Ghost Messages by Jacqueline Guest Page B

animals are on board, don’t you?”
    Ailish stopped cuddling Rainbow. She really hadn’t thought much about it, and then with a horrifying lurch, Henry the cook’s words came back to her. He said he hadn’t minded giving Dimples the buns and molasses because it would end up in the same place anyway.
    The same place – on the table! They were fresh meat!
    The animals were on board to feed the crew. “No, this can’t be! Paddy, we have to save Dimples and Rainbow. Please. We can’t let them end up as, as,” she swallowed, “mutton stew and lamb chops!”
    Paddy burst out laughing in that big way he had as Ailish anxiously looked from ewe to lamb and then back to Paddy.
    “Oh, stop looking like that, laddie. Dalton wants me in the tank for some reason, so give me a half hour and then we’ll go see Henry and perhaps, with a small incentive,” he winked at her, “our cook could be persuaded to go with roast chicken and not lamb stew.”
    Paddy disappeared for a long while, then true to his word, came to get her. His timing was perfect as Ailish was about to stop for a bite to eat.
    “Our crew chief’s a nasty one, but no quitter,” Paddy said as they made their way belowdecks. “He wanted me in the tank so he could demand my money again or he’d expose me. He said the incident last night would prove my guilt, or that’s how everyone on board would see it.”
    Ailish knew the lengths the man would go to. “I’m amazed at how hard Mr. Dalton works for other people’s fortunes. Come on, we have to plead for a stay of execution for Dimples and son.”
    They spoke to the cook and though Ailish couldn’t prove it, she was sure money was exchanged as Henry assured her the pets would be safe. His only stipulation was that she had to take them with her once they reached shore as he didn’t want to explain to the captain how these two escaped the menu.
    – - • – –

    Ailish and Paddy had no sooner returned to the deck when the air was rent by the sound they all dreaded – the terrible gong. She shuddered, wanting to cover her ears to block out the ominous tolling.
    The ship sprang to life. Orders were shouted and men manned machines as they braced for what would come next.
    “Stay here,” Paddy ordered, then ran to help.
    Anxiously Ailish waited the long hours it took to slow the ship, cut the cable and transfer it to the bow, before reeling it back in. She heard the men say it would be a difficult time as there was more than two thousand fathoms of water under the ship’s keel and four tons of cable trying to break free.
    She went to the testing caboose and eased inside. She’d visited the darkened hideout several times and knew the operators if not by sight, then by voice. “It’s me, O’Connor,” she announced into the blackness. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the low light conditions, but then she saw the dim shapes of the two silent operators, sitting like statues in front of their machines. “Any chance the signal will start again like it did before?” she asked hopefully.
    “There’s not been the tiniest spark,” one of them said gloomily.
    “Joe’s right, lad. It’s dead for sure this time.” The other operator agreed, not hiding the trepidation in his voice. “Not so much as a blink.”
    “Don’t give up yet,” Ailish offered hopefully. “I heard Professor Thomson can work miraculous cures. You’ll be flashing your ghost messages back to Ireland before you know it.”
    “You’re a good lad, O’Connor,” Joe the operator said. “That’s the right attitude.”
    The atmosphere brightened a little and Ailish went to the galley to fetch hot coffee and sandwiches for the telegraph operators who sat so patiently in the darkness while the fate of the mission lay twelve thousand feet below.
    As she walked back to the testing caboose, she passed a group of sailors and overheard one mention he’d heard the tap-tap-tapping of a hammer belowdecks.
    “I’m telling you,