Top of The Edge - Intro Billy Cook

Broke Nose

Professor Michaels parked his 1936 DeSoto Airflow in the parking lot at the east end of the old Charleston Market near the intersection of South Market Street and Concord Street. Smith and Tuttle inconspicuously drove past, on Concord Street taking note that Michaels was alone. Tuttle took the next available right onto Cumberland Street turned right onto State Street and took another right onto South Market and immediately parallel parked facing the parking lot in which professor Michaels was parked, but at a good distance away so as not to be easily detected.

Just then a young girl passed by on a bicycle. Tuttle cut the engine and lights as he spoke low and quick to Smith. "Let's go." They both quickly exited the vehicle and trotted across South Market over to North Market. Hidden by one of the old Market's pavilion columns, but where they could still see the professor's car from around the corner. The girl that just passed by them on a bicycle pulled her bike alongside Michael's car. They conversed for a minute or two and suddenly the girl rode off on her bike down Concord Street. "What's going on?" Smith asked whispering. "Where is she going?"

"He's undoubtedly being very cautious, probably because of what happened with the Altman girl. He doesn't want anyone to see him actually with any of these girls that he's blackmailing. Let's just keep our eyes on him. I'm fairly certain that he will be meeting back up with our bicycle girl momentarily.

Enemy Ashore

At 2045 Kapitanleutnant Piening brought U 576 to the surface to prepare for Fenstemacher's disembarkment. "I don't like surfacing this close to the coast." Piening was saying to his second in command. "Just as soon as that raft is fully inflated, I want him on it and headed to his rendezvous point."

In a feeble attempt to help Fenstemacher see, one of Piening's men shined a spotlight on the raft as it was being lowered into the water. Both Fenstemacher and Piening bellowed out at the same time, "TURN THAT LIGHT OFF!", and immediately the light was no more. With the moon at a 'waning crescent 17% visible' and overcast skies everyone was plunged into what seemed to be total darkness. It would take a few minutes for their eyesight to re-adjust.

"The whole world knows where we are now!" Piening exclaimed. "Our best hope now is to MOVE!"

Fenstemacher wasted no time. Within seconds he was a good 30 meters off their bow yelling, "GO, GO GO!" He was still seeing spots from that sudden burst of light. Despite that, he knew he had to keep rowing as hard and as fast as possible. The necessity to vacate this location quickly was now paramount.

Piening's first inclination was to dive and get out of sight, but their location had been compromised, and their need for stealth had to take a backseat to their need for speed. Fenstemacher had gone another hundred meters or so when he glanced back to see a dark silhouette of U 576 moving northward at top speed. He still had some distance to go before he reached the shoreline, and he was having to fight the current which was pulling him hard to the south.

The first hour, 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM Cherry and Robyn patrolled. The second hour, 7:00 to 8:00, Robyn and Maryanne patrolled. The third hour, 8:00 to 9:00, Maryanne and Cherry patrolled. It was now the fourth hour with Cherry and Robyn once again patrolling together. At 9:45 PM they had already turned back southward headed for their base camp. Robyn had been complaining about how bored she was and that she felt like she was going to fall asleep in the saddle. Suddenly Cherry halted Ranger and grabbed blues bridle to stop him and Robyn.

"Did you see that!?" Cherry's excited voice interrupted the stillness of the evening. Startled by the question that so abruptly pierced the silence, Robyn jumped before replying, "I'm not... sure". Her eyes had been half closed. The gentle sound of the surf coupled with the cool March Sea Breeze had begun lulling her into a state of half consciousness. She wiped the sleep from her eyes and peered through her binoculars in the direction indicated by her friend, and she saw nothing, "Okay, you're just trying to scare me. Did you really think I would fall for that?"

Cherry remained at a full stop as she continued to stare out over the surf, "I'm telling you Robyn something is out there. I saw a bright light only for a couple of seconds and then it was gone."

Taking note of Cherry's serious demeanor, Robyn now believed her friend had indeed seen something. "Do you think you just might have seen a shooting star or something?"

"I know what a shooting star looks like and I'm telling you that was no shooting star."

"You don't really think you saw a light from some enemy vessel or something like that... do you?"

"Yes... yes, I think that is exactly what I saw."

As they crossed over the dunes and onto the beach Ralph and Louise Ford were arguing.

"Ralph, I'm telling you we are too far north."

"You've never had a good sense of direction, and you know it. What makes you think suddenly that you now have any idea as to where we are or where we should be?"

"I'm sorry Ralph. I don't know what got into me. I'm sure you have everything well in hand." The last thing Louise wanted was to get Ralph riled up to the point of no return.

"You're an idiot Louise! I swear if you don't start supporting and respecting me the way you're supposed to I'm going to drag your skinny little butt into the surf and drown you. You got that?"

Louise wasn't sure how to respond. Whether she told him what she thought he wanted to hear or not, frequently her answers would provoke and ultimately send him into a blind rage where he would lose all track of time as he beat and pound on her.

"I asked you a question! Do you understand that I'm going to kill you if you don't start acting the way a wife is supposed to act? Do you? Do you understand what I'm saying Louise?! Louise answered timidly, "Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes sir. I understand sir."

Ralph grabbed his wife by her hair and headed toward the water. I think it's time for me to give you some swimming lessons."

Nadean Wycliff, Smith and Tuttle were at the foot of the front steps of the old market as they observed Michaels entering the Mills Hyatt House hotel. As the front door closed behind him, the two men walked briskly to the hotel and entered through the front door. They looked around for a few seconds before Smith saw the backside of Michaels going up the stairs and pointed him out to Tuttle. The two men did their best to keep Michaels in sight while keeping themselves out of his sight. They saw him enter the third floor but by the time they got there, he was out of sight.

"Now we just need to figure out which room."

Smith responded, "You got any ideas as to how we're going to accomplish that?"

"Let's just casually walk past every room on this floor - maybe we'll hear something or who knows, he might even step out to get some ice. You start at the lowest room number, and I'll start at the highest. When we meet, we'll pass each other until we get to the end and then turn around and do it again."

Smith gave Tuttle quite the incredulous look and said, "We could be here all night playing that game." At which Tuttle responded, "You got any better ideas?" Smith shook his head as he responded, "Well, let's get to it."

Suddenly, they both heard what sounded like a man's voice hollering out in pain followed by language unbecoming of any gentleman.

"Where did that come from?"

Tuttle pointed off to the right and began walking in that direction.

Nadean Wycliffe was a 19-year-old young lady. One of her most distinguishing features was her nearly fluorescent red hair. At first glance, she appeared to be somewhat dainty and petite. The truth, however, was that she was anything but. Of the seven siblings in her family, she was number 4 and the only girl. Her family's home and small farm was located in a small village called Givhans, and only a stone's throw away from the Edisto River - the longest black-water river in the country.

The daily chores on the farm during the hot summer months entailed weeding the gardens, feeding the livestock, and harvesting their cash crops - acres of butter beans, okra, sweet corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, cantaloupes, and watermelons. Most of which would be sold to Grocery stores around Givhans, St. George, Walterboro, and Summerville. At the end of a typical day's work on the farm, Nadean and her brothers would jump in the Edisto and swim for hours until dusk. Her brothers had devised a swimming race that entailed swimming against the current for about a hundred yards. Nadean could hold her own and frequently out-swam several of her siblings. Having grown up in that environment, it would be fair to say that Nadean Wycliffe was tougher and stronger than most young men her age.