FOR THE LOVE OF THE SEA (3 page)

“Thanks James. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

Cassie replaced the phone and went down to the barge to find Mai and Polly. Together they waited on the landing slip and watched as Tom negotiated his way to
Clotted Cream’s
berth.

At last the yacht was secured and Tom waved as he clambered into the launch for the short journey to shore.

Over sandwiches and coffee Tom told them a little about the sea trials.

“It’s all in the log but basically we’re going to have to do some work on the hydraulic pulleys. And the self-steering gear wants some fine-tuning. Other than that it’s a question of checking her over, provisioning her for the first leg and getting her round to Plymouth for the start.”

Cassie looked at him. A week’s growth of stubble covered his chin; his favourite Guernsey sweater showed signs of having been lived in for several days and his hands looked sore and weather beaten from over exposure to sea-water. But despite his obvious tiredness his enthusiasm still came through.

Not for the first time she was reminded of Miles. Single-minded determination definitely ran in the Lewis family.

“By the way I had an e-mail from Dexter. He’s coming to pick up my entry forms himself. We haven’t got room in River View Mum, so is it all right if he stays here for the night?”

“When’s he coming?”

“Sometime tomorrow.”

Cassie nodded. She’d always had an open house policy as far as Tom and Polly’s friends were concerned. “He hasn’t been here before has he?”

“No. It must be three years since I last saw him. We crewed together in the Fastnet and then he went off to America and became more involved in the business side of things. Pity really. He’s a good sailor and a nice bloke.”

Tom stifled a yawn. “I’m absolutely pooped but before I give in and go to bed, I want to have a look at the barge. And before I forget, we’ll need a family conference over the weekend to try and sort out the final preparations for the race. OK?”

Cassie nodded. “Fine.”

She stood by the kitchen door, watching as Tom and Mai walked hand in hand down towards the barge, Polly striding out ahead of them.

“I like Mai,” Anna said unexpectedly at her side. “She and Tom are good together. But it’s hard standing back isn’t it?” and she gave Cassie an understanding look.

“Come on,” she continued, “I’ll give you a hand clearing up and then I’ll show you the details of the house I’ve found.”

Twenty minutes later Anna handed Cassie an estate agents blurb. “What d’you think?”

Before Cassie could say anything, the kitchen door flew open and both women turned in surprise as Polly ran in.

“Mum. Phone 999. Tom’s had an accident on the barge. We need an ambulance quickly.”

In fact it was the air ambulance that landed in the field at the river’s edge and took Tom off to hospital, leaving Cassie shaking and not believing what had happened.

Used to the narrow steep steps leading down into
Clotted Cream’s
hull, he’d apparently misjudged his footing as he’d turned to descend the barge’s wider companionway. He’d made a grab for the handrail which disastrously gave way.

He’d fallen backwards down the flight of steps, ending in an unconscious crumbled heap at the bottom.

James arrived just as they were lifting Tom into the helicopter and had a quick word with the crew before running across to Cassie.

Cassie waited for him fearfully. “Did they tell you anything?”

James shook his head. “They want to get him to The General as quickly as possible. The hospital is already on standby to receive them.”

James had no intention of telling either of the women what the paramedic on board had actually said about Tom’s condition.

“Is Bill coming to the hospital with you?”

“No. He and Mum are staying with Polly. She’s in a bit of a state.”

“I’ll drive you and bring you back,” James said. “Come on. We’ll take my car.”

The forty-minute drive to the hospital seemed to take forever. After an initial unsuccessful attempt to break the silence, James switched on the car radio, leaving Cassie and Mai to their own thoughts, and concentrated on his driving.

Casualty was crowded, but the senior nurse led them to an anteroom and said the Doctor would be with them shortly.

“I’ll go and find a coffee machine shall I?” asked James.

“That would be nice. Black no sugar for both of us,” Cassie said, glancing at Mai who was sat on the edge of her seat nervously twisting her wedding ring round and round.

The Doctor arrived just as James was passing round the thin polystyrene cups.

“Mrs Lewis?” Both Cassie and Mai turned at the name, coffee forgotten.

