‘I’m sorry,’ Molly says in a slight whimper.
‘Oh great, you’re sorry, so that makes everything fine then. You nearly got yourself killed, and your cousin too. Because I know this was your idea, Molly, so don’t try to tell me otherwise.’
‘It was both of our idea,’ says Ella now, lifting her head from the cocoon of her mother’s arms. Like me, Lorna is holding Ella as though she may never let go. Lorna’s face is pale, her clothes still damp from the sea, but there’s a faint, faraway sort of smile on her face as she holds onto Ella. Mallachy and Rex are nowhere to be seen; they sneaked away once they saw the girls had been safely found, giving us some space. Molly separates herself slightly from me and even the tiny gap that forms between us sends a jolt to my gut. Come back. I want to wrap my arms around her entire body and feel the warmth of her, just to reassure myself that she is really here and is really OK.
‘You’re right, Dad,’ she says. ‘It was my idea. Ella’s just being kind.’
‘But …’ starts Ella, but Jack interrupts.
‘Not only have you been stupid but you’ve been selfish. You’ve totally destroyed Ben’s boat. The entire island is out looking for you back at home. And you put us all in danger too.’
‘I know. Iknow.’ Molly is crying now, wiping her face with the back of her grubby hand. Her hair is matted with salt water and she looks younger than fourteen. Later, I’ll find time for the two of us to talk alone and I’ll tell her how her father cried with fear today at the thought of losing her.
‘Whathappened?’ I ask now, placing my hands either side of my daughter’s face and looking her in the eyes. She bows her head.
‘We didn’t want to say goodbye. Then I thought of the island. How we could hide here, how that way Ella wouldn’t have to go home. We set off at first light. I knew where Ben moors his boat, I knew we’d find it there. It was surprisingly easy to untether the boat and get it out of the harbour. I thought it would be OK. There were clouds and a breeze but that was all. We’d nearly made it across by the time the weather turned.’
She takes a deep breath, half air, half sob.
‘It was so scary. I don’t know what happened. We were so close but suddenly there were these huge waves. We let go of an oar.’
I picture the two girls on that tiny boat at dawn, lost out at sea.
‘We only had to get a little further and then we’d make it. We managed as best we could with the one oar, getting gradually closer. But as we approached the beach the boat hit a rock. It started letting in water. It was so scary. But we got gradually closer and closer and then we jumped into the shallows and dragged the boat up the beach. We were so relieved but with the boat ruined I had no idea how we’d get back. We came here to shelter and decide what to do next. But then we heard Rex …’
I close my eyes for a second, reliving that moment as we heard Rex’s bark and ran across the island. But Ella’s panicked voice brings me quickly back to the present.
‘Mum? Are you OK?’
As I look over I see that Lorna’s eyes have closed, her body slumped against Ella.
‘Mum?’
Ella shakes her slightly but Lorna doesn’t move. Her lips are blue, her skin so white it looks translucent.
‘Oh shit,’ says Jack, stepping forwards quickly and taking the weight of her against him as Ella steps back, a horrified expression on her face. I open my arm and she rushes towards me; I pull her and Molly both close against me.
‘Mallachy!’ shouts Jack and in a second, he is there – he must have been nearby. When he spots Lorna slumped against Jack alarm springs to his face. He rushes over and supports the other side of her.
‘What’s happened?’
‘It must have been the fall in the water. She’s freezing. We need to get her back to the island. Now.’
Together Jack and Mallachy lift Lorna’s limp body, her eyes fluttering for a second then closing again as they carry her between them out of the cottage.
‘What’s the matter? Is she going to be OK?’ asks Ella frantically, looking up at me with panic in her large brown eyes.
‘Come on, girls, we have to get moving. Leave the tent, someone can come back for it. Ella, don’t worry, everything’s going to be OK.’
Molly grabs her rucksack and I usher them both outside, keeping them close to me as we half-walk, half-run back to the boat, Jack and Mallachy ahead of us with Lorna carried between them, Rex following at Mallachy’s heels.
When we reach the beach, we work together to carry Lorna through the shallows and lift her on board, and I help the girls up as Mallachy and Jack take Lorna under the shelter of the wheelhouse. Once on board we join them and I grab all the blankets and towels I can find and drape them over Lorna’s sodden clothes. Her head lolls against the window of the wheelhouse, her body slumped in the seat. Ella kneels at one side of her, holding her mother’s hand. At the other side is Jack.
There’s silence as Mallachy sails us back to the island. The weather has turned around, so much so that it’s as if there never was a storm. The sea is still and quiet, the sky becoming bluer and bluer as the clouds part. Rays of sun shine down on our island home, making it look beautiful as it rises out of the sea in the distance. But I barely feel the warmth of the sun as I stand on deck with Molly, watching the island grow closer. Molly may be at my side but one fear has quickly been replaced with another.
‘She’s going to be all right, isn’t she?’ Mallachy asks, turning to me from where he stands at the wheel. I’m aware of Molly’s eyes tilted towards mine too, red from seawater and tears. And I think how often I’m in a position like this, reassuring people around me that everything will be OK when inside I have no idea what is happening, fear racing through me like a swollen river.
‘She’s going to be OK,’ I reply, trying to keep my voice steady. ‘We just need to get her home.’
