The ship tossed back and forth as waves crashed against the hull rocking the people within. Having left London a full week earlier, they had finally reached the Atlantic after passing by the Isle of Wight. Two days later, there was no land in sight and as they headed for New York, there seemed to be no end to the cruel winter storms. Chunks of ice crashed into the sides of the ship, the sounds of which sent shivers up the spines of the passengers and crew aboard.

     “Mary, hang on to your brother and sister, I’ve got to find your mother.” The man took his two younger children by the hands and handed them over to his eldest daughter. Two smaller bodies pressed into Mary’s own. She wrapped her arms around them in the dim light. The ship tossed again and they fell to the floor.

     “Father, don’t leave!” Mary cried after him, but it was too late.

     “Ann! Ann!” Mary heard him call.

     Mary looked around. She could scarcely make out the faces of the people around her, but she could feel and hear their fear. There was a loud sound as the ship rolled back and forth, screams filled the air followed by a rush of cold water. Large chunks of ice battered against the hull, tearing it apart, sending splinters of wood careening through the air. Mary felt the sting as one such splinter slammed into her forehead inches above her right eye, and almost sent her over backward. Water rushed heavily through a large, gaping hole, passengers cried – there was panic on board.

     “Hang on!” Mary cried to her siblings above the clamour. Rivulets of blood mixed with the spray of salt water ran down her cheek and into her mouth. The metallic taste of blood and salt assaulted her tongue.

   Another wave forced its way through the ever-enlarging hole. Passengers scrambled, trying to get up the ladder and up to the deck above, each wave taking its toll on the side of the ship. Mary clung to her siblings as tightly as she could, but it was getting harder to hang on to them as the icy water crept up their bodies chilling them through to the bone.

     Mary attempted to stand, pulling her brother and sister with her, but each time they fell back down. They tried crawling toward the ladder, but the other passengers and rushing water shoved them out of the way. An exhausted Mary began to lose her grip on her brother as her fingers became numb with cold. Another wave rocked the ship again, and as the water rushed back through the hole, Mary felt it pulling her brother with it.

     "Hold on, John!” Mary yelled. She looked into his sad and scared deep brown eyes.

     “I can’t!” he cried; his icy cold hand slipped from her grasp.

     “John!” she screamed. There was no answer.

     Mary gripped her sister as tightly as she could, pulling her toward her body with one arm as she tried to make her way to the ladder again. Another wave grabbed them and dragged them back down toward the lower end of the sinking ship. The frigid water took their breaths. More waves crashed through, their long icy fingers clawing and pulling them closer to the opening. Sarah slipped from Mary’s grasp, the waves claiming her and dragging her out to sea. The water receded from above Mary’s head; she took a final breath of air and slipped out the hole. The freezing water enveloped her as she felt herself sinking towards the bottom. She struggled – she wanted to breathe. Her lungs burned with the desire to inhale – she did and the icy cold water filled her lungs.

     ‘Thomas’ she heard her mind scream and then darkness.