A Good Catch Part 38

They heard the flush of the downstairs loo and Mickey stood up in readiness. 'Thanks, Greer.'

The three of them walked down the lane and through the dappled shade towards Tide Cove. Years ago it had belonged to a syndicate of lobster fishers, long since dead. Ever since, this had been Freddie and Hal's playground. This is where they learnt to fish for ba.s.s off the beach, sail a small dinghy, and now put down their own lobster pots from the Sand Castle, the little boat with the red wheelhouse that Jesse had bought for family fishing trips.

Loveday saw Jesse and her heart sank. How was she going to get through this day?

'All aboard the Skylark,' called Jesse jauntily. Loveday stared at him with a frown. How was this man able to change from a snivelling wreck to playing happy families? 'Hurry up. The kids will have eaten everything.' He was up to his knees in the waves, his old pink canvas shorts wet on the hem. He was holding the rowing boat for the latecomers. 'Greer, did you bring my specs?' he asked.

'No. Why, haven't you got them?'

'I wouldn't ask you if I had them, would I?'

Greer looked at Loveday and raised her eyebrows in infuriation. 'Men.' Then she called back to Jesse. 'Have you checked the pocket of your smock?'

His smock was tied round his shoulders; as he undid the arms and swung it round to check the pouch, a pair of gla.s.ses slid out and splashed gently into the light surf. 'b.u.g.g.e.r,' he said and bent to retrieve them.

Loveday was feeling a sense of panic. 'Look, I'm really not feeling too good. Would you mind if I went home, only I think I'll be a terrible hindrance to you all.'

'What's the matter, love?' asked Mickey, all concern.

'Just a headache and a bit of flu maybe.'

Jesse had pulled the boat up and beached it. 'What's this? Not well, Loveday?'

'No. I'm so sorry.'

'You were fine on Friday.'

The memory of Friday and the car stopped on the moor came slicing through her brain.

'Friday?' said Greer.

Loveday answered hurriedly, 'I helped Jesse with that computer thing in Newlyn.'

'Oh, right.' Greer was already uninterested. 'Will you be ok to get yourself home?'

'I'll be fine. So sorry to be a party p.o.o.per.' She kissed Mickey, who held her tight and whispered, 'You sure you're all right? I don't mind coming home with you.'

'No, darlin'. Enjoy the day.'

'Don't I get a hug and a kiss for Father's Day, Love-day?' asked Jesse, smiling innocently, with his arms held wide.

'Yes, of course. ' She stepped forward and he surprised her by picking her up in a bear hug and lifting her off her feet. The smell of him made her want to kill him. He put her down. 'That's better. See you later. You'll be having lobster for your tea if we catch any.'

Freddie was already in the wheelhouse when the rest of the party boarded. 'Right little fishes,' he laughed, turning on the engine, 'we'm coming to get you.'

He turned the boat away from Tide Cove and pointed the nose to the horizon. 'Hang onto your hats!' He pushed the throttle forward and the st.u.r.dy boat roared through the smooth sea, while Jesse cracked open the beers.

Greer was lying in the bow, face in the sunshine, relaxed in the company of her boys, enjoying a rare moment of complete indolence. Jesse and Mickey were fast asleep. Freddie was at the wheel, manoeuvring the boat into a better position from which to drop the lobster pots. The regular chug of the motor was soporific. She thought she might just close her eyes for a moment.

A changed engine note crashed suddenly into her consciousness a strange and horrible sound that made her stomach lurch with fear. She leapt up, dashing to the stern. Freddie had stopped the boat and joined her; they shared a mutual glance of sick dread before they looked down towards the water.

It was Greer shouting for Jesse that woke Mickey.

'Jesse! Jesse! There's blood. Oh s.h.i.t. Oh G.o.d. Freddie, get in the water, quick; hold his head up!'

Mickey sat up, immediately alert, and saw Greer hanging over the stern, clearly struggling to hold onto something. 'Jesse!' she screamed now in a shrill pitch that finally woke him. He and Mickey got to Greer within seconds of each other. As they too looked over the back of the boat, they saw Freddie, white faced and frightened, hanging onto the unmoving body of Hal.

'Hal!' Mickey was screaming now. 'What the f.u.c.k's happened? Hal!' His training on the lifeboat had given him the ability to a.s.sess a casualty with speed. Most of Hal's left side was submerged, but Freddie was keeping Hal's head and shoulders out of the water. Mickey could see a deep cut on the left shoulder and similar wounds to the left side of his chest.

'Pull him up!' Jesse somehow managed to lean as far over the boat as he could without falling in and got an arm around Hal's body.

'Push, Freddie,' Mickey ordered.

'I'm trying to,' Freddie sobbed. Slowly Hal's right side was lifted from the water and Freddie, with G.o.d-given strength, managed to get him to a height where Jesse and Mickey could take Hal's weight.

Then Mickey saw. 'His arm,' he cried in horror. 'His arm. Where's it gone?'

Loveday was waiting at the hospital as the air ambulance landed. Through the gla.s.s wall of the A&E department she saw several medics running with a trolley towards it. She turned to the policewoman who was waiting with her. 'Can I go to him?'

The constable took her hand but shook her head. 'He'll be in the building any minute.'

Loveday felt nothing. Her body was standing, but she was floating near the ceiling. She saw herself wide-eyed and numb. No tears. But she was clenching and unclenching her hands. At last the double doors were pushed open and the trolley carrying Hal went past her. She followed and listened. 'Young male. Aged twenty. Left arm severed by a boat propeller. Losing blood.'

