by Carmen Reid
‘These?’ Maddison had asked, scrunching up her nose.
Now, the three of them, still in a terrible mood with each other, were marching towards the water, puffed up with the jackets like yellow frogs. Logan was dragging the boat along behind them on a little wheeled trailer.
The sun had gone in behind a blanket of cloud, so the water looked mercilessly steely and cold. Lorelei stood way behind them at the top of the beach, wrapped in a coat, scarf, hat and boots, giving them the odd wave of encouragement.
‘We used to spend whole afternoons out on a rowing boat,’ she’d told them, ‘catching crabs for supper.’
The idea of sticking your hand into the water and somehow pulling out a live, wriggling crab had horrified the three girls.
There was only one reason why they were marching towards the sea, about to get into a rowing boat: they hadn’t been able to come up with an excuse good enough to persuade Lorelei not to hire the stupid, stinking thing.
Look at it! Gina couldn’t help thinking as Logan pulled it off the trailer and down to the water’s edge. It looked ancient.
‘You get in, girls,’ he instructed. ‘I’ll take you out far enough to be floating and you can take it from there.’ The amused little smirk on his face suggested that he wasn’t sure if they really could.
The boat was made of absolutely plain, unadorned wood. There were two wooden benches inside for seats and a metal hook on each side for the oars to rest on. That was it.
‘OK, in you get,’ Logan told them – twinkle, twinkle, little smirk – as he watched first Gina, then Paula, and finally a very reluctant Maddison wobble and stumble into the rowing boat. The lifejackets made them all so big and bulky that it was hard for them not to bump and rub against each other all the time.
Without any consultation, Gina took one oar and Paula took the other. Gina wondered how on earth they were going to row together if they weren’t even speaking.
‘OK, push off.’ Logan was up to his knees in the water now, but he was wearing thigh-high wellington boots as protection against the waves, which jiggled the boat up and down.
Maddison was pulling a face. She obviously didn’t like this one bit. After the amount of puking she’d done on the ferry, who could blame her?
‘Go on!’ Logan urged when Gina and Paula just held onto the oars uncertainly, not sure what do with them. ‘Reach forward, pull back – try and keep the oar in the water,’ he added when Paula’s flipped out and nearly smacked him in the eye.
Paula and Gina had to pull together, synchronizing their movements. For a few minutes they battled with the little waves on the shoreline and bumped up and down in the water, and Gina wondered if they would ever be able to do it. It was too hard. It wasn’t like being on a pedalo in the park, that was for sure. And it wasn’t anything like riding the waves on a speedboat on a bright sunny day in California either. Here, the sea was cold and grey; the boat was small and old and creaky. Gina didn’t even want to think about falling out into that water. But she couldn’t help thinking about it. No doubt this was all great fun in July or August, but this was November!
Gina pulled and pushed, rowing hard, staring into the water so that she didn’t have to look at her friends and think about last night’s argument – although she couldn’t stop thinking about that either.
‘You enjoying yourself yet?’ Paula asked. The question seemed to be directed at Maddison, so Gina didn’t reply.
‘Oh yeah!’ Maddison replied, heavy on the sarcasm. ‘Yeah . . . riding in some dumb wooden boat in the freezing cold, wearing some dumb lifejacket – tell me, what’s not to love?’
Gina’s rowing began to speed up with annoyance and her mouth drew into a tight little line. Her LA friends just weren’t going to get over this, were they? Maybe they were both too jealous of her new friends and her new life.
‘This is so dumb,’ Paula grumbled. ‘This is so dumb-ass dumb. Where is the fun? Excuse me – can someone please explain? Where is the fun?’
‘Shut up!’ Gina exploded in fury. Just when her mother had finally thrown away her phone and got into the holiday spirit, these two spoiled, selfish brat-girls were about to spoil the entire holiday.
She stopped rowing and turned on her ‘friends’. ‘Shut up, you whining moaners! Just stop it. My mom has brought you over here; my mom has hired the car, paid for the cottage, hired the boat . . . Would it kill you to be grateful just for one tiny little moment?’
Maddison and Paula, who had now stopped trying to row, stared back at Gina in silence.
