“What are you doing?” Brian called out shrilly.
“We’re coming aboard. We’re not going to just wait and let the water kill us.” Simon reached the ladder and grasped it.
Wynne tensed, her fingers tightening on the rock. She’d reached the bow of the boat and grabbed hold to brace herself against it. Praying for God to guide her aim in spite of the numbness in her fingers, she tensed and got ready.
Brian leaned over the railing and aimed the gun at Simon. “Get back or I’ll shoot.”
With Brian’s attention on Simon, she had a clear shot. Help me, God. She steadied herself with her left hand and aimed with her right. The rock left her fingers and sailed through the air. It struck Brian squarely on the wrist. The gun flew out of his hand and into the water.
He shouted and reached after it, nearly toppling into the water with the gun. Simon lumbered up the ladder, his movements slow from the onset of hypothermia. Brian rushed forward to grapple with him.
Wynne could barely feel her fingers, but she reached up and grasped the railing. She didn’t think there was any way she could haul herself up from the water in her weakened state, but she had to help Simon or they were both dead.
She dug her toes into the hull of the boat. Her feet slipped off, but she tried again, seeking a small indentation she could wedge her toes into. Grunting and pulling, she finally managed to tug herself onto the deck. She stood outside the railing. Now all she had to do was swing her body over into the boat.
She teetered on the edge, almost too weary to make a move. Grunts and curses emanated from Brian as he struggled to toss Simon back into the water. Wynne sucked in a breath and watched the deadly confrontation for a moment. She could see Simon was barely hanging on. She had to do something.
With the last ounce of her strength, she clambered over the railing and at last stood swaying on the deck. She looked around wildly for a weapon. The sieves! She rushed forward and grabbed up the heavy metal sieve. It was all she could do to raise it over her head.
Shrieking, she tottered forward and brought it crashing down on Brian’s head. He went down like a pile of rune stones. Wynne grabbed Simon’s hand, and he fell forward onto the deck. She knelt and rolled him over.
“My girl, the Valkyrie,” he said. He stood and pulled her into an embrace. “You sounded like a Norse warrior when you yelled. It was enough to curdle my blood.” He prodded Brian with his foot. “He’s out cold.”
“Thank the Lord,” Wynne said, drawing in a deep breath. The tension began to ease from her shoulders, but she was still shaking, both from reaction and from the cold.
“I’ll call the Coast Guard.” He headed toward the ship-to-shore phone.
Wynne went to the cabinets and dragged out some blankets. She put one around herself and draped one over Simon’s shoulders. He shot her a grateful smile.
Wynne could hardly believe it was over. She glanced to where Brian still lay on the deck. Such a sweet exterior hiding such a black soul. He had so much potential, too. Such a brilliant designer, and he threw away his bright future for money.
But hadn’t she been teetering on doing that very thing? Oh, not for money, but for fame in her field. She’d been stressing about contracts and her career, when the really important things in life were relationships and people. Instead of asking what God would have her do, she’d been trying to figure it out on her own, as if it all depended on her, when in reality, God was the designer of her life.
Simon put down the phone. “The Coast Guard is on its way.” He slipped his arm around her shoulders. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. Starting to warm up.”
“Me, too. But remind me to let you teach our kids how to throw. You nailed that gun dead-on.”
She laughed. “We make a team that is pretty hard to beat.”
Brian stirred. “I’d better tie him up.” Simon grabbed a hank of rope and tied Brian’s hands behind him. “That should hold him.”
Brian groaned and rolled over onto his back. His eyelids fluttered. He tried to sit up and moaned again when he realized he was bound. His shoulders slumped.
The sound of a boat growled in the distance. “Here comes the Coast Guard,” Wynne said.
Brian’s eyes opened wide. “Let me go,” he begged.
“You know I can’t do that,” Simon said.
“It’s my word against yours.” Brian jutted his chin forward.
“Against both of ours,” Wynne pointed out.
Brian staggered to his feet and plunged toward the railing. “Stop him!” Wynne shouted.
Brian barreled over the railing and splashed into the water. He sank without another sound.
The sun was setting in the west by the time the Coast Guard divers recovered Brian’s body. Wynne was more than ready to head back to shore, but she and Simon wanted to wait until they knew it was all over. Until the body was recovered, there was always the chance that Brian had survived.
Simon watched silently as they loaded his cousin’s body. Wynne stood in the circle of his arms—the place she now felt most secure. She leaned back against his chest. “I’m sorry about Brian, Simon. You have to be devastated.”
He grew rigid, and his arms slackened. She felt cold when he turned away. He hit his fist against the railing. “It’s so senseless.” His voice was tight and harsh. “I would have done anything to help him. Why didn’t he come to me if he thought Jerry was taking advantage of him?”
Wynne heard the raw pain under the anger in his voice. She touched his forearm. “It’s not your fault, Simon. I know you like to take care of everyone, but you can’t. Brian was an adult. He’s responsible for his own choices, not you.”
She felt him flinch, then he turned his head and gazed into her eyes. Her eyes filled with tears at the suffering in his face. “I’m sorry, Simon.”
“I know.” He sounded hoarse. Drawing her into his arms again, he rested his chin on top of her head. “I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t here. It would be pretty unbearable.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“What about Australia?”
“I’m leaving that up to you. What do you think is the right thing for us to do?” She could get into this passing the buck, she thought. She trusted Simon’s judgment so completely, and it felt comforting to turn things over to him.
“Oh, sure, make me decide.”
She heard the smile in his voice as she snuggled against his chest. “You’re going to be the spiritual leader. So lead on.”
He gave a heavy sigh, and her heart skipped. Was he sorry he’d asked her to marry him? She tipped her head back and looked up into his face. “What’s wrong?”
“You need to honor your commitment to the contract,” he said quietly. “But I don’t have to like it.” He puffed his cheeks out and exhaled. “This being responsible to God for the right decisions is a bummer. It was more fun to growl about you leaving me.”
She didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. But she knew it was right. “I’ll miss you,” she muttered.
“I’m coming with you if you can land me a contract, too. If you can’t, I’ll wait patiently.”
“You willing to part with a little cold, hard cash? Our dig is operating on a shoestring budget. Offer a grant, and he’ll be even more likely to agree.”
“I can do that,” he said. “But there’s one more big problem we have to discuss.”
“Uh-oh, that sounds ominous.” Was he going to ask her to give up everything and stay here once the Australia contract was fulfilled? If he did, could she agree?
He gripped her shoulders and scowled. “It’s about our past.”
“Our past?” Their present had consumed so much of her thoughts, she’d forgotten they’d known each other once upon a time in their childhood.
“It’s about that thing you overheard,” he began.
A smile played at her lips. “I won’t say a word.”
“It’s okay if you do,” he said. “In fact, I’ve decided I’m
not hiding anything. You can call me anything you want.”
A chuckle built in her throat. “You might reconsider. Do you remember that nickname?”
He groaned. “How could I forget?”
Wynne well remembered the day herself. She’d stood with three other girls behind a tree and listened to Simon’s girlfriend of the hour break up with him. When Simon realized he’d been overheard, he’d been humiliated as only a seventeen-year-old boy can be.
“Kiss me, Woobie,” she said, pulling his lips down to meet hers.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5135-3
STORMCATCHER
Copyright © 2006 by Colleen Rhoads Coble
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*Great Lakes Legends
*Great Lakes Legends
*Great Lakes Legends
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