“It’s a good job that I can, isn’t it?” That he had the wherewithal to smile at the lad in reassurance suddenly told her everything she needed to know about Galahad Sinclair.
Whatever façade he hid behind genuinely did mask a prince among men with a heart of pure gold.
Her prince.
Who had always been right under her stupid nose.
“In case I have to, I’m going to get ready—all right?” Galahad shifted, never once breaking eye contact with the boy, so that he couldcarefully remove his boots. Boots that still had his hired skates attached. “You just hold still a few moments more…”
Needing to do something to prevent Galahad from plunging into the frigid water and potentially killing himself from the shock of it, Vee wiggled out of her petticoat and set about ripping the soft linen into strips. She knotted them quickly, then picked her way tentatively toward the others so that it could be joined to the whole.
Beneath their feet, the ice creaked ominously as a fresh crack began to form within its surface. Everyone stilled, paralyzed by the filigree of dainty fingers that sprung like twigs on a branch from it. A spider’s web of death ready to fail.
“We’ve not got long,” said one of the men quite unnecessarily, the whites of his eyes filled with terror. “It’s going to go any second.”
That was all it took to make the boy panic, and as he scrambled to grip the shard tighter, it listed.
“You have to keep still!” But Galahad’s stark warning came too late, and the shard tilted some more, then flipped over, taking the boy with it.
Without a moment’s thought for himself, Galahad sank into the water. Gasping at the impossible cold, but undaunted, he swam toward the flailing boy. Without mercy, the Serpentine inhaled the child, the weight of his many coats sucking him down more effectively than any deadweight could. Before he could be reached, he disappeared without a trace, but that didn’t stop Galahad from searching.
Twice he sucked in a lungful of air and dived under, and twice he came up empty-handed.
“Leave it! He’s gone!” One of the men beside her tossed their makeshift lifeline out toward him. “This ice is about to fail! You have to save yourself!”
Galahad shook his head and dived deep into the dingy depths once more and then…
Nothing.
Nothing but the stillness and silence of the water.
He was gone for five seconds… ten… fifteen… until Vee could stand it no more. She rushed to the edge, ready to jump in herself to save the man she loved, until he emerged like a volcano. Coughing and spluttering but clutching the limp child as he groped for the end of the rope of sodden clothes.
Everything that happened next occurred in a blur.
The pair were dragged from the water, then hauled to safer ground. Two men worked on the boy, pumping the water from his chest while Vee hugged Galahad tight, trying to use the warmth of her body to stop his shaking when he refused to leave the scene.
Anonymous hands draped them all in coats as they watched trickles of water seep from the boy’s lifeless blue lips and over his ghostly gray cheeks, while shouts from the shore signaled others had now taken charge.
“Make way for the physician!”
She recognized the reverend’s voice.
Recognized the prayer he began to mutter as he knelt beside the prone child and the doctor rolled the boy onto his side.
“… Look down from heaven, we humbly beseech thee, with the eyes of mercy upon this child…”
“Come on, kid! Fight!” Galahad’s voice was choked now, laced with panic. “Don’t give up! Don’t you dare give up!”
“… save his soul for thy mercy’s sake…”
The water ceased spewing from the boy’s mouth but still the doctor persisted.
Still the reverend prayed.
After an eternity, the boy coughed and wretched, and while she clung to Galahad crying, he clung to her right back.
Chapter Twenty-Six
