Ark Of Hope: Beyond The Dark Horizon

by Roger David Francis

  “Bloody thing,” Brett pulled a miserable face. “How did it get in here?”

  “It’s not the same one,” Cassie said in surprise.

  Brett frowned, Cassie was right. This one had black paws and its head was upright. He didn’t think it was going to attack them; it actually seemed to be trying to back away. He looked back at the door and could just about make out tendrils of white mist trying to force their way in through the pillows.

  The ship rocked suddenly and Cassie fell backwards onto the bed.

  “Not now darling, this isn’t the time,” Brett joked.

  “Not funny.” Cassie stood up. She walked over to the porthole and looked out. “We’re moving!” She squealed.

  Brett joined her. “She’s right. So there must be people on the bridge, the Captain and the crew. Don’t worry, they’re guiding the ship out of the storm, everything’s going to be okay.” He felt relieved; it seemed they’d been scaring themselves for nothing. “Open the door a few inches Robbie, see if that mist has gone.”

  “Of course, leave it to me. You three just keep right back out of harm’s way while I put my life on the line,” Robbie told them with a grimace. He lifted his t-shirt and hooked it over his nose. “Can’t be too careful,” he mumbled, his voice muffled.

  Very slowly he opened the door about an inch expecting a rush of the strange white mist to pour in but nothing happened. He opened it a bit more and peered out. “It’s clear,” he said, surprise in his voice. “Whatever that was it’s gone now, come on.”

  Reluctantly the other three followed him back out into the corridor.

  “It’s wet,” Cassie scrunched her face up, “And sticky,” she shuddered as she lifted her foot up. “There’s green bits in it, what do you think it is?”

  Jade thought it was silt and seaweed from the waves but she didn’t say so.

  “Some sort of residue from the mist,” Brett offered, having no more idea than Cassie what was under their feet. “There’s some more stairs ahead.”

  “This is all your fault, Brett,” Cassie moaned as they climbed the stairs. “You and your flat earth, I mean, who cares? We could be sunbathing in the Bay, but no, you had to bring us here, put our lives in danger.”

  “That’s hardly fair, Cas. How did I know there’d be a storm and the Professor’s boat was going to capsize? And don’t forget you all thought it was a good idea, a free day out, it isn’t all down to me, be reasonable.”

  “There’s karaoke tonight at the hotel,” Cassie whined.

  “Well there you go, look on the bright side; I’ve saved you from a fate worse than death.”

  At the top of the stairs they stopped and looked around. There were three doors.

  “Take your pick,” Brett said.

  “The middle one,” Cassie decided.

  “The middle one it is.”

  Pushing open the door they were confronted with a magnificent room. It was huge with enormous chandeliers hanging from the roof, lit up and sparkling, turning lazily throwing out shooting beams of light across the domed ceiling. The room was full of highly polished tables all set out with gleaming knife’s, forks and spoons, silver dishes and the most astonishing thing of all, food.

  So much food that the four of them could only gaze in wonder at the steam rising from the large plates that were set out on every table. Bottles of wine stood next to glasses half full, and amazingly, half smoked cigarettes were burning in polished brass ashtrays.

  Walking in slowly, Jade touched a cup of coffee next to a plate of cakes. “It’s hot,” she murmured. She picked up a bread roll and squeezed it. “Fresh today, and look at that lobster, it’s barely dead.”

  “I’m hungry,” Robbie reached across and picked up a chicken portion off a plate stacked high with them. He began eating.

  “Really?” Jade stared at him. “You’re eating food that could be six decades old.”

  “It’s delicious.”

  They sat down at the table and Cassie took a large bite from a cream horn.

  There were coats folded over the backs of the chairs and gratefully Jade slipped a light grey cotton jacket on.

  “Good idea,” Cassie said helping herself to a dusty pink coat from behind her chair apparently unconcerned any longer that it belonged to someone who’d been dead for over sixty years. She shivered with relief.

