Save Them

“We have to go back!” Carrie shouted only moments after Lusitania disappeared below the surface of the water. “Those people are going to freeze to death if we don’t go help them–now!”
Her words seemed to fall on deaf ears as none of the men rowing the lifeboat even looked over their shoulders. They continued to row the little boat as far away from the site of the sinking as possible.
“We can’t just leave them.” Tears sprang to Carrie’s eyes as she turned her head to watch the horrific sight unfolding behind her. Everywhere she looked, she saw people struggling in the water. Their white life vests glinted in the midday sun as they thrashed about, crying for help. Those who could attempted to swim to the closest lifeboat, while many couldn’t make any traction in the frigid water and stayed where they’d first encountered the cold Atlantic of the otherwise tranquil sea.
“They won’t go back,” Jonathan said quietly. “Nothing any of us say will compel them to turn around and go back for people they think may swamp our little boat and have us trade them places.”
“But there are children in the water.” Carrie was thankful that she wasn’t close enough to see the specifics of who it was calling for help, but it wouldn’t be possible for every single child that had been aboard the passenger liner to have made it into a life raft. No, some of those cries were coming from the littlest, weakest, and most fragile members of their cohort. They had all been a group of passengers united by the common goal of getting across the Atlantic together. Now, it was every man, woman, or child for him or herself, and it broke Carrie’s heart to think that anyone could be so selfish as to continue to row away from children that were literally freezing to death.
Taking a deep breath, she attempted to pull herself together. A few of the other occupants of the lifeboat also agreed that they should return to help, but those with the oars continued to ignore them and sprinted ahead toward the Irish shore in the distance.
After a few moments, the man in charge gave an order, and the rowing abruptly stopped. For a few seconds, Carrie hoped that he had actually changed his mind and was about to tell the men to turn back and begin to assist those still struggling in the water. But that wasn’t what happened. Instead, the little boat sat there bobbing on the waves, doing nothing at all.
“We’ll wait here for rescue,” the man in charge explained. “Boats will be coming from Queensland and other local towns.”
“But what about them?” Carrie pointed back at the little specks of white in the water. Most of them had gone still by now, and only an occasional shout for help reached her ears.
“Nothing can be done for them now.” His dismissive tone as he ran a hand through his black hair made Carrie want to pick her way through the crowd and push him into the water to see how he liked it, but that wasn’t something she was capable of doing. Unlike some people, she couldn’t sit idly by and watch someone freeze to death.
Or maybe she could. She was being forced to do just that.
“I hope Mrs. Smythe isn’t out there.” Hannah’s voice was quiet and meek, unusual for the child. “Or your friend Robert.”
At the mention of his name, Carrie felt her eyes prickle with tears once more. “I hope they are both safely on another lifeboat,” she agreed. Jonathan’s arm tightened around her shoulders.
Silence filled the lifeboat except for the occasional sob from one of the women, likely those who knew their husbands had gone down with the ship. Carrie sank her teeth into her bottom lip in an effort to keep her own emotions in check, but the tears escaped and slid down her cheeks. She didn’t lift a hand to wipe them away.
“It shouldn’t be too long,” Jonathan whispered. He looked around and nodded. “Fishing boats in the distance.”
Carrie turned her head and saw several boats making their way across the Atlantic. With the number of lifeboats that did happen to make it successfully into the water, she wondered how long it would take for it to be their turn. While she hoped some of those vessels would be able to help the people in the water, in the last few minutes, everything had gone eerily quiet from the area right around where the ocean liner had disappeared.
She had an idea there wouldn’t be many bodies pulled from the sea–not living ones anyway.
Thoughts of Robert invaded her every thought as she watched the first rescue boats reach the survivors in a lifeboat not too far from their own. Could he be on that boat? Or maybe that one over there? She had no way of knowing. All she could do was pray.
Several hours went by in near silence. Only the sound of whimpering and the gentle lull of the water against the small boat kept Carrie tethered to reality as the horror of what had happened threatened to pull her under even further than a rogue tidal wave. She continued to remind herself that Hannah needed her, or else she might’ve let the dark thoughts tugging at the corners of her mind pull her under.
Finally, as darkness fell around them, the situation began to change. Slightly numb from the cold and horrible thoughts that plagued her mind, she blinked a few times when she heard Jonathan say her name. “It’s our turn, love.”
He nodded at an approaching fishing boat. Carrie took a deep breath for the first time in a while.
In an Irish brogue, a large man with a long red beard shouted, “We’re comin’ for you!”
