‘What’s happened?’ Carlos asked.
Skye saw Bruno look at her with a strange expression on his face, before replying to his father. She realised he was trying to work out how to tell them something.
‘What is it?’ she asked anxiously, unsure what could concern him when she hardly knew anyone on the island. Then it dawned on her. ‘Joe’s out there, isn’t he?’
He sat down next to her. ‘Try not to worry,’ Bruno said. ‘They’re all professionals out there.’
Skye went to stand but he pressed his hand against her arm. ‘No, there’s nothing you can do. We’re helping far more by staying in here out of the way.’
‘But Joe.’
He sighed. ‘I know but he’s not alone and Joe is tough. I’m sure we’ll soon hear from him.’
What choice did she have but to concede? ‘I suppose so.’
‘He’ll be fine,’ Carlos assured her. ‘These men are well trained.’
Skye forced a smile. ‘I’m sure he will be,’ she said, hoping they were both right.
32
JOE
Joe stood on the sea wall, glad he was wearing his helmet when several pebbles and other debris from the sea slammed against the ground next to him as yet another wave crashed below him. If the swimmer had being caught out with the tide further away from the sea wall the RNLI rescue boat would have been able to help him. But the storm was even more dramatic than he had expected and, as it was, the rocks next to the wall and the fierceness of the waves made that impossible, which was why he and three others were doing their best to see that the man didn’t drown.
He helped his colleague on the railing on the sea wall as they both struggled to keep hold of the rope attached to a colleague who was battling to reach the swimmer. He wondered why the man had been swimming with the sea so treacherous. From the call they had received, the man was in his mid-thirties and Joe assumed he must now be frozen and at a risk of developing hypothermia.
Another wave slammed both swimmer and firefighter against the rocks. Joe winced. This was bad. He peered through the driving rain and for a moment thought he noticed his colleague’s arm at a strange angle. Damn, he hoped it wasn’t broken.
Grateful that this sort of rescue wasn’t something they often were called to help with, Joe caught a movement to his left and saw a man videoing the rescue and another taking photos.
‘Get back,’ he yelled. ‘These waves have stones in them and could kill you.’ If a wave didn’t drag them into the sea first, he thought.
The one taking the photos looked askance at this information but immediately did as he was asked, while the other chap only stepped back a few feet.
Not wishing to risk missing the signal to enter the water to assist, Joe turned his attention back to the rescue.
‘I think he’s hurt,’ Nicki, his fellow firefighter holding on to the rope attached to his colleague’s uniform, yelled. ‘Dan, that is.’
Their senior officer, Mac, waved for Joe to go over to him. Checking Nicki was coping with the weight of their colleague, he went to see what Mac wanted.
‘Do you need me to go in?’ Joe asked.
‘You’re the best swimmer here,’ Mac shouted back. ‘And most experienced in the sea, what with all those years’ surfing. Dan’s hurt but I know him, he’s not going to give up unless someone takes over from him. We can’t let this guy drown and by the looks of him he hasn’t got much strength left. We need to get him out of the water.’
‘No problem.’ Joe immediately went down the steps into the water, his breath taken out of him as he was slammed against the step railings. He was glad to be wearing protective clothing. Despite being used to the power of the sea and prepared for the cold thanks to his experiences as a surfer, he struggled to make the short distance over to Dan. This was bad.
He swam as hard as he could, but it still took minutes for Joe to reach the man who was at the mercy of the waves and now being thrown about like a rubber toy in a child’s bath. The poor guy was ashen and visibly shaking, no doubt from fear and the effects of the cold. After several attempts, Joe managed to grab him, waving for Dan to get to the steps and out of the water. Then holding tightly to the swimmer, Joe felt the rope pull him slowly back to the steps as he helped manoeuvre them both through the rolling waves.
Finally, they reached the steps and his own sheer exhaustion after twenty minutes fighting against the current made Joe wonder how the swimmer could still walk at all. Mac stepped down and took the man’s arm, helping Joe get him out of the water to safety where an ambulance crew were waiting to take over.
‘You OK?’ Mac asked.
‘I will be. Though do we know why the swimmer was in the water in the first place?’
‘I gather he and a friend had thought it a good idea, but when he got into difficulty and his friend was unable to reach him he wisely went for help.’
‘That was sensible,’ Joe said, shivering.
