Free A CRY FROM THE DEEP by Unknown Page B

told herself to just take a deep breath, in and out, in and out. It was working. In and out. In and out . When she turned to face the deeper waters, she gave Daniel a thumbs up, and dove.
    Although her heart pounded as if it was about to burst, she swam behind Daniel towards a suspended helicopter fifty feet deep. The aircraft was open along its sides, allowing her to dive into its belly and see how well she could glide through a tight space. It was a test for claustrophobia. Would her fright win out? Would the time she almost died come flooding back? She could feel herself starting to panic, so she took a few deep breaths before following him through the hole. As she did, she kept reciting, just focus on my breathing, as if it was a mantra that would carry her onward, no matter what. She kept telling herself she was a competent scuba diver in a family park and that if anything went seriously wrong, there was help available. She checked her pressure gauge to reassure herself. She knew she had to ration her air—one-third for the descent, one-third for the exploration, and one-third for the ascent. At the moment, she had more than enough left to complete her dive. Her self-talk kept her going and she could feel her heart rate return to normal.
    When she glanced at her diver watch, she was surprised to see she’d been down for half an hour. Outside of her alarm before entering the sunken helicopter, Catherine had managed the swim through it without any major difficulty. They’d also kicked their way deeper to a sunken wooden cabin cruiser. Although it wasn’t a ship buried at sea—where she could become disoriented or lost—it posed its own challenges. It gave her a chance to work the dive operations with one hand and her camera with the other. And the sandy bottom was perfect for practicing her landing without clouding the water.
    Catherine held herself steady on the lake floor as she peered through the lens. It was then she noticed she was still wearing her ring. Wearing jewelry was a no-no when it came to diving. Predators, like sharks or barracudas, could easily mistake a ring for sardines and attack. Luckily for her, there weren’t any aggressive fish in these waters. She hoped Daniel hadn’t noticed her slip-up, one only an amateur would make.
    Relaxing, Catherine took a good look around the bottom. At first, she thought she spotted some tattered white material of some sort, but on closer examination, she recognized it as a dress, a bridal dress, billowing out like an unfurled flag. The woman who was wearing it climbed over the gunwale of the cabin cruiser with fear evident on her face. Startled, Catherine shut her eyes, thinking she was hallucinating or day-dreaming at best, but when she opened them, she saw the bride grab a man’s hand, while the vessel rolled from side to side. Catherine attempted to take a picture, but unfortunately with her rapid breathing she couldn’t hold the camera steady. She snapped anyway, figuring it was better to have a blurred image than no image at all. And then, hoping to get a different perspective, she took her eye off the viewfinder—for only a moment—but when she looked again, the woman and man had disappeared and the boat was immobile.
    She turned to Daniel and saw him waving at her. Had he seen them, too? She didn’t want to ask. Maybe he’d say something, but if he didn’t, she wasn’t about to volunteer. It would sound too crazy. Whatever possessed her to try diving again?
    She kicked her fins vigorously and swam around the boat. She checked her depth on her gauge—seventy feet deep. She could feel herself heating up. Was it because of the dive, or because she’d seen something unexpected? The man and woman resembled the people in her dreams . It was as if her nightmare was following her, but why? She didn’t want to bail, not now. Everything had been going so well.
    Her breathing tightened, but fortunately Daniel soon gave the signal to go up. She released a