  Brett’s eyes darted around the room. “This is all kinds of wrong,” he said quietly. “It’s impossible that all the people who were in the middle of dining suddenly got up and left, you know that, don’t you?” He stared around feeling oddly disjointed. Everything was as it should be yet there was nothing right about it. If the ship had been abandoned because of the storm this dining room would be a mess and yet there wasn’t a single plate or glass out of place. Every table was crammed with platefuls of food waiting to be eaten.

  Sighing, her mouth watering Jade took a dish off the table and began scooping ice cream and fruit into her mouth.

  “Maybe the passenger’s are out on deck, some sort of fire drill,” Robbie suggested, his mouth full. He laughed suddenly, “Imagine them coming back in a few minutes and finding us sitting here scoffing their food.”

  Brett nodded. “Not impossible, but unlikely. Why can’t we hear them?” He glanced out of the large window, “Or see them?” He picked up a menu card. “The Princess May,” he read out loud. “So the Professor was right.”

  His stomach twisted in disbelief. He was sitting at a table eating food in the dining room of a ship that had disappeared over sixty years ago. Three hundred passengers and crew had vanished off the face of the earth. He thought of the ginger cats and his mind balked, it was impossible. “I don’t think we should eat any more of this food,” he said suddenly.

  Robbie, his mouth crammed full of cherry pie waved his hand dismissively. “It’s really good, you should tuck in.” He almost groaned with delight.

  One of the chandeliers above their head began to swing back and forth and a sudden flash of lightning zipped into the room.

  Jade scraped her chair back. “I need the loo,” she said.

  “I’ll come with you,” Cassie volunteered.

  Watching them walk to the end of the dining room Robbie sighed and pulled out his mobile phone.

  “What are you doing?” Brett asked.

  “Trying to see if I can get a signal again. We need to phone the coastguard.” Robbie looked surprised at the question.

  Brett frowned. Robbie’s face portrayed only mild concern and it occurred to Brett that his friend might not have grasped the enormity of the situation they were in. “Robbie,” he said slowly, “how do you think you’re going to get a signal?”

  Robbie peered at the phone in his hand. “You’re right. There’s nothing showing up. Must be the storm, or my battery’s dead. So how about we go to the engine room and find a flare?”

  “Just like that?”

  “Why not? Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?”

  “Under normal circumstances, yes, but this isn’t normal, is it?” His eyes widened, “Jesus, someone’s coming.”

  Jade and Cassie pushed open the door to the women’s toilet. Inside it was pristine with sparkling white tiled walls and a strong smell of disinfectant. There were eight cubicles altogether, four on each side. Jade was surprised and delighted to see a little girl about eight years old standing in the middle of the room.

  “Hello, my name is Hope, what’s yours?”

  “I’m Jade and this is Cassie.” Jade looked around but every cubicle door was open. “Are you waiting for someone?” she asked.

  “My Poppy,” the little girl grinned. She twirled around and Jade could see that her feet were bare and dirty; the polka dot dress she was wearing came down to her ankles. She tossed back her red curls. “He keeps disappearing,” she said.

  “Well, you’re not going to find him in the ladies toilet, are you?” Cassie pointed out, and then had a thought, “Poppy’s not a ginger cat is he?”

>   Hope giggled. “He’s my granddad.” She skipped to the door. “He’s probably somewhere singing and playing his guitar. I’ll find him soon.”

  “What does he sing?” Jade asked.

  “Only you,” by the Platters, it’s his favourite. I have to go now.” She skipped out of the door.

  Jade wondered if she ought to call after her, tell her she’d heard her granddad singing but when she looked outside the door the little girl had vanished.

  Jade smiled and turned back. All the cubicle doors were still open but Cassie had gone.

  “Cas?” She called out. One of the doors creaked and moved a couple of inches. “Really, Cas, hiding behind a toilet door, is that the best you can do?”

  She pushed the door inwards expecting to hear her friend yelp but it simply knocked against the wall. Frowning, Jade checked every door, even looking upwards, though the idea that Cassie would climb up and hang from the ceiling was ludicrous. Jade knew her friend hadn’t left the room because she’d been blocking the only entrance out.

  “Cas?” She shouted out again beginning to feel frightened. Suddenly the end toilet flushed and Jade let her breath out in relief.

