Gin Palace 02 - The Bone Orchard

alive in that car. Augie had made it to the bank, and I looked over at him and could tell by his face that he was thinking the same thing that I was thinking, that something had to be done and had to be done now.
    There was really nothing for us to discuss. I was up, that was all there was to this.
    I looked down at the pond again, fast, and then once more at Augie.
    “That water is freezing, Mac. You won’t have more than two minutes. After that you’ll sink like a stone. I don’t know what I’d be able to do for you.”
    I nodded to indicate that I understood, then went over the bank and down the slope. The degree of decline was severe, the ground frozen solid, and several times I stumbled in the dark and landed hard on my knee or slid and scraped up my bare hands trying to catch myself. At the bottom of the bank I tossed off my overcoat and threw it aside and then strode into the pond. A thin film of ice cracked beneath the soles of my workboots, and when I stepped down, the frozen floor of the pond felt solid, like cement. But it was uneven and cratered, and I waded over it as quickly as I could toward the center, where the car had landed. After a few steps the floor sloped suddenly, and all at once I was chest deep in the black water. My soaked shirt clawed at me, and my breath was knocked out of me instantly as if something heavy pressed upon my chest. I rose up on my toes to keep my heart and lungs out of it for as long as I could, but it didn’t do me much good.
    I realized that Augie was right, I couldn’t last long in this. Already I was unable to feel my feet, only the space where they should be between me and the hard pond floor.
    It took only a few more steps and then I was up to my chin. Not long after that I was forced to swim. I kept my head above the water as best I could, my eyes locked on the bumper that rose just a few inches out into the dark night air. The water around it was churning, bubbles and foam rising from the car breaking the surface. I stroked forward, as fast as I could, but my arms were suddenly heavy, as if the blood that moved through them was becoming lead. Before I was really aware of it my legs were dragging beneath me. My boots were filled with water and I wasn’t kicking. My breath was a burst of white that rose past my eyes, brushing my face, fleetingly warm. The bumper was still ahead of me, still visible. I thought that maybe the nose of the car had touched bottom and that the car itself was being kept upright by air trapped in the trunk. If this was so, I could grab onto part of it once I reached it and conserve my strength before tackling what was next.
    But before I got within two strokes of the car it started to slide and then sank beneath the churning surface. It went fast, and there was nothing for me to grab hold of anymore.
    I flung my weak arms through the water twice, and then once more. I barely moved the distance of a foot, but then I felt my legs bump into something solid. The car was only a yard or so below me. I felt a burst of strength and maneuvered my legs frantically and placed my feet hard on the bumper. The car wobbled. It was upright underwater, its nose resting on the bottom, unstable. Bubbles were still rising from the trunk, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before it was filled with water and the car would lean over to one side or another and sink to the bottom.
    I moved off the car and tilted my head back and gasped in cold air. My arms had to flail just to keep me up. I took in as much air as I was going to get, then held it and let my arms quit. The weight of my water-filled boots pulled me under and straight down.
    Water rushed in my ears and I felt a tremendous stabbing pain deep inside my head. I didn’t dare open my eyes and expose them to the freezing water. Besides, in the dark, and underwater, what would I see? I felt my way down the car as I sank, then stopped myself by kicking my tired legs when I found the door. I hung on with one hand and searched frantically for the door handle with the other.
    Already my lungs ached. When I found the handle, I yanked it, and the door swung downward and opened quickly. I swam partway into the car and felt the driver’s seat, then the passenger’s. Both were empty. I reached upward, into the backseat above, and waved my hand through the water. Something brushed past my hand and then was gone. I searched for it and found nothing for an intolerable moment but empty water. And then, again, it