Page 30 of Harbor Lights (Inishderry Island Romances #3)

TWENTY

Shiv stared out over the choppy sea. The winds weren’t strong by island standards, but there was enough of a breeze to set the white horses rolling out in the open water.

It was a milder southerly wind, common at this time of year, Joey had told her. It blew across the island from behind her, and over the cliffs, out into the wide blue yonder. It didn’t have the usual bite of the westerlies, so she was enjoying her perch on a rock, watching the waves.

She hoped the fresh air would shake off the weight on her shoulders from the call she’d just had with her old friend, Bernie. She’d missed another planning meeting for revealing the leader of the Iron Sons as the brother of an elected politician.

“Does anyone really care, anymore, Bernie?” She’d let her frustration that their work achieved less than they hoped spill over, and Bernie had let loose, telling her exactly what her friends thought of her.

“Even the Iron Sons think you’ve given up. Our source said there was talk you might’ve died. What’s happened to you, Shiv?”

She’d rubbed her head and decided to be honest. “I think I’m just tired of it all, Bernie. No one can accuse me of not giving it everything for a lot of years. Perhaps I just need a break, and a chance to live my own life for once.”

They’d ended the call with Shiv agreeing to remove herself from their online groups and forums. She knew she’d find all the passwords changed and she’d be locked out almost before the call ended. Her friends couldn’t afford to take chances with anyone who wasn’t fully committed.

While she was relieved it was finally all over, she also felt a sense of grieving her old life and it took the shine off the excitement she’d felt since she got the text from Con last night saying she was coming home early.

Now she wondered at the change of plan. Had Con’s visit been so unbearable she had to leave?

She hoped she hadn’t had an unhappy Christmas.

She didn’t understand Con’s sense of duty that made her spend time somewhere she didn’t want to be, but why would she? She’d never had to be dutiful to anyone. She was just an itinerant troublemaker who went where her own priorities took her. And eventually she let everyone down.

She shook her head. Better to focus on the here and now, and getting to see Con later today.

She returned her attention to the sea, allowing the negativity to blow away on the wind.

A noise distracted her. A fragment of sound, like a shout.

She looked around. The kids were off school, and it was a dry day, so there was a chance the sound of playing was blowing up the island from the playground, but the park was over a mile away.

She heard it again. It was coming from her left.

She stood and peered toward the cliff on the other side of her tiny bay, but no one was in sight.

She put it down to her imagination and sat back down on the rock.

A clearer shout made her jump up again. A tiny, black hulled rowing boat appeared around the cliffs. It was the type some of the fishers used for checking pots inshore. But who would be out today in the open sea north of the island? No one kept pots out there in the winter; it was too exposed.

Frustrated with the limits of her vision, she ran back to the cabin and grabbed the binoculars hanging by the door.

She paused to locate her cellphone and shoved it in a pocket.

She ran as close to the cliff edge as she dared.

Locating the boat again, she focused the viewfinder.

Three young people were in the boat. One of them was wrestling with an oar.

The other oar clip stood empty. Had they lost it?

The figure in the front of the boat wearing a red jacket turned in her direction. She could make out the face of a boy in his early teens. He must’ve seen her, too, standing on the cliff top, because he stood in the rocking boat and started to flail his arms.

“No, no, no!” She waved her own arm in a sitting down motion, but it was too late.

His frantic movements dangerously rocked the boat.

The other two figures grabbed the gunwales to steady themselves, but the standing boy lost his footing and launched over the side with a scream Shiv could plainly hear.

“Fuck.” She didn’t want to lose sight of them, but she needed to call for help. The WiFi she’d had installed in the cabin allowed her to make calls, but the network signal on this side of the island was negligible. The kids had no chance of getting help, even if they had a cellphone.

She dropped the binoculars for a moment and jabbed the emergency services number into her keypad.

“Coast Guard, please.”

Once connected, she gave a concise summary of the situation and the current location of the craft.

She watched one of the kids using the oar to help the boy in the water.

