Page 63 of Harbor Lights

“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.

The girl nodded, reached for the rope and wrenched it close to her body, causing the kayak to pull up close to the boat, almost pinning Shiv between the two craft. She managed to push away and gripped the smooth plastic of the kayak desperately. How the hell had she got herself in this situation? She’d been in life threatening positions before, but this was not how she’d envisioned her final moments.

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