A sudden squall spun the boat round and Lizzie realised she was in real trouble. She had to get to the bank: either side of the river would do. She took hold of the oars so she could start rowing but one of the blades missed the water’s surface as she pulled back and the oar bounced out of the rowlock.She leant forward to try and get it back in and then the other bounced out too. She shipped both oars and held on to the sides of the boat, wondering what to do. Surely the river would end somewhere, or there’d be a fallen tree or something to stop the boat even if she couldn’t?
For about ten seconds she felt doing nothing was her best course until she became aware of how much water had gathered in the bottom of the boat. A small leak had lowered the boat in the water and it was leaking from the sides as well now.
The boat was sinking.
Lizzie couldn’t decide if she should stay in her little cockleshell or if she’d do better swimming. She wasn’t a strong swimmer and decided to hang on as long as she could. Surely there’d be a branch she could cling to – or something?
Seconds before the boat sank she heard her name being called. She looked around wildly, registering the voice just as, to her great shock, she found herself completely submerged.
She kicked underwater, hard. Her shoes had come off but her handbag was still round her neck; her raincoat was dragging her down. Somehow, she got to the surface of the water long enough to take a breath before sinking again. She floundered back up, paddling with one hand and trying to unbutton her coat with the other, but her freezing fingers couldn’t do anything useful.
And then, miraculously, there was a lifebuoy. She put her hand on it, and although she went under again, she managed to hang on to it. When she resurfaced, she got both hands on it.
‘Well done!’ said a voice she knew was Hugo’s. ‘Now try and put it over your head and then get one arm through it. Then I can pull you to the bank.’
It seemed to take a lifetime but at last she managed this. For a second or two she felt herself being pulled then suddenly the tension went out of the rope. She looked around and could see no one and then she realised that Hugo was in the water with her. They were both going to drown together.
The next second, Hugo was holding on to the lifebelt and shaking the water out of his eyes. ‘Hang on tight. I’ll tow you in.’
Lizzie realised that the bank must have given way, which was why he was swimming instead of pulling. But the current was sending them both downstream at quite a rate. She concentrated on keeping her head above water and keeping sight of Hugo.
At last they stopped for a second and she realised he had his feet on the bottom but was struggling to keep them there. He suddenly went under but Lizzie could see he was still clutching the lifebuoy and he reappeared again quite quickly.
Then Lizzie spotted a fallen tree. She opened her mouth to tell Hugo and got a mouthful of river butas they travelled towards it she waved to Hugo and he turned round. They both caught hold of branches as they sailed past, Lizzie getting a nasty scrape across her face at the same time.
Hugo was holding on to a strong branch and he had time to catch his breath a bit. ‘OK,’ he said. ‘I’m safe here. You hang on while I pull you. Now we have to get up the bank.’
It looked so near and yet it felt as if they’d never reach it. They both had their feet on the ground but the ground was mud and was full of roots which caught their feet. But eventually, slipping and sliding, they managed to get up on to the riverbank.
They lay there, coughing and spluttering, trying to get their breath back.
‘I never thought we’d make it to land,’ Lizzie gasped eventually, her teeth chattering so hard she could barely speak.
‘It did seem a bit of a struggle, but we made it.’ Hugo shifted so his body was lying as close to hers as he could make it. ‘You’re so cold. We must get you somewhere dry and warm.’ His teeth were chattering too but not as badly as Lizzie’s.
She could feel warmth coming from him but she didn’t know if this feeling was real or just an illusion. She felt she’d been in a nightmare and the only good part was that Hugo was there. Lizzie realised she had no idea where they’d ended up and she wondered if she’d lost her mind and thatsoon she’d wake up and be in bed. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine heat and comfort but she couldn’t.
‘Come on,’ said Hugo. He pulled at her and suddenly she was off the ground and in his arms.
She put her arm round his neck. ‘You’re wearing a dinner jacket.’
‘Yes.’
He staggered with her a little further, up the slope until the ground grew more level. Then he set her on her feet but kept her close.
‘Where are we?’ she asked.
‘We’re quite a way from the house but there’s a boathouse not far. Can you walk?’
‘Of course,’ said Lizzie.
He kept her clamped to his side but she felt she could hardly move along. Her limbs felt like lead and her feet slipped.
‘Come on, you’ve got no shoes on and we need to get you out of the rain.’ He picked her up again.
Lizzie kept her eyes closed but opened them when he said, ‘OK, change of position.’ He set her down and then picked her up once more so she was over his shoulder. She shut her eyes again quickly as she realised he was carrying her up a flight of wooden steps.
‘Please God, let the key be in its place … It is. Thank the Lord for that,’ she heard him muttering.
