Top of The Edge - Help is Coming

Both Cherry and Robyn stopped dead in their tracks and with looks of incredulity and shock, they were now staring at the man that had fallen to his knees. Seeing now that he had their attention, Chlodwig seized the opportunity, and in a most melodramatic manner he let out a mournful groan and fell face down in the wet sand.

The uncertainty in Robyn's voice was quite evident as she stated, "I don't think that's a Nazi spy. I mean... he certainly doesn't sound like one."

"I'm inclined to agree." Cherry responded as she cautiously began walking toward the man now lying face down on the beach. "...But what is he doing out here?"

In an effort to remain at least somewhat surreptitious Ralph kept the headlights off, and consequently was having a hard time seeing where he was going. As he began making his way toward the dunes, Louise could clearly see that Ralph was nowhere near the trail they had used only moments ago. She ran to where the car would be crossing over the dunes on its current trajectory and quickly deduced that the chances of the car getting stuck here were very high. She began waving her arms frantically and shining her flashlight to get Ralph's attention. Instead of taking heed to her warning though, Ralph floored it as he leaned out the driver's window and yelled, "Get out of the way Louise! I know what I'm doing!" He nearly ran her over as he attempted to plow through where she had been standing. He only made it another 5 feet or so when suddenly the car quit moving forward. He gunned it a couple of times hoping to break free, but the wheels just spun and sank even deeper into the soft sand. He put it in reverse as he was cursing and banging his fist on the steering wheel. The result was the same. He was stuck. He got out of the car and started yelling at Louise, "I told you from the get-go that driving out onto the beach was a bad idea. I knew we would get stuck! So now what Louise!?" But to his surprise Louise was nowhere to be seen.

To respond to Ralph's question, Louise paused her running just long enough to turn and holler back at Ralph from whom she was now a good 40 or 50 yards away. "I'm going to meet our guest. Get the car unstuck and drive down to pick us up. We're going to need to get out of here fast... Hurry Ralph! There's a shovel in the trunk." She resumed her trek down the beach, running as fast as she could toward the flare's now rapidly dissipating light. Ralph hollered out a few more choice curse words in her direction before making his way to the rear of the car to retrieve the shovel.

Mr. Vanderhorst

Mr. Vanderhorst, owner of Kiawah Island, rarely stayed in the estate house on the island. However, he had been planning for some time to get out and do a little surf fishing. It was one of those things that he greatly enjoyed in the days of his youth, but as an adult, the rarity of having such pleasurable opportunities seemed to be growing with every passing year. On this particular evening he sat down in the rocking chair on the front portico to read a book via the light of an old kerosene lantern. "The Moon Is Down" by John Steinbeck had just recently been published, and being an avid fan of Steinbeck's works, Vanderhorst was eager to delve in. After about a quarter of the way through the book he was having trouble keeping his eyes open, and consequently at a quarter past 10 he fell asleep right there in the rocking chair on the front portico.

When he awoke, he suddenly became keenly aware of the fact that he was chilled to the bone, but that's not what had awakened him. The night sky was lit up, and for a short while you could see as if it were daylight. Then he remembered his conversation with Admiral Johnson concerning the coastal watch initiative in which Kiawah Island would play a significant role. He had forgotten about it until now, realizing that someone, perhaps in trouble, had just sent up a flare. He was contemplating whether or not he should go and see if anyone needed help, when he heard, coming from the same direction, only closer, the sound of a car motor being revved up several times. "It sounds like someone's stuck." he thought to himself. "Since it's on the way I'll check on that first." He climbed into his 1940 gray and black Dodge Pickup truck and took the old farm road south toward the sound of the revving car engine. It took about 7 to 8 minutes to get to the general vicinity of where he was fairly certain the car engine sounds had emanated. He got out of the truck and listened. It was all quiet now. Then he heard the sound of someone shoveling sand. So, he got back in his truck and positioned it so that the headlights were directed toward the area from which the shoveling sound was coming, and about 70 meters from his location, he could now see the silhouette of what appeared to be a man doing what he could to get the tires of his car free from the soft sand of the dunes.

"What is he doing out here at this time of the night, and why is he trying to drive his car out onto the beach? Something's not right here."Vanderhorst thought to himself as he slowed his pace and proceeded with caution. Once he was within earshot, approximately 40 meters, he stopped and called out to the man shoveling, "You need some help getting your car unstuck?"

"Who are you and why are you out here in the middle of the night?" Robyn yelled out as she and Cherry continued to gradually move toward the man lying face down on the beach.

Chlodwig groaned and said something completely inaudible as he slowly got to his hands and knees. He needed them to come closer. He kept his head down in an effort to keep them from seeing his face and weakly called out, and again with that distinct southern twang. "Help me, please help me."

Cherry and Robyn held their position about 50 meters away from the man. Becoming a bit irritated, Cherry responded rather bluntly, "If you can lie there and plead for help, you can tell us who you are and why you are out here." Speaking softly and as though he was out of breath the man answered, "My name is Billy... Billy Cook. They... they sank our ship. I don't know if anyone else survived."

"When and where?" Robyn asked. "We haven't heard or seen anything that would indicate the sinking of any ships around here tonight."

Chlodwig sounded as though he was crying as he answered, "I've been afloat for a couple of days. I'm just so glad to finally be on land." Still keeping his head down, he got to one Knee and acted as though he was making a feeble attempt to stand. Then he fell, only this time he fell into the surf face down just as a wave rolled in. He held his breath several seconds and as another wave was about to roll in, he turned his head to one side and began coughing and sputtering as if he was choking on the water in which his head had just been submerged.

"I kind of think... he's telling the truth?" Robyn stated in a questioning sort of way.

"I'm hardly convinced of that myself." Cherry replied.

"Well regardless of whether he is telling the truth or not, he doesn't appear to be a threat in his current condition, and he certainly doesn't sound like some Nazi spy." Robyn stated confidently as she began walking at a normal pace toward the man. "Come on, we can at least help him move away from the water so that he doesn't drown when the next wave rolls in."

"I suppose." Cherry said hesitantly. It was still against her better judgment to approach the man, but she wasn't about to let Robyn put herself in harm's way without back up. Besides the man could actually drown if they didn't intervene in some way.

"Help will be here soon." Robyn said as she attempted to help the man stand. A few seconds later, Cherry was on the other side doing what she could to assist. As they helped him to his feet, he continued to keep his head down so that his face would not be easily seen.

Chlodwig, AKA Billy Cook thought to himself, "If somehow these girls manage to escape death tonight, the last thing I need is for either of them to be able to identify me."