Ben Peteroff

As they boarded the two Navy skiffs, the teared faces that a minute ago had shown the end of innocence now all turned to smiles of shining happiness. Only one thing ran through their minds. Home! Percival climbed into the officer's lap sucking his thumb. "Mom," he said, as he embraced the man for comfort. This brought a blushed smile to Ralph's face, remembering a time when he himself did the same in the view of his own mother's caring eyes.

Jack's voice ended his deep thought. "Sorry about everything, I mean all the shit I put you through."

"Neither of us could have stopped what happened, so let's just leave all of it here," Ralph said, as he shook Jack's hand.

When they were all aboard the boats they shoved off toward the ship and then, from there, home. When they arrived at the ship there was food waiting, and, after scarfing down his meal, Ralph began to think of all the comforts of home. The others must have been thinking of the same things because when Ralph looked around they were asleep. Some were smiling, others mumbled the words they dreamed, and some slept in peace for the first time since before the plane crash. Ralph left the room for the deck of the ship where he wandered under the stars over the Atlantic Ocean.

He was deep in thought when he heard his name being called. The officer who had piloted one of the boats that rescued them called him by his first name, "Ralph!" He turned around and for a second wondered how the man knew his name. Then he remembered some of the young'ns telling the seamen their names. They must have told them all of our names. "I just wanted to know what happened, exactly. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to because the real questioning starts tomorrow," the officer said. Ralph gave him a blank look and said, "I'll wait till tomorow." Then he fixed his gaze on the setting sun and stood there until it was dark. He had difficulty finding his way back to the room where the others were. Thankfully, he met up with one of the seamen who gave him a flashlight. Once he was in his sleeping quarters he settled down and focused his thoughts on home, a place which he would soon return to. That night Ralph slept peacefully for the first time since before the crash, because now he had nothing to worry about. He didn't have to think about how to get food and what to do to keep the boys together.

The ship was sailing at cruising speed on its way to London and would be there in about thirty-six hours. Everything seemed to be going well, but there was something that the captain and the others didn't know about. A Geman U-boat (submarine) was closing in fast on the ship. Only when the sub came within 200 meters of the ship and surfaced to get a clear shot were they spotted. The captain gave orders to turn the ship around and prepare to fire. Ralph awoke feeling the boat making a sharp turn to the starboard side. The Germans realized they had been spotted, and fired two torpedoes just as the British ship's weapons locked onto the sub. The ship shot a few volleys from its big guns and released a torpedo, but nothing could be done to stop the German torpedoes traveling toward them.

Ralph was awake when the explosion shook the ship. Everyone immediately awoke, and Ralph, Jack, and Roger rushed out to the deck where most of the crew was in the process of readying the life boats. The three boys were running toward the control room when the sub exploded. This captured Roger's attention, and he detoured over to the edge of the ship to watch the flames. In his evil mind he thought of all the people who'd died and it brought him a sense of satisfaction. But he was in for a sad surprise.

When Ralph and Jack entered the control room, no one noticed them. Everyone had been too busy rushing around. The captain was on the radio reporting their position and what had happened, and was waiting for a damage report. An officer walked in and announced to the captain they were taking on water quickly and that the other torpedo that had been fired before the sub went down was lodged in the hull of the ship. He then gave orders to abandon ship. Just then Ralph and Jack noticed that Roger had disappeared. They looked out the window and saw him still watching the sub. All of a sudden there was a big BOOM! Everyone dropped to the floor. When Ralph looked again, Roger was nowhere in sight. Then he and Jack ran with the others over to the life boats.

As the sun was rising, the occupants of the life boats saw a plane circling, and about an hour later a search and rescue ship sailed up to them. Ralph felt totally relieved when he and the others were pulled aboard the ship. In a few hours he and Jack would both be with their parents at home.