Heather paddled tentatively in the shallows. “I can’t swim very well. Be careful, everyone,” she said. “No being silly.”
“The sea’s nice, not too choppy,” Curtis called back to her.
Ginny filmed the silver clouds drifting across the moon and lowered the phone to capture everyone splashing around. She focused on the expanse of sea until she saw a thick band of white water approaching. It looked to be rising and traveling toward them with speed. She lowered the phone, so she could view it with her own eyes. None of the others seemed to have noticed it and Ginny’s ribcage contracted.
The wave grew taller so it soon looked like a wall of water. She heard it roaring and she numbly tucked Curtis’s phone into her bra for safekeeping. Cupping her mouth with her hand, she shouted to get everyone’s attention. “There’s a big wave coming. Get out of the sea...”
Ginny tried to drag herself through the water, heading toward the shore. The sea sucked her back in, as if trying to tug her into its midst. She could hear the wave bellowing behind her and then there was an eerie second or two of quietness. The wave reached her and seemed to hang over her head for a few moments like the wing of a giant bird, before it crashed down on top of her. It knocked Ginny off her feet and she thrashed around, coughing and spluttering. Her eyes, nose and throat were clogged with sea water and when she broke to the surface, the sky was so dark she couldn’t get her bearings.
Through stinging eyes, she saw Eric and Loretta helping Edna up onto the beach and she felt a brief rush of relief. Trying to wade ashore again was like moving through mud. Her ankle buckled and she slipped, immersed in the water again. She fought against it, thrashing and trying to claw her way back out, her limbs growing weaker and her breath shorter.
Just when she thought the sea was claiming her for itself, something firm circled her waist. Ginny heard Curtis’s muffled shout, “You alright?”
She shook her head furiously, not able to see him properly.
“Hold on to me.” He pulled her close and she felt herself being towed along beside him.
A rumbling sound came again and another big wave broke against their backs, sending them both reeling. Ginny gasped and tried to right herself, unsure what direction she was facing. Again, she felt Curtis beside her, strong and solid. He helped to pull her out of the water and they both staggered up onto the beach.
Ginny coughed until her chest hurt. Droplets of water ran down her back making her shiver. “You saved my life,” she wheezed.
“Nah,” he said, patting her on the back. “No drama.”
“But you did.”
“It was only a puddle.”
Ginny looked at him, full of gratitude. Underneath all Curtis’s bluster and bluff, there was strength and vulnerability. She discreetly pulled his phone out of her bra and looked at it. “Sorry, I tried my best to save it.”
“It’s only a phone,” he said, then inched back with astonishment. “Did I really just saythat?”
A towel landed around Ginny’s shoulders, and she watched Loretta handing them out to Eric and Edna. They each dried themselves in a state of shock.
Ginny’s dress clung to her like a shroud and she rubbed her hair. She looked around her and a lump lodged in her throat like a swallowed sweet. “Where’s Heather?” she asked, her voice sounding echoey.
The others looked around them, too.
“I think I saw her in the sea when I got out,” Edna said. “Only briefly,” she added.
Ginny felt like a mannequin, stiff and fixed to the spot. Everyone stared at the sea that now looked pewter and innocent.
“She said she couldn’t swim very well,” Eric said quietly.
A fraction of a second passed before a rush of activity broke out and everyone searched around frantically for their missing friend.
Curtis patrolled around the sun loungers, crouching on the sand to look under them. Edna called out Heather’s name and Loretta ran up and down the shore.
“Where is she...?” Ginny asked. “She can’t have drow—”
“No,” Loretta cried out.
“She didn’t go in deep...” Edna said. “Is there a life belt around?”
“What should we do?” Loretta asked.
“It’s all my fault.” Curtis’s voice cracked. “I went in there first. I messed around in the sea.”
The waves rolled in calmly as if mocking them.
