‘Hey, that’s my suitcase,’ she added quickly. ‘What are you doing?’
It was a stupid question, she thought. He was slashing it open with a pocket knife he’d pulled from his jeans…
And why worry about a suitcase when they were surely going to drown?
Going to drown…
Jessica fumbled at the buckle of her seatbelt.
‘My cameras,’ she said, stumbling out of her seat as he began rummaging through her clothing. ‘Give me my ...’
The plane lurched slightly at the shifting weight and Chad caught her hand in his.
‘Don’t make any sudden moves,’ he said sharply. ‘We want the plane to stay afloat as long as possible. Have you got any warm clothing in this thing? Stuff made of silk or wool?’
She stared past him through the cracked windscreen. Grey waves rose ahead of them; beyond the nose of the plane lay a thick bank of fog.
‘But ... how will we get to shore?’ she asked in bewilderment. ‘I can’t even see it from here.’
‘Catch these things, will you?’ Chad asked. Obediently, she turned to him and he tossed articles of her clothing into her arms. ‘You can’t see the shore because of the rain. But we’ll be OK; amphibians carry dinghies.’ He nodded over his shoulder and she looked towards the windscreen again. This time, she spotted a smudge of yellow visible outside the plane. ‘I inflated it as soon as we were down.’ He leaned forward and dug into the corner of the suitcase. ‘I found your cameras,’ he said. ‘Sorry.’
Jessica peered over his shoulder at the broken bits of plastic and glass. Three months' worth of paychecks, she thought…
But the tilting floor and the water lapping at her boots seemed to minimize the sense of loss.
‘Have you got some jeans in here? Sneakers? Hiking shoes?’
The plane lurched again.
Jessica shuddered with fear.
‘Shouldn’t we—shouldn’t we be getting out?’
He nodded. ‘In a minute. But we’re going to need warm clothing. It’s wet and cold out there.’
The thought of what awaited them outside the plane sent another shudder through her. She pushed the thought aside and forced herself to concentrate on her clothes.
‘I have these sweaters. And this blouse is silk. Is that the kind of thing you mean?’
‘Yeah, that’s fine. And at least you’ve got a pair of sneakers,’ he added, pulling out her old running shoes. ‘Put on the sweater and then get those boots off and put the sneakers on instead.’
‘Listen,’ she said quickly. ‘Why don’t we get to shore first and then I’ll change my clothing? I really don’t think we ought to take the time right now ...’
‘And I don’t want you tearing holes in the dinghy,’ he said flatly, as he rose to his feet and hunched his way forward.
Well, she thought, she wouldn’t argue with that.
She certainly didn’t want any holes in the dinghy, either.
It looked fragile enough, bobbing and dipping under the wing.
Quickly, she pulled off her boots and laced up her sneakers. The plane was swaying like a drunk coming out of a bar. Water licked at her feet.
‘Now what?’ she asked, hoping he couldn’t hear the terrified drumming of her heart.
‘Now we get the hell out of here.’ He pulled a canvas backpack from under his seat and stuffed her few pieces of clothing into it. ‘OK,’ he added, wrenching open the door. ‘Let’s go.’
She started to take his outstretched hand and then she saw her shoulder-bag lying on the seat. ‘Wait,’ she said ‘just let me ...’
There was a groaning sound and the plane lurched sideways, hard.
Water began to pour in from under the rudder pedals.
‘Hurry, Jessie!’
She snatched up the bag and moved towards the open doorway. Chad tossed the pack into the dinghy and then eased himself out after it. The dinghy was so small... He held his hand out to her but she hesitated, watching as the little craft bobbed dangerously under his weight.
‘Come on, dammit! We haven’t got much time.’
She wanted to do as he asked, but her feet felt as if they’d been nailed to the cabin floor. There was a gurgling sound behind her and the plane tilted sharply to the right.
Chad started to say something. Then he looked at her face and took a long breath.
