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Unfortunately, Naomi going first eradicated the tiny bit of confidence that Holly had garnered. It was painful to watch, although, Holly suspected, not half as painful as it was for Naomi. Unlike the others, who had all started on their back the way Evan had instructed, Naomi struggled to get into position, constantly twisting the rope around the skis. A couple of times, she had started moving and even stood upright for a second. Then, just like Caroline had said, the skis pulled her legs apart, and she performed a gymnastics worthy split before tumbling into the water.
‘One more go. I’ll get it this time.’ She waved enthusiastically as she bobbed up and down in the water.
‘You might want to give it a rest,’ Evan called back. ‘Give your arms a bit of time to recover, then try again.’
‘No. I’ve nearly got it,’ she insisted. ‘I can feel it. This time, I’m going to get up. One more go. Trust me.’
So Evan nodded to Gabriel and Naomi took hold of the rope yet again. Everyone’s breath was held as they watched and waited. Despite Naomi’s confidence, the fall that followed was the worse one so far. Her legs flew up in the air only for her to belly flop down, though somehow she still managed to hold on to the rope. The result was her being dragged forward face down in the water.
‘Let go!’ Fin, Jamie and Evan cried simultaneously, but whether Naomi was being utterly stubborn or she could just not hear through the crashing of the waves, she ignored them. When the boat slowed to a stop, she was still there, holding fast.
‘I nearly had it,’ she said, as Spencer and Eddie pulled her back onto the boat. ‘One more try and I would have been up.’
As she spoke, she took off her life jacket and handed it to Holly.
‘Guess it’s you next.’
With her pulse pounding against her eardrums, Holly moved to the edge of the boat and gazed down at the water below her. The sea had looked so blue from the villa and the car. Even when she looked out in the distance, it was brilliant azure, but beneath her feet, it was a deep, swirly mass of grey and black. Foreboding. That was the word that stuck in her head, as she looked down at the water. Foreboding.
‘You really don’t have to go if you don’t want to,’ Jamie said. ‘No one will mind.’
But others had words of encouragement.
‘You’ll be fine. It’s not that bad.’
‘Just take your time and don’t rush. Use the rope.’
‘Stay on your back until you’re stable. Try to keep your knees together.’
Too many instructions were being fired at her. She squeezed her eyes closed and tried to block them out when she felt a hand on her shoulder. A soft but firm grip than had an unexpectedly calming effect.
‘The first thing you need to do is swim out and get the rope. It’s going to be a nice, slow start,’ Evan said. ‘And that’s only if you want to. But there’s no harm in having a dip, right?’
Maybe it was the American charm, or that he spoke at a volume she was sure no one else could hear, but Evan’s words eased her nerves enough to finally think.
‘I’ll just swim to the rope,’ she said.
‘Sounds perfect.’
Before she could second guess herself, she dropped into the water.
‘Wow! That’s cold!’ The words flew from her mouth. How come no one mentioned it was utterly freezing? She pulled in a deep breath and allowed herself one deep shiver.
‘Swim to the rope,’ Caroline called. ‘You’ll warm up by the time you get there.’
With each stroke Holly took, her mind swirled. Where their sharks here? There probably were. There were sharks everywhere. Or stingrays. But couldn’t they be equally dangerous? Although they were normally on the seabed, weren’t they?
‘I’m sorry, Hope,’ she said, as she continued to swim.
What was she thinking? She was a mother now. This was the worst time in her life to be taking up extreme sports. It was reckless and selfish. She’d decided to turn around and swim back to the boat when the rope handle appeared.
A series of cheers went up behind her, even though all she’d done was swim. Still, just as they said, the cold had all but gone and a sense of adrenaline was starting to fill her.
‘Sod it. I’ll give it one go.’
One attempt, one face plant, and she could happily admit that she wasn’t made to do this. Then she would climb back on the boat.
Holding the rope as she’d been shown, Holly lay back with the tips of the skis poking out of the water and her heart knocking at three times its normal pace. She waited for the roped to go tight. With her eyes once more squeezed shut, she imagined the pain of impact while trying to remember everything the others had said. Her arms quivered as the rope went tight. This was it, she thought. This was the moment she was going to face plant into the water. At least Naomi hadn’t broken anything, but maybe Holly would be the first. She was going to ruin the rest of the holiday by needing to go to the hospital.
