Deep Water

by Christine Poulson

  As he passed the Maltings, he discerned through watering eyes an orange glow in the sky over towards the railway station. Somewhere near the Matilda Jane’s mooring, a spray of sparks went up like a rocket. The acrid smell of burning reached him.

  He started to run.

  “Katie! Katie!”

  She was awake instantly, her heart beating fast, afraid before she even knew why.

  Rachel had her hand on her shoulder. “There’s a fire in the wheelhouse!”

  Chloe was standing beside her, wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

  Katie looked for the fire extinguisher. She’d noticed one earlier in the galley. Rachel read her mind.

  “It’s too late for that. We mustn’t open the door!”

  “Then how – ?”

  “The roof light. In my bedroom. Come on.”

  As they ran into the bedroom and shut the door, Katie thought, Fuel tanks. Almost certainly under the wheelhouse.

  Rachel pulled a fold-up aluminium ladder from under the bed.

  She said, “There’s something else. She’s slipped her moorings. We’re drifting in midstream. I can swim…” Her eyes dropped to Chloe. “And Chloe’s had lessons, but…”

  “Lifejackets?”

  “In the wheelhouse.”

  “I’ve trained in life-saving. I can get her to shore.”

  She saw the doubt in Rachel’s face. There was no time to explain that Katie had swum for her school, had worked as a lifeguard at the local swimming pool in university vacations.

  “I can do it. Trust me.” She was already stripping off her thick socks and her jumper.

  Rachel reached up and tugged at a handle on the roof light.

  For a terrible moment it seemed to stick, then it swung open and a current of cold air came in.

  Rachel unfolded the ladder and hooked the curved edges over the windowsill. “You go first. Then Chloe.”

  Katie went up the steps and emerged on the roof of the boat. The wheelhouse was blazing like a beacon and the water was lit by a lurid light. The wind hit her, and she stumbled. She saved herself by dropping to her hands and knees. She turned to receive Chloe. Rachel followed her up and all three were on the roof, Chloe sandwiched between them.

  There was an ominous creaking somewhere and the air was scorching hot.

  Katie put her mouth close to Rachel’s ear. “I’m going into the water. Pass Chloe down when I give you the signal.”

  Rachel nodded.

  Katie clambered down onto the walkway. She sat down and hung there for a moment, backside on the edge, arms braced, readying herself. Then she took a deep breath and let go.

  The water closed over her head. The shock of the cold tightened her chest. She bobbed up, gasping. Her heart was thumping and she was afraid of blacking out. She forced herself to relax and let the water buoy her up. There was a brackish taste on her lips; the water was gritty.

  She looked up. Rachel was on the walkway, with Chloe between her legs, her arms hooked under Chloe’s armpits.

  Katie waved to her.

  Rachel tried to lower her down, but Chloe was protesting and struggling, trying to turn and climb back into the boat.

  “Chloe, Chloe, come to me,” Katie shouted, treading water.

  “Mummy, Mummy! Orlando – where’s Orlando?”

  “Rachel, drop her!”

  Rachel’s face was set, her mouth was open, and her teeth were gritted. Wisps of smoke were curling round her head.

  “Mummy!”

  “Rachel! Just drop her!”

  And Rachel did.

  The wind pushed him this way and that as he forged ahead, tossed about like a swimmer in a rough sea. He prayed that it wouldn’t be the Matilda Jane. Perhaps it was the boatyard, or one of those boats that were laid up for the winter – yes, that was more likely – and he felt an anticipatory sense of relief.

  The wind dropped briefly, and in the sudden silence his footsteps thudded on the pavement. Then he was rounding the bend past the pub. The wind roared again, shifting direction, and it was as if there were hands in the small of his back, propelling him forward. The path curved to the right after it went under the railway bridge. He could see the fire, flames that illuminated boiling clouds of smoke, but he couldn’t see where it was coming from.

  And then he was round the bend and oh, no, it was the Matilda Jane that was burning. And she had drifted from her moorings, carried by the current into the middle of the river.

