St Piran's: Daredevil, Doctor...Dad!

by Anne Fraser

  He was surprised at how devastated he felt at the news. What now? Would Abby stop him from seeing Emma? The thought made his stomach churn. Now he was about to lose her, he realised how much he had begun to enjoy the role of father.

  And what about Emma? His heart ached for the little girl. She cared deeply about him. He knew that. How would she feel when she found out that he wasn’t her father after all? He raked a hand through his hair. God, it was such a mess. Why hadn’t he seen this coming? Why hadn’t he reminded himself that there was always a possibility that the test would be negative?

  But he knew the answer. Bit by bit he had fallen in love with the idea of being a father. He had enjoyed being around for Emma. Encouraging her to come out of her shell. All the things his father should have done for him, but hadn’t. In some ways, he had been able to give Emma some of the childhood pleasures he’d never had, and it had healed something inside him.

  Making up his mind, he picked up his jacket from where he’d flung it and was out of the door. He had to speak to Abby. She would know what to do.

  Abby paced her small sitting room. Where was Emma? She’d promised she’d be back for lunch and it was now after one.

  She picked up a magazine and attempted to read it, but there was no way she could concentrate. Emma knew Abby worried. She would have texted her had she been held up.

  She had wheedled Abby into agreeing that she could go down to the beach with a friend from school. Simon was a local boy and knew the area well, so why was she worrying? They were going to go down to the beach and stop off for a burger. But Emma had promised she’d come home after that. Abby checked her watch for the hundredth time. Only five more minutes had passed, although it felt like a lot longer.

  She almost jumped out of her skin when her mobile rang. She leaped on top of it. It was bound to be Emma, probably apologising for not being home, for forgetting the time.

  And it was Emma. At least, she thought it was. The signal kept fading and all she could hear were muffled snatches of words.

  ‘Em? Is that you? I can’t hear you. Can you go somewhere where you can get a better signal?’

  ‘No … stuck … help …’

  Abby’s blood ran cold. She could hardly make out the words but there was no mistaking the fear in Emma’s voice.

  ‘Em? Where are you?’

  More static. Then three words that made her physically ill. ‘Trapped … cave … tide …’ Then all of a sudden Emma’s voice came over clearly. ‘Help us, Mum.’

  Her daughter, her beloved Emma, was in trouble. Abby forced back the waves of terror that threatened to overwhelm her.

  ‘Stay calm, Emma, and tell me where you are.’

  ‘Cave … beach … hurt.’

  ‘Are you hurt? God, Emma!’

  But there was only more static on the end of the phone. ‘Look, Emma, I don’t know if you can hear me, but leave your phone on. I’ll find you. I promise. Keep calm, I’m coming.’

  ‘No … time. Hurry—’ And then the phone cut out.

  Abby was almost sobbing with terror. She had to find Emma. But where to start?

  For a second she couldn’t think what to do, and then suddenly the door opened and he was there. Mac! Relief made her knees go weak.

  ‘I knocked,’ Mac started to apologise, but the expression on her face must have told him something terrible had happened. He was by her side in seconds, pulling her close. ‘Breathe, Abby. That’s it. Slow, deep breaths, and tell me what’s happened.’

  This was wasting time! She pushed him away.

  ‘It’s Em. She phoned. Just now. I couldn’t hear properly. Just enough. Oh, my God. I have to go to her.’

  Mac reached out for her and pulled her round to face him. His face had lost all colour and his eyes were as dark as ink.

  ‘Tell me,’ he said.

  ‘She’s trapped. And hurt. She needs us, Mac,’ Abby moaned. ‘Help me, find my baby. Our child. Please, Mac. You have to help me.’

  ‘Listen to me.’ He grabbed her by the shoulders. ‘Look at me, Abby.’

  She looked into his eyes. She saw fear and something else. Conviction.

  ‘We’re going to find our girl. Do you hear me? And she’s going to be all right. But I need you to tell me everything.’

