Isle of Man

CHAPTER 21

A Message from the Gods



Oh God, if you exist, what have I done?

The world shrinks into two small windows of faraway blue as Finn clamps the iron mask on my head.

I smell the saltwater, I hear the clinking chain.

Finn’s blond hair appears in the mask’s eyeholes, his head bent as he traces something with his finger on my bare chest. Then I feel the prick of his knife, the cutting sting as he drags its blade across my flesh, followed by the warmth of my own blood. He’s carving something in my chest. Perhaps a message for me to carry into the afterlife. I struggle against my bonds, but then, remembering that this only works if I’m a willing sacrifice, I clench my teeth and promise myself I won’t scream.

The crowd surrounding me is silent, but I can feel them watching. Finn works for several minutes, and by the time he’s finished I don’t even mind the pain any longer. In fact, I wish he’d continue. Anything except what I know is coming next.

Finn’s head disappears from the eyeholes, and I glimpse the blue water beyond. I see the shadow of the crane’s boom swing over the waves, bringing the shadows of the sharks up from the depths. They cruise their vicious circles like angels of death swimming in a watery sky. A fin breaks the surface. I hear the rattle of the chain as the rope pulls it up. I feel the tug of the iron helmet on my neck. Warm piss runs down my leg. Please, I pray, to anything, just let my neck break before I’m eaten. Just let me die and join my mom and dad.

My mind leaves my body and floats over an ocean of time, retracing my short life. The journey here in the submarine, the adventures at the lake. I’m on the mountain with Jimmy now. We’re sitting on the glacier, looking at the rising moon. I can see the glint of wonder in his eye, his long lashes visible even in the moonlight. It’s funny what images stick with you. Suddenly, I’m in the cove, learning to swim. I hear Jimmy laughing. He calls me buddy for the first time, and I recall how good it felt. Now, I’m standing at the shore after my trip down from the wrecked train, and I’m seeing Jimmy again for the first time, crouched on that rock, the orange sun oozing into the waves as if setting only for him. Now, I’m back underground, my father is rushing to the closing elevator, his words making it just in time: “I love you, Son.” Three simple words—I love you. I only said them once in my life. I said them to my father on his last day alive. I should have said them more. I should have said them to—

Something grabs my legs.

I brace for the pain.

The pressure eases on my neck as I’m lifted and my soul seems to slide back into my body.

“Put him down!” a distant voice yells. “Put him down, I said. Do it now!”

Jimmy? Is that you, Jimmy?

“You lost your chance,” I hear Finn say.

“Jus’ put him down and let me explain.”

My feet hit the ground and Jimmy’s strong hands hold me up. Everything is white and blurry outside the eyeholes now.

“You’s got this all wrong,” Jimmy says. “You dun’ need to kill nobody to be safe. There ain’t no gods out there tryin’ to destroy you here. We can explain ever-thin’.”

An angry growl rises from the crowd.

“Throw him to the sharks!” someone shouts. “Yeah, string him up, too,” another says. “Double, double!” they chant.

“Somebody restrain him,” Finn calls.

“Wait! Wait!” Jimmy yells as he struggles with someone beside me. “Wait! I’ll prove it. Jus’ give me a chance.”

“Prove what?” Finn asks. “That you’re delusional?”

“Jus’ hear me out,” Jimmy says. “You give me three stones and nothin’ more. Then let me in the water and I’ll call up an iron shark like you’ve never seen.”

“What do you mean, an iron shark?” Finn asks.

My legs buckle, but Jimmy’s hands jump to hold me up.

“Let me show ya,” he says. “We’re not from here, Aubrey and me ain’t. We came from far away to bring you a message.”

“He’s got a message from the gods!” someone shouts.

“A message from the gods!” others chant back.

Then I hear Finn’s voice again: “Are you claiming to have a message from the gods?”

“Sure,” Jimmy answers. “From the gods.”

“Fine,” Finn says. “You go call up your iron shark. But if you’re telling the truth, you shouldn’t need any stones to do it. The gods will protect you. So go ahead. Dive in.” He laughs, obviously thinking Jimmy won’t do it. The crowd laughs, too.

Jimmy’s hands leave me, and the next thing I hear is a loud splash. Without Jimmy supporting me, it’s a struggle to stay on my feet. But refusing to surrender to exhaustion, I stiffen my legs and straighten my spine. Then I press my head forward in the mask for a better view. Jimmy swims amongst the sharks, his head down, his strong arms stroking confidently, propelling him elegantly through the dangerous water. As he breaks past the thickest of the sharks, several fins turn to follow him out to deeper water. But he swims without panic or fear.

A strange sense of calm comes over me. As if my life is in the hands of something bigger. Some fate that I can’t change and shouldn’t bother trying to change even if I could. Not even with a wish. I doubt Jimmy will be able to locate the submarine in time, especially when he’s surrounded by sharks. And if he does find it, I have no idea how he’ll raise it with no stones, or why the professor wouldn’t be sleeping, or perhaps catatonic in one of his moods. I just wish Jimmy didn’t have to die too.

Once he’s far from shore, but still short of the submarine by my estimate, Jimmy dives, surrounded by circling fins. A tail splashes. A minute passes. Then Jimmy pops up, treading water farther away. My eyes focus on nothing but him, wishing I could at least say goodbye with a look. Jimmy sucks in a deep breath and dives again. The fins disappear beneath the waves with him. Time creeps past. Two minutes—three—maybe four minutes now. The crowd starts to murmur. A dog yips somewhere behind me. Or maybe a fox.

The crowds’ murmuring increases as the seconds pass:

“Nobody can hold his breath that long,” a boy says.

“He’s gone for sure,” a man’s voice chimes in.

“The sharks got him for a snack,” a woman adds.

“Let’s lower the other one now, too,” another calls.

I hear the clattering chain, rising on its pulley again. The mask is caught up, pulling against my neck. I rise to my tiptoes, ready to die. Oh, well, I think, at least we’ll be together.

Then Jimmy’s head appears, bobbing on the waves. Sharks rise with him—fins circling, tails thrashing. Jimmy punches at the water, defending himself. Do I really have to watch him get eaten before I die? Must fate truly torture me before I slip to the other side? Why? It doesn’t seem right.

Suddenly, the fins scatter, the sharks disappear, and the patch of water surrounding Jimmy goes calm. Jimmy faces me, treading water, and although he’s much too far away for me to make out his eyes, I swear I see him smile. Then he rises from the water with his arms outstretched like some long departed sea god returned to embrace the world. He rises until his waist clears the water. Then his thighs, his knees, his feet. Next, the black, protruding submarine sail rises beneath him, lifting him above the waves, and the Park Service crest faces us, glinting in the sunlight. When he stops rising, Jimmy stands six feet above the water on the highest part of the surfaced submarine.

The crowd behind me gasps.

Someone screams.

Several quiet seconds pass, and then I hear the rattle of the chain, the opening of the clasps.

The mask is pulled from my head.

My head lolls forward, my chin rests on my chest.

I see my belly and legs covered in my own blood and I’m suddenly dizzy, feeling faint. I try to look up again, but my neck won’t budge. Even the effort is too much. My world spins, my legs collapse, and I fall backwards, caught in strong, but no longer enemy, arms.

I close my eyes and surrender to oblivion’s sweet relief.