“Where is it? Where’s the dinghy?” Victor asked Captain Burns while keeping me shielded from the fire with his body.
“Here, in this compartment.” Captain Burns opened a hidden storage compartment and struggled to pull out what looked like two duffel bags.
He placed them on the deck, and Victor helped pull the uninflated lifeboats from the bags.
While they did that, I stuffed our bottles of flavored water and the snacks into my mini backpack. I was terrified, but doing something helped calm me a little.
What happened? How did the boat catch on fire and spread so quickly?
“Take this one to the platform off the stern and pull the cord to inflate it,” Captain Burns instructed. “They are two-person dinghies. You and the girl get in that one. I’ll be right behind you in the other.”
I hesi