“I’m Dr. Webster,” he said talking to Mai. “We are about to take Tom up to theatre. As far as we can tell at the moment, he is suffering from some internal bruising and both his legs are broken. Once he’s been operated on, we’ll move him into Intensive Care over night.”

He glanced at Cassie and then at Mai again. “I’m afraid only one of you can see him for five minutes before he goes to theatre.”

Mai was on her way out of the room instantly.

Cassie stopped the Doctor as he went to follow her.

“He will be all right won’t he?”

“A lot depends on his internal bruising and of course, it will be several months before he’s walking again, but yes, hopefully he will make a full recovery.”

The storm finally blew itself out during Friday night and Saturday dawned calm and bright.

Anna was the first up and Cassie found her in the kitchen busy organising breakfast.

“Just coffee for me. Any sign of Mai or Polly?” she asked leaning against the Aga.

Anna inclined her head in the direction of the boatyard.

“Polly’s wandering around out there somewhere. She said something about giving
It’s Mine!
a scrub to take her mind off things. I’ve taken Mai breakfast in bed and given her strict instructions to stay there. She looks terrible. You don’t look too good either,” she added frankly.

Cassie ignored the comment.

“D’you think it’s too early to phone the hospital?” she asked instead.

“I’d give it another hour.”

Cassie drank her coffee and nibbled at the piece of toast Anna pushed across the table to her.

She’d always been terrified at the thought of something happening to Tom at sea but had never dreamed an accident would happen on home territory.

“I can’t wait an hour,” she said suddenly. “I’m going to phone now.”

Anna watched her anxiously as she waited to be put through to Tom’s ward and asked to speak to the sister in charge.

“I’m Mrs Lewis, Tom’s mother. Could you tell me how he is please? And when I can see him?” She listened attentively.

“I see. Thank you.”

Putting the phone down she turned to Anna.

“He’s as comfortable as can be expected. He’s still quite heavily sedated.”

She turned as Polly opened the kitchen door. “Morning love. You all right? You look like I feel. Shattered.”

Polly nodded as she helped herself to a mug of coffee. “I am. D’you think they’ll let me see Tom today?”

Cassie shook her head.

“Sorry love. I’ve just phoned the hospital. Mai can go anytime and I’m allowed five minutes this afternoon but nobody else.”

The morning passed quicker than Cassie had expected. Both she and Mai were kept busy answering phone calls from people anxious to know how Tom was. News of the accident had certainly spread fast.

It was after one when Cassie, Mai and Anna finally set off for the hospital, Anna going along just to keep Cassie company on the drive back. Bill and Liz had volunteered to collect Mai when she was ready to come home. 

Tom was semiconscious as Cassie walked into the small ward and smiled weakly at her in greeting.

“Hi Mum.”

Carefully she leant over and gave him a gentle kiss on his bruised face.

“Oh Tom. It’s good to see you. Mai’s waiting outside but they said I could have five minutes first.”

Not wanting to tire Tom out before Mai got to his bedside, Cassie left before her time was up. To have seen her son and reassured herself that he would be all right was enough.

An hour later as Cassie and Anna got out of the car in the boatyard, they saw Polly walking slowly towards the house, accompanied by a tall man whom Cassie didn’t recognise. A reporter perhaps? Checking the story of Tom’s accident.

“Mum, this is Dexter Munro. Tom’s friend. And race organiser,” she added as Cassie looked at her blankly.

The events of the last twenty-four hours had pushed everything out of her mind.

“I’ve told him about the accident.”

“Nice to meet you Mrs. Lewis. I can’t tell you how sorry I am about Tom. Please give him my best wishes and let him know I’ll be in touch. Do you have any idea yet how long he’ll be out of action?”

“The doctor said several months.” 

“So my visit today to collect the entry forms for the race is rather irrelevant isn’t it?” Dexter said slowly.

“There’s no way Tom is going to be able to compete with
Clotted Cream
now.”

There was a short silence as they all looked at each other, realising the major consequence of Tom’s accident. 

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Polly said quietly. “It’s down to me, isn’t it?”

Cassie, Dexter and Anna all turned to look at her.

