Devil's Rock - Chris Speyer [87]
‘Rhiannon!’ he screamed. There was no reply. He clambered, headfirst, through the hatch. Inside it was almost pitch-black. The waves half lifted the hull and slammed it back down against the sand. Zaki was terrified Curlew would roll onto her deck and they would both be trapped.
‘Rhiannon!’ he screamed again. This time he heard a groan. He felt his way back into the saloon, where he found her, a crumpled ball in the corner of the cabin.
‘Rhiannon, we have to get out.’ He crouched to help her up. He could just make out her face; something wet and dark glistened on her forehead – blood. She’d hit her head or been hit on the head.
‘Come on!’ He felt panic rising. Slowly, she unfolded herself.
‘I’ve got the forehatch open, but we’ve got to hurry.’
She crawled after him into the bow and allowed herself to be helped out on to the sand. There was no time to lose; most of the sandbar was underwater and Zaki could see that Anusha was struggling to keep the dinghy from being washed away by every wave.
Together, they got Rhiannon into the stern of the dinghy.
‘Do you think you can get her back to Morveren? You’ll have the wind with you.’
‘What are you going to do? You can’t stay here!’
‘I’m going for Michael.’
‘How? What will you do?’ Shock and concern filled her voice.
‘Rhiannon.’ Zaki lifted the girl’s limp arm. ‘Rhiannon, I need your bracelet.’
She seemed to understand. She let him slide the bracelet over her hand.
‘I’ll hold the dinghy. You get in.’
Anusha climbed in and took her place at the oars.
‘There’s a portable VHF radio by the chart table. Keep calling Mayday, maybe someone will hear you.’ He pushed the dinghy off before Anusha had a chance to say anything more and then waded through the dark rising water to the foot of Devil’s Rock.
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Chapter 23
As he began to climb, it occurred to Zaki that, in all the years they had been coming to the Orme, he and Michael had never attempted to scale the rock. Had they been told not to? He couldn’t remember it ever being discussed. Perhaps it just lay outside their private world of Dragon Pool. It wasn’t particularly difficult but in the twilight it was hard to scout out the best route and on several occasions Zaki found he had reached an impasse or an overhang and had to climb back down and search for another way up. His bulky wet-weather clothing got in the way and snagged on the protruding roots and branches of the stunted gorse bushes that grew out of the cracks and crevasses. He considered taking it off, but his clothes underneath were wet through and the waterproofs gave some protection from the biting wind.
When he reached the summit, he was careful to keep low. The top of the rock was like a miniature plateau, dipping slightly to the middle. There were some larger gorse bushes and a few weathered boulders but otherwise it was quite bare.
He wanted to know what Maunder was doing but he didn’t want to be seen, so he crept forward using the bushes and boulders for cover. In the near-darkness, with the howl of the wind drowning out all sound of his movement, he was able to get within a few metres of Maunder and remain undetected.
Maunder was removing the stones that covered his hoard. He was bent over, throwing the stones aside as fast as he could, without looking up, without stopping – like a dog, thought Zaki, digging for a bone. What did he intend to do with it all when he uncovered it? Would it still be of any value?
Zaki strained his eyes to see if Maunder was still wearing the bracelet. Yes – good. He could find out what Maunder was thinking. Zaki took the other bracelet out of his pocket and slipped it on to his own arm. He was careful to keep his own mind