  ‘She went to the beach with a boy from her class. Simon. That was almost three hours ago. She said she’d be back by one. She promised.’ She took a gulp of air. Mac was right. Panicking now wouldn’t help Emma. ‘She phoned. The signal was bad. I could hardly hear her. All I could make out was that she was trapped. In a cave. And hurt.’ She took a shuddering breath as terror returned. Her baby. Out there somewhere. Alone and scared.

  Mac was already on his phone. ‘I’m going to alert the rescue services. We need to get the coastguard and the other services out looking.’ Abby paced as he spoke into the phone for a few minutes. All she could hear was Mac’s side of the conversation, repeating what she had told him. When he finished the call, he looked grimmer than ever.

  ‘What is it?’ Abby asked. ‘What did they say?’

  ‘They said they’d mobilise a sea and air rescue,’ Mac said. But Abby could tell there was something more. Something he wasn’t telling her.

  ‘Tell me everything they said.’ She kept her voice level. ‘I have a right to know.’

  He hesitated.

  ‘Please, Mac, tell me.’

  ‘The tide is coming in,’ he said. ‘And it’s higher than usual today. If they are trapped somewhere, it’s only going to get worse.’

  Abby cried out and sank to her knees. In a flash Mac was by her side. He lifted her into his arms and held her tight before placing her on the sofa.

  ‘You stay here, Abby. In case Emma phones. Keep trying her mobile. I’ve got to go.’

  Abby struggled to her feet. ‘I’m coming, too.’

  ‘It’ll be best if you don’t.’

  ‘Don’t even think of trying to stop me,’ she said. She took a deep shuddering breath. ‘I’ll be okay. I promise. I won’t panic and I won’t get in the way. But I’m coming.’

  Five minutes later they were prowling the cliffs above the beach front. Mac had managed to get hold of Simon’s parents. They were also panic-stricken but had told them of a cave that Simon liked to explore. They told Mac that they had forbidden their son from going into the cave, but suspected that he, trying to impress his new friend, might have ignored their warnings. The cave was easily accessible when the tide was out but, depending on the size of the tide, could become filled with water, preventing escape. Instinctively Abby knew that this was where Emma was. At the very least they had nowhere else to try. When it arrived, the Royal Navy helicopter would keep searching from the air and the coastguard would search the shoreline.

  As soon as Abby and Mac got the information about the cave, they ran towards the part of the beach where it was. Although Abby knew the tide was rising, she couldn’t help a small cry when she saw that the beach had completely disappeared under the sea.

  How would they get to the stranded children, and even if they did find them, how would they get them out?

  ‘We need divers,’ Mac was speaking into his mobile. ‘The navy will have them. Get them down here immediately.’

  Divers! If they needed divers to get to the children, they were in deep trouble. It would take time to get them here. And time was what they didn’t have. With every minute, the tide was rising higher.

  Mac ran into a shop selling gear for watersports. He returned a few minutes later with flippers. The kind divers used. ‘I can move much faster with these. Try and get Emma again,’ Mac said. ‘Even if you can’t hear her, she might be able to hear you. Tell her help is on the way. Try texting her, too. Sometimes a text will get through even if a call won’t.’ Uncaring of who might be watching, Mac stripped off his clothes until he was down to his boxers and T-shirt. Tossing his clothes to one side, he pulled on the flippers.

  While he was doing that, Abby tried Emma’s mobile
again, despairing. She had tried every minute or two since she had got Emma’s call, but it was hopeless. Her fingers fumbling with the tiny buttons, she sent a text.

  Coming for you. Dad is here. Hold on. We love you.

  As she pressed ‘Send’, Mac declared he was ready.

  ‘We don’t have time to wait for the rescue services. I’m going to go down there now. As soon as the Sea King gets here, make sure they know exactly which cave I’m searching. The coastguard, too. They’ll have a pretty good idea of where the cave mouth is. The air ambulance is on its way with Lucy and Mike.’

  He looked down at her and gently raised her chin, forcing her to look at him. ‘I’m going to get her, Abby. I promise you. She’ll be home safe with you soon.’

  ‘Isn’t it better to leave it to the Navy divers?’ she had to ask.

  Mac shook his head. ‘She might be hurt. Or him. Or both. They may need medical attention. It has to be me.’

