'We can't kill him,' said Claire.
'Why not?'
'Because that makes us as bad as he is. And I couldn't do it. I couldn't . . . stick a knife in him. Or shoot him.'
'What then? Tell him he's been a very, very naughty boy and give him detention?'
'I don't know! Could you kill him? Stick a knife right into him and watch the blood burble out of him?'
'Burble?'
'Jimmy — could you?'
Jimmy was from a rough, tough part of Belfast, but he'd never stabbed anyone. 'I killed a gerbil once,' he said.
'That's hardly the— Did you kill him with a knife?'
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