Written in the Stars (17 page)

‘Normally, I wouldn’t let you dive by yourself,’ he said, in a serious tone of voice, ‘but you seem a pretty level-headed sort of guy. All the same, I want you to pop up from time to time just to let me know you’re okay. I don’t want to be fishing your body out of the sea.’

The reef was quite spectacular and far better than he had expected. Time slipped by quickly as he worked his way along the length of it, but he still remembered to surface at regular intervals to assure Greg that he was all right. When he finally thought to glance at his underwater watch he realised that there was only another twenty minutes of air supply left in the bottle. He struck for the surface and reached out for the side of the boat. Just as he clambered aboard, a sailing boat carrying a load of tourists rounded the point and prepared to go about.

As the boom swung across the sailing vessel, a crew member on board shouted,

‘Keep your heads down, we’re going to go about.’

However, they were unprepared for what happened next. The flapping sail knocked off a woman’s big floppy hat, and as she instinctively grabbed for it, the vessel shifted beneath her. She lurched towards the side of the boat and unable to keep her balance, she slowly toppled overboard into the sea.

By the time she had surfaced, the sailing boat was a hundred meters away.

Chapter Twenty One

Suzi was gazing absentmindedly at the small boat anchored nearby when a crewmember called out:

‘Keep your heads down.’ The words had been repeated numerous times during the day, but she knew that if she remained seated everything would be all right.

Directly in front of where she sat was a gap in the railing that allowed passengers easy access to the vessel. Normally it was closed off, but someone had failed to secure the chain properly, and as boat heeled over it came loose.

At the precise moment it dropped off the hook, Suzi stood up. The man shouted, ‘Keep your heads down, we’re going to go about,’ as the boat turned into the opposite tack, but it was too late. The trailing edge of the sail caught the top of her broad brimmed hat and knocked it off her head. She tried to grab it, but the deck level shifted and she lost her balance. Almost imperceptibly she began to topple overboard—like a slow-motion movie, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Suzi’s scream was cut short as she hit the water and sank beneath the waves. She had never been taught to swim properly and had always harboured a fear of drowning. Now her fears were reality. Even as she managed to kick her way to the surface and take a breath, another wave slapped against her face and forced more water into her mouth. Panic stricken, she lashed out with her arms and legs, but the waves continued to batter her face.

She had always scorned the idea that a person’s life would flash before their eyes as they were about to drown, but now, as she sank into the depths it seemed very real. Suzi had visions of her mother’s funeral, and of Uncle Bart’s body lying cold and stiff in a coffin in the front room of Caxton Manor. A wispy figure seemed to hover over the casket beckoning to her with a spectral hand. She had heard stories about a ghost that haunted the old house. Was this spectre drawing her into the next life?

The dim outline of the ghost faded as her vision was filled with light, a green translucent light that seemed to be speckled with bright flashes of sunshine. It was blotted for out a moment by some large object that made a fearsome noise and produced a stream of churning bubbles. Then it seemed to disappear. A moment later a face swam into view, a familiar face, the face of someone she loved. It looked strained and unearthly in the opaque light. It’s Steve, it’s Steve Pardoe… he’s going to save me. The words formed in her mind and repeated themselves over and over again even though she knew this was an impossibility.

The person’s face receded and there was nothing she could do about it. She tried to reach out to whoever it was, but her limbs seemed paralysed and everything looked blurred and tinted green. Then her eyes glazed over and she lost consciousness.

*

Greg Chaplin had not hesitated when he saw the woman fall overboard. He dragged Steve down into the cockpit of the powerboat, hit the starter button and raced towards the spot where she had fallen into the water. As he closed the throttles a woman’s head bobbed above the waves.

‘I’ll get her,’ Steve yelled, slipping off his scuba tank. But even as he jumped into the water the woman sank from sight again. He followed her into the depths, grasped under her arms, and kicked his way furiously to the surface. When his head broke water, Greg reached out a helping hand.

‘Get her into the boat,’ he cried.

At that moment a dinghy from the sailing boat came alongside. One of the occupants dropped into the water and helped Steve push the unconscious woman into the powerboat. As they manhandled her aboard the other person in the dinghy called to Greg.

‘I’m an ambulance officer. Let’s see if I can help her.’

Steve pulled himself into the dinghy as the ambulance officer took his place in Greg’s powerboat and began to work on the woman. It was only as the man straightened her head that Steve thought that the woman reminded him of Suzi Lysle Spencer, only this white-faced, half-dead woman was hardly her—she was thousands of miles away.

