Devil's Rock - Chris Speyer [85]
‘What is?’
‘The boat’s wrecked – Rhiannon’s body’s onboard – it looks like an accident. Nobody looks any further. And the only one he thinks knows about the treasure is out of the way.’
The grim logic was convincing, but Rhiannon would not be the only victim. If Maunder escaped, Michael was lost.
The two boats were now no more than a quarter of a mile apart but there was no way Morveren would catch Curlew before she began her suicidal run through the gap in the outer reef.
Zaki knew what he must do, and he knew he should have done it long ago.
‘Keep her on this heading. I’m going to put out a mayday.’
He dropped down into the cabin, took a deep breath, picked up the microphone and began the message that every sailor practises but hopes he will never need to send:
‘Mayday – Mayday – Mayday. This is yacht Morveren – yacht Morveren – yacht Morveren – Mayday . . .’
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Chapter 22
Zaki put out the distress call three times, giving their position and situation. He paused between each call, as he had been taught to do, and listened for a response. None came. This area had always been bad for reception. He was beginning the fourth call when Morveren was knocked down. The cabin turned on its side and Zaki found himself, together with every other moveable object, flying through the air. He landed heavily, still clutching the microphone, its lead, torn from the radio, dangling from his hand. He threw the now useless microphone aside and scrambled across to the companionway as Morveren shook herself, like a punch-drunk fighter, and struggled upright.
Emerging on deck, he saw the helm was deserted. Where was Anusha? With relief, he saw her lying against the guardrail.
‘You all right?’
‘Think so.’
‘What happened?’
‘Big wave. I couldn’t hold her.’
Zaki helped Anusha back into the cockpit. The foresail had been ripped in two by the weight of wind and water. Zaki freed the sheet and let the sail fly. The freed ropes whipped back and forward across the deck like wounded snakes. He started the engine and got the boat head-to-wind.
‘We need to get that sail in.’
It took both of them on the furling line and all their strength, but with the sail furled and the engine running, Morveren was under control and they could pay attention to other things. The clouds to the west had darkened from grey to near black. A vivid orange streak of dying sunlight ran along the horizon as though the edge of the sky had cracked, allowing a glimpse of heaven beyond, its eerie yellow light catching the streaming crests of the breaking waves.
‘Look!’
Zaki turned. Curlew, all sails set, was riding a wave through the opening in the reef. The black mass of Devil’s Rock towered above the little boat and it seemed certain that she would be dashed to pieces at the Devil’s feet. At the last possible moment, Curlew broached, the wave ran from under her, and she slewed sideways up the bank of the half-exposed sandbar beside the great rock. As the wave retreated, a figure leapt from the boat and ran to gain the safety of the rocks before the next wave could overwhelm him.
Now, as they watched, wave after wave pounded the stranded boat. With the rising tide, each successive wave reached higher up the bar.
Zaki brought Morveren as close to the outer reef as he dared.
‘Pass me the binoculars.’
What he saw made him sick to his core. The hatches were lashed shut. Wordlessly, he passed the binoculars to Anusha.
As she lowered the glasses, she looked in desperation at Zaki. ‘What do we do? We’ve got to get her out.’
It was impossible. To follow Curlew would be to suffer the same fate, or worse. Zaki watched, helplessly, as the swells surged through the reef and burst against the glistening side of Devil’s Rock.
As he watched, he noticed that in every new set of waves there were one or two that, driven by the south-westerly wind, ran in at an angle. Instead of crashing against the rock, they were deflected and ran along the sandbar. He looked at Anusha. It would be terribly risky.
Before he could say anything, she said, ‘If you think we can