His boat could go a lot faster, but Adrian stayed slow so he could shine a big torch on the murky depths, his beam forming a crescent as he slowly scanned the area where Jonah might have drifted if he lost control of the kayak. And as he stopped the boat out in Stepping Stone Bay he kept one hand on the wheel and hollered into the distance, calling his son’s name over and over.
He knew the coastguard would be out soon and they’d come from the other side of the marina, so with no sign of Jonah here he wasted no time heading on from the bay and over to Salthaven where the water was always more treacherous on days like this. They needed to cover as wide an area as possible, sooner rather than later. Every second mattered when someone was missing in the water, he didn’t ever need reminding of that.
‘Jonah! Jonah!’ He spluttered with the wind in his throat making it next to impossible to call out. ‘Jonah!’ he tried again as his torch went around again, three hundred and sixty degrees out to sea, closer to the shore. But still nothing.
He drove the boat on a bit further and did the same, a bit further still. These waters were friendly, fun, in the right season and weather, but now with the skies threatening above it was terrifying, especially for a young boy lost and all alone.
‘Jonah!’ he yelled again as he moved the boat on. He was about to come to a stop once more when one-handed he shone the torch around and caught the posts of the pier … and something else.
Fear cascaded through him. His torchlight honed in on something green close to one of the posts of the pier but he couldn’t get there by boat, Jonah might be in the water, it was too dangerous.
Without another thought he dropped anchor, pushed his phone into the waterproof case that was kept onboard, hooked it around his neck and jumped into the sea himself. He swam with every ounce of strength he had.
Please don’t let the green be the buoyancy vest and nothing else.
As he drew closer he spotted the kayak on the crest of a wave heading towards shore, but no Jonah inside. His arms chopped through the water, his legs kicked as hard as they possibly could and when he was close enough to the green material he saw two little arms hugging the pier’s post.
A shivering, frightened Jonah had clung on to the post for dear life. His dark eyelashes didn’t flicker, as though he was concentrating hard on staying here, holding on, staying alive.
‘Jonah!’ He swam the rest of the way.
Jonah’s eyes pinged open. ‘Adrian!’ And the second he reached the post Jonah let go and threw his arms around Adrian’s neck.
A hug had never felt so good. ‘I’ve got you mate, I’ve got you now. You’re safe. It’s all over.’
It wasn’t easy, but he let Jonah hold on to him while he swam them both towards the beach. On the sands, the kayak was at the water’s edge, having already been washed ashore, but the boys clung to one another.
‘I fell out,’ Jonah cried as they stood up in water only knee-deep for Adrian, a bit higher for Jonah. ‘The sea was too strong.’
Adrian scooped him up in his arms. The boy was exhausted from the water, from the fear.
‘I saw the pier, Adrian.’ His little voice carried on, talking, processing. ‘I swam to a post. I was at the end one, then swam to the next and then the next.’
Adrian couldn’t help but let a smile form at the relief of it all. ‘You did exactly what I would’ve done.’
‘Really?’
‘Really.’ And he pulled Jonah against him again. Thisboy had no idea he was hugging his father and that was for Maeve to deal with, but for now, for tonight, they’d got a happy outcome. ‘I’d better call your mum.’ He set Jonah down.
‘She’s gonna be mad.’ His teeth chattered as Adrian took out his phone.
Adrian called the boathouse, Nina picked up straight away and he heard crying in the background as she relayed the news. ‘We’ll be in the café,’ he told her. He could see the café from where they stood, the steps that would take them up onto the pier.
Despite his shivering, Jonah insisted he help drag the kayak further up the sands.
‘Come on, let’s get you warm,’ said Adrian, although by now they had a welcoming committee at the top of the steps and so they had help from there. ‘And your mum won’t be mad. She’ll be happy, I tell you that now.’
Jonah was first to go up the steps to the pier, Adrian following quickly after. Already Molly from the café had a blanket wrapped around Jonah and Arthur had one for Adrian too.
His son was safe. And it was the best feeling in the world.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Adrian
Maeve came charging down the pier towards the café and Adrian grabbed her upper arms before she reached the door. ‘He’s safe.’
‘Let me see him.’
