A Wide Berth by Stella Whitelaw

Author:Stella Whitelaw [Whitelaw, Stella]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Published: 2017-08-03T04:00:00+00:00

12. Hurricane Ricky

A rough sea and a gale-force wind should be nothing to a fine modern ship like the Countess Aveline. The wind whistled through lines and along corridors and the waves slapped the hull with relentless fury as we rode the Caribbean Sea.

I’d been on the edge of a hurricane before, but it had never been this bad. Walking was a calculated hazard: forget pride; hold on to everything handy. The crew was busy putting up extra ropes across open spaces of carpet. The Zanzibar Dining Room had closed, and I could see the staff hurriedly stacking cutlery and glassware into secure compartments.

My flimsy evening dress was not the right gear for a hurricane. I’d get blown away. The stairs were too dangerous, so I took the lift down to my cabin and changed into a tracksuit and trainers. I also grabbed a lightweight waterproof jacket. We were pitching and rolling.

‘Nothing to worry about,’ Edmund Morgan said again, when I phoned him. ‘It’s only a tropical disturbance. We don’t get hurricanes of any magnitude in this area, believe me.’

‘It seems pretty rough to me,’ I said. ‘I can’t understand why we aren’t going towards the land, to some safe harbour. All the captains I’ve known have always taken the safest route. They daren’t do anything else.’

‘Perhaps Captain Wellington thinks our extra speed will outride the hurricane.’

‘There. I knew it was a hurricane. Hurricane Ricky. Edmund, I want to see you. Can we talk somewhere?’

‘You should stay in your cabin and watch a movie. It’ll blow itself out by the morning. Goodnight, Casey.’

‘This is important. It’s about Tracy Coleman.’

‘What about Tracy Coleman?’

I knew a little about hurricanes. I knew there was a vortex, the centre, where all was calm. In a quadrant, the ship could be sucked in or buffeted out, like a spinning top. But the Aveline was far too big to suffer such treatment. The captain was probably, even now, plotting our escape route. We would be in radio contact with all the shore stations.

But hurricane behaviour is eccentric. It can change course, change velocity and change strength in minutes. Still, at least a big ship is safer than a building. Bungalows and offices get torn down. Palm trees flattened. Cars wrecked and tossed about.

‘I have got to see you,’ I said. I’d read somewhere that the spin of the earth is what starts hurricanes, that and hot and cold air; that a hurricane is a vast energy produced by the condensation of water from rising air. A little bit of knowledge is always confusing.

The strength of the wind was increasing. I could feel it buffeting my cabin window, waves obliterating any night-time view. It would be safer to stay here and tuck myself up with a hot chocolate and a good book. I was about to change my mind when Edmund agreed to meet me.

‘I’ll meet you at the north end of the Cairo Lounge,’ said Edmund. ‘Take the lift. Don’t take the stairs. They are too dangerous.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.