  A middle aged woman stepped out of the cubicle, walked over to the row of wash basins and began running her hands under the tap. Jade stood in the middle of the room watching her, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. The woman’s fingers were falling off one by one, landing in the basin and swirling around in the water. The woman seemed unconcerned as she wiped her fingerless hands on a paper towel. She turned around facing Jade, her eyes angry. “Do you often stare at people in toilets?” She hissed.

  Jade couldn’t speak, her throat felt blocked up. The woman brushed her raw knuckles across her forehead scraping off a strip of skin. She flicked it onto the floor. Her two front teeth fell out and rolled across the tiles, the woman’s foot shot out and stamped on them.

  “Damn things,” she muttered thickly. “I hate dentist’s, don’t you? They never get it right.” The rest of her teeth clattered onto the floor and the woman shrugged her shoulders. Her mouth was filling up with blood and she spat it out, a look of disgust on her face. “I’m not going to win the glamorous Grandmother competition now, am I?” she whined.

  “I’m sorry,” Jade whispered.

  “No, you’re not, nobody is.” The woman’s voice was thick with phlegm and blood. “Stop gawping at me. I know I’m not wearing any make-up but it’s still rude to stare.” She tutted and put her raw knuckles to her lips and slowly scraped them away dropping the bits of pink flesh into the wash basin. “Damn things,” she gurgled, “at least I won’t have to bother with lipstick anymore.”

  Jade felt herself trembling, unable to take her eyes off the woman, horrified when one of her legs burst open and a thick stream of pus ran from the open wound down onto the tiled floor. The woman groaned.

  “This is all the Captain’s fault. He promised me a ride on his lifeboat and then ignored me. Some trip this is turning out to be.” She glared at Jade, “You should tell your friend to hurry up, there are people waiting to go.” She swept past Jade trailing blood and yellow pus behind her and disappeared out of the door.

  “Who was that talking?” Cassie asked.

  Jade spun round and her friend was coming out of the end cubicle the woman had been in.

  “Did you see her?” Jade asked breathlessly.

  “No, I just heard chatting. See? I told you there were other people on the ship. Come on, let’s get back, God knows what Robbie’s shoving down his throat.”

  Brett twisted further around in his chair and was astonished to see a tall thin man wearing a dark suit and tie heading towards their table carrying a large silver tray.

  “Gentlemen,” the tall man spoke in a hushed voice. “Welcome to the Princess May. My name is Gary Wurner; I’m your waiter for the duration. I hope your trip will be enjoyable.”

  “Where is everyone?” Brett asked.

  “Ah, you mean the rest of the passengers? Dead, I’m afraid. I suspect the sharks have eaten most of them by now. Still, don’t let that spoil your appetite. The entertainment will be starting soon in the theatre. We have a new rock and roll group called the Cockroaches; they’re supposed to be very good.” He put the tray on the table and stood back smiling.

  The tray contained a mass of squirming insects, large cockroaches and worms all wriggling about in a heap. Brett felt nausea rising up from his stomach and heaved. He pushed his chair back and glared at the tall man. “This isn’t funny,” he yelled in a strangled voice.

  “Indeed it isn’t,” Gary Wurner agreed solemnly pointing at Robbie.

  Brett spun round and watched in horror as his friend began shovelling the wriggling mess of insects into his mouth, crunching down on the cockroaches and chewing heartily.

  “Looks like you’re friend is enjoying his pudding.” The tall man’s eyes twinkled with mirth and then he turned abruptly and walked away.

  Brett snatched the tray from the table and flung it on the floor. Robbie, his mouth full, looked offended. “What did you do that for? I was enjoying it, had a nice nutty flavour.”

  “We have to get off this ship,” Brett said. He tried not to look at Robbie, at the corner of his mouth where a maggot lay wriggling.

  “I don’t see why. It’s better than the Professor’s manky little boat, much more fun, what’s wrong with you?” Robbie gazed at Brett with a sullen expression on his face. “Anyway,” he said cunningly, “If you hadn’t noticed, there’s a storm going on outside, we ain’t going anywhere, pal.”

