Page 77 of The Cornish Inheritance

Nat rose to his knees and pulled his coat off. “Get his wet shirt off and wrap him in this. Quick. We have to get him warm.”

Caroline did as she was told, pressing Yves against her own warm body, terrified by the iciness of his limbs. It was possible to die of cold, and Yves was frozen.

Nat stood up. “There’s nothing for it now. We have to go on and get to Wheal Jenny and the ladders. We can’t wait for the tide to go back out or he’ll die of cold down here.” He stepped closer to Caroline and put his long arms around her and Yves, sandwiching the little boy between them. “This is our only way of getting him warm.”

Yves was still crying, but less noisily, his face pressed against Caroline’s chest.

Caroline pressed him closer still. “Why ever did you do this, you cuckoo?”

He sniffled, his teeth chattering. “M-Mr. Trefusis said how exciting it would be and that if I wanted an adventure I should sneak off and do it by myself. He said he’d done it when he was a boy, and he was sure Nat would have.” He paused. “I wanted to be like Nat.”

Nat growled but said nothing. What more proof did they need?

Caroline held Yves closer still, his body trembling against hers, and Nat’s strong arms were around them both.

“We have to move,” he said, after another minute or two. “Give him to me and I’ll carry him.”

“What about your shoulder?”

“I’ll manage. Look at him. He can’t walk.”

“It might get his circulation going.”

“He’s not strong enough.”

He was right. Yves didn’t look capable of sitting up on his own, never mind walking. She nodded and Nat gathered Yves into his arms, his coat wrapped tightly around him. “We’d better get going. If we’re lucky we might come upon the miners after a bit and they can help us.”

One behind the other, they edged their way around the flooded shaft to the tunnel on the far side and, with Nat now following Caroline, who had the candle, set off along the narrow tunnel.