by V Clifford
‘So you’re not a fan of the Spec, then?’
‘Don’t know. Never been invited.’ He couldn’t keep the edge from his tone. ‘Nor do I get invited to dinners for the High Constables, and definitely not the Archers.’
Viv had a vision of Ambridge but swept it aside knowing that this could be important. ‘Wow, so your dad’s an Archer?’
‘Sure. As will my brother be . . . oh never mind them. Who wants to protect the Queen anyway?’
An odd thing for someone to say who had signed up to do exactly that.
Viv shot him a quizzical glance. ‘Well we all would if it came down to it, right?’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘I suppose. But surely it would depend on the stakes?’
‘Yeah. Yeah. I guess.’ This was not Viv’s understanding of the forms she’d signed for Ruddy.
‘Just wait ’til I have my own kids . . .’ He stopped and turned toward the rasping sound of an engine crossing the bay.
It grew louder and louder until a huge gin palace, possibly the one she’d seen from the chopper with Ruddy, passed by at top speed causing a wake that tested their ability to remain in their canoes. All five of them yelled out in response.
Archie bellowed, ‘Whoa!’ His canoe banked and took in a wave.
They steadied again and Viv regained Archie’s side. ‘You both okay?’
‘Yes. But she’ll be really soaking now.’
They were going at a fair pace so Viv couldn’t ask him to crank it up further. But said, ‘This pace okay for you?’
‘I’m fine.’ His voice a tad high for that.
Viv glanced inshore. They were a good, three, maybe four hundred metres from the craggy edge. ‘We could go ashore for a rest, or stop here for a bit.’
‘I’m fine.’ He sounded irritated, his tone still a fraction high.
‘Well, let me know if you’re flagging.’
They continued round towards the end of the peninsula, seabirds skimming over the water and a slight wake from a boat too far away to see, enough only to disturb their paddles slightly.
Chapter Eleven
At the furthest point they made their way back along the coast of the inner sound. Viv heard another engine. She squinted into the horizon and saw a rib racing towards them. The tone of its engine changed as it slowed about fifty metres short of their canoes.
Mac shouted, ‘What’s happened?’
Frances shouted back. ‘We found the woman from the centre. She’s unconscious.’ The skipper of the rib manoeuvred the craft alongside them as their canoes bobbed precariously close to each other.
Mac turned to Viv. ‘So where was she?’
‘In the cave with the canoes. She’s had a nasty bump to the head. There’s no blood but the swelling on her forehead is serious. She’s still unconscious. And maybe hypothermic, but I’ve no idea if she has any other injuries.’
As if the woman had heard, her eyelids began to flutter.
Archie said, ‘She’s coming to.’
Mac spoke to the skipper. ‘Let’s get a harness on her.’
Mac and the skipper began the precarious task of putting a series of straps beneath her and attached to a hoist on the rib, before removing her from Archie’s canoe. No mean feat.
Before the final hoist Mac said, ‘The rest of you keep going. We’ve got this covered now.’
Gordon looked skyward and shook his head. Davie shrugged. Frances looked disappointed that she wasn’t getting to see the hoist on the rib in action, but paddled off with Gordon and Davie tailing her. She called over her shoulder. ‘Last one home’s a rotten egg!’
The effect was immediate. Both Davie and Gordon began paddling furiously. The rest of them laughed. Even Mac raised an eyebrow at how easily men became boys. It took a few attempts to lift the woman, whose name turned out to be Becky, and as soon as they had her secured they gunned the engine and turned the rib towards the centre.
Archie said, ‘Well, I’m glad that’s done. She’s not my type. Hate dreads and I don’t get all that piercing.’
Viv didn’t either but shook her head. It wasn’t a singles weekend. The sea did strange things to sounds and Archie’s voice was amplified. How odd.