No one said anything. They all just glared at each other in their fat lifejackets and bobbed up and down wordlessly in the little boat.
‘Let’s forget about this and head back,’ Gina snapped, and with that she tugged hard on her oar, trying to turn the boat towards the shore.
Suddenly the wind picked up, and a big wave came towards them; it snatched the oar out of her hand, out of the hoop, and, with a splash, dropped it into the water!
‘Oh!’ Gina exclaimed in surprise, and reached out to get it.
Too quickly!
She rocked the boat, startling both Paula and Maddison. There was another splash, and Gina realized that Paula’s oar had fallen in too.
‘For goodness’ sake!’ she yelled in frustration. ‘Get it!’
Paula leaned right over the edge of the boat, and Maddison, who knew nothing about boats – except that she’d rather not be in one – moved to the side and reached out towards the oar too, thinking she was helping.
Gina felt the boat tip dangerously, but before she could shout any words of warning, another wave hit her side of the boat and gave it a final push.
In slow motion the boat tipped over: arms were flailing, there were shrieks of panic, but there was nothing they could do to stop it.
Then came several long, terrible, tumbling moments.
Gina felt the cold and the dark take hold of her. She was in right over her head. She spun round in the water, in the grip of an icy, sandy washing machine. Something bumped the back of her head – she wasn’t sure if it was the oar or the boat. Her only thought was: Please don’t let anything bad happen to us!
Then, with a gasp, her head broke the surface again and she was bobbing about in the water. Her wet, salty hair was plastered across her face, making it hard to see what on earth was happening. She scraped the hair out of the way with hands that felt frighteningly cold and stiff. She could see the upside-down boat; then, with a gurgle, Paula surfaced.
‘Where’s Maddison?’ Gina shouted anxiously. She tried to kick her legs, wriggle her arms – anything to get moving so that she could go and look round the other side of the boat.
‘Maddy?’ she called, but with water lapping about her head and her teeth chattering madly, it didn’t come out nearly loud enough.
With huge effort, Gina swam towards the rowing boat and got hold of it. She pulled herself up so that she could look over the hull. There was Maddison on the other side, looking terrified.
‘Maddy!’ Gina called to her. ‘Thank goodness you’re OK. Get hold of the boat!’ she instructed as Paula came up beside her. ‘I don’t think Logan would like it if we lost it.’
Maddison paddled and scissor-kicked towards them until she too could grab hold of the wooden hull.
For several seconds they all stared at each other, pale, tense and frozen.
‘A bit colder than Venice Beach, isn’t it?’ Gina asked.
It was such a silly question that it made Paula and Maddison giggle.
‘I can’t believe you dropped your oar as well!’ Gina told Paula.
‘Dropped my oar? At least I’m not the dunce who pulled the whole boat over!’ Paula said, glaring at Maddison.
‘Yeah, like that’s going to matter when we’ve frozen to d-death,’ Maddison managed to stammer.
‘My m-mom,’ Gina reminded them, ‘and L-Logan. They’ll get us . . . I think it takes half an hour for h-hypothermia to set in.’
‘R-r-reassuring,’ P
aula answered. ‘I’m so cold, I think I might turn C-C-Caucasian,’ she joked. ‘You guys are blue.’
‘N-n-no-o-o.’ Gina’s teeth were chattering so hard, she could hardly get the word out. ‘I always wash my hair in the Sc-c-cottish sea, so r-r-r-refreshing.’
‘My hands are so c-c-cold, I can’t h-h-h-hold on any more,’ Maddison wailed.
‘You can!’ Gina insisted. ‘I can hear a boat!’ she added, wondering if she was just imagining it. But no, there was definitely a buzz – the buzz of an efficient, modern engine racing towards them.
‘Hold on!’ she encouraged Maddison. She instinctively knew that it was better for them to be together, with the boat, than for Logan to have to pick people up from all over the place.
With a disgusting blast of diesely smoke and a big splattering smack of wave in their freezing faces, a big white motor launch came bobbing alongside them. Only Logan was on board.
‘Girls!’ he exclaimed. ‘I never expected this to happen!’
