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He waded into the water. Cold. It was beyond cold. This waterfall was notorious for the temperature as it was based in a valley with little sunlight. By the time he’d waded across to the middle of the pool the water had come up over his waist and to the bottom of his ribs, making him catch his breath.
The instructor had been wearing a wetsuit that would keep his temperature more steady—hopefully the teenager would be too.
The spray from the waterfall started to soak him. He knew this place well enough. There was a ridge on the rocks the falls plummeted over. It was the only way to get access to the cave under the falls and the only way to access that ridge was to wade through the water and try and scale the rock face.
He had nothing. No climbing equipment. No wetsuit. Not even a rope.
He heard a painful groan. Even though the noise from the falls was loud, he could hear it echoing from the cave. He moved sideways, casting his eyes over the rock face, looking for a suitable place to start.
It had been years since he’d been here. As a teenager he’d been able to scale this rock with no problems. It had practically been a rite of passage for any kid that lived on the island. But that had been a long time ago, when he’d probably been a lot more agile than he was now.
The first foothold was easy, his bare foot pushing him upwards. He caught his hands on the rocks above and pulled himself up, finding a position for the second foot.
‘Careful, Doc,’ shouted one of the kids.
He moved left, nearer the falls. There was a trick to this, trying to keep hold of the wall, which got more and more slippery by the second as he edged closer. The weight on his back from the backpack and red portable stretcher was affecting his balance, making him grip all the tighter. His knuckles were white as he waited for the right second to duck his head and jump through the falls to the cave behind.
As he jumped he had a millisecond of panic. What if the injured kid was directly in his path? But as he landed with a grunt behind the falls he realised he was clear. He fell roughly to the side, the equipment on his back digging sharply into him.
It took his eyes a few seconds to adjust. It wasn’t quite dark in here. Light still streamed through the waterfall.
‘About time,’ said Des, the instructor, cheekily. He was sitting next to the injured boy, who was lying on the floor of the cave.
The cave was larger than most people would expect, and the grey rock had streaks of brown and red. There was almost room for a person to stand completely upright, and definitely enough room for six or seven people to sit within the cave. This place had been one of the most popular hideouts when Rhuaridh had been a kid and half the island had scraped their initials into the rock. He’d half a mind to flash his torch over the rock to find his own.
Rhuaridh caught the brief nod from Des. They’d been at school together years ago. He moved closer to the boy. ‘Kai? How are you? I heard you jumped off the waterfall.’
His eyes were scanning up and down Kai’s body. There was an angry-looking projection underneath the wetsuit covering his left foreleg.
He touched Kai’s shoulders. ‘One of your friends said you couldn’t feel your legs, is that still true?’
‘I wish!’ said Kai loudly as he groaned again.
Des caught Rhuaridh’s eye. ‘He said at the beginning he couldn’t feel his legs but that was literally only for a few moments. He’s been feeling pain in his leg ever since, and for obvious reasons I’ve not moved him.’
Rhuaridh nodded. He knew exactly what he’d find if he cut Kai’s wetsuit open. The only question was whether the bone was protruding from the skin. Right now, it was covered by the wetsuit and still protected.
Rhuaridh turned around and tugged the portable stretcher free from its packaging and started opening it out. There was no way Kai would be able to walk or swim anywhere.
Des had worked as an instructor at the wilderness centre for years and was experienced enough to need little direction. He helped unfold the stretcher while Rhuaridh took some time to assess Kai. He held his hands above the injured leg. ‘Okay, I promise I’m not going to touch that bit. But I am going to take a look.’ He pulled a torch from his backpack and checked the skin colour. ‘Can you wiggle your toes?’