  Above the roar of the wind, he heard a siren.

  The tow path was crowded with shadowy figures outlined against the orange glow of the fire. He grabbed first one shoulder, then another, but they were all strangers. He elbowed his way through, stumbling, gasping.

  As he neared the boat, waves of blistering heat came out to meet him. In the din of crackling flames and the confusion of smoke and flickering light, he couldn’t make out what was happening.

  A man shouted, “That’s it. Got her.”

  A bulky figure was kneeling on the tow path, blocking the way. Daniel grabbed its shoulder. “Please – my daughter – ”

  The person looked up. It was Daisy from the boat next door. “Dan – it’s alright.”

  “Chloe – ”

  “She’s here. She’s safe.”

  He saw now that Daisy was clasping something to her. She released her grip and between the folds of a blanket he saw Chloe’s face. She saw him, too. “Daddy, Daddy!” She struggled out of Daisy’s arms and he snatched her up. She was soaking wet and reeked of smoke. He knew he would never let her out of his sight again. But –

  “Chloe, where’s Mummy?”

  Daisy shook her head. Dan thrust Chloe back into her arms and moved forward. More people were coming along the tow path, converging on the part nearest the boat, then falling back as the heat of the blaze hit them. The siren was very loud now, filling the night.

  A woman’s voice shouted, “I’ve got to go back!”

  It was Katie. She was being embraced – no, held back – by a man that he recognized now as Frank. Frank had his arms clasped round her. She was swinging her arms impotently, trying to free herself.

  Daniel ran to them. “Where’s Rachel?”

  “He won’t let me go back in!” She was sobbing.

  “I keep trying to tell you,” Frank shouted. “Someone’s already gone back in!”

  “Where is Rachel?” Daniel said again.

  Katie was dressed only in a T-shirt and pants, and water was running in rivulets down her. The wind dropped and he heard behind him the crackling and roaring of the flames, and then the voice of someone shouting encouragement: “Yes, you can do it! Come on, come on.”

  A man was kneeling by the edge of the water. As Daniel ran towards him a spectacular shower of sparks burst from the burning boat and the wind flung them wide. He ducked his head and caught a whiff of singed hair.

  Out there in the river, a dark head as sleek as an otter was moving slowly towards the bank. Daniel flung himself down next to the man on the bank. They stretched their hands out over the water. Rachel was tiring, but she struggled doggedly on, closer and closer, and then he had her hand, and they were hauling her in.

  He held her in his arms as she knelt on the riverbank, her face wet against his, her body trembling. She pulled back. Her teeth were chattering and she couldn’t speak, but he knew what she wanted to say.

  “Oh, my darling, Chloe’s safe. Katie as well.”

  She hung on to him, shivering, and there seemed to be something else she wanted to ask him or to tell him.

  But then the paramedics arrived and they took her away, and Chloe as well.

  Chapter Forty

  It was daybreak by the time Daniel came home. Rachel, Chloe, and Katie were still in hospital, being treated for smoke inhalation and hypothermia. He hadn’t wanted to leave. He would have liked to sleep in the chair next to Chloe’s bed. But Chloe was asking about Orlando. She wouldn’t rest until Daniel said he’d go back and look for him. Rachel h
ad told him how she and Chloe heard Orlando yowling and Rachel had realized that he was trapped. She couldn’t let him be burned alive. She had gone back and opened the door to the saloon. Orlando had rushed in and so had the smoke. Rachel had almost been overcome, but there’d been someone else, a man, who had somehow got on the boat and had hauled her up the ladder. She didn’t know what had happened to him – or to Orlando.

  Daniel got a taxi back to the house, and fell asleep for ten minutes in the back. Once home, he stripped off his ruined suit and put it straight in a black bin bag. He ought to feel hungry, he hadn’t eaten since the in-flight meal, which seemed to have happened in a different life, but he couldn’t face the thought of food. He was jet-lagged and exhausted, but he was still fizzing with adrenaline. He made himself a cup of strong coffee with plenty of sugar and went to the bathroom. He looked in the mirror. The creases in his face were lined with soot, his hair was stiff with ash, and he stank of smoke. He stood for quarter of an hour under a hot shower, and had a shave. Then he got dressed and went outside. The wind had dropped and only shreds of cloud remained. Mist was rising from the river. There was a crispness to the air and the light was bright. He looked at his watch. Ten o’clock.