They let Maddison scramble in first. Her arms and legs were so cold and stiff that it was hard for her to climb across. Gina and Paula pushed at her with hands so numb they couldn’t feel anything any more.
Paula went next – but only after a mini argument with Gina: ‘You go . . . No, you . . . No, really, you.’
‘Maybe the manners can wait until you’ve recovered from hypothermia,’ Logan suggested.
He hauled Paula up first, then Gina.
In only a few moments he had tied the rowing boat to the back of the launch. But during those moments, the three girls lying in the back of the motorboat began to feel seriously cold. They were soaked through, their hair was sodden, and it was November.
Gina’s ears and cheeks were so painful, she felt as if there was a metal vice around her head. She couldn’t feel her hands and feet at all. In fact, from her elbows and knees down, it was as if she was made of rubber.
The girls looked at each other as the engine roared into life again and they began to hurtle towards the shore at breakneck speed, bouncing over the waves.
‘Just like surfing,’ Maddison whispered, and closed her eyes.
‘OK, let’s keep talking, let’s keep moving,’ Logan shouted at them. ‘No dozing – clap your hands, jiggle your feet. C’mon, we’re nearly there.’
The three girls tried to follow his instructions, but their arms and legs were numb and useless.
On the beach, it all became a little blurry. Gina felt as if she was fighting the most overwhelming tiredness. It was only the chattering of her teeth and the shaking of her freezing body that seemed to keep her awake.
They were all bundled, carried and half dragged into the car, which Lorelei had waiting, engine running, right at the water’s edge. The heating was already blasting out at full strength.
Lorelei and – eek! – Logan, stripped them to their underwear, then wrapped them in rough towels, woolly, hairy blankets and even a piece of tarpaulin from the boat shed.
Gradually the blasting heat in the car began to revive them.
‘Tea!’ Logan insisted. ‘We need to get everyone drinking tea,’ and he hurried off to his shed to brew up a pot.
As the warm liquid hit the pit of her stomach, Gina felt herself reviving a little. She opened her eyes and took a look at each of the girls bundled up beside her.
‘You look like a baby owl,’ she told Paula.
‘An owl?’ Paula replied. ‘I wish I was a dolphin. I might have enjoyed that swim.’
‘Or a penguin.’
‘Let me know next time we’re swimming,’ Maddison piped up. ‘I’ll bring a wetsuit and a radiator.’
The best thing about the drive back to the cottage was the warmth Gina could feel on either side of her. The heating was blasting out, the tea was warming her from the inside out, but it was the two bodies pressed against her that made her feel really warm.
What if something terrible had happened?! Imagine if Paula or Maddison had been knocked out by the boat, or trapped under it . . . or hadn’t been able to survive even the ten minutes or so they’d spent in the water? Imagine if they were rushing to hospital right now, trying to reach A & E in time – though now she came to think of it, there wouldn’t be a hospital anywhere near . . .
Gina leaned first to one side and then the other. ‘Sorry,’ she said gently against each wrapped and bundled head. ‘Not just for the boat trip, but for . . . you know.’
‘Yeah, me too . . .’ Maddison told her.
‘You know we didn’t mean it,’ Paula added. ‘Not really.’
‘Neither did I,’ Gina said. ‘Not really.’
‘We’ve wasted a whole load of time,’ Maddison commented.
‘Yeah. Think of the fun we could have been having here instead.’
‘It starts right now,’ Paula promised. ‘Well, just as soon as I’ve got this scratchy old blanket off my butt.’
Chapter Sixteen
‘AMY! NIFFY! HI!’
Gina and Min, who had arrived back in Iris dorm first after half term, welcomed their friends, both struggling under a heavy load of luggage.
‘The wardrobe’s been moved out into the hall to make room for Niffy’s bed,’ Min told them. ‘So you don’t have to argue about who gets the top bunk,’ she joked, not realizing for a moment that the pair were already locked in a much more serious argument.
Amy put one of the large holdalls she was carrying down on Niffy’s bed and moved the other along to her own.
As Niffy hadn’t come to school for the first half of term, she was carrying another two large bags crammed with uniform, shoes, sports kit and spare clothes.
