Page 36 of A Scottish Island Summer

It was then I realised that two strong hands had seized my arms and I was being unceremoniously yanked towards the surface.

I coughed, greedily taking in mouthfuls of fresh air. My hair had escaped from its messy bun and was streaming down and around my face, and my pyjama top was clinging to me like a sodden, second skin.

I blinked the salt water out of my eyes. Then I registered that someone was holding me upright by my upper arms.

It was Logan.

‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’

Shock gave way to indignation as I stared up at him through my curtain of wet, trailing hair. ‘I was shopping for shoes. What the hell do you think I was doing?’ I pointed at the struggling dolphin.

Logan studied Flipper, then looked back at me.

I was aware of Logan’s hands still clutching onto me. They’d moved up to my saturated shoulders now. His light, sparkly eyes flashed at me, framed by protruding, black lashes. ‘You’re trying to rescue him?’

‘No, I was asking him for directions.’ Then a thought struck.

Oh no.

My hands crept downwards to the rest of my body. I was standing there, in front of him, sporting just my sodden pyjama top and my black panties.

Embarrassment fired through me.

I took a step backwards in the water, thankful now that my bedraggled hair was concealing a lot of my eyes.

But if Logan noticed I was standing there in a pair of cotton knickers and looking like a contestant in a Ms Wet T-shirt competition, he didn’t acknowledge it.

‘Are you sure you’re OK?’ he asked.

‘Yes, I’m fine, thanks. Nothing a hot shower and a cuppa won’t cure. But he isn’t.’

Logan gave a decisive nod. ‘OK. Well. Before I get you sorted out, let’s deal with this guy.’ He took control of the situation. ‘Move back, Darcie, and look out for his tail. They can give you one almighty slap with that, if you’re not careful.’

I did as I was told and moved a couple of feet away, while Logan talked to Flipper in a soft, reassuring tone. His lilting, Scottish voice was almost hypnotic. ‘OK fella. You’ve got yourself stuck, but try to stay calm.’

Logan turned his attention back to me. He was wearing a pair of long denim cut-offs and one of his old sweaters. It suited him. ‘Right, we need to try and manoeuvre him, so he has enough leverage to push himself free.’ Logan then spent the next few minutes trying to ease one of the rocks a bit loose. He delved both hands into the water and I couldn’t help but notice that he’d rolled up the sleeves of his jumper and his biceps were on display, the muscles bunching under the skin.

‘Can I help?’ I asked, wrapping my arms around myself. ‘Come on,’ I urged, gritting my teeth against the cold. ‘I’ve not got soaked and drenched my hair in sea salt for nothing.’

Logan splashed around. ‘I think I’ve managed to loosen this rock. He seems to be at a better angle this side.’ He sloshed his way through the waves. ‘If you could come here and stand over his dorsal fin and give him a push when I tell you to, that should give Flipper some extra propulsion.’

‘OK.’

I reached out both my hands and held them against the dolphin’s proud, sharp dorsal fin.

Logan struggled again with the rock and grunted after another few moments. ‘I’ll count to three and then you give him a push.’

He took in a deep breath and wrestled with the same rock. ‘One, two, three … try now!’

I pushed Flipper’s dorsal fin as the rock Logan had been battling with for the past few minutes shifted in the water and the dolphin took off, weaving this way and that through the waves, like a freed twisting grey ribbon.

Logan spun round to look at me and his face broke into a relieved grin through his conker brown stubble. ‘We did it!’

I stood there like a drowned rat and watched Flipper melt into the sea and vanish. A frisson of happiness shot through me, along with satisfaction.

Logan waded back towards me, his hair glinting with seawater. He gave his head a shake. ‘You look frozen. Let’s get you dried off. You need hot tea and some breakfast inside you.’

Shivering, I stumbled through the waves and back to the shore edge.