Island Hospital (9 page)

Sheila parried a little. “Why, what’s up? Jim said Matron was still in Vancouver.”

Clare snorted. “And what else did Jim tell you?”

Sheila decided to be careful. There was a dangerous light flickering in those green eyes. “Nothing ... he just wondered if Matron was on board, that’s all.”

Clare relaxed a little and seemed to be trying to make up her mind. “He didn't mention Alan?”

Sheila shook her head. Mary had said Clare and Alan weren’t speaking, so he must be back. “Not a word. Has anything happened to him?” She made her tone deliberately casual.

Clare looked at her keenly. “Your precious Alan is quite safe in body, I assure you.”

Sheila decided to rush Clare’s defences. “By the way, Alan wasn’t kissing me that first
night
...
I stumbled ... that’s all.” Her face was flushed in spite of her attempted unconcern.

Clare’s green eyes narrowed and she stared hard at Sheila. “Thanks, honey, for nothing at all. I do think I actually believe you. I don’t even think you know how to lie.” There was silence for a moment, and then Clare exploded. “You can kiss him for all I care! He’s nothing but a big stupid pig-headed conceited
so-and-so...
chucks his orders around and expects people to leap at his commands. Bah! He makes me sick!”

Sheila regarded her with amazement, then remembering Alan’s
I hate the pair of you,
burst out laughing. Clare, after a moment’s hesitation, joined her.

“We're a couple of mugs, honey, and I’ll bet anything that that
...
red-headed baboon is banking on it!”

Sheila went toward the door and glanced down the ward. She could see the women crowding around the windows at the far end.

“What’s up?” Clare joined her. “Oh, it’s a storm. Hear the wind?”

Sheila became conscious of a faraway roar that seemed to rush in close every few minutes and give the hospital buildings a shake. She walked down the ward. The patients made a space for her, and together they stared at the foam-capped waves breaking on the outer reefs.

“Hope those men of ours had sense to run for shelter before that sou’easter blew up.”

They didn’t sound acutely apprehensive, only uneasy in a resigned sort of way as though this was no new crisis in their lives ... just one of those things that happened eve
r
y so often when the fishing boats were out.

Clare came toward them and beckoned Sheila to one side. “Matron won’t be back until the wind drops. Carl brought the message over from the radio station. Seems she’s coming back with friends of hers instead of taking the steamer ... can’t think why. Well
...
” She shrugged her shoulders.

Sheila glanced at the piece of paper in Clare’s hand. “Why didn’t she phone?”

“Because the telephone lines are down, honey, that’s why ... and that’s what happens in places where they string telephone wires on trees.”

Sheila laughed uneasily. “What happens if we want to get through to Vancouver?”

Clare’s eyes were very green. “You battle your way through high seas to the radio station and they send the message.”

“Never a dull moment.”

Scarcely had she said the words, when Alan burst in, his red hair standing up in disarray.

“Clare, I want you to give me a hand. They’ve just brought in a bad accident case from the logging camp.” He glanced at Sheila. “Get a message through to Vancouver for a plane to stand by. Warn them that if we need them, we’ll need them in a hurry. The betting is that he’s going to require more than we can give him here, poor devil.”

Clare looked from Sheila to Alan. “Lines are down.”

Alan stopped short. “Get on to Jim, then, and get a message through on the radio. Better tell them to send the plane in that case. Say they can land on the lake if the bay is too rough.” He saw Sheila’s hesitation. “Don’t just stand there looking helpless! This is an emergency! Get a move on! We don’t
carry
people here at Harbor Hospital, you know,” he added brutally. “Get that message through or don’t bother to show your face here.”

CHAPTER F
I
V
E

For a moment Sheila stared unbelievingly at Alan before he swung around and disappeared through the door with Clare. If he had struck her she couldn’t have been more taken aback.

She knew a brief instant of dazed surprise and then healthy anger brought her to her senses.

The women crowded around her. “Put on your warmest things, dear, and don’t forget heavy shoes and socks. It will be as cold as Greenland once you get into the wind.”

Sheila ran toward her room, unfastening her apron as she went. She was almost sobbing with frustration as she fumbled with buttons and struggled into heavy slacks and pullover. She snatched up her windproof jacket and raced toward the side door. As she went around the corner of the building the wind caught her, making her gasp for breath. She found herself crouching to meet it as she struggled down to the boatshed. Jim was putting extra mooring lines on the launch.

He grunted as Sheila gave him the message. “Doc wouldn’t ask it if it weren’t a matter of life and death.” He looked doubtfully at her. “It’s just past half tide. I can make it through the cut if I can have you up in the bows to watch for rocks. Any good in boats? Can’t say it matters ... if you don’t come there isn’t a hope in Hades of getting out of the main entrance. Hop aboard.”

For a moment Sheila hesitated. She was terrified, but the thought of going back and telling Alan that it was impossible jerked her into action. She clambered awkwardly up on the bows and crouched unsteadily on a coil of rope.

Jim shouted at her, “Hang on until we get into the cut. We don’t want you in the drink.”

Sheila appreciated his warning as the boat swung out from the landing and began to head into the waves at an angle. The short, steep seas churned restlessly in the usually calm inner harbor and the wind swept the spray into her face. She turned slightly to dodge the impact and saw Jim gesturing to their right. A row of wooden beacons showed the opening to the cut. From where she was perched Sheila could see the open sea on the other side; the breakers were driving high up on the shore and the spray blew across the narrow neck of land to disappear into the trees beyond.

Jim slowed the boat down as they came through the outer reefs into the comparative calm of the shallow water. The headland acted as a windbreak and the sudden silence was disconcerting.

Jim issued his instructions. “Hold both hands up if you see a dock dead
ahead
...
otherwise point left or right as the case may be. You got to stand up or you’ll never see a blinking thing. Can’t say I’ve been through at this tide before.”