  He retraced the route of the night before, reliving the horror of realizing that Chloe and Rachel were on the burning boat. Thank you, thank you for letting them be all right, he thought, though he didn’t know who he was thanking.

  The Matilda Jane had been towed back to the bank, and the area around her had been taped off. There were people in white suits busy around the boat, and a couple of police officers standing on the bank outside the taped-off area. Out on the river was a police dinghy, and in it, a man in a wetsuit.

  Daniel’s first thought was that the damage could have been worse. At least she was still afloat. The wheelhouse had gone, of course, but the front of the boat seemed relatively undamaged. With patience and hard work, perhaps she could be restored. The main danger to Chloe and Rachel and Katie had not been from the fire, but from the smoke. If Chloe hadn’t woken up… but better not to go there.

  He wondered if the notebook had survived. He ought to try to find out.

  Frank was on his narrow boat, inspecting some damage at the end that had been nearest to the Matilda Jane. He raised a hand in greeting.

  “How bad is it?” Daniel asked, nodding towards the boat.

  “Nothing much. Bit scorched, that’s all.”

  “The insurance’ll cover it. Your boat as well as ours.”

  Frank made a gesture of dismissal. “Never mind that. How’s the little one?”

  “She’ll be fine. And Rachel and Katie. Being treated for smoke inhalation. It’s not serious. But Rachel’s very upset about Orlando – ”

  Frank gave a snort of laughter. “Orlando? He’s asleep on our bed. He swam ashore on the other side. The police found him mewing over there a while ago and brought him back in their boat.”

  “Thank goodness for that.”

  “Used up one of his nine lives, that’s for sure. Arson, it must have been. Only an accelerant would have got that fire going so fast.”

  “There was someone who helped Rachel get off the boat – ”

  “Ah.” Frank cleared his throat. “Yes, well. I saw Rachel go into the water and someone go after Rachel – dunno who it was – but I didn’t see them make it back to the bank. But what with the smoke and that, I can’t be 100 per cent certain. Maybe he got out on the other side, like Orlando. The police are checking now – ”

  A mobile phone rang with a little fanfare that was followed by a tinny rendition of a tune that Daniel couldn’t quite place.

  He looked at Frank.

  Frank shrugged. “Not mine.”

  “Nor mine,” Daniel said, looking around.

  A light flickered among the dead leaves at the side of the path. He bent down and, clearing the leaves away, picked up the phone. It vibrated in his hand.

  “Answer it, I would,” Frank offered.

  As Daniel put the phone to his ear, he remembered what that tune was: the theme from The Wire.

  A woman’s voice, unexpected, yet familiar. “Will? Will? Where are you?”

  “Will’s not here.”

  There was a silence, then: “Who is this?”

  “Honor? This is Daniel, Daniel Marchmont.”

  “But where’s Will? What are you doing with his phone?”

  “I’ve just picked it up. It was lying by the side of the tow path.”

  “The tow path! But what – ?”

  “There’s been a fire – our boat – ”

  Frank laid a hand on his arm. “Dan – I think they’ve found something.”

  He looked round. There was a new alertness in the people clustered on the riverbank.

  “I’ve got to go, Honor. Honor?” There was no reply. She had already ended the call. He put the phone in his pocket.

  A police diver was doing a one-armed backstroke as he towed something to the shore. Two men reached down, grappled with something heavy, struggled to lug it out of the water.

  “So I was right.” Frank shook his head as the body emerged from the river, water streaming off it. “Poor bloke.”

  They laid the body out on the grass. Someone covered it with a tarpaulin.

  Daniel and Frank watched in silence.

  A police officer came over to them. “Perhaps one of you two gentlemen can identify this man. He’s most likely a member of the riverside community.”