‘You’re doing fine,’ he said quietly. ‘Just give me your hand ... That’s it,’ he said soothingly as she reached towards him. Her fingers were ice-cold with fear, and he brushed aside the realization that she had no way of knowing that what lay ahead of them was probably going to be even rougher. ‘Lean towards me, Jess. I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.’
Jessica held her breath and leaned towards his upstretched arms.
The plane and the dinghy were both bobbing and tossing in the stormy water, one going up as the other went down.
She whimpered as his arms closed tightly around her and he lifted her into the dinghy.
‘Now, get down and stay still,’ he said, his tone no longer quiet but filled with command.
Stay still?
She fought back a sudden insane desire to laugh as she hunched lower in the tiny craft. She was afraid to breathe, much less move.
She felt completely vulnerable and at the mercy of the lake, the rain, the wind, the groaning, creaking plane.
She glanced at Chad as he freed the line that tied them to the wing.
She’d felt safe for the few seconds he’d held her in his arms while he helped her into the dinghy.
She’d felt the same way in the 1011 flying out here, she thought suddenly.
Well, sure she had. When you were scared, human contact made all the difference.
She gasped as the dinghy lurched wildly. Chad pushed off from the plane and begun rowing towards the shoreline dimly visible behind them.
The rain had eased off to a cold drizzle. The lake and the sky were the color of old pewter, with the sky’s ominous greyness offset by the lake’s wind lashed waves.
Jessica shivered and burrowed into the wool sweater Chad had made her put on.
Cold spray blew in her face and she wiped it away with a trembling hand.
If only she could see the sun again...
Suddenly, it occurred to her that the sky’s leaden look was not only because of the clouds and rain. It was late; the sun would be setting soon.
Their plane had crashed and they were in the middle of a storm-tossed lake and darkness was coming on.
A sense of total weariness overtook her. What was the point, she thought, closing her eyes. They’d never make shore; if the storm had been powerful enough to bring down a plane, what would it do to this fragile piece of rubber?
‘Jessie? Jessica!’ Chad’s voice sliced into her like a whip. She lifted her head and looked at him blankly. ‘I need your help,’ he said. ‘I can’t make it to shore alone.’
She frowned and stared at him uncomprehendingly. Finally, she shook her head. ‘I... I can’t help you,’ she whispered. ‘There’s nothing I can do. I ...’
‘Yes, there is, Jessie,’ he said firmly. ‘You can direct me to that clear place there—do you see it? That rocky ledge. Concentrate on getting us there.’ His eyes flickered over her pale face but she said nothing. Chad drew in the oars and laid them along the gunwales. ‘Of course,’ he said without inflection, ‘if that’s too difficult, we can sit out here until dawn and watch the plane go under. It’s up to you.’
It was as if the lake had been waiting for him to stop paddling.
Wind-whipped, white-frothed waves snatched at the little craft and began to pull it away from the shore.
Jessica clutched at the dinghy’s sides and stared at him.
‘You have to give me directions, Jess,’ he said, raising his voice over the keening of the wind. ‘There’s not much point in my paddling if I don’t know where I’m going.’
Was he going to let the water bounce them around like
a cork?
Not if she had anything to say about it, she thought grimly, peering past him, expecting to see nothing but grey sky and water…
‘The shoreline! I can see it!’
‘Can you see the ledge?’
A weight seemed to lift from her chest.
‘Yes! To the left, Chad. That’s it, yes, good, good. Straight now—we’re almost there.’
He dug the oars into the water and they surged ahead.
‘You see? I told you I needed you to tell me where we were going.’
Jessica bit back the desire to tell him he hadn’t known where he was going when he was piloting the plane, either.
If he had, they wouldn’t have ended up inside those clouds.
At least he was a good sailor.
‘Slow down,’ she yelled. ‘There are rocks coming up!’
The dinghy lurched and bumped against something.
The shore.
They’d made it, and there was still some daylight left. Plenty of time to walk to the nearest road and flag down a car, unless they were near the lodge.
Now that she thought about it, they probably were. What a wonderful thought—a little hike up a trail and then a hot bath and a rum toddy and...