  Abby nodded. Despite her terror, she knew Mac would do everything in his power to save their child, even if it meant sacrificing his own life. The thought of losing him, too, rocked her soul.

  Just as he had done those weeks before, Mac disappeared over the side of the cliff. But this time the stakes were higher.

  The water was freezing and murky. Mac forced himself to wait a minute or two to let the water settle. He had to be methodical and not let his impatience to get to Emma and her friend cloud his judgement. As he had hoped, after a few agonising seconds the water cleared and he was able to see the entrance to the cave. There was still a gap between the mouth of the cave and the sea, but Mac knew it wouldn’t be long before that small opening disappeared.

  He used his fins to propel himself towards the cave. The tide was so high. Would he be rescuing two corpses? No! Thinking like that did no one any good. He had to believe that Emma and her friend had found a high ledge to wait on.

  He swam underwater towards the cave opening. After a few metres he stopped and raised his head to get his bearings. He was in a cave that stretched a metre above his head. It was almost completely dark inside and Mac had to strain to see anything. Damn it!

  ‘Emma!’ he shouted, his voice echoing in the semidarkness. His heart plummeted when there was no reply. Had they got it completely wrong and were searching in the wrong spot? Or, even worse, was it too late?

  He heard a noise coming from his right. He whirled round, trying frantically to make out in the gloom where the noise had come from. Then he saw them. Two small figures huddled together on a ledge. Relief coursed through him, to be replaced almost instantly by anxiety. They were still in desperate danger. The rising tide was lapping at their feet.

  ‘I’m coming,’ he yelled, frantically searching for another ledge. A higher one, where the tide couldn’t reach. But there wasn’t one. He had to get the children out. But how?

  Quickly he swam towards the children.

  ‘Hey, there,’ he said softly. ‘How’re you doing?’ He knew the children would be very frightened.

  ‘Dad!’ It was Emma’s voice, Mac noted. Whatever injuries she might have, at least she was conscious. ‘You found us. See, Simon? I told you my dad would find us. He rescues people all the time.’

  The irony wasn’t lost on Mac. The first time she really needed him was the day he’d found out that he wasn’t her father. But that didn’t change the way he felt. Not one iota. He couldn’t love Emma any more if she were his biological child.

  ‘Dad. Simon’s hurt his leg. We think it’s broken. That’s why we couldn’t get out. When the tide started coming in we managed to get up here, but we couldn’t go any further.’

  And you didn’t think of leaving your friend and saving yourself? My brave, darling child. She was so much his and Abby’s child, whatever the DNA test said.

  Mac heaved himself out of the water and onto the ledge beside the children. There wasn’t much space. A quick examination of Simon’s leg told him Emma was right. It was broken. And not just broken—the boy had a compound fracture and was bleeding badly. The loss of blood, combined with the cold and fright, was having a bad effect on the young lad. He was shivering uncontrollably. They had to get him to hospital, and soon.

  ‘I’m going to strap your leg as best I can,’ he told the boy, ‘and then I’m going to get you out of here, okay?’ As he spoke he struggled out of his soaking wet T-shirt. It wasn’t a great bandage, but it was all he had.

  ‘I’m sorry, but this will hurt a little,’ he told Simon. He straightened the leg as best he could before strapping it with his T-shirt.

  ‘Emma, I’m going to have to take you out of here one at a time, do you understand? And I’m going to have to take Simon first. He’s the one in need of help most urgently.’

  It broke his heart to see the fear then resolve on Emma’s face. She lifted her chin. ‘That’s okay,’ she said. ‘I can wait.’

  He was so proud of her. Any other child would be crying, but not his Emma.

  ‘Abby is waiting for you outside.’

  He explained to Simon what he wanted him to do. ‘Lie on your back and don’t, whatever you do, try and fight me. I’m going to put my hands on either side of your head, and pull you out. As long as you don’t panic, you’ll be fine.’ There was just a big enough gap between the top of the entrance to the cave and the water for him to make it out with the boy. But would there still be a gap by the time he returned?

  Mac was facing the worst dilemma of his life. How could he leave Emma? What if he didn’t make it back in time? How would he live without Emma? How would Abby live without the child she loved?

