فرشته در طوفان

CHAPTER NINE

Angel in the Storm

‘Help me, Mr Donovan! Please help!’

How can I help you, woman?’ Daniel shouted at Mrs Dawson. ‘How can anyone help?’ He was too cold, too frightened, too tired. He couldn’t think now.

‘Please help my children!’ cried Mrs Dawson, ‘Keep them warm for me - they’re so cold!’

Daniel put his arms around the woman and her children. It was true. The children were cold - very cold. Their eyes were open, but they were not moving. He tried to warm them with his hands. He shook them, but they did not move.

‘It’s no good, woman!’ he said. ‘No one can.’

‘They’re not dead yet!’ screamed Mrs Dawson. ‘I know they’re not dead!’ She looked into her children’s faces. ‘Wake up, Simon! Sarah! God will save us soon. Please don’t die!’

Daniel was tired and angry. ‘Don’t be stupid, woman!’ he shouted at her. ‘We’re all going to die, don’t you understand? No one knows we’re here!’

Mrs Dawson stared at him. Her face was wet with rain, and her hair was blowing in her eyes.

‘God will send someone!’ she said. ‘He must! I know He will!’

‘Who’s He going to send? An angel!?’ Daniel laughed angrily, and looked at the wild, empty sea.

But Mrs Dawson was still screaming. ‘Someone must come!’ she shouted. ‘We can’t die here! Go to the top of the rock and look again! Tell them about my children!’

‘Your children are.’ But he was afraid to say it, He turned away, angry with himself, and climbed to the top of the rock. The wind screamed in his ears. He looked across to the lighthouse and saw nothing - only waves, and more waves. ‘I hate the sea!’ he thought, ‘It’s like a great grey animal with a hundred white teeth. I hate it! It wants to kill us all!’

And then he saw the boat.

He saw it only for a second. It was on top of a white wave. It went down behind the wave, but then it came up again. Down, and up again. And it was coming nearer! A little boat with two people in it. He held the rock and stared at it. The boat came nearer, and nearer still. Then a great mountain of a wave came, with white angry teeth, and the little boat went down behind it.

‘No!’ Daniel cried. ‘No, please God! No!’

The boat came up on top of the wave, with white water all around it. The oars were up, out of the water. For a second the boat began to turn on its side, then the oars went down into the water and the boat came down the side of the wave, Daniel could see the two people in the boat now. One was a man. One was a young woman.

He got up and ran down the rock. He was crying and laughing at the same time. ‘It’s all right, Mrs Dawson!’ he shouted. ‘It’s all right! Look there! Look! Your angel is coming!’