Chapter 44
The weather was beautiful, with fluffy clouds scudding along the sky; the wind was brisk, the sun strong.
‘I think there’s enough wind to get us out of the harbour,’ said Lucy, dropping the sail. ‘Take this. And when we’re in the race, just do what I say, okay?’
‘So we are going to try to win, then? I thought you said you didn’t care?’
‘Well…’ Lucy smiled. ‘I can feel the old competitive spirit coming back. I mean, I definitely don’t want to lose.’
‘How many in our class?’
‘Eight in each class. We are going to try to not come eighth, okay?’ Lucy raised her hand for a high five.
We slowly glided out to sea, the sails tight to gather as much wind as possible, and we slipped in behind other boats, as our flotilla headed out through the harbour walls until we reached two boats which were anchored a hundred yards apart.
‘That’s the start line,’ shouted Lucy, her hair whipping in her face as the small boats hovered in the sea, the sails into the wind, keeping each boat steady. ‘Wait for the horn!’
Henry was standing in Brendan, holding the mast, his hand over his eyes against the sun. Jules was in his own boat, just beside him.
‘Right, steady there,’ said Lucy. ‘We are going to try to move right, and get away from all the boats.’
She was pumped, more energised and excited than I’d ever seen her, the old Lucy was obviously back.
I tensed up, ready to do whatever she wanted, and at that moment the horn blasted, and the boats were released. The sails whooshing with air, we spilled out into the sea, scattering and dispersing.
Lucy was busy, her face furrowed as she concentrated. Maeve was heading right, cutting a path through the water, topping the waves, and we leaned dangerously close to the sea, being drenched by the foam.
‘Come on!’ Lucy shouted. ‘Come ON!’ I’d never heard this part of her, like a warrior, and then she grinned at me. ‘Isn’t this amazing!’
I nodded, unable to speak, because I was struggling with a knot and Lucy quickly reached over, yanked the rope and tied it so fast, her hands were a blur.
‘We’re going to veer left in a while!’
I could see the beach, the marquees, the harbour and all the spectators, their eyes craned on what was happening at sea. There was the far-off sound of a loudhailer commentating on the race.
Ahead was the island and I knew we had to pass it on the right, but the boats were all completely scattered, some far out to sea, tacking across the bay, others skirting the island.
The two Sarahs were just behind us, their faces serious and unsmiling.
We’d pulled ahead. The other boats in front of us were all single sculls.
And then I spotted two figures in a red-sailed boat.
It looked… I peered closer. It looked like Granny Annie, her hair held back off her face with one of her Hermès scarves, her face in deep concentration. And beside her was Eddie.
‘Granny is sailing!’ I shouted.
‘WHAT?’
‘In the red-sailed boat! Granny Annie and Eddie!’
‘WHAT?’
‘Eddie! He’s in the… doesn’t matter!’
But Lucy seemed to have understood, her hair whipping across her face. ‘It was your grandmother’s boat! Eddie prepped it for the race, he asked her to sail with him.’
‘WHAT?’
‘It’s the boat they were sailing on the day of Lolly’s accident!’
We were now turning around the island, ready to enter the sound where the wind was much lighter and we wouldn’t be able to go so fast. Henry was leading the boats, and then I saw Charlie, the sails of Fleetfish flapping as he yanked on the ropes to try to secure them.
But Lucy hadn’t noticed, as she was sitting in the boat, focused on our next move.
Lucy’s face was into the wind and she was grinning, as though this was where she was meant to be, this exact moment was because the universe had planned it.
Everything was so fast, it was like being in a sports car on race day, I couldn’t quite believe these were the same boats that we’d taken out for our leisure trips.
I thought we’d been fast then, but this was serious.
And then Lucy frowned and she pointed. Charlie had capsized, Fleetfish was upside down, its keel had broken off. ‘He sailed too close to the island,’ said Lucy. ‘What a fool. He hasn’t a clue.’ She scanned the water. ‘Where is he?’
Charlie was nowhere to be seen.
We were now shooting past the boat, and Lucy turned to keep her eyes on the backside of Fleetfish. ‘Come on, Charlie,’ she said.
Still no sign. A rescue RIB had spotted the accident and was heading our way.
‘It’s going to take too long,’ said Lucy. ‘We’ll have to help.’ Lucy was already lowering the sails and slowing us down.
Drawing up close to Fleetfish, we peered in the water for Charlie, who was just surfacing.
‘Help me pull him up,’ shouted Lucy, and the two of us reached down and grabbed hold of his arms and pulled him up.
His eyes were closed, his skin grey. We tugged and pulled and tried to get him up further, but neither of us was strong enough, so we held on to him until the rescue RIB drew up and two burly men grabbed him roughly and flung him into the back of the boat, Charlie coughing and sputtering and trying to say something.
‘No need to talk, Charlie,’ said one of the rescue men, before turning to us. ‘Thank you, ladies. Now, get going, Luce, for feck’s sake. I can’t believe you stopped for this eejit.’
Lucy was already raising the sails and we were off again, but we’d been overtaken by the two Sarahs and two other double sculls.
‘We couldn’t leave him!’ shouted Lucy, the wind catching her words. ‘But come on! LET’S GO!’
And away we went, tacking across the sea, the sails fully out, boosting us like a rocket. And from the beach we could hear the sounds of cheering, as Henry crossed the finish line, and there were other boats, and then the two Sarahs crossed.
The horn blasted as we powered through.
‘Second in double sculls,’ said Lucy. ‘I’ll take that.’
‘Do we win anything?’
She shook her head. ‘We get a finisher’s medal. Henry will get the Lolly Cup. Whatever it is called. But we did brilliantly and I don’t know about you, I had fun out there.’
We embraced, jumping up and down a few times while the boat rocked, cheering while the two Sarahs raised their fists in unsmiling triumph.
‘I’m pleased for them,’ said Lucy, with gritted teeth. ‘I really am. And anyway, there’s always next year.’ She turned to me. ‘You’ll have to come back.’
We puttered back to the jetty and behind us I turned to see the red-sailed boat crossing the finish line to a great cheer from the beach, all the knitting circle had gathered and were jumping up and down.
In the boat, Granny Annie and Eddie were embracing and then turning to face the crowd, their faces alive and happy.
Henry was tying Brendan to the jetty and meeting my gaze, he smiled, the sun in his eyes, his tanned arm held up to wave. And my heart soared as high as a seagull. Or a puffin. I was sure I could hear Caitlin’s voice. ‘Why not?’ she said. ‘Don’t be a fool, K. You deserve someone like him.’
And I waved back, grinning, feeling on top of the world. But was it okay to also have tears in my eyes? Was this what grief was, it was with you through all the moments of life?
‘Love you, Caitlin,’ I said to her. ‘I miss you.’
‘Go on and live, Kerry-Anne. Go on and be happy. For both of us.’