As Yvette twisted the girl’s leg out of the gap, she saw a colossal wave break over the end of the jetty, almost at head height. The water knocked her on to her back, but she managed to keep one arm around the girl.
Yvette felt pure terror as the water lifted her body off the wooden decking and shoved it towards the edge. She heard the hull of the boat slam again, then something heavy hit the decking directly in front of her.
‘Grab hold,’ George shouted.
Yvette reached out for the object, which she now realised was a tethered life preserver. George had one leg wrapped around the railings and the nylon rope coiled around his chunky wrists. He struggled to hold on as the wave tried to push the two females over the edge.
Yvette and the girl both screamed, coming up for air as the last of the wave drained between the wooden planks. Still clutching the girl, Yvette rolled on to her chest and was horrified to see how close she’d come to going over the side.
She rushed towards George and the relative safety of the railings.
‘I told you to wait,’ George shouted furiously, before they all ducked down, grabbing the railing as a modest wave washed over the deck.
‘I didn’t want you to stop me,’ Yvette said, close to tears and coming to the awkward realisation that she now owed her life to a man she detested. Maybe she’d never like George, with his sexist jabs and nicotine-stained fingernails, but he’d proved himself to be a better man than she’d realised.
As more water rushed over them, Yvette huddled herself around the girl and felt oddly reassured by the fat hand pressing against her shoulder. The nylon cord had sliced George’s wrists and blood streamed along his fingers.
When the last of the water had drained away, Yvette looked through the railings and saw that the sea around the jetty had taken on an eerie calm.
‘Lull before the storm,’ George said hurriedly. ‘Spot of high pressure, but the big buggers will come back in a minute.’
The wind howled against the structure of the jetty as the break in the waves gave them a clear run back to shore.
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Man vs. Beast Page 25