The sun was hot, but Viv’s hands were numb after so long on the water. Once on their way she shot Archie an enquiring glance. She just wasn’t getting the measure of him. The more info he gave about himself the more conflicted she was. What kind of man was he really? He yo-yoed between one state and another without warning. If he wasn’t a patriot what was he doing in this job? Were he and Gordon mates? There was something going on with him that she just couldn’t get to grips with. Maybe she’d get a bit more info on the next leg of the journey.
Once the rib was well on its way Viv followed Archie’s canoe, but could see that he was pulling ahead of her and she had to work hard to keep up with him. Was he responding to Frances’ challenge? Worried about being regarded as a rotten egg? Viv decided to slow down and take in her surroundings and the birds. She thought she saw a puffin but it moved so quickly she could have imagined it. Cormorants and gulls dived around a tiny inlet, their screeches piercing the clean still air. They were feeding, but on what she had no idea. As she drew closer they rose and scattered then returned to bomb into the sea.
She paddled along, finding a steady rhythm and enjoying the sun on her face although she still couldn’t feel her hands. The others were now like dots on her horizon, occasionally being lost from sight, when a wave carried them out of view. She stepped up her pace and within a few minutes she was closing the gap.
Davie held back so that she could make up. ‘Come on, you. We’re supposed to be a team.’
He had obviously been in a canoe before, since he turned and reversed it effortlessly – a skill that Viv hadn’t mastered.
She said, ‘I just thought, I’ll probably never be in a canoe on this coast ever again, so I’d better make the most of it. Well, at least now the injured are off our hands.’
‘It is amazing, isn’t it? I didn’t think I’d remember how to use one of these.’ He gestured to the canoe. ‘But all that outdoor education at school is coming back to me. I bet I could roll it.’
Viv hoped he wouldn’t, because if he failed she’d have to rescue him. ‘Going to wait ’til we’re nearer base. Then I won’t have to get wet. I mean wetter. I can’t feel my hands any more.’
‘Me either. But it’s still beautiful. So much for preferring being in the office. I’m having a great time. Amazing what you learn about folk when you have to do things that you don’t normally. Like you, who’d have thought that building a fire would come so naturally to you. The rest of us just stood gaping. At home with the flick of a switch we’ve got heat, light whatever we need. It surely can’t last.’
He was enthusiastic and Viv was keen to hear his chat. ‘Not worried about being a rotten egg, then?’
‘No way. One of the bonuses of not being a rugger bugger, or a football lad. There’s little that anyone could throw at me that would be an offence, “rotten egg” is the least of my worries.’
‘I can’t imagine you having worries.’
‘We all have something to worry about. Makes you get up in the morning, doesn’t it?’
They paddled on at a gentle pace, spoiling the stillness with their chatter. Viv wondered how far their voices travelled. Did the sound make it to land?
‘So, Davie, what exactly would keep you awake at night or make you get up in the morning?’
‘Solving the latest cyber attack.’
A reminder, if she needed it, of why they did what they did. Who among them was trying to sabotage this work? She had to keep her wits about her. No conversation was benign. ‘Not missing hours of Candy Crush then?’
‘No, I’ve never really got into gaming.’
‘How about hacking? I bet that’s another thing.’
He looked at her blankly. ‘Hacking?’
‘Come on. My life wouldn’t be worth living if I couldn
’t trespass into worlds I shouldn’t.’
He looked shocked. ‘I could report you.’
‘Be my guest. I think that’s why they ask me in. They know I’ll poke around and they don’t want your reputations to be sullied, whereas mine already is. They pass the buck to an outsider anytime it suits them.’
‘You really think that?’
She nodded. ‘Indeed I do.’
He laughed. ‘I might have had a peek at the odd thing. Nothing serious. No porn.’
She hadn’t considered that. But now she did. Yes, she thought, I bet you have.
The computers in the office were swept too regularly for it to be worth doing anything really bad. But Mac had once called her in on a case where kiddy porn was involved. So anything could happen.
‘So you and Mac an item them?’
She almost tipped into the sea. ‘No. Who the hell told you that? No way.’ She heard her own protest and realised it was a touch too adamant. ‘Not that he isn’t a good man and all that, but no. Who told you?’