“What d’you mean?” Cassie said, knowing, even as she asked the question exactly what Polly meant.

“I can do it instead of Tom,” Polly said determinedly.

Cassie started to protest.

“No Polly I don’t think that’s an answer.”

But Polly interrupted her.

“Why not? Just give me one good reason why I shouldn’t enter
Clotted Cream
in the race instead of Tom?”

Chapter Three

The argument looked set to continue all weekend.

Polly’s words, “Just give me one good reason why I shouldn’t enter
Clotted Cream
in the race instead of Tom?” had been met with stunned silence.

Cassie, struggling to keep her emotions under control had looked at her silently.

It was Dexter who finally spoke. “I can think one very good reason - lack of experience.”

Polly looked at him coldly.

“I am experienced. I’ve done lots of sailing. Both as crew and as skipper. And I’ve done a single-handed.”

Dexter shrugged.

“I know you’ve competed in The Fastnet and I also know that you’ve done some single-handed sailing Polly. Tom’s always talking about his gutsy kid sister. But two or three weeks crossing the Atlantic alone is nothing compared to the dangers you’d face and the months you’d be away on this race. Besides
Clotted Cream
is in a different league to the boats you’ve sailed alone before.”

“I know I can do it,” Polly said with determination. “And this may be the only chance I get to prove myself. Besides, there’s so much at stake. Gramps has invested a lot of money helping Tom buy
Clotted Cream
. Some of the sponsor’s money has already been spent on preparing the boat. If she doesn’t compete, will we have to give it back?”

“If it’s just a question of the boat being seen to compete, we can find a professional racing skipper to take her round,” Cassie said. “You don’t have to do it.”

“The point is Mum, I want to do it. I want to do it SO much. I want the names
Clotted Cream
, Holdsworth Boatyard and Polly Lewis to be up there with the winners. And, in case you’ve forgotten, competitive sailing is as much in my blood as it is in Tom’s.”

“No, I haven’t forgotten,” Cassie said quietly. “But it doesn’t mean that I have to stand by and say nothing while you over-stretch yourself doing something that could be beyond your capabilities and is dangerous.”

“Perhaps I could take a look at the preparations you’ve already made? See how much more needs to be organised. How much more sponsorship you need,” Dexter asked unexpectedly.

“Can I trust you to be impartial?” Polly stared at him.

“I’m just trying to help here Polly. It makes very little difference to me whether
Clotted Cream
takes part in the race or not - or who is her skipper.”

“Everything is in my office,” Cassie said. “Why don’t you take Dexter and go through all the paperwork with him Polly? I’ll see you both later.”

*  *  *  *  *

As she went through the paperwork with Dexter, Polly tried to keep her thoughts centred on the race and not think about Tom lying in a hospital bed.

Dexter was certainly very efficient going through files and grasping their contents quickly. He soon had several sheets of paper filled with figures.

“Everything is exceptionally businesslike,” he observed. “Is that your doing?”

Polly shook her head.

“No I can’t take the credit for that,” she admitted. “It’s Mum’s department. She’s extremely organised. I do more on the practical side. Most of my time’s been spent working on the boat with Tom. I really do know her inside out.”

“How are the finances looking?” she went on indicating his sheaf of papers.

Dexter shrugged noncommittally.

“I’ll have to run the figures through a calculator before I can tell for sure. Incidentally d’you know where
Clotted Cream’s
logbook is?” 

“I haven’t seen it, so Tom probably left it on the yacht. Do you want it?”

Dexter nodded. “I need to see what happened on the sea trials to get the full picture of what still has to be done. I can work out a rough estimate then of how much more money you’re likely to need for running repairs and adjustments to equipment.”

“Come on then. I’ll take you over in the launch,” Polly offered, glad of an opportunity to escape from the office and get out on the river.

Once on board the yacht, Dexter helped her open the hatch doorway and they both went down into the hull.

Built for speed rather than comfort, the main cabin was a mass of navigational aids and electrical equipment. A small galley and a couple of bunks made up the spartan living area and the rest was storage space.

The logbook was in the drawer of the chart table and while Dexter began his study, Polly headed down below to check that all the water-tight compartments were still dry.