by Clare Revell
****
Cal set the ladder against the wall of the cottage. The wooden shutters the owner requested, had driven him mad with their intricate carvings, but he had to admit they looked incredible. Small hearts whittled out of them and interwoven ivy carved into the wood to connect them. He just hoped the customer would think they looked good.
He ran up the ladder and unhooked the old shutter and passed it down to Rob. Being a family business, Rob was his cousin as well as his colleague. Only a couple of years between them, they got on like a house on fire, spending most of the day in a combination of laughter and merciless teasing. Cal replaced the two old hinges with new ones and then took the new shutter. As he fitted it, he spied Hattie walking along the path. “Morning, Hattie,” he called.
Hattie shielded her eyes against the bright morning sun. Her smile rivaled it for brightness. “Hello, Cal. How are you?”
“I’m good. You?”
“Yeah, I’m OK.”
He watched the way her hips moved and the bag on her shoulder swung in time with them. He could tell she’d taken time with her appearance as he took in the white jeans and red, white, and blue striped shirt she wore. A red and white scarf knotted around her neck, and pristine, white canvas deck shoes complimented the outfit. “You look lovely.”
“Thank you.” Her cheeks colored, making her look even prettier. “I’m off, out for the day.”
“Very nice.”
“It should be. Markus is taking me out on his yacht along the coast a ways.”
Cal looked at her, his heart sinking. He glanced up at the sky. “There’s a storm coming,” he said gruffly, a huge surge of something, was it jealousy, rocking him. His fingers whitened on the edge of the ladder. “Best go another day.”
“Aunt Laurie said the same thing, but there isn’t a cloud in the sky.” Hattie waved a hand. “However, I have my raincoat in my bag, and I don’t get seasick.”
He nodded, somehow keeping his face straight. She was wrong, a storm was brewing, he’d seen the forecast, but more than that, he could feel it in the air. “Have fun.”
“You have a good day, too.” She waved and headed off.
He waited until she was out of earshot. Then he yanked the old shutter out of its hinges, almost ripping the bracket from them. “Markus is an idiot!”
“He knows the weather as well as you do,” Rob said calmly, taking the shutter. “He won’t sail if he’s got any sense. Or if the forecast shows we have bad weather coming in.”
Cal laughed bitterly. “This is Markus Kerr we’re talking about. A box of rocks has more sense than he does. Especially where women are concerned.”
“You really don’t like him, do you?”
“I don’t like his type. They think of no one but themselves as they put others at risk whilst trying to impress women, whether it’s boats or a fast sports car on these narrow roads or something else.” Was he being judgmental? No, based on Markus’ track record that was how he operated, and Alba still had a dented fender to prove it.
Cal knew he was no saint, but he always acted with decorum, using his charm to impress, not speed and recklessness.
“She does have a point,” Rob’s voice dragged him back from his musing. “The sea is flat calm. It’s a perfect day for a sail.”
He humphed. “I’m telling you, there is a storm coming. A big one, and you know how fast they can blow in off the sea. Pass me up that shutter.”
“Here you go and I bow to your superior knowledge of the sea and the weather. You know, couz, I’m sure I’ve seen her before.”
He took the shutter from Rob. “She’s Laurie’s niece. She spent most of her summers here growing up. And Laurie has probably shown you photos of her over the years.”
“I know that, but…Photos. That’s it.” Rob grinned. “She’s the woman in the paper.”
If Cal could have slapped himself without risking life and limb he would have. He really did need to keep his mouth shut and stop reminding people about that news report. Especially now Hattie was here on the island. “Which woman in particular? There have been numerous photos of me and women in the paper over the years.”
“You know full well I mean the woman that was with you at the weir when you rescued that kid a few weeks back. You’re jealous because she’s going out with Markus and not you.”
“It doesn’t matter if I am.” He slotted the shutter in place. “If Markus is after her, there is nothing I can do.”
“Rot. She likes you, I can tell.”
“And you know this how?”