She scrambled to her feet as Chad hopped into the shallows. Clutching her shoulder-bag, she stepped gingerly ashore, wincing as the cold water soaked through her leather pants. Almost immediately, she felt the chill against her flesh and she shivered.
‘Catch!’
She glanced up just in time to see Chad’s pack sailing towards her. She caught it in mid-air, staggering under its surprising weight, then watched as he secured the line from the dinghy to a sapling growing among the rocks.
‘OK,’ he said, taking the pack from her, ‘let’s find a more sheltered spot than this and then we’ll get you warmed up.’ He peered towards a rise to their left and slung the pack on his shoulders. ‘There’s a stand of birches up there. Let’s try them.’
Jessica fell into line behind him. She hoisted her heavy bag over her shoulder and tried to match his stride.
‘How far is the lodge from here?’
‘I’m not sure.’
‘We were flying long enough so that it can’t be very far.’
He glanced over his shoulder at her. ‘That bag’s probably slowing you down. Why don’t you leave it?’
‘Leave it?’ She looked from him to the bag and shook her head. ‘All my things are in it,’ she said. ‘My credit cards and my wallet and my checkbook ...’
Chad started to say something and then he nodded. ‘Right. Well, try and keep up with me.’
‘That’s just what I’m doing,’ she puffed. ‘But it would be easier if you slowed down.’
‘It’ll be dark soon. I want to get to the top of that ridge before that.’
Her breath whistled in her lungs. ‘Can we find the lodge in the dark?’
There was a brief silence. ‘No,’ he said finally.
She waited for him to say something more but he didn’t.
‘Well, then, how about the nearest road?’ she wheezed. ‘Is it very far?’
‘You’ll get your wind back faster if you don’t talk.’
She started to answer and then she closed her mouth and nodded. He was right. She was breathing so hard it hurt.
‘We’re almost there,’ he called a few minutes later. ‘Are you cold?’
No, she thought, not cold. Freezing.
‘A little,’ she said. ‘But...’
‘When we get to the top of the ridge, you can change out of those wet things, those trousers, especially.’
‘But the road ...’
‘Save your breath, Jessie. We can talk in a few minutes.’
‘Yes, but ...’ her lungs felt as if they were on fire. ‘OK,’ she panted, putting her head down and plodding after him.
He was right.
There would be time for questions when they got to the top of the hill. Right now, all she had the strength to do was concentrate on putting one-foot in front of the other. Left, right, left, right... Almost there. And then she could sit down and take a deep breath and let her heartbeat return to normal.
Her leather trousers were making it harder to climb the grade. They were not just wet but unpleasantly constricting.
It would be nice to swap them for her jeans—after she got her breath back. Until she managed that, she wouldn’t be able to do anything...
‘Whoops,’ she gasped, stumbling into Chad’s back, ‘sorry. I didn’t realize you’d stopped.’
They were in a small clearing surrounded by birch trees.
The trees blocked most of the wind.
The rain had stopped completely and a pale sun shone weakly on the horizon. Jessica sighed with relief and leaned back against one of the trees.
‘That’s better,’ she said breathlessly. ‘That hill was steeper than I ...’
‘Here,’ he said, tossing her a sweater and an unfamiliar pair of jeans. ‘Get out of those wet things while I get a fire going. There’s bound to be some dry kindling under these trees.’
‘In a minute,’ she panted. ‘Let me recover first.’
‘Now,’ he said.
Jessica’s eyebrows rose. ‘I just want to get my breath back.’
He put his backpack on a boulder and began to rummage through it. ‘Don’t give me excuses, OK? Just do as you’re told.’
‘Do as I’m told?’ she repeated dumbly. He couldn’t have said that!
‘That’s what I said. Change your clothes.’
Count to ten, she told herself. This man just saved your life. Take a deep breath and count to ten.
After a bit, she looked down at the jeans he’d given her.
‘These aren’t mine,’ she said. He looked up and she held the trousers out to him. 'These must be yours. Mine are pale blue ...’