Sheila stood up gingerly, and after the first panicky moment found herself adjusting to the slight motion of the boat. The water was shoaling fast and she could see the white shell bottom. All of a sudden there was something dark ahead and she put her hands out quickly. Was she in time? She could imagine Alan’s sarcastic remarks if she ran the
Sea Witch
aground
...

Jim put the engine out of gear and allowed the boat to drift to a standstill. He leaned over the side and glanced in the direction she was pointing.

“Just a patch of seaweed, I guess. Hang on and I’ll pass you the pike pole.”

Sheila prodded the dark patch cautiously while Jim watched the water mark on the pole.

“Reckon we’ll just slip over that lot. Lucky the boat don’t draw too much water.” He put the engine into gear and edged forward slowly.

There was a slight grating sound and the movement of the boat checked momentarily before going on.

“That’s the worst bit over. Sing out if you see anything else.” The wind began to catch Sheila as they reached the far end of the cut. The breakers were creaming around the reefs on the seaward side.

Jim was shouting over the roar
of
the storm. “You’d better come inside now. Mind how you go. That deck’s mighty slippery.” Sheila half crawled as she scrambled along to the engine hatch and worked her way down.

Jim shoved his head through the cabin door. “Fasten the hatches, but mind your head on the hinges, there’s a good girl.”

Sheila struggled with the hatches and then edged her way past the engine. She was thankful to get out of that oily darkness into the fresh air. She joined Jim and stared through the windscreen at the wild scene ahead of them.

“Good thing we took the
Sea Witch.
The
Queen Mary
would have been a blinking cork in this sea. It’ll be better once we get farther offshore.”

Sheila glanced at him doubtfully. As far as she could see, enormous waves marched across the water until they thundered on the rocky shores, and the line of breakers stretched from the distant skyline to the pass where they were heading.

The boat began to lift her bows as she headed into the oncoming waves and came down each time with a clean smack. It was an exciting sound and Sheila began to lose a little of her fear. She stood more easily now, her feet well apart, staring into the welter ahead.

Jim glanced at her and his face twisted into a smile. “Not so bad, eh?”

The engine faltered.

“Take the wheel, gal, while I just twiddle the mixture a little. Head for midway between those two far points. That’s it
...
don’t turn the wheel too far at one go ... easy does it.”

Sheila, after the first seconds of uncertainty, began to enjoy herself as she got the feel of the wheel. She eased off a trifle as a bigger wave than the rest headed toward them, and then she swung the
Sea Witch
to meet the next with growing confidence. She was too intent to notice Jim’s return.

“Carry on if you like while I make things shipshape. It may be nasty until we get through the Narrows. The tide trip wi
ll
be chancy in this wind until slack water.”

For the first time since she had landed in Canada Sheila felt she was coping with a situation on an equal footing and not merely being a
passenger.
If only Alan could see her now, perhaps he wouldn’t be quite so unfair. Some of her exultation showed in her face.

There was a chuckle from Jim. “We’ll make a Canadian of you yet.”

Sheila sighed. “I wish you could convince certain people of that.”

“Watch it!” Jim said sharply.

Sheila concentrated on feeling her way into the biggest wave she had ever seen. It seemed to be piling up high above the
Sea Witch,
which was rising slowly to meet it. The crest began to curl over, but it was still a foot higher than the bows. She sensed that Jim was standing beside her and took courage from the fact that he hadn’t taken the wheel from her. Instinctively she braced herself and couldn’t help ducking as the water came over the bow and crashed against the windscreen. She could hear Jim’s voice in her ear.

“Steady does it!”

She lifted her head and stared ahead. The
Sea Witch
was plunging wildly now as she began to hit the edge of the tide rip where wind and water and restless tide met and churned the waves into aimless wildness.

Jim put his hand on the wheel. “Better let me take her now, lass. I know these currents better than you.”

“How much farther to the radio station, Jim?”

“Depends on the tide and wind on t’other side of the Narrows. Can be real nasty like sometimes. Maybe an hour, maybe less. Course, in fine weather with the tide right, takes no time at
all
...
”

“Won’t they be worrying about us at the hospital?”

Jim grunted. “Won’t do them any good if they do. Reckon they’ve got enough to keep them busy.”

Jim speeded up the engine as the tide began to slacken. The shore seemed to stand still at first while only the water rushed past, until at last the
Sea Witch
began to creep forward inch by inch as she beat the current.

“That’s the worst part. Take the wheel, there’s a good lass. I just want to check on the gas ... should be enough.”

Sheila took the wheel and was startled by the different feel. It was the tidal currents pulling the
Sea Witch
now ... building up behind them and hurrying them forward.

Jim came back with the measuring stick. “We’ve used it up like billy-o, but we should just make it if we don’t meet too much wind against us around the point.”

Sheila could hear a roaring sound now, gradually getting louder and louder, and the
Sea Witch
began to pitch and toss.

“Better give her back to me. This doesn't look too good, gal. If it weren’t for the reefs off that danged point I could work in closer and maybe get a bit of shelter. If we don’t make it snappy and get that message through there won’t be enough daylight for the pilot to land on the lake. If that logger is as bad as Doc thinks, maybe we’re too late after all.”

“Don’t say that, Jim. We’ve got to be in time.” The thought of returning to the Harbor and finding out that she had failed was more than she could bear.

She was beginning to feel sleepy. The roar of the wind, the endless tossing, and all the excitement, was beginning to take effect. She must have dozed off for a moment and wakened with a start. The
Sea Witch
was lurching badly, sluggishly, and then she realized the engine had stopped. Where was Jim? She stumbled to her feet as he staggered out of the cabin.