The next day, after work, Bea was finishing chaining the last of the kayaks together and pulling them into the lockup along with the paddles. As she paused to take in the view of the river she could feel there was a change in the air. The storm was looming. In the last twenty-four hours weather warnings had been all over the news but it hadn’t seemed to dampen anyone’s spirits. Everyone had soaked up river life as much as possible and enjoyed every bit of sunshine.
Bea watched a fork of lightning light up the sky in the distance and then heard the thunder roll, tumbling through the darkened clouds that were heading her way. Turning around, she nearly jumped out of her skin. ‘You frightened the life out of me.’
Martha was standing behind her, lowering a pair of binoculars from her eyes. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I was just stretching my legs before the rain sets in.’
‘And here it comes.’ Just at that moment huge dollops of rain began to fall over Heartcross and Bea was thankful that all she needed to do was lock up the Boathouse, cook her tea and put up her feet. There was also a good book with her name on it. ‘Let’s hope it moves on quickly. You’re going to get caught in the rain if you don’t make a move. I hope you don’t get too drenched on your way home.’ Bea went to walk past Martha, who hesitated. She looked like she wanted to say something.
‘Are you okay?’ Bea stood in the doorway of the Boathouse to shield herself from the rain. ‘Do you want to come inside?’ she asked. ‘I’m sure there’s an umbrella knocking about somewhere that you can borrow.’ She began to unzip her coat and immediately noticed Martha’s eyes widen. She was staring at Bea’s neck.
‘That’s a beautiful necklace.’
Bea brought her hand up to the pendant. ‘It is, isn’t it? Seahorses represent strength and courage.’
‘They do indeed,’ replied Martha, her eyes still locked on the chain around Bea’s neck. ‘Where did you get it?’
Bea told Martha exactly the same as she’d told Aggie. ‘I’m just looking after it for a friend.’
Another boom of thunder rolled out across the sky, causing both Bea and Martha to jump.
‘I best get back to the farm, I don’t want to be caught in this.’
‘Yes, it’s only going to get worse. By the way, I didn’t know you were into bird watching,’ added Bea
‘Huh?’ replied Martha, looking confused.
Bea pointed to the pair of binoculars hanging around Martha’s neck.
‘Oh, I’m not. I discovered them in the back of the cupboard this morning and thought I’d try them out, but with the weather like this it’s impossible to see much.’
‘Fair enough. You take care along that path home.’ Bea shut the door of The Little Blue Boathouse and locked it behind her. Taking the key out of the door, she threw it in the drawer of the desk and climbed up the ladder to the attic room. Peeling the coat from her back, she hung it up and kicked off her shoes. After turning on the lamp, she moved towards the window and watched Martha walking along the riverbank. When she stopped and turned, Bea took a small step back from the window. Martha brought the binoculars up to her eyes and fixed them on the boats on the river. How very odd.
* * *
An hour later, Bea was dressed in her PJs, with a book resting on her lap. She checked through her emails but there was only the usual junk mail, which she disregarded, and a text from Emmie, checking in. She was momentarily distracted by the rain, now thrashing against the windows as the wind had picked up. Bea didn’t envy anyone anchored on the river. Despite the bad weather the scenery was still spectacular, reminding her of one of Nolan’s paintings. The next boom of thunder caused Bea to jump. The eye of the storm was getting closer. With only a few passengers onboard, the last water taxi of the day was sailing into the jetty. Everyone quickly dispersed, pulling their hoods over their heads against the drenching rain. Bea watched Roman secure the boat then pull on his waterproofs before wheeling his bike from the deck. She didn’t envy him cycling over the bridge back to Glensheil in the wind and the rain. As he reached the end of the jetty, Roman noticed her in the window and waved before he threw his leg over the saddle and cycled up the river path.
With a warm cup of tea in her hands she curled up in the chair again, pulling a blanket over her knees. Her thoughts turned back to Martha as she scanned the river path and looked up at the clifftop. It was a little strange that Martha had picked that moment to try out a pair of binoculars, knowing a storm was looming. Sitting upright, Bea thought back to what Martha had said. It struck her that Martha hadn’t been quite truthful. She couldn’t have found the binoculars in the cupboard this morning because Bea remembered that when she was rowing to Castaway Bay with Nolan she’d spotted Martha standing on the clifftop looking through a pair of binoculars. Bea had the feeling that Martha was hiding something, but exactly what, she wasn’t sure.
ChapterFourteen
The weather warning had been correct. Three days of blustery, stormy weather had engulfed the village of Heartcross. The weather in the Scottish Highlands was unpredictable and, just as Felicity had warned, the river was ferocious and the water rising.
The Little Blue Boathouse was closed as the weather was too risky for anyone to be out on the river, but during that time Bea had been productive. She’d cleaned the Boathouse within an inch of its life and had refreshed the paint on the inside walls, something that Julia had told her Flynn had been meaning to do for the last six months. She’d snapped some photos and pinged them over to Flynn and Julia, who couldn’t praise her enough.
Bea had spent the early part of the afternoon lugging sandbags from the outhouse and piling them up against the door, which was certainly taking a battering in the high winds. With the storm raging on, she decided there was only one thing for it: she would climb under her duvet and get comfy. She was about to lower the window blind when a sudden movement on the jetty caught her eye. A flashlight was being waved frantically around and she could just hear the sound of a woman screaming at the top of her voice. Instantly, Bea knew there was something wrong. As she grabbed her coat and forced her feet into shoes there was a banging on the door of the Boathouse.
‘Help! Please help!’
Bea fumbled in the drawer for the key and quickly opened the door. She was greeted by a woman she’d recognised from the start of the week, when she’d come in to buy excursion tickets. She was drenched, her body shaking, raindrops dripping off the end of her nose. Bea ushered her inside. Grabbing Bea with both hands, the woman stumbled over her words: ‘My little boy has gone missing.’
Time stood still for a moment.
‘Don’t panic, he couldn’t have gone far,’ Bea said in a calm voice, sounding in control but feeling a rapid increase in her heart rate. The weather out there couldn’t be any worse and all she could picture was a frightened little boy they needed to find fast.
‘I can’t get a signal. Please ring the coastguard. I think he must have fallen overboard into the water. I’m anchored right next to the riverbank but he’s gone.’
Bea met the woman’s worried stare. Her face was pallid and her legs buckled underneath her. Bea caught her and guided her to a chair. ‘Take some deep breaths. Unfortunately, there isn’t a coastguard or a lifeboat station on this part of the river. What’s your name?’
‘Amy. It’s Amy.’