'Loveday!' It was Mickey running towards her. 'I'm so sorry.' He was crying. 'I'm so sorry. I was asleep. He was swimming. I don't know how it happened.' He collapsed into her arms and she watched from the ceiling as she comforted him, still following the trolley carrying Hal. 'It's OK, Mickey. He's still with us. He's still with us.'

They were stopped from going into the emergency room. A handsome male nurse said, 'Please take a seat in the relatives' room. The doctor will come and tell you what's happening as soon as she's had a chance to a.s.sess your son's injuries.'

Loveday crashed back into her body with a jolt and sat down, but she couldn't stay seated for long. 'I must do something or go mad. Shall I find a cup of tea?'

'I don't want anything,' said Mickey, his head in his hands.

'I'll go,' said the policewoman.

'No,' Loveday insisted. 'I need to do something.'

She left the room, desperate to move around, burn the awful energy flooding her body.

In the corridor she met a woman in blue scrubs who asked, 'Mrs Chandler?'

'Yes.'

'I'm looking after Hal. I'm Dr Sutton.'

'Can I see him?'

'He's not looking very good.'

'I want to see him.'

The doctor thought for a moment then relented. 'OK. Just for a few minutes. He's not conscious. He's lost a lot of blood.'

'I just want to see him.'

Jesse banged the door of the relatives' room open, making Mickey and the constable jump. 'Mick. How is he?'

'We're just waiting for the doctor,' Mickey said in a quiet, shocked voice. 'Loveday's gone to get tea.' He looked at the clock on the wall. 'She's been gone ages ...'

'Where's Hal?' Jesse's anguished voice was completely at odds with Mickey's.

'With the doctor.'

'How is he?'

'We're waiting ...'

'He lost a lot of blood.' Jesse was agitated. 'He'll need a transfusion.'

'Yes. I expect so.'

'I want you to know, Mickey, that I am going to give him my blood.'

'That's kind of you, but if they don't have enough at the hospital, he'll need some from a relative, won't he? Me or Loveday? Or the girls? Where are the girls?'

'With Greer and Freddie at home.'

'Oh, good.'

'But,' Jesse tried to be gentle, 'I might have the right blood.'

'Yes,' Mickey said kindly. 'It might be you. It might be me. It might be lots of people in this hospital, so I'm sure we'll get some.'

The doctor came in. 'Mr Chandler?' She looked from one man to the other. 'Yes,' said Mickey. 'I'm Hal's dad. How is he?'

'He's lost a lot of blood and we're going to start transfusing him before he goes to theatre.'

Jesse leapt to his feet. 'I'll be a donor.'

The doctor looked surprised. 'Are you a relative?'

'I'm his-'

Mickey stepped in. 'He's his G.o.dfather.'

The doctor had experience of dealing with shocked and confused relatives, so she smiled and carried on. 'We're always grateful for donors, but there's no need in this instance. Mrs Chandler has offered and she's a perfect match.'

36.

There was a police investigation, which found that human error was the strongest factor in what had happened. Freddie hadn't known that Hal was in the water when he nudged the throttle forward to move the boat round slightly.

Mickey and Loveday refused to press charges against him, so he was left with the freedom of liberty but also the imprisonment of guilt. He was filled with remorse and suffering from sleepless nights and panic attacks; the doctor concluded that he was probably suffering from of PTSD. He was suspended from the lifeboat crew on compa.s.sionate grounds as he was unable to perform his duties. All talk of a future on the lifeboats was quietly forgotten. For now, he was given sh.o.r.e duties only, at Behenna and Clovelly. The unending kindness and sympathy of Hal, Mickey and Loveday served only to bury him under a dark cloak of depression.

Jesse left Loveday alone after that. In the back of their minds, both Mickey and Jesse blamed themselves for drinking on the boat; both felt that if they had been more alert and professional, the accident might never have happened. But the two sets of friends continued as they always had, albeit with an underlying strain and an overlying brightness, and kept their private thoughts to themselves.

Hal's left arm now finished just above his elbow. The scars on his stump, face and chest began to fade and, incredibly, he bore no resentment. 'I'm alive, aren't I?' he said again and again to the well-wishers who pitied him.

Before his birthday, Loveday had asked Hal what it was he wanted to do.

'Me and Freddie's having a joint party, ain't we?'

'I know that was what you wanted ... before.' She hesitated. 'But you might feel differently now, what with your arm.'

'No way are we cancelling this party, Mum.'

'I didn't mean cancel ... just that maybe a joint party with Freddie might be a bit upsetting for both of you,' she said kindly.

'Mum, Freddie's been to h.e.l.l and back with his guilt and is suffering more than I am. I want Freddie to see that nothing has changed between us. He's my best friend and he always will be.'

Loveday felt tears sting her eyes as she nodded and hugged her brave, loyal son.

It was October, and the last Lifeboat Day of the season fell on the Friday Freddie and Hal turned twenty-one. There was no more talk of new cars. Instead, Loveday planned a family lunch, to include the Behennas, at Pilot's Cottages.

It was twelve thirty, and Greer squinted her eyes against the pearly autumn sun that highlighted the peeling paint surrounding the bra.s.s Piskey doorknocker and revealed the silvered timbers beneath. She shifted the plastic cake box from her right hand to her left and knocked.

Jesse had parked the car against the low dry-stone wall in front of the cottage's garden, and was walking up the slate path towards her. 'Have you knocked?'

She didn't bother to hide her irritation. 'Of course I have.'