He gestured ahead. ‘Gordon. I just thought there must be some truth in it. No smoke without fire and all that.’
‘No smoke and definitely no fire, this time.’ She smiled at him. ‘You got a partner?’
He hesitated. ‘Not really. Nothing that I’d tell anyone about.’
‘Fair enough.’
He lowered his voice, enough for her to just catch. ‘Too scared to wish.’
Viv felt her heartstrings being played and didn’t respond. They were almost back to where they’d originally swum ashore. Now all they had to do was paddle across the bay and they were home if not dry. She recalled what Archie had said, about a ‘belter’ waiting for them sometime. Maybe they’d bypassed the ‘belter’ since they’d rescued Becky. Although she agreed with Archie that the tasks so far had been light on risk. Maybe the purpose of getting them together was simply so that Viv could elicit information in an informal setting. Surely that wasn’t all that Mac expected?
Frances and Gordon had taken off over the bay but Archie waited for her and Davie to catch up.
Archie said, ‘By the way, I was kidding about that Queen and country thing.’
‘Sure, no worries,’ Viv replied, wondering why it should be playing on his conscience.
Davie said, ‘Have I missed something?’
‘No,’ Archie said quickly. ‘Viv and I were having a conversation about life. So nothing major.’
Viv, seeing Davie’s surprise, said, ‘We’ve both got siblings that are a pain in the arse. You, not having any, won’t have that issue.’
Davie smiled. Appeased. ‘No, you’re right there. Being an only child has its complications, though.’
Viv wondered what those might be, beyond his stepmother making a play for him.
Chapter Twelve
They headed back across the bay. Halfway over, Viv slowed and screwed up her eyes. ‘Do you see what I see?’ she whispered.
Archie and Davie slowed and stared in the same direction as her.
Archie said. ‘I think I might. Is it that little black head?’
She nodded. ‘Yes. Is it the seal?’
She paddled slowly towards what looked like a seal’s head, but it didn’t move. It was a buoy. But what was the use of a black buoy? Viv trailed her hand through the water and touched the top of it. It was the size of a football. She tried to push it with her hand but whatever it was attached to was pretty secure.
Davie said, ‘How weird. A black buoy is about as much use as a . . . chocolate teapot.’
Viv smiled. ‘If you’re gonna use a cliché at least pick a newer one than that.’
‘Ouch!’
Viv shook her head. ‘It’s not exactly designed to draw attention, so I wonder what it’s for?’
The other two circled the buoy and each touched and patted it, trying to work out its purpose.
Archie said, ‘It might have something to do with lobster pots, or maybe it glows in the dark. It has got to be here for some reason. We can ask at the lodge when we get back.’
Viv thought lobster pots was a good idea, then Davie said, ‘It could be marking a change of boundary or a rock hidden beneath the surface.’
Also good ideas, but she had a niggling suspicion that it wasn’t to do with either of their suggestions. Surely if a fisherman was marking his pots he’d want them to be as obvious as possible.
Both Archie and Davie were looking overly pink and she wondered if she would be as burnt as them, although so far she didn’t feel any discomfort. ‘Come on, let’s keep moving. I’ve built up an appetite.’
They continued paddling, with the sun beating down on their heads. A breeze was getting up and the sea had a slight swell. As they reached the rocky shoreline the others were standing around with hands on hips, waiting to greet them.
Frances said, ‘Joint rotten eggs.’
Viv snorted. ‘Not too worried by that, but Archie might be.’
‘Am I biffo,’ Archie replied, as snippily as he could manage.
Davie shook his head. ‘I’m happy to claim the rotten egg title. I’ve been called so much worse, it’s almost a compliment.’
Viv plonked herself down after struggling with her canoe up the pebbly beach. She turned and saw Davie do the same. He had been more of a team player than the others. Although she conceded that Archie’s providing food for everyone was a big deal. Davie’s canoe caught on a big boulder so she jumped up and pushed it out of his way, at which point he also collapsed and lay back on the beach. ‘That’s the hardest work I’ve done all day.’
