Hannah had been under the water for too long. Though Danny was in the lake now, Corinne could already see he wouldn’t make it in time.
All her attention was now fixed on the unknown person swimming out.
Come on, Corinne urged. Please. Come on.
Now that head too disappeared. But was that the exact place where Hannah had gone down? Corinne couldn’t be sure. An image came into her mind of her daughter floating in dark water and she made a sound like a cat crying that shocked even her.
She was vaguely aware of others gathering beside her on the bank – the bright flash of Stella’s hair, Roberts looking, for once, flustered, his tie flapping over one shoulder, his hair damp and dishevelled, as if he had just rubbed it with a towel.
The unknown rescuer’s head reappeared and Corinne held her breath, watching for a break in the water that meant Hannah was coming up too, but there was nothing. Then, once again, the head dipped beneath the water, leaving the surface smooth.
Time stretched itself tight, the air pulsing with anticipation and dread.
Please please please please please.
Finally, a shape appeared. Corinne’s heart sank when she recognized the dark hair of the stranger who was trying to save her daughter but who had now started swimming back towards them, as if giving up.
But no. Something else was in the water. A long, black shape being dragged behind the swimmer.
And there was Danny, finally arriving on the scene, taking over and pulling the shape to the shore. And, yes, Corinne could see now. It was a person. Hannah. Her Hannah.
Hope flared sharp inside her, replaced almost instantly by a gripping fear when she saw Hannah wasn’t moving.
As the trio approached, Corinne’s attention was fixed on Danny and his cargo. When they were just feet away from the bank, she stretched out her hand as far as it could go, not caring if she toppled into the water.
All around, the other onlookers were reaching out to help haul the unresponsive Hannah out of the water, and there was such frantic chaos that Corinne didn’t immediately notice the person clambering out of the lake after Danny and sinking on to the ground at her feet until she felt a hand on her leg, a familiar voice.
‘Mum? Is she OK? Is Hannah OK?’
She looked down at the slight, prone figure at her feet, dark hair plastered to her head, clothes dripping wet, shivering uncontrollably in the cold air.
Hannah’s rescuer was Megan.