“Seven sisters, mate. What I don’t know about women ain’t worth knowing.”
Cal smiled, despite the annoyance filling him. “Careful that doesn’t get taken the wrong way.”
Rob grinned. “You’re not my type. I prefer blondes. That one was pretty nice actually.”
“Shutter fastener.”
Rob laughed and handed them up to him. “Here.”
Cal bolted the shutter into place. “There. Let’s do the rest before my pager goes off. There’s bound to be at least one call today.”
“It’s getting so you may as well live there this week.”
“Tell me about it.” He ran down the ladder and repositioned it. “Hasn’t been this bad since Christmas when we got called out during dinner and didn’t get home ’til almost two days later. We slept on the base, alternating with the relief crew. But it comes with the job. If I didn’t enjoy it, I wouldn’t do it.”
Rob nodded. “Never something I fancied doing. Shore crew yeah, but in the boats?” He shook his head.
“You don’t swim.”
“Exactly.”
“You should learn,” he said, sliding the bolts into his pocket. “Especially living by the sea.”
“I don’t intend to go on a boat.”
“Even so. I should teach you.” He climbed the ladder again. “OK, next shutter.”
****
Hattie sat on the deck of the yacht, the wind blowing through her hair as Markus steered through the waves. Yacht wasn’t the right word for it. The boat was more like a cabin cruiser and huge. Well, in her inexperienced eyes it was huge. Kitchen, bathroom, bedroom to name a few; not that those were the correct terms for rooms on a boat. Markus had called them something else—galley, cabin and… some funny word she couldn’t remember.
The breeze had picked up a fair bit since they left the harbor, but Markus said it was normal and nothing to worry about. She leaned back in the deckchair and studied him.
He really had grown into a fine looking man, from the gawky, spotty kid she remembered from the summer holidays when she was young. He’d always hung around her aunt’s house, theoretically to play with Steve, but seemed to pay more attention to her than her brother.
Her mind shifted back to the tall, dark haired man she’d spent so many hours thinking about. Had Cal always lived here? Why didn’t she remember seeing him around the place?
Markus grinned at her. “Enjoying the view, Harriet?”
“It’s really pretty along here,” she said returning her gaze to the coastline. She knew that wasn’t what he meant, but wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. “It hasn’t changed much at all.”
“It has further around to the west. There was a huge landslide there about six months ago. All the winter rain undermined the cliff and a sizable chunk fell. Even took the cottage on the cliff edge with it. Fortunately, it hadn’t been lived in for years.”
“Wow.”
“I can take you to show you if you’d like.”
“Yeah, I would.” She paused. “Markus, you did mean what you promised, right? I don’t want Steve knowing I’m here. Not for a couple of weeks anyway.”
He looked at her. “I still think hiding from your own brother is a little off, no matter what he did, but sure. I’ll keep schtum for you.” He put the wheel hard over and the cruiser responded to his touch. “So, we’ll go and see the cliff fall. After that we’ll go to the lighthouse.
”
Hattie watched the sea, looking for the seals he’d promised she’d see, but her thoughts returned to Cal. Had he made those shutters himself? The carving on them was wonderful. If he had, then maybe she could ask him to make shutters for Aunt Laurie’s cottage. The ones there needed replacing—the ones the fire hadn’t destroyed anyway. Maybe Cal could replace all of them. Perhaps incorporating her uncle’s family crest or their initials intertwined.
There would be no harm in getting a quote anyway. She could put money towards them. Or pay for them outright.
“There,” Markus called. “Seals at eleven o’clock. See them?”
Hattie shielded her eyes against the sun and turned her head. “Wow.” She watched, enthralled, as the seals leapt over the waves, playing with each other.
“I heard they mate for life.”
Hattie shook her head. “That’s seahorses. Or swans.”
“I was close. Still starts with an S. But the point remains though. It’s a neat thing. Only loving one person for your entire life.”
She glanced at him. “So you’d stay faithful even after death of your wife?”