  Brett glanced over to where the tray of insects had been and there was nothing there.

  A sheet of lightning illuminated the deck and Brett reared back, his eyes wide. In that split second he thought he’d seen a group of shadowy people outside leaning over the rail and waving their arms. They were wavering through the misted up glass and Brett went across to the window and peered outside.

  The rain was sleeting down and the deck was empty. He rubbed his eyes. It made no sense, why would anyone be outside in a storm? Were these people some of the diners who had left their meals and drinks and walked out, or had he simply imagined it?

  “Would you like to join them, Sir?” A voice whispered in his ear. Brett spun round and came face to face with Gary Wurner, the waiter.

  “I don’t think so,” Brett stuttered.

  The thin young man looked serious. “Quite right, Sir, I wouldn’t advise it. The decks get very slippery when it rains, accidents happen, but the customer is always right, isn’t that what they say?”

  Brett was beginning to think he didn’t like Gary Wurner very much. He thought they were about the same age but the waiter’s subservient attitude grated on him. He seemed to be sneering, his lips curved in a tight smile.

  Brett glanced over to Robbie. His head was thrown back and his eyes were closed, he appeared to be sleeping.

  “What did you put in the food?” Brett asked suddenly.

  “Oh dear, you’ve found me out. Just a little sprinkle of something to make your friend feel good about himself; no harm in that; is there, Sir?”

  “You’re a drug dealer.” Brett said flatly. And then felt himself sway as his vision blurred. He put his hand out and steadied himself against the wall, closing his eyes for a second. When he opened them again Gary Wurner had gone and Jade and Cassie were weaving their way around the tables and chairs towards them.

  “You’ll never guess what,” Cassie said sitting down next to Robbie. “There was a little girl in the toilets. She said her name was Hope and she was on holiday with her granddad, Poppy. See, we’re not here on our own.”

  “Did she have red hair?” Brett asked frowning.

  “How did you know that?” Cassie looked at him in amazement.

  “Doesn’t matter.” He looked at Jade and frowned. “Are you okay?”

  Jade shook her head, “Not really. Something weird happened. I don’t think it was real though.” She looked co
nfused and Brett sympathised. Jade wasn’t the only one wondering how much of what was happening was real.

  “We should stay together,” he said. “At least for now until we know what’s going on.”

  Cassie was nibbling listlessly at a slice of fruit cake.

  “I wouldn’t if I were you,” Brett advised her, adding, “I think we should go outside.”

  “The Cockroaches are coming, I don’t want to miss them,” Robbie was looking at Brett, wide awake and bright eyed. He was dribbling the remains of the insects he’d eaten; they were squashed on his chin and his fingers plucked at the mess, smearing it across his lips. “I’m on my holidays; it’s all part of the fun.” He began tapping his foot and humming.

  “What’s he talking about?” Jade asked and then frowned. “What’s he been eating?”

  Brett could feel his stomach churning. Something was wrong with Robbie, and he cursed the waiter. The bastard had fed his friends drugs; he could see Robbie’s eyes sparkling unnaturally. He decided not to say anything; he didn’t want to frighten the girls.

  “Follow me,” he said.

  Chapter 4

  The huge sliding doors that ran the length of the dining room were misted up from the squalling rain. Brett gave them a light tug and they slid noiselessly across revealing a wide deck. The heavy black clouds that hung overhead had darkened the skies and the whole ship seemed to be steeped in gloom. Glancing at his watch Brett saw that it was only twelve o’clock, mid day. Two hours from when they’d started out, it seemed impossible. How could there be an enormous full moon floating above them against the backdrop of the scuttling clouds? It was as if time had played a trick on them. It’s because of the storm, he thought, it was messing with his mind.

  They were alone on the deck. At least the worst of the storm appeared to have abated but Brett was suspicious it hadn’t done with them yet. In the distance he could still see forks of lightning shooting across the sky. He breathed the fresh air in and felt a little better, his stomach settling to a low grumble. He tried to block the sight of Robbie wolfing down a plate of squirming insects from his mind, his stomach felt delicate enough as it was without conjuring up that particular image.