Page 116 of Haunting the Deep

Mollie yanks me through a door and down a hall. We take so many twists and turns that I’m not clear where we are. Although I’m pretty sure we’re a couple of decks down. I suck in air. She pushes through another door into a small staircase.

I pull her to a stop. “We need—”

“I remember Denis Lennon.” Her eyes are fierce and her breath is heavy.

“When did you remember him? When exactly?”

“While ya were talkin’ in the lounge. It came slowly. Yer words felt right. I began ta agree with ’em. And then suddenly I saw Denis in me mind. I remembered. I’mdead,miss.” She glances nervously at the door. “And I remember the Jessups. I remember the young’un puttin’ a spell on me and Denis. And how we both flickered and disappeared.”

Mollie remembered, the ship is sinking, and yet we’re all still trapped here? How is the spell still holding?Oh no!

“I might have made a mistake.” I press the heel of my hand into my forehead. Matt said that if I didn’t stop talking about the sinking, I would go headfirst into the ocean. What if he meant this, that I wouldn’t break the spell at all, just disrupt it enough to sink the ship and everyone on it? “We need to go to steerage, Mollie. We need help.”

Her eyes widen. “The ship is goin’ down. Steerage will only trap us. We’ll wind up underwater in that metal cage again.”

“Do you remember that little girl Ada? She’s managed to blink off this ship a few times recently. She’s the only one I know of who has. Well, the only one who would help us, anyway.”

Mollie hesitates for a second, fear in her eyes. She looks at the door. “Nora will know which cabin is hers. We need ta hurry.” And we’re moving again. Fast.

My whole body strains forward, charged with adrenaline. Mollie winds us in and out of hallways and tiny passageways. We keep our heads down and our mouths shut. Crewmen are everywhere we go, handing out life jackets and knocking on doors. With each turn I scan every face, expecting to find one of the Jessups.

Mollie lifts a hatch, and we climb down a ladder into the ship’s belly, emerging into a part of steerage I’ve never seen.

It’s too quiet. The halls are practically empty.

“They’re still sleepin’.” Mollie’s voice rings. “No one woke ’em!” She picks up her dress and runs down the hall.

There are no hordes of stewards handing out life vests here. These people weren’t given a chance in life, and they’re not being given a chance in death.

Mollie pounds on Nora’s door, and I pound with her.

The door opens, and a squinting Nora stands on the other side. “What’s all yer drummin’ about? I was dreamin’ of…” Her eyes focus on us and she frowns. “Sweet Jaysus. Ya two look like ya seen the devil.”

“The ship’s flounderin’,” Mollie says.

Nora takes a step backward, like we physically hit her. “How long?”

Mollie exhales. “Soon.”

“Nora, I need Ada,” I say. “Do you know where her cabin is?”

“Aye. Down that way. Take yer first left, ’bout three doors farther on yer right.”

And just like that, the girls in Nora’s cabin are all moving at once.

I turn to Mollie. “Don’t wait for me.”

“But—”

“Get as many people as you can above deck!” I say as I run into the hallway. Groggy confused passengers are starting to wander out of their rooms.

“The ship is going down!” I yell as I pass the waking people. I’m met with surprised eyes.

One, two, three doors.I pound. No answer. I pound more.

A sleepy middle-aged man with a mustache and neatly parted hair opens the door and blinks at me.

Ada’s father?“Is Ada here?”