the Big Fitz?”
“Why else have I been walking this earth for the last hundred years? What strange force has crossed our destinies, Captain McSorley? Think about it, man. Why have you and your crew suffered the same horror, each day for thirty-seven years? There has to be some reason for this madness!”
Butch and Sol were now both on top of Stan and raining blows all over his body. Terrified, he twisted his head to see his mother and Marie doing the same to Jada. Blood ran from her nose and the corner of her mouth. Amid the grunts and curses, Jada shouted to him: “I love you, Stan!”
“I love you, too!” he cried. “I’ll see you in the next world!”
“Three minutes!” boomed McSorley.
Another wave, the greatest they had encountered, crashed against the bow and the pilothouse was thrust high into the air. The two seamen steadied themselves against it, but those on the floor were sent tumbling against the back of the room. Miraculously, Stan and Jada were the first ones to their feet and they both dashed to the front of the pilothouse. The others staggered to their feet and they began to give chase.
McSorley reached into a drawer and pulled out a chrome-plated revolver. “The next one of you who moves will be scraping their brains off the wall. Stand back!”
“But I’m already dead,” said Butch. “What do I care?”
“Dead or alive, you still have a tomorrow. I can promise you, kid: that won’t be the case, should I pull this trigger.”
Marie stepped over to Butch and took him by the arm. “He’s right,” she said. “That’s how it works in the movies.”
Butch looked down at her and seemed to consider this. He then raised his finger to Stan. “You’re lucky,” he said. “But that luck won’t hold out. I’ll kill you the next chance I get.”
“And I’ll help,” agreed Sol.
“The same goes to you, Jada,” hissed Myra. “I’ll see you in hell.”
“Indeed you will,” said McSorley, returning his attention to the wheel. “In just about two minutes.”
“I won’t believe that!” shouted Smith. He reached over to try to pull the wheel and McSorley stuck the barrel of his pistol in Smith’s chest. Captain Smith held up his hands and backed away. “For the love of God, what type of insanity is this?” he groaned.
“The love of God?” chuckled McSorley. “There is no love of God, here! Look around you, Captain Smith. What do these people know about love?”
Smith gave Stan and Jada a hard look; then he turned and stared at the others. “You’re right,” he said, sadly. “There is no love here. And where there is no love, there can be no God.”
“That’s not true,” said Sol. “I love my wife and I love my son.”
“So do I,” agreed Myra.
“But you both hate your other son, don’t you?” asked Smith.
Once again, the pilothouse was tossed up into the air and a wall of water crashed against the windows. The room went black as the sound of screaming metal threatened to pop Stan’s ears. He held Jada around the waist with one arm and held tight to the railing. Behind them, Stan could hear his family being knocked around like bowling pins. The lights began to flicker and they flashed back on. Stan heard some chatter coming from the radio. He watched as McSorley picked up his microphone.
“We are holding our own,” he said into the microphone. Stan groaned. He knew these were the last words anyone heard come from the Big Fitz. McSorley turned to face the others as they hauled themselves to their feet. “One minute,” he said. “The Three Sisters are coming and they’ll drive us down to the bottom. I’m giving you one last chance to say your prayers. For the love of God, you had all better show some forgiveness.”
“That’s it!” cried Captain Smith. “McSorley, I could kiss you!” he turned to face Stan’s family. “Do it, do it now! That’s our only hope. Forgive your son and just maybe, God might show his mercy on the rest of us. Don’t you see? That’s why we’re all here. We have to put an end to this!”
“Eat my shorts,” said Butch.
Marie laughed at that.
McSorley let out a roar of rage and he trained the gun on Butch.
“I’m sorry!” Butch cried. “I forgive you, Stan! I love you. I really do. Can you forgive me?”
Stan swallowed and nodded his head. “I forgive you, Butch. I love you, too.”
McSorley turned the gun on Marie, who repeated word for word what Butch had said. Stan replied, in turn. He found his heart felt much lighter and he began to smile.
