With a strong sense of remorse and a fear of loss, he fought his way forward.
“Eloise!”
The mournful cry echoed out and finally drowned in the gusts of cold sea air.
Rupert, ever alert, saw this and shouted in terror, “Get my brother!”
The group rushed towards Hector and several of them together tugged at him.
But he was frighteningly strong, and several people had already been thrown out by him during the struggle.
“Let go of me, Eloise is going to sink!”
In Hector’s line of sight, Eloise fluttered in the sea, her little hands thrashing the water incessantly.
She reached out to him in desperation, and he tried desperately to reach it, but could not.
So he didn’t even think twice about jumping …
In reality, the nearest few people who went to pull Hector down were kicked to the ground by him.
Rupert was too late to see Hector running to the shore, about to leap, in a gesture of determination and madness.
He shouted at the top of his lungs to Hector, “Brother, sister-in-law isn’t even here, that’s a fake, if you jump, you’ll really never see her again!”
At the moment his eyes were also forced scarlet.
The sound echoed around, touched the sea level and lingered back.
Hector heard his voice and his pace lurched hard, his consciousness roused a little.
He looks back, bewildered, around.
Seeing that this worked, Rupert continued, “Brother, look carefully, this is the pier, not at all where your sister-in-law fell. Sister-in-law is still waiting for you to rescue her, so nothing can happen to you!”
Then step by step towards Hector, but not daring to make a sound.
Fearing to disturb Hector, his body, now only a foot’s distance from the sea.
“Eloise, still waiting for me.” Hector repeated mechanically, like a puppet on a string, his eyes flickering slightly.
At that Rupert cautiously reached forward and said, “Yes, brother, my sister-in-law is waiting for you, so come back first.”
At this point Rupert’s heart was in his throat, the atmosphere was tense to a high level and everyone was holding their breath as they looked over.
“False.” Hector repeated Rupert’s words.
The eyes fell to the sea level, where there was indeed no longer a picture of Eloise falling into the sea.
He hesitated for a moment, looking pained.
In his moment of bewilderment, Rupert strides forward.
After touching Hector, the force pulled the man backwards and the brothers fell heavily to the ground.
The people next to them rushed over to pull them, all relieved to see this.
He looked to Hector next to him as if he himself had gone to a ghost’s door.
Hector washed his face with cold water before he could barely regain some sanity.
The group got into the boat and salvaged around in the direction of the flow of the sea.
People come and go on the boats and everyone is working on their own.
“Team one, go to the left and salvage carefully …”
“Second team …”
Hector stood on the edge of the deck, looking out over the rippling sea, a haze falling over his eyes.
The sea, unforgettable at first glance, and the waves constantly rolling and lapping against the boat.
Each one, as if it had hit him, hurt to the point of suffocation.
It was this place that consumed his beloved.
Hector can’t even think about it, nor does he want to.
Allowing myself to sink into the infinite darkness, wanting to be confined forever to the cold and wet bottom of the sea …
Fearing that something might happen to him, Rupert keeps an eye on the progress of the salvage while also keeping an eye on Hector’s movements.
From start to finish, Hector only spoke to him, his voice hoarse, “Where’s Solomon?”
Solomon was the one person who could barely pull him back to reality in his time of grief.
Family, already his last hang-up.
“Mum took it to Grandpa’s, don’t worry, Solomon’s fine, he doesn’t know anything.” Rupert returned, in a low voice.
Hector is silent, only nodding slightly.
His fists were in a clenched position and his eyes followed the net that had been let down to catch the fish.
In the salty sea breeze, he stood motionless and unresponsive above the sea level.
No one who called him responded anymore.
He is immersed in his own world, his back forlorn.
The sadness and despair seemed to permeate the waves and travel further and further …
And at that end of the compound, as time went on, Solomon became vaguely aware that something was wrong.
He ran over and tugged at Fletcher Godbold’s shirt, a touch of doubt and worry appearing on his boyish little face.
“Grandma, I want to go home, will you ask Mummy to come and pick me up.”
Fletcher Godbold sniffed, and his steely countenance moved slightly.
When he looked at Solomon, his expression was overlaid with heartache and mourning.
Solomon doesn’t know it yet, his mother may not come back.
He still likes Eloise so much …
What a way to make things happen.
Fletcher Godbold rubbed the corners of his eyes to hide his emotions and picked Solomon up and sat him on his lap.
“Did Solomon miss his mummy?” He stroked Solomon’s head lovingly.
“Well, it’s going to be dark soon and I’m afraid Mummy won’t find me and she’ll be scared.” Solomon said innocently, clenching his little fists.
Now that Daddy’s not home, it’s up to him to watch over Mummy and the baby in her belly!
“No, Grandma just called and said you’re playing at Grandma’s for a few days, and your mummy, ah, she’s gone to another place and can’t come and pick up Solomon for a while.”
Fletcher Godbold, his voice a little choked, spilled out to Solomon.
Fearing that Solomon will fall apart if he learns the truth.
The whole Rogers family, now, is in disarray over this.
Solomon sniffed and wrinkled his nose, his voice tinged with a hint of sobbing.
“But …”
He wants to be with Mummy.
Fletcher Godbold saw the situation and rushed to make a sad face.
“Does Solomon not like Grandpa Tai because there’s nothing interesting on Grandpa Tai’s side and it’s boring Solomon, you haven’t wanted to spend time with Grandpa Tai …”
Solomon saw this and went to reassure him handily, “No, Solomon likes you.”
“So how about Solomon staying over here for a couple more days and having your mum come and pick you up first thing when she gets back?” Fletcher Godbold took the opportunity to suggest.
He was calculating that Solomon was soft-hearted and that he would agree if he pretended to be vulnerable.
“All right then.”
As luck would have it, Solomon nodded in agreement after a long moment of frowning and stewing.
He didn’t want to upset Grandma too much, and then Mummy would be unhappy too.
At night, when it is time to go to bed, Solomon lies in bed with his arms tucked peacefully under the covers.
He blinked his dark eyes as thoughts spilled out of them.
“Goodnight Mummy, you have to come and pick up Solomon soon …”
He made a wish to the sky before falling into a deep sleep.
At this moment, at sea level, the night deprives the light and only the sound of the waves remains in the ears.
In the vast ocean, only the large ship Hector and his men were on remained adrift.