Now he reached the small case that housed the axe. He smashed the glass with his hand and pulled out the axe. He was about to go down when one of the chairs at the rear of the promenade deck, sliding down it like a child on a slide, tripped Arthur's legs. He was thrown into the air and fell, striking his head on the wooden deck. He lost consciousness. The axe followed the chair and disappeared into the water, which was now approaching the port side of the bridge.
Julie didn't want to wait for Arthur to return. Even before he went for help, she'd had an idea, but then she'd written it off. Now, as the water rose higher and the door was about to give way, she suddenly dove underwater and emerged a moment later on the other side of the door, just beyond the pipe. She was free.
Brauni's eyes widened in surprise.
"Don't look like that, Brauni. Dive in and squeeze through the crack at the bottom. I'll help you!" she urged. "This is our only chance.
" The girl stood staring at the narrow gap. "If she can do it, why can't I?" she thought, and after a moment, she rushed to Julie.
"Just help me."
Without waiting for a reply, she disappeared underwater. Julie dove too and grabbed her friend, who was already halfway across. She quickly pulled her to the surface. Brauni gasped for air and coughed.
Her hand burned with a sharp pain. She gritted her teeth to keep from crying.
"See, I told you it was easy."
She nodded in response. She was still shocked that they'd managed to escape. She managed a small smile. Both had lost all their former luster. Their hair clung to their faces, and their dresses had turned into wet sacks.
"You look pathetic," Brauni said. Despite the dire situation, they burst into laughter.
A tremendous noise broke them from their glee. The water pressure pushed the second door into the corridor. They flew through it, blowing out the second door, which had been an insurmountable barrier for Julie and Brauni. The pipe that had been pushed aside would have struck Julie if she hadn't dodged at the last moment. The water level began to rise faster and faster. Somewhere further into the ship, water was breaking through, ramming through more passages.
"Let's get out of here," Brauni said.
They began climbing the stairs, emerging from the rapidly rising water. She was right behind them when they reached the dining room. They ran as fast as they could across the tilted ship. They struggled up the stairs leading to the main deck and the saloon. The bridge was slowly sinking into the water.
They passed a cabin. Julie stopped and forced her way inside. Like all the rooms, this one was also devastated by the force of the impact. Brauni stood behind her, watching as Julie pulled two orange life jackets from under the wardrobe propped against the bed.
"Put these on," she tossed to Brauni, handing her a life jacket. She put her own on.
Her broken arm made it difficult to put on the life jacket properly, so Julie had to help Brauni.
They hurried onto the deck. The water was close, and no one was on the ship.
"I can't believe they left us like this," Brauni muttered.
Julie untied the four rings from the railing, tied them together at breakneck speed, and threw them overboard.
"Life itself," she stated bitterly, then turned to her friend. "Brauni, we have to lie down and slide down on our backs into the water."
She nodded in response. They lay down one behind the other, holding on to the wall.
"If I say so, we'll let go!" shouted Brauni, who had been first to slide down. She waited a few seconds before finally saying, in a barely audible voice, "Now..."
They slid down the deck at breakneck speed and found themselves in the water just above the ship's bow.
When they emerged in the icy water, they began bobbing on it like buoys.
"We have to sail away from the ship. First, we'll get the rings," Julie said, and began swimming slowly toward the four orange rings floating on the ship's starboard side. When she grabbed them, she looked up and tossed them aside.
"The ship is capsizing!"
Her scream interrupted Brauni's laborious swim. Before she could realize what was happening, her friend grabbed the broad arm of her life jacket and pulled her into the mist, away from the ship. All Brauni could do was kick the water with her legs and hold onto the tethered wheels. They stopped 20 meters from the ship and looked at it. The milky haze obscured details, but they could see the majestic yacht tilting ever closer to its port side.
The Venus in the center of the dining room was underwater. Waves attacked the opulent living room and living quarters. The water swallowed everything in its path.
The girls watched in complete silence as the colossus lay diagonally on its side, exposing its belly. All the lights instantly went out in the throes of the furniture tipping over. A few minutes later, only wooden pieces remained of the Tabernacle, floating on the surface of the sea. Among them, they could also see other life preservers that had broken free from the ship, as well as small, unsinkable objects. It was a quarter past two in the morning. Darkness reigned all around, made even more intense by the fog.
Daniel gently rowed, steering his boat toward something loudly lapping at the waves. Chris trembled as he lay beside his still unconscious sister. He held her hand and checked her pulse every few moments, fearing he might lose her. Suddenly, the boat shook as it struck something hard. Daniel flew to the front of the boat.
When he stood up, a rock came into view, its razor-sharp peak rising toward the stars. On its slope lay white shards of the hull of the yacht he had been sailing on only half an hour ago.
He cursed under his breath. He turned and found a coil of rope. He tied one end to the bow of the lifeboat, and at the other end, he formed a wide loop, which he threw around the top of the rock. This way, he moored himself to the treacherous land, as large as the dwarves in Gulliver's Travels. He planned to wait here for the guards.
Julie and Brauni remained silent. They clung tightly to the wheels, gently thrashing the water with their feet to stay within the wreckage.
"Can you hear us?" Julie screamed, trying to contact the other survivors, full of hope that they had survived. "Daniel, Chris?"
Only the roar of the waves answered them. They were too far apart.
"It's no use! We're all alone here," Brauni said, breaking into tears. "We'll die here. And I so wanted to see my dad." Why did I even let myself be talked into this? After all…
Julie slapped her across the face to stop her from panicking even more. Brauni fell silent and began to sob.
"We'll survive this, you hear? They're sure to call for help. Someone will fish us out soon. Believe me. I want to be home too." She stroked her wet hair and hugged her as tightly as she could. "Don't cry anymore, we have to be strong."
Brauni nodded vigorously.
They listened to the roar of the waves when suddenly Brauni said,
"It's terribly cold here, and I want to sleep so much."
"Me too, Kitten. I want to sleep too. But I'd rather not fall asleep; the shock might keep me from waking up. And don't you try to fall asleep here either. I don't want to watch the sunrise alone.
" Brauni giggled weakly.
"It'll be romantic."
They were far from land, far from their homes. Alone in the middle of the vast sea, completely dependent on each other.
END OF PART ONE
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