  Frank climbed off his boat and bent down to look. “No,” he said. “Never seen him before. He’s not one of us.”

  Then it was Daniel’s turn. He looked down at the face, wiped clean of expression, the hair dark with water, plastered to the skull. He’d known, really, since he had answered the phone. Dark spots appeared before his eyes. He swayed. The woman put a hand on his arm. “You alright?”

  “I’ll be OK in a minute.”

  She held his arm while he waited for the dizziness to pass.

  “You know who he is?”

  Daniel nodded. “His name’s Will Orville. I don’t know where he lives, but he works for Calliope Biotech.”

  The woman bent down and gently drew the tarpaulin over his face. Now that the dead man had been named, a respectful silence fell. It was broken by a commotion behind them. Daniel looked round. Honor was running down the tow path.

  She reached Daniel’s side and stared down at the shrouded body. “Oh! Oh! Oh!”

  He had never heard a sound like it. The hairs went up on the back of his neck. It brought home the fact of death to Daniel, more than Will’s blank face or the limp hand that curled from under the tarpaulin. A young man was dead and a woman was wailing.

  Honor fell to her knees. She was about to fling herself on the body when Daniel grabbed her elbow and the police officer grabbed the other. They hoisted her to her feet. She went on wailing, words tumbling out in a disjointed stream.

  Daniel wanted to cover his eyes, to be somewhere else, anywhere else. At the sight of this strong woman stripped of her self-control and dignity he felt an embarrassment so intense that it was like shame.

  The shock had unhinged her. That was what he thought at first, but gradually the sense of the words sank in.

  “Why why, why?” she moaned. “Stupid, stupid, stupid… you fool.”

  There was anger there as well as pain. Perhaps that was a natural response, except that – a chill settled on him as he realized…

  “Why did you come here, Honor?” he demanded, pulling her round to face him.

  She looked at him as if she didn’t know who he was. Then he saw that she had taken in what he said. She gestured to the body.

  “How did you know to come here?” he asked again. “All I told you was that I’d found the phone – and when you got here, how did you know this was Will? His face is covered.”

  Over Honor’s shoulder he saw the police officer’s eyes narrow, her face grow alert as she too waited to hear the answer that Hono
r was groping for. “I don’t know – I – ”

  “What happened, Honor? I know about the notebook. That’s survived,” he lied. He was close enough to see her pupils dilate. That had hit home.

  She said, “Will… I guessed that he was going to do something – when I heard about the boat – ”

  “I don’t think so, Honor. Will died rescuing my wife. Why would he do that if he’d set the fire in the first place? Did you realize that, Honor? Did you know that Rachel and Chloe were on board? I hope you didn’t!”

  She shook her head, but her eyes were darting everywhere as if she were searching for an answer.

  Daniel went on. “But Will knew and he rushed over here. He guessed that you’d stop at nothing to get the notebook back, and he was afraid of what you might do. He was too late. By the time he got here, the boat was already on fire. He couldn’t let innocent people die to protect your secret. And now he’s dead.”

  Chapter Forty-One

  Katie made her way along the hospital corridor to where Rachel and Chloe were in the same room. Chloe had got into bed with Rachel and was snuggled up beside her, asleep.

  Daniel had come in earlier and had told Rachel and Katie what had happened. Katie still hadn’t taken it in. How could Will be dead? All that energy, that brilliant scientific mind – it couldn’t be just gone, snuffed out. She couldn’t shake off the thought that if she went to the lab, he would be there at his bench as he’d been when she first saw him.

  She sat down next to Rachel. Rachel stretched out a hand and Katie clasped it. Rachel’s eyes went to her sleeping child and back to Katie. She smiled. She had thanked Katie more than once, but even then words hadn’t really been necessary. There would always be a bond between them.

  Katie reached out to stroke the sleeping child’s hair.

  “How is she?”

  “Fine, now that she knows Orlando is alright. Wanted Dan to bring him into the hospital. Actually, she’ll see him this evening. They’ve said we can go home.”