Ghost Messages by Jacqueline Guest

him, then like a thunderbolt, she remembered what else was about to happen. “Paddy, we have to stop a disaster! There’s a huge wrench going to fall into the automatic release mechanism. The machine will be destroyed!”
    Paddy didn’t argue. He took her arm and together they struggled back to the large piece of intricate machinery. They both spotted the cumbersome tool at the moment it finished its last slide and disappeared into the housing. Immediately, an ominous grinding sound started up.
    “It’s going to seize at any second. We’ve got to get that wrench out!” Paddy raced to the wheels and reached into the shrieking apparatus. Ailish watched helplessly as her friend tried to free the tool. After several futile moments, Paddy shook his head. One of his arms was bloody from tearing vainly at the wrench. “It’s no good. The blasted thing is already wedged in. If I could pry the gears...”
    Ailish saw a lifeboat hanging from a davit against the outside of the hull and ran to it, then faltered, staring down. Sixty feet below, the hungry sea reared up as if trying for a second chance to devour her. Terror squeezed her in its paralyzing fist and her muscles refused to obey. “No, no, no!” she hissed through clenched teeth, fighting to regain control. Desperately, she wanted to run and hide, but the cable could be destroyed and that was bigger than her fear.
    Taking a deep breath, she scrambled onto the boat as it hung suspended over the ocean far below. The wind rocked and shook the small craft as she released one end of the tarpaulin and climbed inside. It was dark but dry under the cover, and she felt around for what she needed. At last her fingers closed on her prize. Grabbing the oak oar, she clambered back to the deck and then hurried to Paddy.
    “Use this!”
    Paddy took the stout length of wood and wedged it under the wrench, then leaned on it with all his might. With a crack, the wooden oar splintered in two, but not before the wrench popped out of the wheel assembly.
    “Paddy, you did it!” Ailish cheered, swiping at the rain in her eyes.
    “What’s going on here?” a harsh voice growled.
    Ailish and Paddy whirled to see Dalton and several of his men standing behind them. In the eerie light from the storm, they appeared menacing gargoyles and Ailish took a step backward as a wash of pure menace rolled off Dalton and engulfed her.
    “The Fenian scum is trying to sabotage the cable! You’ll hang for this, Whelan,” Dalton snarled. “Unless you’ve decided to take my offer…”
    “You never give up, do you, Dalton? The answer’s still no. Now, shove off.” Paddy turned to check the damaged wheel.
    “You drove that spike through the cable and when that didn’t work, you decided to try again tonight. No man aboard will see it differently!”
    In the wavering glow from the lone electric lamp high on the mast, Dalton looked a true demon. Summoning her courage again, Ailish stepped forward. “No, Paddy’s trying to save the cable!” she shouted. “You left a wrench lying over the machinery today and it fell in during the storm. I tried to warn you, but you wouldn’t listen. Instead, you almost killed me and caused a cable disaster!”
    The smirk on Dalton’s face faltered and his men saw it. She realized she’d committed a grave error. Not only had she caught Dalton making a careless blunder, she had exposed him in front of his men.
    His eyes grew as cold as the icy Atlantic. “A bald-faced lie! You and Whelan set this up.”
    He lunged for her but Paddy stepped between. “You’re the problem here, Dalton. Don’t blame O’Connor.”
    Ailish could see doubt cross the men’s faces. It was hard to lead an army if your troops thought you were incompetent and now, the seeds had been planted. She almost felt sorry for the fiend, almost… but not quite. Anyone could make a mistake, but the right thing to do was to own up to it and try to make amends. Dalton had done