Sighs of relief and cries of joy rang out around her. Hannah squeezed her hand, and Carrie kissed the top of her head. “We’ll be safe and warm soon.”
Unloading the lifeboat safely was a challenge in itself. Carrie waited patiently until it was their turn. Then, Jonathan lifted Hannah over to one of the fishermen. He asked, “Do you want me to pick you up, too?”
“No, it’s okay,” she assured him. With his help, she made the crossing onto the boat as the other women had done. By now, her legs were stiff, throwing her coordination off, but she managed to make her way onto the fishing vessel. The smell of a fresh catch filled her lungs with every inhale. Ordinarily, she’d think of this as an interesting adventure, but at the moment, every thought was filled with Robert’s handsome face.
The fishing boat wasn’t cut out to hold so many people comfortably, but then, everyone was already miserable, both physically and emotionally. Once everyone was loaded up, Carrie and her friends found a spot along the railing to hold on to as the boat turned and headed toward Queenstown.
Once again, tears threatened to spill from Carrie’s eyes. It was all she could do to keep from crying her eyes out as she thought about everything they were leaving behind. It seemed surreal now to consider that just a few hours ago she’d been sitting in a nice dining room eating lunch, listening to dozens of other people chatter about what they planned to do once the ship reached Liverpool.
How many of those people were now floating in the water? Too many, that was for certain. But then, even one person would be too many.
She found herself sinking back into a bit of a stupor. While she was aware of what was transpiring all around her, it was as if she were watching life go by out a window. She saw the Irish coast growing larger, heard the fishermen and others around her talking about what they would do when they reached the harbor, even heard Jonathan make a few remarks in her general direction she assumed were for her, but none of it registered.
In her heart, all she could do was pray that Robert would be standing up there waiting for her, but the possibility seemed slim as they waited their turn to approach the dock and unload. Only one boat could approach at a time since the dock was so small. Some of the lifeboats had been towed in while others, like theirs, had had all of the passengers transferred to the fishing boat.
The citizens of Queenstown had come out in droves, it seemed, to help them all. A large number of women waited for them, some with food and blankets, others with water or just a hug and a few words of encouragement. Men helped them disembark. Carrie nodded a thank you to the older gentleman who helped her step onto the dock, but her throat was too dry for her to form any words.
“Let’s get these survivors to the hotel,” a middle-aged woman in a nice dress directed. Something about her gave Carrie the impression she was important. She was certainly taking charge. On numb legs, she followed along, accepting a piece of fruit and some water from another volunteer as she trudged onto dry land.
Amidst the shouts of their new hosts giving directions and calling for assistance, Carrie heard bits and scraps of conversation from her fellow passengers as well. The common refrain seemed to be, “Where is my husband?” or “Have you seen my father?” Those who didn’t need medical attention fanned out in all directions looking for loved ones while the volunteers encouraged them to go to one of the shelters they’d put together first to see if perhaps a sweet reunion may happen there.
Without the strength to put up a fuss, Carrie continued to walk along, holding Hannah’s hand, with Jonathan’s arm around her. Even as they made their way to the hotel, she couldn’t help but look around, searching the hollowed faces of the other people rescued from the disaster for the familiar brown eyes of the man she loved.
Robert was nowhere to be found.
“Let’s get some rest, and then we’ll be able to look for him properly tomorrow,” Jonathan suggested. “It’s dark and chaotic. Hannah is freezing.”
Carrie nodded in agreement, but it was difficult to accept the fact that she’d probably lay her head down that night without knowing whether Robert was dead or alive.
“What’s going on over there?” Hannah pointed off in the distance where a couple of men were transporting a figure wrapped in a sheet to one of the nearby buildings.
She opened her mouth to reply, but all that came out was a stuttered whimper.
“Some of the people in the lifeboats fell in the water first, remember?” Jonathan said calmly. “They must’ve been too cold.”
“You mean they’re dead?” Hannah asked him, looking up with tears in her eyes.
He nodded. “Yes, Hannah. They’re dead.”
She bit her bottom lip and nodded, tears escaping down her cheeks. “I will say a prayer for them.”
“That’s a good idea.” Jonathan patted her gently on the shoulder. “Come along now. We’re almost at the hotel. We’ll get some rest, some food, and find the people we’re missing in the morning.”
Knowing there was nothing more they could do at the moment, Carrie followed along. Inside, the hotel was crowded with people from other lifeboats. Her eyes searched the crowd. She’d almost given up hope of seeing anyone she knew when her eyes fell on a familiar face. Letting out a deep breath, she thought, “Well, at least one of our prayers was answered.”