‘You’re right. Those are mine. Just get them on. Believe me, you don’t need to co-ordinate fashion out here.’
A tightness was forming in her chest.
‘I wasn’t thinking of fashion,’ she said slowly. ‘It’s just that my own jeans would fit me better.’
‘Right,’ he said digging into his pack again.
She waited for him to say something more, but he didn’t. The tightness was spreading to her stomach.
‘Then why don’t you give them to me? I know you have them. I saw you take them out of my suitcase.’
He raised his head and looked at her. ‘We’re going to get along much better if you do what I tell you, Jessie.’
'Listen,' she said through her teeth, ‘I know this isn’t the time to argue about it, but I think I should tell you I don’t much like your attitude ...’
‘Just be a good girl and change your jeans. You look like a drowned rat.’
‘I am not a girl,’ she said with dignity. ‘I am a woman.’
‘And a damned stubborn one.’
‘No, I’m not. Each time I ask you a question, you ignore it, Or you bark out orders.’
He got to his feet and put his hands on his hips. ‘You asked me if we could reach the lodge before dark and I said we couldn’t. You asked me if I knew how far the nearest road was and I said I didn’t. You said you didn’t like the color of my jeans ...’
His eyes were flashing and his chin jutted forward, but she stood her ground. Don’t let him intimidate you, Jessie, she told herself. That’s what he’s trying to do.
‘I said,’ she repeated with exaggerated care, ‘that your jeans would be too big for me.’
‘Forgive me,’ he said sarcastically. ‘That’s right. You were afraid my jeans wouldn’t be fashionable.'
Was he trying to make her feel stupid?
‘I don’t particularly care about that,’ she said, her voice rising. ‘It just doesn’t make much sense to wear something three sizes too big when I have my own.’
‘My jeans are made out of denim,’ he said. ‘Yours are light cotton. Mine will be a lot warmer. Satisfied?�
��
The tightness began to ease from her chest. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘All you had to do in the first place was give me a reason.’
‘The only reason you need is that I told you to do it.’
Back to square one, she thought in disbelief. Let it go, Jessie, an inner voice said, but suddenly she remembered his arrogance on the flight from New York and then her mind skipped to the unknown hours stretching ahead.
Establish the ground rules now, Jessie, another voice said, and she lifted her chin.
‘Perhaps we should sort things out a bit, Mr. O’Bryan. I’m grateful that you got us down safely.’
‘How kind of you to say so.’
She decided to ignore his sarcasm.
‘But we’re not on a ship. You are not the captain and I don’t have to obey your orders.’
‘If you want to get to a road, that’s exactly what you’ll do, Miss Howard. We haven’t got the time to argue over everything I say.’
‘I wasn’t arguing with you, for heaven’s sake, I was simply—‘’
‘Do what I tell you and we’ll get along fine. Is that simple enough?’
Fury sent all caution flying.
‘What it is, is simple- minded! But I’m in no position to argue, am I? You’re the expert. You’re the one who knows which way the road is, not me.’ She turned away on her heel and then she spun towards him again. ‘Or am I assuming too much?’
Even in the fading light, she could see him recoil. ‘And what is that supposed to mean?’
‘I think it was pretty clear.’
‘If that was supposed to be a crack about my flying ability ...’
‘Would you mind going somewhere while I change my clothes?’
‘Listen, Miss Howard, my flying ability is the only reason you’re alive and in one piece.’
‘In one piece? Is that why the plane is in the lake and we’re here?’
‘It’s a damned good thing the plane isn’t here,’ he said, gesturing at the growth of trees that surrounded them.
‘It’s just too bad it isn’t where it’s supposed to be. Eagle Lake, for instance.’
‘Is this your professional opinion? I didn’t know you had a pilot’s license.’
‘I probably have as much right to one as you do,’ she said. ‘I’m not the one who flew us into a storm. I’m not the one who landed on the rocks.’
Sandra's Classics - The Bad Boys of Romance - Boxed Set Page 5