Viv pointed to the horizon. ‘The day is not over. Check that out.’
Archie said, ‘Where the hell did that come from?’
A curtain of dense, dark rain clouds had gathered out at sea and was moving in their direction.
‘We’re going to get pissed on big time,’ Davie said. ‘Let’s go.’
Without the help of the others Viv and Davie took an end each of their canoes and lifted them up to the shed, where a bearded man with a polo shirt bearing the same motif as Becky had had on hers, said, ‘Thanks, guys. I’ll hose them down before we stack them.’
They grabbed their rucksacks and walked back to the front door of the centre.
Viv said, ‘Christ, I can hardly move I’m so stiff. Who’d have thought a couple of hours in a wee boat could be so demanding?’
Davie smiled and stretched his arms above his head. ‘Know what you mean.’
Viv, Davie, Archie, Frances and a member of staff, who hadn’t introduced himself, stood inside the refectory and watched as the storm approached. Gordon sat at the table, scowling as if he’d had bad news. When the wall of water hit land, hail began to fall in balls the size of Pan Drops. The room, that minutes before had been bright and welcoming, was transformed into a damp gloomy hole not unlike the cave they’d pulled Becky from. Then rain and darkness fell as if someone had turned a hose on and switched the lights off. Someone did put the lights on, but no sooner had the group sounded their approval, with a collective ‘ah that’s better’ than the lights flickered, then flickered again.
The member of staff laughed. ‘Looks as if we’ll lose power. Nothing unusual out here. Dodgy generator.’
Viv said, ‘What does that mean?’
‘It means there’ll be no hot showers and a creative dinner.’
Viv scampered toward the stairs and took them two at a time. She’d rather have half a hot shower than nothing at all. Salt was drying all over her skin and she felt like clawing it off. It was almost as bad as tiny shards of newly cut hair sticking into her pores. She ran the shower as she pulled off her kit. Standing beneath the hot stream she relished the sensation of salt and sand, wherever that had come from, dissolving and running down the drain. She even managed to shampoo her hair. She stepped out of the shower and, as if on cue, the lights went out. She fist-pumped the air. Job done. Monsoon style rain continued beating against the window as she pulled on clean underwear, trou
sers, a tee-shirt and a fleece.
There was no sign of Mac so she assumed that he’d gone off with Becky to the nearest clinic. Had Becky simply bumped her head or was there more to it? She lay on her bed and looked out at the sky, which was getting heavier by the minute. She didn’t mind if the electricity was off, she was clean. For the first time since she’d arrived, her thoughts turned to Robbie Ritchie the minibus driver, who hadn’t made it across the bay. Where was he? And why hadn’t he turned up? She couldn’t imagine an adult in the NTF not being able to swim. And that was the only reason she could think of for Mac letting him off the hook. She could be wrong. Her belly rumbled. If they had to do tasks in their pairs she’d now get the chance to speak to Frances. What kind of person hides an illness like diabetes? No one had had a second thought about taking the food from Archie. He must have known that doling out food would afford him a few favours. Why did he need favours?
Should she head down stairs or lie here relishing the solitude of the room? It wouldn’t be long before Frances would take up her space. She lay a bit longer. What Archie said about ‘Queen and country’ kept coming into her mind. The NTF were taking a chance if they had a republican in their midst. You didn’t have to declare yourself as a royalist but they wouldn’t employ anyone actively anti-monarchy. Let it go. She knew that the best way to reason was to let her thoughts have space. She closed her eyes. It didn’t take long for her to fall into a deep sleep. It wasn’t until the door squeaked and Frances crept into the room, flashing the walls with the beam of her head torch, that she stirred. With the room no longer in total darkness and the sound of rain still beating hard against the window Viv sat up instinctively, raising her arm to protect her eyes against the glare of the beam.