  But if he had any chance of saving Emma, he had to act now.

  ‘I’ll be back as quick as I can,’ he said. ‘Hold on.’

  He grasped Simon around the head and pulled him out of the cave, taking care not to let water splash in the boy’s mouth. If the boy panicked now, it could be fatal for both of them. As he swam, his heart and soul was back in the cave.

  He found the rock where Abby was still waiting. She had been joined by the crew of the air ambulance. Lucy and Mike were standing by, waiting to help him. From the corner of his eye he could see the lifeboat circling nearby. He knew they couldn’t risk getting any closer. There was no sign of the Sea King. It must still be waiting for the divers.

  ‘Where’s Em?’ Abby’s face was white.

  ‘She’s still in the cave. I’m going back for her. I couldn’t take her as well as Simon.’

  Mac was helping Lucy and Mike carefully lift Simon out of the water and onto a stretcher. Before he could stop her, Abby jumped into the water and was swimming towards the entrance of the cave.

  ‘No, Abby, wait!’ he shouted, but either she couldn’t hear him or she was ignoring him. She carried on swimming towards the cave.

  Muttering a curse, Mac gave one final heave and his arms lightened as the injured boy was taken out of his arms. He plunged back into the water after Abby. Didn’t she know that she, too, could drown? He could lose both the people he loved most in the world. The realisation cut through his fear. He loved Abby. He loved her more than his life itself. He had been running away from it but now, when he could lose her, he knew a life without her and Emma was no life at all.

  The realisation added strength and soon he was back in the cave. By now there was no longer a gap between the top of the cave entrance and the cave and Mac had to take a deep gulp of air and swim underwater. His lungs were bursting as he once more emerged into the cave. To his horror he saw that the water was now up to Emma’s waist, even though she was standing on the ledge. Abby was treading water nearby.

  ‘Emma, we have to go now. You, too, Abby,’ Mac said, trying to keep his voice even.

  Emma was staring, her eyes wide with fear. ‘I can’t,’ she said. ‘I’ve hurt my arm.’

  ‘Yes, you can, my love. Mac and I will each take one side of you. And we’ll help you through. We won’t let anything happen to you, I promise,’ Abby said.

  Mac marvelled
at Abby. The fear was gone from her voice. It was steady and calm, as if she was suggesting a walk in the park.

  ‘We’ll be underwater for thirty seconds. But your mum and I will be on either side of you. All you have to do is keep as still as you can and let us pull you along. Can you do that?’ he said.

  ‘Yes,’ Emma replied.

  ‘Good girl. But we have to go now.’ Mac slid back into the water. Abby held onto Emma’s good arm as she slipped into the water and then she jumped in beside them. Mac’s heart lurched. Getting through the channel, swimming against the incoming current, would be a challenge. But what choice did they have?

  ‘Okay. On my count of three, we’re all going to take a deep breath and then go under. Okay? ‘

  Abby and Emma nodded.

  ‘One, two, three,’ Mac said, and then between them he and Abby had Emma. He gripped Emma around the waist, careful to avoid her injured arm. To his relief, the rising tide meant that the current wasn’t as strong as it had been. But still he felt every second of the time they spent underwater. True to her word, Emma relaxed, letting them pull her along.

  At last, when he thought Emma wouldn’t be able to hold her breath any longer, they broke through into the fresh air. The three of them trod water, breathing in deep lungfuls of fresh, clean air, and then the lifeboat was beside them and men were dropping into the water, helping them lift Emma gently onto the boat.

  As soon as they were all safely on board, the boat sped off towards the shore. Over the top of Emma’s head Mac and Abby shared a look. In Abby’s eyes there was relief and gratitude and something else—love. Soon, when all this was over, he would tell her about the DNA test, but all that mattered right now was that he had his small precious family safe and well beside him.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  ‘I WAS scared,’ Emma said, ‘but I remembered what Dad told me once and that helped me stay calm.’ She was sitting on the hospital trolley. Her arm had been X-rayed and, as they’d expected, found to be broken. It had been put in a cast but the staff wanted to keep in her in overnight for observation. The bruise that was blossoming on her forehead suggested she had knocked her head, too.