Icy February waters clashed against Price’s steam tug. The cold mist collided with my face as I leaned over the railing, leaving me reeling backward. The river Thames was furious and near frozen that evening, but we had to make our move under the cover of nightfall.
Wiping my face, I moved towards the center of the boat and sat on a bench, regaling the events of earlier that evening…
Everyone had stood from their seats after Price had gone through a long explanation on the intricacies of diving, yet I continued to sit. Perhaps it was the skeptic in me, but I had a singular question reoccur throughout my thoughts during that whole conversation, and to Dr. Prescott I would finally ask it. “Why? Why fund this salvage?”
Dr. Prescott along with everyone else looked at me confusedly, not knowing why I would question such generosity. Nonetheless, the doctor answered immediately. “Well, Theodore. That medicine is extremely expensive, and it does not go to just you five. We have hundreds of patients dependent on that medication in some form, and we simply cannot wait until another shipment arrives. Not only would you all be lacking your medicine, but an entire mental ward would be as well.” I contemplated those words, but before I could formulate more questions, Dr. Prescott answered, knowing my way of thinking. “The hospital committee all agreed we had to retrieve that medicine one way or another. Such delicate work had to be done by people that we had the utmost trust in. A group of people that relied on us and wouldn’t try to sell this behind closed doors for profit. We have investigated other ways of procuring this flower, but there is truly no alternative…”
With a nod, my response was made. “… I see…”
After that, we promptly made our way to a shoddy dock and got on the same vessel I was sitting aboard at that moment.
Bringing myself back to the present, I stood once more and peered over the side of the ship. The cargo boat’s tip was piercing out of the river, much larger than I had thought it would be. I had not been aware of how large the boat really was from so far away, but that close I could realize how monolithic the ship really was.
There was a whistle from inside the cabin, leading everyone to gather inside. Price stood by the wheel, waiting for us. “We’ve arrived.” He said, looking out to the waters. “Luckily cargo ships keep their pharmaceuticals near the top deck, so it won’t be a deep plunge…” He looked to Bradley. “Go down a few meters, open up the hatch near the back of the ship, then continue down the corridor all the way to the end. Open the door to your right, grab the andha flowers, and get back out. Simple as that.”
Bradley nodded. We had not really spoken about who had the responsibility of diving… But it was no contest of who was more physically capable. I was far too frail and too thin compared to Bradley to even be considered. Bradley spoke, looking back to the small closet behind Price. “Time to get suited up then, eh?”
Price set anchor, then walked to the closet and retrieved the diving suit. The body was a thick brown canvas, and the helmet was a large orb with several reinforced windows on both the front and sides of it. Price unlatched the helmet with ease, unzipped the back, and helped Bradley step into it.
Once Bradley was suited, we moved out of the cabin and onto the deck. There, Price walked over to a large two-person crank. From the crank, he pulled out the nozzle of a hose, unraveled the hose from the spinning cylinder in the center of the crank, and attached it to the back of Bradley’s helmet. They began their final tests as Hughes watched beside me, speaking. “It all seems so fast, does it not? But I suppose that is what happens when you lack time, such as us… The only thing you cannot buy with money…”
Once everything was assuredly in order, Price shouted out. “Chatwood! Get over here.”
I listened, sitting on one of the two integrated seats of the crank. I understood what was needed well enough for no further instruction as I sat my hands on the handle, waiting for Bradley to submerge. Price nodded to Bradley and sat on his side of the crank, leaving Bradley to finally lean off the boat and become consumed by the brackish depths.
We began to spin, and air started to flow throughout the long rubber hose. More unraveled as Bradley went deeper and deeper. Other than the hose, though, we had no indication of success. We simply had to hope things went according to the plan.
Cranking the air pump was mostly trivial. I was not strong, but at the very least my constant walking about the city gave me enough stamina to not worry over such things.
Emilia gazed over the edge, attempting to search the muddy river. She spoke, responding to a sentence never uttered. “Yes, you are most certainly right.”
Confused, I said to her. “What?”
She looked at me, similarly confused. “I said you were right?”
“I… Didn’t say anything.”
Her confusion became disappointment in herself as she listened to me say that. “Oh… Right.” She stepped closer to Price and me, explaining. “I hear things, sometimes. That time I thought I had heard you, Theodore.”
Price spoke up. “Happens. We’re all a bit off the rails, it’s why we’re here. Only gonna get worse unless we do our jobs right.”
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
“Very true.” I said, thinking on those words. No one here could stand to be without those flowers, both physically and psychologically. Next, I spoke another question that had floated to the top of my mind. “Emilia?” I said. She looked at me expectantly, awaiting the rest. “To satiate my curiosity, what did you think I said anyways?”
“Oh.” She replied. “I thought I had heard you say that the water seemed endless, and I agreed with you. With how black and murky it is, you could never hope to see the bottom until your feet touch it.”
I nodded. That statement was indeed very true, and just earlier I had been thinking about that brackish liquid below us. When Bradley jumped in, he disappeared so quickly it seemed more like he had vanished than dived.
A few minutes of nothingness passed, just the cranking of the air pump and waves crashing against the boat. That was, until Emilia spoke up once more, now anxious. “I hear something.”
Not knowing what to expect, I pried for more. “What is it?”