“Yes, I would.”
“Even if she died really early rather than when you were both say eighty or ninety?”
“Your aunt did.”
“Uncle Reg only died two years ago, and they were married for over forty years and devoted to each other. I think that kind of love is wonderful, but it doesn’t mean you have to rule out someone else coming along. Our pastor back home remarried after seven years of widowhood.”
Markus looked at her. “Would you?”
“Remarry?”
“Mourn me forever ’til you died.”
“That’s a little presumptuous, don’t you think?” Hattie raised an eyebrow.
He grinned and pointed to the coast. “That’s where the cliff fell. See?”
Hattie looked where he indicated. The jagged cliff with its rough edges was a different color where the new rock had been exposed. “Wow. Was anyone hurt?”
“A woman was trapped, but they got her out. It caused a riptide on the beach over there.”
“I bet it did.” She pulled her sleeves down. It had gotten cold and the sun had vanished behind a thick bank of leaden grey sky.
Markus glanced up at the sky. “It’s clouded over.”
You think? Talk about stating the obvious. “Should we head back? Aunt Laurie said there was a storm coming.”
“Nah, we’re fine. I’m not afraid of a little rain. We’ll head further out. I know a great picnic spot by the lighthouse.”
“Are you sure?”
“Perfectly sure.” He smiled and headed further out into open sea.
Twenty minutes later, Hattie had to admit that Cal and Aunt Laurie were right. Rain pounded the deck, and crashed against the windows. She clung to the rail on the side of the cabin as the boat heaved over another huge wave. Her raincoat wasn’t as waterproof as she’d thought. She had gotten drenched clearing the deck of furniture as Markus had asked, and her hair hung in rat’s tails about her face. Even her cast iron stomach was more than a little unhappy now.
Markus spun the wheel, trying to bring the boat about to face into the waves, but the wind was too strong and tossed them violently to one side.
Hattie cried out involuntarily as she flew across the cabin, hitting the rail on the far wall.
Markus tried to regain control. Another gust of wind tossed them against a buoy with a resonating crash. He swore and tried to turn them away from it. The engines cut out, leaving the boat at the mercy of the wind and waves.
Hattie clutched her arm, gritting her teeth. Pain rocketed through her. She staggered to her feet.
“Hold this while I go below and check the engines. Just keep the compass pointing east if you can.”
“OK.” She staggered to the wheel and clung onto it, trying to use her good arm to hold it steady.
The waves grew in size as Markus headed below. With no engines there was no way she could control the boat one handed. It was all she could do to stay upright and keep the needle pointing east. The waves tugged the boat away from the buoy towards the open sea.
Markus came back up. “We’re taking on water.” He looked out of the window. “Where’s the coast gone?”
“That way. I can’t hold her steady with one hand, sorry.” She gasped as her injured arm caught the wheel. “What do we do?”
“Call for help and hope they get here before we sink.” Markus grabbed the radio. “There are lifejackets under the seats. Put one on.”
Hattie pulled up the seats and tugged out two lifejackets. She struggled into one of them. She closed her eyes. Please, help us. Don’t let me drown. I’m not scared of dying, but drowning…
Markus fiddled with the radio. “Mayday. Mayday. This is the Petunia Bay calling Mayday.”
10
Cal grinned over his glass at Rob. “And you got away with it?”
Rob nodded. “Aye. Mara washed the same dish six times before she realized.”
“I love it. I’ll have to try that on Jess one weekend.” He cut into the steak and mushroom pie, inhaling deeply. The food in this pub really was second to none. “Don’t forget I have that press interview at two. I’ll be back afterwards.”
Rob laughed. “My cousin the hero. Mr. RNLI himself. Maybe we should start selling signed photos of you in the office.”
“For the dart board, maybe.”
“Spoilsport.”
The pager went off. “Told you.” Cal put down his knife and fork. He pulled the pager from his belt and looked at it. “OK, got to go. See you later.”
“Stay safe.”
