by Joanna Neil
Rebecca did as she was told, but as she bent forward in her seat she felt Craig reach out to her. He placed the palm of his hand over her head and neck, keeping her pinned down, and she guessed that he was doing his best to prevent her from suffering any kind of neck injury.
Up front, the pilot was making a Mayday call, and it occurred to her that they were in a life-and-death situation together and she didn’t even know his name.
As they rushed towards the ground, though, her thoughts were centred on the little boy who had been entrusted to her safekeeping. Would he survive this? How would the two men at the front of the plane fare when they made impact with the water? Would they make it that far, or would they all simply hurtle to the ground? Who would look after Aunt Heather if anything happened to her?
And then, in a brief, calm moment, she thought about Craig and the way he was trying to protect her. From the very start of this journey he had been trying to distract her and keep her mind off what might or might not come to pass. He had very nearly succeeded in that, and now all she could think about was how she had never actually managed to figure him out. What kind of man was he? What made him tick? Was he a lackadaisical, live-for-the-moment kind of man?
Suddenly there was an almighty thump, followed by a horrible grinding sound, and Rebecca instinctively reached for the stretcher, curling her hand around the sidebar and gripping it with all her might. The force of the impact jarred her whole body, sending shock waves reverberating all along her spine.
It seemed to her as though the helicopter was racing along the hard-packed earth for what seemed like an eternity. The sound of grinding metal screamed in her ears, the stretcher was wrenched from her hand and after that everything faded into a black abyss.
CHAPTER FOUR
REBECCA’S head was aching. Something was wrong, very wrong, she was sure of that. Yet, strangely, there was no noise, only a peculiar stillness that pervaded the atmosphere, and she had no idea where she was or what she had been doing up to this moment. Had she been going somewhere?
Her feet were wet. In fact, come to think of it, the whole of her lower body was soaked by ice-cold water…water that was beginning to move, drifting around her. Now, that was very odd. How could that be?
‘We have to shut off the battery and fuel switches.’ It was a ragged voice that she scarcely recognised, and above all it sounded as though whoever was talking was having great difficulty in getting the words out.
‘Are all the doors free?’ This person obviously needed to make sure that these matters were attended to because even though his tone was strained there was a note of urgency about it.
‘They’re OK on this side. I’m going to try and get you out of there, Tom, but you’ll need to slide your legs out from under the panel for me. Do you think you can you do that?’
Now, there was a voice that she did recognise. Cool, calm and collected, a perfect foil for the desperate tones of the other man. She had always wondered how that would sound, and Craig’s voice was a faultless example.
Hadn’t Craig been holding onto her just a moment ago? She remembered that his hand had been at the back of her head, and his hold on her had been firm and wonderfully comforting…because they were in danger, and they were heading for disaster…Realisation dawned on her with a jolt. They had been about to crash, hadn’t they?
Rebecca lifted her head. It hurt to do that, and she winced as the movement jarred. Her arm was sore, and she moved it experimentally, checking to see if it worked properly. It was OK. She was still in one piece.
Another thought struck her. Where was the stretcher? Where was Connor? Concerned now, she scanned the interior of the cabin and saw that the stretcher was behind her. The force of the landing must have thrown it backwards, wrenching it from the stanchions that were meant to hold it in place.
Connor was still strapped to the stretcher. His eyes were open, and he was staring about him.
She released the seat belt that was holding her, and then moved groggily to go and check on him, wading through the water that was steadily filling the cabin. She started to shiver. ‘How are you doing?’ she asked. ‘Are you in pain?’
‘My chest hurts,’ he said in a low voice. ‘I think I was asleep.’ His breathing was laboured, and his cheeks were flushed with fever, but Rebecca couldn’t see anything else that might be wrong with him, no damage that might have been caused by the crash. He was above the water level, the stretcher having come to rest on a container of some sort that was built into the side of the helicopter.
‘Are we there yet?’ he asked.
‘Not yet, sweetheart.’
She glanced towards the front of the machine and saw that Craig was starting towards her. He looked unharmed, and that made her heart lift a little. ‘How is the pilot?’ she asked.
‘He’s slipping in and out of consciousness. I think he must have hit his head on one of the panels.’ He looked her over. ‘Are you injured in any way? When I looked at you a minute ago, you were quite dazed.’
‘No, I’m fine.’
‘That’s good.’ Even so, he threw her a second glance as though he was uncertain whether to believe her, and then he reached for her, preparing to help her out of the cabin. ‘Take my hand. We need to move out of here. The whole thing is unstable.’
‘Are we sinking? Are we going to be able to get the stretcher out?’ She tried to see what was outside the helicopter, but they must have been tipped to one side because all she could see was the sky. ‘How deep is the water out there?’
‘I don’t think it’s too bad. We seem to be fairly close to the water’s edge, so with a bit of luck we’ll be able to wade to the bank of the river.’
Rebecca looked around for her medical kit, and then realised that she must have slipped the handle of the bag over her head before the crash, because it was still in place. She felt peculiar. It was as though everything was happening in slow motion. She was trying to think about what she needed to do, but her head was full of cotton wool and it seemed that she was getting nowhere very fast.
