He hoped to hell this worked. He hated the secrecy, the deceit. He could only imagine how Harold had felt for most of his life, hiding who he really was.
“Don’t worry, love.” He spoke casually and then dove cleanly into the pool.
It was cold, but not overly so. This was England, after all, and the ocean was always cold, summer or not.
He acclimatized himself to the water by diving under several times before returning to the pool’s edge to slow down his breathing. Going out was not the difficult part; coming back in would be trickier. “I’m going to head out shortly!” he shouted upward. “Once outside, it will take me a few minutes to return.” He closed his eyes and took deep relaxing breaths. As he did so, he felt his heart rate slow. He’d gone over all of this with Harold, but it wouldn’t help much in the long run. Harold would have the waves to deal with. And the rocks.
As would Dev, after he’d slipped out the other side.
God, they’d been daredevils as children. He’d have his own sons’ hides if they ever attempted to do anything so dangerous.
If he ever had any sons, that was.
One long, slow breath, and Dev purposefully submerged himself in the direction of the tunnel.
It was still there.
It did appear smaller but not impossibly so. He resurfaced again and then, taking another deep breath, dove decisively toward the fissure.
His head and torso entered easily, and he intentionally pushed all thoughts of turning around out of his mind. The water had an ebb and flow to it.
When it ebbed, it sucked him into the tunnel farther.
He kicked his feet and pulled at the rocks with his arms toward what he could now see was the other side.
The water at the end was not black, but a lighter blue, aquamarine.
He maneuvered around a few outcroppings of rocks and carefully kicked his feet.
When his lungs began to burn, he merely focused on the lighter blue water.
He was almost through.
A tug, a pull, a painful slash along his side, and he felt himself pulled out of the tunnel.
Now up, up, up…
Air.
He inhaled a few gulps of air and then laughed.
This was why they’d done it as young adventurous boys. This sense of danger and then an even greater sense of triumph.
Dev treaded water for a few moments as he took in the dangers around him.
Some rocks to his left had not been there a decade ago. They must have fallen during a storm, or perhaps centuries of the surf, pounding below them had finally taken its toll. Either way, they now presented a definite danger.
He watched the swirls of the water and swam away from them accordingly.
The positioning of the rocks and the moving water prevented a swimmer from resting. Climbing the cliff was impossible as well. The only way out of the cove was back through the tunnel.
It was perfect for what they’d planned.
Relaxing into the waves, he rested for a moment and then, taking a deep breath dove back under.
It took him five tries before he could reach the tunnel again. He felt his heart begin to race faster and emptied his mind to decrease its pace.
He knew exactly where the tunnel was now. He emerged from the water, took in a great breath, and submerged himself once again.