The call handler sounded relieved Shiv was making her job easier and promised there’d be help arriving soon.

She asked Shiv to remain on the cliff top and to expect a call back from the rescue team.

Shiv rang off and located the boat once more.

It was being blown out to sea now, and she needed the binoculars to see any detail.

The boy was clinging to the side of the boat, the oar nowhere to be seen.

The other two were trying to pull him on board, but the movement threatened to capsize the boat, and they moved back, huddling inside.

Shiv couldn’t bear the inaction. The kids must be terrified, and the boy in the water must be feeling the effects of the cold. How long could he hang on?

Fuck this. She shoved her phone on her pocket, then ran back to the store outside the cabin, and grabbed her life jacket and paddle.

At breakneck speed, she took the path down to the beach, glad that the many times she’d jogged up and down it for fitness had made her aware of every rock and tree root that could trip her.

She tore at the rope lashing her kayak to the rock. She had it free and dragged it down to the shoreline in seconds. The tide was high, so the water was soon lapping at her boots.

She kicked them off, leaving on her warm woolen socks, and pulled on the life jacket as she edged the craft into the sea.

Jumping on board, she shifted her paddle into place and shot off into the surf.

The wind behind her aided her movement and she made headway toward the boat only a few minutes after she’d spoken to the Coast Guard.

It was nowhere near enough time to expect help to arrive anytime soon, even with the efficiency of Joey’s lifeboat team.

It didn’t matter—she was in the right place to help the kids, and she would make sure they were safe.

The rowing boat was an indistinct blob on the horizon, but paddling frantically toward it, she started to make out detail. The kid was still clinging onto a rope hanging from the side.

Thank God .

He was the one she’d been most worried about. If the other two stayed in the boat, help would arrive eventually. But the water would be way under fifty degrees at this time of year, and if the kid lost consciousness and let go, they’d never find him before he drowned.

She put on another spurt, drawn by the panicked screaming of the kids in the boat. At least, they’d seen her now and knew help was on the way.

When she drew alongside, she shouted, “Stay still until I can get to you.”

The boy in the water turned and lunged toward her kayak, missing his grip and plunging under the gray, angry surf.

“Fuck!” She turned the kayak, scanning for him, but he had disappeared.

“Can you see him?” she shouted to the other two kids. They looked around, but remained in the middle of the boat, clearly terrified. Good. She didn’t need to be searching for three kids in the water.

She scanned the area again and sighed. She should have five minutes in the water before the cold affected her.

She wished she’d done more winter sea swims, and also that she’d picked clothing this morning that conserved heat instead of soaking up water.

She pulled off her jeans, but left on her hoodie under the life jacket.

She slid off the boat and tried to relax into the icy water. It chilled her to the bone immediately. She grasped the rope that had secured it on the beach and tied it loosely around her wrist.

“There!” shouted the girl on the boat. She pointed to the other side of the rowing boat. Shiv began an awkward one-armed swim, her other hand holding her kayak. She spotted the dark head of the boy. He was spluttering and flailing when she got to him.

“Calm down or we’re both dead,” she snarled, then she hooked her spare arm around his chest. That seemed to have an effect, and he stopped trying to knock her out with his elbows.

She used all her strength to pull the kayak close. “Can you get on?” She’d never manage to get him into the boat.

He grabbed hold and started to haul himself up. She shoved from behind and he slowly emerged from the water and lay across the kayak.

“Put this on and stay still.” She unclipped the life jacket and swung it up to him, not letting go until he’d clipped it in place.

She turned to the boat. The girl had edged closer to the side.

“Can you hold this?” She held up the sopping rope.

She needed to make sure the kid was safe, even if she lost the strength to keep holding on.

It was harder to stay above the water without the life jacket, and numbness had started replacing the cold.

It was less painful, but she knew that was a dangerous sign.

The girl reached out timidly.

“You need to take this rope and hold on. Your friend’s life depends on it. Do you understand?” She swallowed some seawater and choked. The burning in her throat added to her distress.