Page 25

‘Yes, I’m just finishing up here. Why—’

‘‘I need your help – Zennor needs your help.’

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. ‘Zennor? Oh my God, what’s happened?’

‘Nothing. Nothing, I hope,’ Roo said.

Hope? Hope wasn’t good enough for Matt. His blood turned icy. ‘What’s happened?’

‘She’s doing a mermaid party for some kids and we were meant to collect her from Bosigran Cove at three thirty. We were on our way but Freddie, our eldest, has broken his arm at a cricket match and the paramedics have taken him to hospital. Jake’s following on and now I’m rushing there. You were the first person to answer my call and I know you’re strong enough to help Zennor. I know she’ll go mad at me but I’m desperate!’

‘It’s almost three now …’ Matt said. ‘Are you saying you want me to meet Zennor at Bosigran – and do what exactly?’

‘Help her get the mermaid fin out of the cove. It’s heavy and it’s a two-person job up that cliff. And besides, I’m a bit worried about her, though I’d never tell her. That cove isn’t the easiest place but she insisted on swimming round the headland so the kids would believe she was a real mermaid.’

Matt’s stomach knotted. He knew that swim, the rips, the currents. He and Zennor had swum there themselves and it had been tough even when they’d been young and in the middle of lifeguard training. He also knew that Zennor was a strong swimmer who knew how to take care of herself.

‘No problem. I’m on my way,’ Matt said, snatching up the office keys Roo had given him. ‘She’ll be OK, I’m sure. You focus on Freddie.’

‘Yes, I know, but I feel so guilty,’ Roo went on breathlessly. ‘It was me who jokingly suggested she be the mermaid and she took it seriously.’

‘Why is she even doing it? Don’t you have professionals for that?’ Matt locked the office door.

‘Yes, but they’re all fully booked and the kids were promised the party and Zennor didn’t want to let them down so – argh. She won’t like you turning up! I’m just pulling into the hospital car park. I have to go. I’m so sorry to do this to you!’

‘Don’t worry, she’ll understand. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.’ He was already in the car parked behind the office. Matt heard a siren in the background.

‘I hope so,’ said Roo. ‘Please message me and let me know she’s safe.’

‘I will. You look after your boy and let me take care of Zennor.’

How Matt managed to navigate the streets of St Ives with his mind full of worry, he’d no idea. On the way to Bosigran Cove, he realised it would have been quicker to call Shilpa and get them to send someone round to collect Zennor. Was he too caught up in the idea of helping her himself to have thought of the obvious solution?

Hindsight was a wonderful thing, but now he might as well get her himself.

Although the hotel was barely half a mile from Bosigran by coastal path, it was difficult to access by car – unless you knew exactly where to go, which, fortunately, Matt did.

His bones rattled as he drove down the private farm track, sending up clouds of dust. As he got out and headed down the path, he ignored the scratches and stings from the brambles and nettles that laced the overgrown route to the clifftop.

Even as he hurried along, one thought was in his mind – Zennor must really hate his guts if Roo was so sure she’d be angry that he’d been sent to rescue her. It was going to be her worst nightmare: him interfering in her life again.

Scanning the beach as he descended, he could see nothing. It was deserted, its forbidding boulders deterring all but the most determined.

‘F-feck!’

His foot slid down between the boulders and he teetered and sat down heavily on a rock. His arse throbbed and his other leg had collided with the stone, grazing the skin off his calf. The other had slid between the boulders, plunging mid-calf deep in stinking, rotting weed.

He tugged at his foot, cursing at the pain and the cloud of tiny flies that rose up.

‘Argh …’ His foot emerged with a squelch – but his trainer stayed wedged in the weed.

Cursing over and over, he pulled his trainer out of the seaweedy goo, sending up another cloud of insects. Great. His foot stank, he probably stank, and there was blood trickling down his shin.

There was no sign of Zennor in the cove either, not that he could see that much of it. A slight feeling of unease was setting in but he told himself he’d soon find her waiting in the cove, absolutely furious that he’d turned up and not Roo.

He tossed his soggy trainer on to the dry sand, took off the other one and threw it down too. Ignoring his grazed knee and throbbing ankle, he made it down the remaining boulders using his hands and bare feet, which he probably should have done in the first place. Finally, he dropped down on to the beach.

The sun had finally broken through the clouds and the tide was coming in. He scanned the waves in the hope of seeing her bobbing in the gentle swell but there was no sign. Then again … what was that to his left about fifty metres away? Was it her dark hair?