“I always do.”
Rob caught his arm. “I mean it, couz. We’ve lost entire crews out there before, but since Porthness last winter, I worry all the more. You’re more than my cousin—”
Cal hugged him. “I promise I’ll be back later.” He smiled and ran out into the storm. He leapt into his truck, with its sticker proudly bearing the RNLI flag with lifeboat crew on it and drove the short distance to the base. A thousand scenarios flooded his mind. Torrential rain hit the windscreen and even with wipers on full pelt, visibility was practically zero.
The wind buffeted the truck and he knew all too well the problems that faced them in open water. Lord God, protect whoever it is out there until we can get to them. Protect us as we go out to help them and if it’s Your will, bring us all home safely.
Parking in his usual space, he ran around the building. A flurry of activity met him. The tractors already had engines running and the Atlantic class boat, his boat, was already being prepped.
Tom stood there with clipboard in hand, checking in the crew as they arrived.
Cal glanced at the ten foot waves already building in the harbor, then turned to Tom. “Looks bad out there.”
“There’s no way that a chopper can reach them in this. Everyone else is in now and kitting up.”
Cal nodded and ran into the crew changing room. Phil, Sam, and Trevor were almost ready. “Afternoon.”
“Hey, Cal.”
Sam, one of the local doctors, grinned. “You really know how to avoid having your photo taken, huh?”
He stripped quickly. “Yep. The paper can wait. Never would be a good time for the interview.”
“You know that isn’t going to happen. This will just make the interview more exciting. I bet he’s outside now, snapping away, taking pictures of the boat and the tractor and the shore crew. He’ll want to know details of this rescue, too. What it’s really like out there in the wind and rain and so on.”
“That’s an easy one. It’s rather wet and windy.” Cal zipped his bunny suit and pulled on his dry suit. “How are we doing?”
“Two minutes before we beat our record,” Sam said.
“Easy.” Cal pulled on his life jacket and grabbed his helmet. “Let’s go.”
The others followed him out. As helmsman, the boat was his, but he never
pulled rank. If he needed to do something, he did it. They were more than a team, they were a family, and they always had each other’s backs. He turned on his radio. “OK, Tom. What have we got?”
“The Petunia Bay, a cabin cruiser, lost both engines. And she’s taking on water after colliding with a buoy. She’s now adrift in the shipping lane. Porthness are sending the all-weather boat as back up, but it’ll take them a while to get down here.”
Cal listened as they ran into the storm and climbed up into the boat. Once they were seated, the tractor started down the shingle beach into the water. The waves crashed far higher than usual, rain poured, and the wind rocked them in the safety of the cage. He checked the dials in front of him. Everything on and working. “Green across the board. Did you guys catch all that?”
“When will they ever learn to check the weather?” Trevor asked.
“Wish I knew. But we have a job to do.” He raised a hand so the tractor knew they were ready.
As soon as the tractor stopped, Cal opened the throttle and took them out into the water. The waves were worse than they appeared as the small boat powered its way through them. The wind tossed them as much as the waves towered over them.
Cal kept one eye on the radar and the other on the water. “I’m heading for their last known position, but they could be anywhere.”
“Unless he had the sense to drop anchor. That would at least slow them somewhat.”
Cal shrugged. “Maybe, though it wouldn’t do them much good in this.” He aimed the boat between the waves as much as he could. Not that it made much difference. It was going to be worse the further away from the shore they got.
And it was.
The twelve foot waves towered above them, doing their best to swamp and overturn the little lifeboat as it cut through the water towards the last known position of the Petunia Bay. He watched the radar, but nothing was showing.
“Where is she?” Sam called. “I can’t see anything.”
“If she was taking on water, she could have gone down. Or capsized anyway.” Trevor twisted in his seat.
“Flare,” Phil yelled. “Seven o’clock.”
Cal turned the boat and headed into the heart of the storm, keeping the bow of the boat into the breaking waves. Visibility was down to five feet.