Love's Rescue Read Online Free PDF Page B

full weight. It would not open. Now what?
    Water gurgled all around. Elizabeth stepped to her left and ran into something solid. She felt around in the darkness. The object came to just above her knees. Made of wood. Brass strapping.
    “I found one of our trunks.”
    “Whose is it?” Aunt Virginia asked.
    “I think it’s your small one. It doesn’t feel like mine.”
    “Open it.” The woman sounded out of breath already. “That’s the one with my pearls.”
    Elizabeth searched for the latches. “It’s wedged against the wall, and, oh—” Her head struck something hard. She ran her hands around the object. “The chair is here too.” She pushed the chair off and tried to open the trunk. The lid didn’t budge. “Was your trunk latched?”
    “Of course it’s latched. I made sure to latch it when I put the cards back. As if any fool would leave her trunk open in such a place. Let the roaches and rats into my clothing? Never!”
    “Rats?” Elizabeth scampered out of the pooling water. The mere thought of vermin made her skin crawl. “I couldn’t get it open.”
    “But my pearls!”
    “We’ll ask the mate to help us open the trunk when he comes for us.” Absently she looked up, where the cabin’s window now blinked with stars. The sky must be clearing. In time the wind and waves would abate, but if the groaning of the hull was any indication, they wouldn’t be here to witness it.
    “Then we will have to abandon ship.” Her great-aunt sounded resigned. “My James died like this.”
    “James?” Elizabeth had never heard her mention anyone named James.
    “My first and only love.”
    Elizabeth’s jaw dropped. Her aunt had once loved a man? She’d always been the spinster, happily ensconced in the family home. A lost love, especially in a shipwreck, made Aunt’s hysterics more understandable. “What happened?”
    “The ship went down. All hands lost.” She sniffled. “That’s all the shipping agent could tell me. For a long time I dreamed that he’d survived as a maroon, alone on some unknown island. Even after I accepted his death, I wondered how he’d perished. Did he suffer? Was anyone with him or did he die alone? I-I-I don’t want to die alone.”
    Elizabeth embraced her trembling aunt. “I’m here. I won’t leave you.”
    The way she’d left her brother. Never again would she turn away from family in need.
    “We’ll get out of here,” she added, though with the door jammed shut she didn’t know exactly how.
    As if in answer, silvery moonlight streamed through the window overhead, revealing the extent of their difficulties. Aunt Virginia’s small trunk was now partially underwater, as was the bottom portion of the door. At this rate, the cabin would fill within the hour. The passageway outside must be halfway submerged. If help didn’t arrive soon, their only avenue of escape was the window overhead.
    The slap of waves and scraping of the reef continued for long, agonizing seconds while Elizabeth considered the window. Aunt Virginia would never fit through it, but Anabelle could. Then she could send one of the crew with an ax to hack open the door. But first Anabelle needed something to stand on so she could climb out the window.
    Elizabeth tugged on the desk. It must have been hammered into the wall, for it didn’t budge. She considered the options. Perhaps a drawer would give enough of a boost. The bottom one opened easily. Elizabeth tested its soundness with first one foot and then the other. This would work.
    She reached for the window.
    At that instant, a large wave hit the hull, and the drawer slid from underfoot, spilling its contents all over the floor. Elizabeth grabbed the window frame and managed to hold on. Aunt Virginia screamed. Anabelle consoled her. With a shudder, the entire room tipped backward. Elizabeth lost her grip and fell onto her backside. She grabbed the desk.
    Then everything stopped.
    Elizabeth gulped in air. Her hands ached. Her limbs trembled.