"We'd better stay together from now on," concluded Shaun. "We don't know who or what is trying to bring us harm."
After this conclusion, the group of friends headed towards the only place that was yet to be investigated in the ship - the cabin. Suddenly, a gust of bone-chilling wind bit into everyone's skin. "Brrrrr....why is it suddenly so cold out here?" Tiffany's teeth chattered.
On entering the cabin, they discovered it to be surprisingly small. Through the flickering light of the electric oil lamp on Shaun's hand, they could just about perceive a dilapidated room with windows on the side. A strong smell of humidity mingled with decay lingered in the air, which was probably due to the room's long-term lack of contact with the outside air. Except for a small, single bed situated in the corner of the room, some wooden chairs and a small wooden tea-table in the centre, the room was quite empty and poorly furnished.
"OMG, I'm exhausted," said Tiffany, dashing towards the bed and jumping onto it the moment she perceived it.
"They must've dusted out the room quite thoroughly, as it's surprisingly clean," said Jeffrey, wiping his fingers across the table-top to discover that there was barely a speck of dust.
"This is not the original furniture of the ship," said Blythe pensively. "Look at that bed! It's clearly made after 1897 - I don't believe the paint would still be intact after being in this humid room for over a hundred years."
"Wait, why 1897? Was the ship built in that year?" enquired Jeffrey, bewildered. "It definitely looks newer than that!"
"It was not built in 1897, but it set sail in that year. It was a British passenger ship that held 1000 people, including members of the crew, when it left Portsmouth in December, 23rd 1897, bound for Calcutta. I caught a glimpse of it being displayed on the screen of the computer on Mr Rogers' desk when we entered his office," replied Blythe. "He was looking at the ship's information before our entrance, but he quickly closed the webpage after perceiving our arrival."
"Hmmm, I had a feeling that he trying to conceal something from us," added Shaun. "He skipped all the facts and jumped straight to his strange encounters on it."
"Wait, how did grasp this all this information with just one glimpse?" said Jeffrey, astonished.
"Blythe has a really good photographic memory," responded Shaun, grinning. "Her brain can retain a lot of information with just one glimpse. It's basically like a camera, with super high resolution, too; so the picture doesn't get pixelated after you enlarge it." Shaun chuckled.
"Oh, wow! Really? That's so cool!" responded Jeffrey. "What else was written on that webpage?"
"Hmmm, let's see.... The name of the ship was The Rapunzel, and apparently, it had encountered a thunderstorm in the Indian Ocean, on the 13th day of its journey, which had caused its shipwreck," stated Blythe without any sign of hesitation or difficulty to remember the information. "As a result, all of its passengers along with £75,000 worth of goods were devoured by the tides. However, the ship seemed to have magically survived and began floating on the sea until, in December 23rd, 2017, it was discovered to have landed at the port in Liverpool - exactly 120 years after its departure from the U.K."
Suddenly, they heard a deafening sound of thunder coming from Tiffany's direction. After glancing towards her, they discovered that Tiffany was sound asleep and the deafening sound was in fact that of her snores.
~To be Continued~
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