‘I’m taking her back to Airlie,’ Greg shouted, and then thumbed the ignition switch. ‘I’ll radio for an ambulance on the way.’ Then without another word, he pulled back on the throttles and swung the wheel hard over to the right. Within minutes the powerboat was just a speck on the horizon.

Meanwhile the sailing boat had come about and had motored to where the dinghy bobbed gently in the sea. Numerous hands reached out to pull Steve aboard and a couple of people clapped him on the back and said well done. The skipper, who introduced himself as Kerry, thanked him profusely for saving the woman. Someone produced a towel, and another person offered to lend him a tee shirt, while a female crewmember made him a cup of hot, sweet tea.

As he sipped the liquid, Steve spoke to the skipper again. He could tell the man was worried because he had been negligent in providing for the passengers’ safety. He eyed Steve cautiously, but he could hardly refuse to answer his questions.

‘Do you know the name of the woman who fell overboard?

‘No I don’t, but Naomi might be able to help. She usually gets to know people,’ Kerry replied. He gestured at the crowded boat. ‘There are twenty three people on board today, and I barely have time to talk to half of them let alone find out their names.’ He called to the young woman who had made the tea.

‘I’m not sure who she is, sorry,’ Naomi apologized. ‘We barely passed the time of day, so I don’t know anything about her, I’m afraid,’ she said, using the same excuse as the skipper—that it was hard to keep track of all who came aboard.

‘Did she have a bag, or anything that could identify her?’

Kerry shrugged his shoulders.

‘We won’t know that until we get back to Shute Harbour. If there’s anything left when everyone’s gone, it’ll be hers.’ He cast another worried look around the boat as he steered it towards the last point leading into the harbour. ‘I’m in big trouble if she doesn’t recover.’

When the man turned his attention back to the helm, Steve walked over to the nearest hatch and sat down. He closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them again he saw a middle-aged woman peering intently at him.

‘You’re the young man who made the rescue. You were very brave.’ When he nodded, she continued. ‘I heard you asking the captain who she was. I might be able to give you a clue.’

‘Oh?’

‘Yes, we had a lovely long talk just before lunch. She and her friend were on a holiday together as the result of a competition they won.’ She made a funny little sound that came out like a chuckle. ‘And no, it seems her friend has fallen in love with some fellow they met in Cairns. It all sounded very romantic.’

‘Did she tell you her name?’

‘Yes, but I’m so sorry, I’ve forgotten it; I always forget names. I remember she said she’s from Wales, though… a part of Britain,’ she explained. When Steve thanked her, the woman smiled. ‘She’s such a lovely girl and a very pretty one, too. I do hope she’ll be all right.’

Steve’s heart was thumping fast; was there a chance that the person he had just saved could well be the woman dearest to his heart? He wanted to see her, to touch her, to tell her everything was going to be all right. Yet, he could not equate with Suzi being in this part of the world, and strong doubts began to creep into his mind. There were others here from Wales—surely; this was wishful thinking.

When the last passenger departed, Kerry and his crew searched the boat, but were unable to find anything that didn’t belong there. When they came back up on deck, Naomi was the first to speak.

‘I think she might have had a clutch bag,’ she said. ‘If that’s the case, maybe she dropped it and it’s been picked up…’ She left the sentence unfinished and looked anxiously at the skipper.

‘That’s what happened… somebody’s stolen it,’ he said, looking more worried by the minute. ‘It happens, you know.’ His voice had taken on a distinct whine. ‘We can’t be expected to watch everyone’s personal luggage.’

The deck hand broke the uneasy silence.

‘She might have had it in her hand when she fell overboard,’ he said. ‘That’s more likely what happened, if you ask me.’

Kerry seized on the explanation with a sigh of relief.

‘Yeah, you’re right. It’s probably lying on the seafloor amongst the rocks or whatever.’

Naomi had very little so say as they drove back to Airlie Beach. She dropped Steve outside his motel and mumbled a goodbye as he climbed out of the vehicle. Greg Chaplin’s van was parked nearby.

‘Oh, there you are.’ The man emerging from the building greeted Steve heartily. ‘I’ve just dropped your gear off.’ He gave a little laugh. ‘The manager might give you an earful; he wasn’t too impressed to have a load of wet scuba gear dumped in front of his desk.’