“A boat…” She said, full confidence on her face. “And this one is real, I know it.”
Price swore beneath his breath as Hughes stood from his seat away from us and began to walk over. “A boat? What kind of boat? Coming towards us?”
Emilia looked at the now panicked Hughes and gave the simplest answer to each question. “Yes. Small. And definitely coming towards us.”
Price spoke up. “Christ, we don’t need this… Chatwood, I can pump. Go with them to see whose boat is out there.”
I nodded and stood, following Emilia to the other side of the tug. Sure enough, a small steam powered boat erred closer to us, a man garbed in blue standing at the hull. Eventually the police officer drew close enough to speak in his especially thick Englander accent. “Good evenin’.”
His boat came to a stop when it was precisely next to ours. We all reciprocated his greeting. “Good evening…” Hughes, though, did not. He simply stood there and jittered.
The policeman took notice of this and turned his attention to the shaking older man. “Mighty chilly night to be out and about, in’t it?”
Hughes anxiety-ridden shivers could not possibly be accredited to the cold. The officer only wanted to see his reaction, and that he got. Louder than he should have spoken, Alfred Hughes put on an unconvincing smile. “Yes! Yes. Quite chilly. Indeed.”
From a polite and friendly demeanor to a now very serious glare, the policeman turned to me. “Can I come aboard?”
I did not come from a nice place in the city. I knew that when the officer was asking, he did not have the intention of letting me honestly answer. “Why… Yes, of course officer…”
He stepped aboard. Emilia understood why I answered with a yes, but Hughes seemed completely dumbfounded and even more stressed.
He surveyed the tug, and it did not take long for him to find Price, still cranking the air pump. With a prideful smirk, the policeman spoke. “Oh ho, what do we have ‘ere? Mind telling me why you’re divin’ right next to private property?”
I grimaced. There was nothing we could do. Eventually Bradley would come up from the water, and the flowers would be confiscated. If that was the case, I knew we would never see them again. Silence befell upon us as the officer waited, still smiling in self-love for his find of the night.
Surprisingly, Hughes was the one to speak up. “We are, uh, from new Windsor properties. I am Alfred Hughes, one of the top benefactors of said company… We have come in agreement with the owners of this vessel to reclaim our highly valuable Italian marble shipment… Is there a problem with that?”
The officers smile faded. “No… But I’m gonna have to see your papers sayin’ you got the right to do that.”
Hughes was basically shaking. His bluff was not convincing in the slightest. Nevertheless, he reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a dauntingly sized bundle of bills as if it were candy. He held out the hundreds of pounds to the officer, stuttering in anxiety as he spoke. “T-the… The papers…”
The policeman stared at the money for a long while, muttering to himself. “Papers…”
The man cautiously accepted the bribe and stowed the bills in his cobalt jacket. He glanced to everyone, then spoke. “Welp… Guess everythin’ checks out. Sorry to interrupt you kind folk…” We walked to the other side of the tug with him, where he jumped to his own boat whilst waving to his partner, sending it slowly reeling back. He smiled while he waved. “Have a good evenin!”
I shyly waved back as Hughes shook and Emilia stared. With enough time, the officer was out of sight. Hughes immediately sat on the deck, breathing heavily. Emilia and I left him as we returned to Price. I quickly went back to cranking as I spoke. “I do not doubt he will not just return with higher expectations…”
Price shook his head. “Nah. He wasn’t lying… I have a good sense for sniffing out liars, and while he was definitely a bastard, I don’t think he’s the type to stifle a bribe.”
Emilia spoke up. “I can hear the boat. It is getting farther away. I believe Price is right.”
I sighed. “That is fortunate then…”
We mostly stayed quiet and anxiously cranked for several more minutes, then bubbles began to appear at the surface of the water. The suited Bradley emerged and climbed on deck. As he first stepped on, we were ecstatic, but the joy in all of us rapidly faded as he stood empty-handed…
Price released Bradley from the diving suit, after which he immediately spoke. “I went down the corridor. I found the room with it in there… But the door is collapsed… Too narrow for me to squeeze through.”
Everyone muttered to themselves and paced in panic. Hughes had turned the corner from the other side of the ship, only to see Bradley without the flowers and return to his place of solitude.
Price stroked his orange mustache as he tapped his foot, thinking. Yet after a moment, he stopped, asking Bradley a question. “How narrow?” Bradley simply outstretched his hands, showing an estimation of how tight the gap was. Price pondered for another moment. “Hmmm… Far too narrow for you, but someone with less broad shoulders might…” After saying that, he turned to look at me, bringing Emilia to turn, and then Bradley.
We all knew what Price was implying. I understood it might have been the only way, but that black water… That suffocating suit… “W-What about the helmet?” I said in defense. “It simply could not fit…”
Bradley spoke with hesitation, both reluctant to argue against me but unable to let our only hope escape. “There’s a space near the top of the collapsed arch… You could probably fit the helmet through.”
Price spoke sternly. “And if your head can get in, then the rest of you just might be thin enough to squeeze past the narrow part…”
Water clashed with metal as the tide clawed its way towards me, the same black as my dream back in the bar with Bradley… I did not respond, knowing what had to happen. Seeing the acceptance on my face, Price gave a cruel smile.
“Better get you suited up, then, Chatwood. You’re going for a swim…”