‘Rebecca—you need to come with me now.’
He used a commanding tone but, hazy though she might be, she knew that this was one area where she had to stand her ground. ‘I’m not going anywhere without Connor. I need you to give me a hand with the stretcher.’
He didn’t waste any time arguing with her. Instead, he grabbed hold of the end of the stretcher by Connor’s head and she lifted up the other end. Between them they slowly negotiated their way through the cabin towards the exit and Craig began to ease himself through the open door.
‘I’ll take the weight. Rest the stretcher on the metalwork to take the strain and keep hold of the frame as best you can. The current is fast and strong out here, so you need to be ready for that. Do you think you can manage?’
‘Of course.’ She sent a swift glance over to where the pilot was sitting. He was wearing a helmet but she could see a trickle of blood seeping from beneath it, running down his face. Beside him, the copilot was clutching his chest and struggling for breath.
‘I’ll come back for you, Tom,’ Craig said reassuringly.
‘That’s OK. I’m not going to leave Harry.’
Outside, the storm was blowing hard, whisking Rebecca’s hair back from her face and tossing the strands in all directions. The sky was a threatening grey, and rain was falling. Craig paused, sliding a canvas cover in place over Connor’s head, like a tent.
‘Are we ready?’
Rebecca nodded, and slid cautiously down into the water. The river was wide at this point, and she guessed that they must have come aground in a tidal inlet, where the river spilled out into the sea. The shoreline was rugged here, with shelving sands and grassy hillocks, and in the distance low mountains loomed, their summits covered in mist.
She shivered again. Her teeth were chattering, and the water was swirling about her, but at least her feet were on the ground, and she used all her strength to wade against the tide and keep t
he stretcher above the waves.
When they finally made it to shore, they carefully laid the stretcher down on the heather-clad bank, and she fell to her knees and stopped to pull air into her lungs for a moment or two. The trek through that chill water had taken her breath away and her limbs were stiff and painful.
She looked around for shelter. ‘If we can find somewhere safe, out of the wind, where we can leave Connor for the moment, I’ll come and help you with the others.’
‘No, I want you to stay here with him. He needs you.’ Craig’s voice was clipped, brooking no argument. ‘Besides, the tide is coming in fast, and you’re weak already. You’re out of breath. You’ll slow me down and I don’t want to have to watch out for you as well as the crew.’ He placed the kitbag on the ground next to her. ‘I brought out as much as I could gather together before we crashed. We should have enough medical supplies to keep us going for a while.’
She stared at him, dumbfounded. He was telling her that she was virtually useless, a frail, helpless woman who would hinder him in his efforts, and despite her discomfort she was mad enough to take umbrage at that. She glared at him, opening her mouth to say something sharp and pithy, but he was already moving back into the water, and Connor was calling to her, his voice thin and reedy.
‘Becca, what’s happening? Why are we here?’ He was struggling to get the words out, and she guessed that the infection in his chest was taking hold.
She turned to the boy, going down on her knees and leaning over him to protect him from the worst of the weather. How was she going to explain to him what had happened? He had already been through one disaster, and he was still suffering from the after-effects from it, so how would he cope with knowing that yet another accident had come about?
‘We have to wait here for a while…just until we can sort out another way to get to the hospital.’ She wasn’t sure how much he understood of what had happened. He had been asleep for the most part, and he was probably a little disorientated. ‘The weather was too bad for us to go on any further in the helicopter.’
‘My chest is sore,’ he said. ‘It hurts me to breathe.’
‘I’m going to give you another dose of medicine,’ she told him. ‘It’ll be an injection this time…so it should get to work quicker.’
Her fingers were numb with cold, making her struggle with the clasp on the medical bag, but after a while she managed to open it and take out the syringe and medication. Another light sedative might help to take the edge off any worries Connor had, and then she would do what she could to keep him warm and comforted.
She gave him the injection and then looked back over the stretch of water. The grim outline of the helicopter, tipped on one side, its dark undercarriage broken and twisted, was a grim reminder of how they had dropped from the sky.
Where was Craig? There was no sign of him, just the hulk of the machine against the skyline, and even as she watched it seemed to shift position and lurch even more to one side.
Perhaps if she could sort out the immediate problem of the child’s safety, she would be able to go and help with Craig’s rescue mission.
‘Let’s find you a place somewhere out of this wind,’ she told Connor. ‘There’s an overhang of a crag just beyond the shore. That might help to keep us a bit warmer.’
Connor’s eyes were already closing again, and she took advantage of his drowsiness to haul the stretcher across the hillocks of earth to where the ground rose into a steep promontory. In the lee of the outcrop of rock, there was a pebble-strewn floor, where she could safely bring the stretcher to rest. Overhead, foliage sprouted from the cliff face, providing temporary cover.
‘I’m going back to fetch the bags,’ she said. ‘I’ll be two minutes, that’s all.’ She didn’t know whether or not he heard her. His eyes stayed closed, and in a way that was a blessing. He didn’t need to know what was going on.