“Now, the rest of you say it!” McSorley cried. “We’re almost out of time! Here come the Three Sisters!”
The room suddenly exploded with chatter. Apologies were made, as were oaths of love. Both Myra and Sol Goobash rushed over to Stan and threw their arms around him. Butch and Marie did the same to Jada.
“God save us,” Smith said.
The great bow of the Edmund Fitzgerald was suddenly tossed up into the air like a child’s toy. There were screams of terror as the windows burst inside the pilothouse and water roared inside. The screams were quickly drowned out by thunderous groans of twisting metal. Stan felt cold like he had never known. And then there was silence.
Stan came to inside the pilothouse. He hauled himself up from the tangled limbs and stared around the room in disbelief. Somehow, the glass had returned to the windows and bright sunshine streamed into the room. Outside, a pair of gulls landed on the rail.
Smith was the next one to his feet. “That wasn’t so bad,” he said. “The Atlantic is much colder than Superior. I’m dreadfully sorry, old chap. I thought I could save us.”
“You did what you could. I should thank you for what you did for all of us. We may be dead, but at least we’re a family again. I think there’s something to say for that,” Stan said, reaching down to help his mother to her feet.
“I love you, Stanley. I’m so sorry. I’ve been such a fool.”
“I’m sorry too, Mom.”
“You do forgive me?” asked Sol Goobash as he got to his feet. “You weren’t just saying that?”
“No,” said Stan, watching his father help Jada to her feet. He then smiled as the two of them embraced. “I love you, Dad.”
“And I love you,” said Sol, as tears fell from his eyes.
McSorley stood up and he smiled. “I’m glad that’s all sorted out. There is enough hate in this world. Now, all of you get off of my bridge. There will be plenty of work to do. We’ll have to deal with the Three Sisters again at seven ten this evening.
Stan nodded. “Thank you, Captain,” he said, stepping over and taking McSorley’s hand. The two men shook and Stan quickly jerked his hand away. He stared at the Captain with wide eyes. “Your face,” he said. He then turned to face Smith, Butch, and Marie. “All of you,” he cried. “Your color has returned! Look at your skin!”
McSorley stared at his hand in amazement. He dashed around the helm and found a mirror mounted to the wall of the pilothouse. “Dear God,” he said. He then held his hand to his heart. “I have a heartbeat!”
Smith rushed over to the mirror and he too, held his hand over his heart. “I have one, too!” he cried. “We’re alive, McSorley! By God’s will, we’re alive!”
Stan took Jada by the hand and they rushed out of the pilothouse and stood at the portside rail. Perhaps a mile in the distance, he could see Duluth’s Ariel Lift Bridge and the familiar skyline, beyond. A helicopter swooped down from the sky and the pilot and his passenger stared openmouthed at the phantom ship. Both Stan and Jada waved. The helicopter roared back into the sky and shot back toward Duluth. Across the water, Lake Superior was filled with thousands of lost ships, back in the real world. Their decks were crowded with cheering sailors and passengers.
The others soon joined Stan and Jada at the rail while Smith and McSorley guided the Big Fitz back to its port of origin, thirty-seven years late.
The cities of Duluth and Superior threw a party that day that would go down in history as one of the greatest parties
ever known. McSorley and Smith, having had their fill of questions and celebrating, joined the Goobash clan at the cottage. They stood out on the beach in the moonlight and watched as the Great Lake lapped at the shore.
“What will you do now?” asked Stan.
Smith looked to McSorley. “Go on, you can tell them.”
Captain McSorley nodded and pointed to the east. “We’ve still got some work to do, wrongs to right,” he said, cryptically.
“What do you mean?” asked Jada.
“What he means,” said Smith, scratching his beard, “is that we’re heading off to the Atlantic. We have another ship to raise.”
“Indeed we do,” said McSorley. “Indeed we do.”
The end
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