‘And what about the woman we fished out of the sea. What’s happened to her? Is she all right?’

‘Yeah, she’s fine,’ Greg replied, casually, as if it were quite normal to rescue people from drowning and rush them back to the mainland. ‘The ambo brought her around pretty quickly. We loaded her into an ambulance at Cannonvale and they took her to the Base Hospital to give her the once over.’ He shrugged his shoulders. ‘She’s probably a bit shook up, but she’ll be all right.’

*

Suzi opened her eyes cautiously and then shut them against the strong sunlight. Slowly and with great difficulty, she turned her head away from the glare of the sun and focused her attention on the man by her side. His freckled face bore a wide grin.

‘Hi there,’ he said, shouting above the sound of the roaring outboard motors. ‘How are you? Can you talk?’ He motioned to the driver who eased off the throttles and then he repeated the question. ‘Are you all right?

‘I… I guess so,’ Suzi replied, hesitantly, putting her hand to her brow. ‘Where am I? What happened?’

‘You fell overboard, and we’re taking you back to the mainland.’ The man smiled encouragingly. ‘Do you remember falling?’ When she nodded, he continued. ‘Well, some guy and his mate rescued you, and now we’re headed back to the resort.’ Then as if expecting her next question, he added. ‘I’m an ambulance officer; I helped resuscitate you.’

Suzi looked from one man to the other and nodded mutely.

‘You’re going to be okay,’ Greg said, increasing the speed again. ‘We’ll be in Cannonvale in another ten minutes. There’s a local ambulance station there, and they can give you the once over just to make sure everything’s okay.’ He patted her hand. ‘Don’t you worry now… everything’s going to be all right.’

Suzi closed her eyes and leaned back against the seat as the boat roared towards the mainland. Her mouth still felt as if it were full of seawater and her throat was sore from vomiting the water she had swallowed. She gently massaged her temples with her fingers to ease the throbbing pain, and tried not allow her feeling of insecurity to show. There was probably no reason to be concerned, but she didn’t know these men, and they could be taking her anywhere.

As the harsh note of the outboard motors decreased and the boat settled down into the water, she opened her eyes to see that they were approaching a small jetty. A creamy yellow ambulance stood waiting on the road nearby, and as Greg manoeuvred into the wharf, a man walked towards them. He caught the rope that was thrown to him and secured the craft, and then he helped Suzi onto the timber decking.

Her legs felt extremely wobbly, but she was able to walk to the ambulance with the aid of the man. The officer placed a light blanket around her shoulders, but within minutes she shrugged it off because it was too hot. By the time she had been checked over by the duty doctor in the casualty section of the Base Hospital, her light summer clothes were completely dry. Although he was satisfied that everything was all right, the doctor want her to remain in hospital overnight just to be sure there were no complications.

‘I can’t do that,’ she protested. ‘I’m flying back to the U.K. tomorrow. I have to catch a plane to Brisbane first thing in the morning.’

Reluctantly, the doctor agreed to her request, but he insisted that she should visit a GP when she returned to Britain. Then he prescribed a sedative, and minutes later Suzi walked out of the building to find the ambulance officer waiting for her.

He gestured toward the vehicle.

‘I thought I’d wait a while, just in case you didn’t have to stay in hospital.’ He opened the passenger door. ‘Hop in, I’ll take you back to Airlie.’

Charlize opened the door the instant Suzi knocked. She grasped her friend’s hand and drew her inside.

‘Oh, Suzi thank God you’re all right,’ she said. ‘I’ve been worried sick about you. When we arrived back in Shute Harbour we were told that your boat had docked an hour earlier and everyone had gone. When you weren’t here, I was afraid something had gone wrong.’

Suzi looked at her friend in amazement. Had no one told her friend that there had been an accident at sea? That she was nearly drowned? That she was brought back to the resort in a powerboat? There seemed to be a serious communication problem. She could well imagine Charlize’s concern at not being able to find out where she was.

‘I’ve… I,’ Suzi began, and then the enormity of her brush with death flooded back and she started to sob quietly. As Charlize placed an arm around her shoulders, she broke down completely. It was some time before she regained her composure and related her experience. She had just finished telling Charlize how she had hallucinated that Steve Pardoe had rescued her, and how his appearance had seemed like a miracle. Just then, there was knock at the door. It was Lloyd. He gave an audible sigh of relief as he saw Suzi sitting on the side of the bed.