Out in the estuary, she saw that Craig had emerged from the helicopter and was coming ashore, and a huge sense of relief flooded over her. He looked strong and vigorous, a determined man invincible against the storm. Tom was with him, and both men were supporting the injured pilot. Craig was taking most of the pilot’s weight, with Harry’s arm draped across his shoulder and the bulk of his body leaning across his back, but Tom was carrying something, keeping whatever it was above the level of the water.
Rebecca hurried over to them and tried to lend a hand as they started to scramble to shore. ‘Let me take that from you,’ she murmured, relieving Tom of his load. ‘Do you want me to take over with Harry? I can take some of the strain from you.’
‘We’ll manage, thanks.’ Tom was struggling, but he kept on walking, and Rebecca glanced at Harry to see what kind of a state he was in.
Rain had washed away the blood from his face, but there was a huge bump on his forehead and his eyes were closed, his feet stumbling across the ground. She guessed that he was concussed, but at least he was alive, and that was the main thing.
‘I’ve put Connor over there, by the promontory,’ she said. ‘At least we can be out of the main thrust of the wind back there, and that will give us the chance to take a look at your injuries.’
Once they reached the outcrop of rock, Craig eased Harry gently down into a sitting position, where he could support his back against the cliff face. Tom dropped to the ground by the side of him. He was clearly exhausted.
‘I want to take another look at you, Harry,’ Craig said. ‘Can you understand what I’m saying?’
‘Yes,’ Harry muttered.
‘I just need to check your reflexes,’ Craig told him, holding out his penlight and shining it into Harry’s eyes. ‘Follow the direction of the light for me, will you?’
Harry did as he asked. ‘I feel sick,’ he said.
‘That will be the concussion,’ Craig murmured. ‘I don’t think you have any major injuries, but we need to keep an eye on this bump on your head, so I’ll need to check your neurological responses every so often. In the meantime, I’ll give you something to take the pain and nausea away.’
While Craig was doing that, Rebecca rummaged in her medical bag and came up with a disposable kidney bowl. ‘Keep this by you if you think you might be sick,’ she told Harry in a sympathetic tone. ‘You took a nasty jolt, and it’s not surprising that you’re feeling pretty awful right now.’
‘I’m sorry that I got you into this mess,’ Harry mumbled.
‘You didn’t do anything wrong,’ Rebecca said quickly. ‘You mustn’t think that way. You and Tom saved our lives, and we’ll always be grateful to you for that.’
By now Craig was busy examining Tom. ‘It looks as though you’ve cracked a few ribs,’ he said, ‘but as far as I can tell there isn’t any other internal damage. We’ll need to confirm that, of course. I’ll give you a strong painkiller, but it’s best if we don’t bind the chest because it could interfere with your breathing and cause more problems.’
‘That’s all right.’ Tom leaned his head back against the rock. ‘Just as long as we can rest here for a while.’
Rebecca was checking up on Connor. The child’s breathing was fast and he had developed a troublesome cough.
‘How is he doing?’ Craig asked softly. ‘He doesn’t look too well.’
‘He isn’t. I’m worried about him because this has come on very quickly.’ Rebecca frowned. ‘I’m beginning to think that he must be suffering from a post-operative infection that’s been building up for some time, and it’s possible that he’ll need to have the fluid drained from the pleural cavity before it affects his breathing too badly. The best thing would be to flush the cavity with antibiotic solution, but conditions out here aren’t good for that. I just don’t know how long we can wait.’
She sent him a quick glance. ‘How long do you think it will be before anyone comes looking for us?’
Craig gave it some thought. ‘I should imagine they’ve already set up a search and rescue operation. I doubt they’ll be able to get a helicopter out in th
is weather, but they should manage to launch a lifeboat and land ambulances. It’s all a question of knowing where we are, but Harry managed to get out a Mayday call before we came down, and the locator beacon should be working.’
‘So we just sit and wait? Hopefully it will be a land ambulance that reaches us first.’
‘Why do you say that?’ He sent her a quizzical look. ‘Because of the medical facilities, you mean? I don’t think it matters either way, because I imagine they’ll send a doctor and equipment along with the lifeboat.’
‘No, it isn’t that. It’s because I’m a Jonah,’ she said miserably, ‘and I wouldn’t like to be responsible for what happens if we set foot on a lifeboat. I haven’t had much luck so far with air transport. I feel as though I’m a disaster waiting to happen.’
His mouth twisted in amusement. ‘You’re alive. We’re all alive. That can’t be bad, can it?’
She made a face. ‘Maybe that’s true, but Connor’s ill and this cold air is not doing him any good at all.’
He nodded. ‘I know.’ He glanced at the package that Tom had been carrying. ‘That’s why we thought to grab some insulating blankets and a waterproof sheet when we came away from the helicopter. I think perhaps we should try to keep warm by wrapping them around ourselves.’
Rebecca cheered up a little at the news. ‘That was good thinking. Are there enough to go around? I want to make sure that Connor is covered up first of all.’
‘There should be, but if there aren’t, I dare say you and I could always share,’ Craig murmured. He said it with a smile and kept his voice low so that the others would not hear, a glimmer lighting his eyes.