The journey from Blacklough Hall, and then from the cab to the dorm, with all these bags had been exhausting. But through it all Niffy had refused to speak to Amy. Finally Amy had given up trying. She was not going to be forgiven for her three big crimes: playing a prank involving Ginger; not coming to the swimming pool; and, worst of all, Amy suspected, getting involved with Finn.
She was definitely involved with Finn – as his goodbye kisses and instructions to phone and email him asap had made clear.
‘How was Blacklough?’ Min asked straight away. ‘I bet it was a lot more fun than my auntie’s house.’
‘We had a great time,’ Amy said casually, turning away to unpack her bag. ‘What about you, Gina?’ she added quickly. ‘I want to hear all about your adventures.’
‘Have your mum and your friends left?’ Min wondered.
‘Yeah – they should be in London by now, and they catch a flight home tomorrow morning.’ Gina sounded just a little bit sad. ‘We had a great time. My mom really got into it – she showed us all the places she used to go when she was small. It was such good fun.’
‘What did the pool princesses think of Colonsay?’ Amy asked.
‘Oh, they hated it at first – we had this huge, huge fight. I thought we were never going to talk again. It was so awful!’
Gina didn’t notice Amy and Niffy’s strange expressions at this piece of news.
‘But then we all fell out of this boat – and somehow, after that, we were best friends again.’
‘Ha!’ Niffy sounded incredulous.
‘No, really,’ Gina insisted.
‘Dermot . . .?’ Min asked. ‘How did it go with Dermot?’
‘Ah . . .’ Gina rolled her eyes. ‘I don’t think Mom was quite in the holiday spirit when we met him, so it wasn’t great. We might have to do that again some time and maybe it’ll go a bit better.’
‘Yeah, well, it’s always difficult when the people you’re close to don’t get who you are dating,’ Amy said pointedly.
‘Very . . .’ Niffy answered. Plucking her toilet bag from her suitcase, she went to put it in the bathroom.
‘Erm . . . is something up with you two?’ Min asked Amy once Niffy was out of the room.
‘Oh, boy!’ Amy replied. For a moment she put her head in her hands; then, looking up at her two friends, she said quickly, ‘Niffy’
s not speaking to me. Her brother Finn – well, Finn and I played a bit of a mean trick on her . . . That’s one reason—’ She broke off abruptly, not sure if she wanted to go on.
‘Yes?’ Gina asked, understanding immediately that this wasn’t the whole story. The really big reason was still to come.
‘Then there’s the fact that . . . well . . . I think I might actually be’ – even though Amy knew it was upsetting Niffy, she couldn’t help smiling – ‘dating Finn!’
‘Really?’ Gina said.
‘And Niffy isn’t pleased?’ Min asked.
‘She doesn’t seem to be, no,’ Amy told them. ‘Honestly, I’ve apologized about the trick, I’ve tried to find out why she’s so annoyed, but she won’t say a word—’
The door swung open again and Niffy came back into the room and strode over to her bed.
Min, Gina and Amy all looked up at her a little guiltily.
‘Talking about me?’ she asked them sharply.
‘Well, we guessed there was something not quite right . . .’ Min began tactfully. ‘We want to help – if we can.’
Gina nodded.
Niffy turned her back on them and began to haul hockey boots out of her bag. ‘Just as soon as Amy stops messing with my brother, I’ll start talking to her again. It’s simple.’
‘I’m not messing with your brother!’ Amy insisted angrily.
‘Oh, really.’ Niffy turned to glare at her. ‘The day before half term you were crying your eyes out because Jason didn’t like you as much as you liked him. Now, suddenly, I’m supposed to believe that you’re only interested in Finn. You’re just a big fat flirt, Amy McCorquodale. You can’t be trusted around boys, and I don’t want you anywhere near my brother. D’you understand?’
With that, Niffy turned her back on all three of them again and busied herself with unpacking.
After that outburst, all that could be heard was the sound of four girls opening and closing drawers and zipping and unzipping weekend bags.
It was horrible, Gina thought to herself. Niffy and Amy had to get over this – otherwise dorm life was going to be hell.
An almost entirely silent five minutes later, she decided that she could at least talk to Min. Hopefully that would be a neutral thing to do.