Lily screams again. ‘Louie. Noooo!’
I stumble but recover as she knocks my arm and starts to scramble over the rocks towards Cal and the crashing waves.
‘Wait!’ I shout, but Lily is wading through the rock pools, almost lost in spray as the breakers smash against the rocks. Cal is yelling too, scanning the sea at his feet while trying to avoid the waves. Oh God, please don’t let him go in too. I remember when Mitch went in an angry sea last summer, Cal went in too and was drunk and we all almost drowned. I shiver at the memory. I was terrified for Cal and Mitch, and it was summer then. This sea is even angrier and far colder.
‘Call 999,’ I shout to Ben and Mawgan, standing on the beach. ‘Get the RNLI out.’
They pull out their phones but I’m afraid that by the time the rescue boat arrives, it will be way too late.
‘I think I can see them,’ Cal warns, ‘Lily, keep back!’
But Lily either can’t hear him or is too blinded by panic to listen as she slithers over the rocks to reach him. I follow her, getting myself soaked in a rock pool in the process. ‘I can’t lose them. I can’t. I c-c-c can’t. Someone do something,’ she sobs, teetering on the edge of the rocks.
Cal takes her arm. ‘No. It’d be crazy for anyone else to go in. We have to let the RNLI do their job.’
‘Where are they? Where?’
‘I saw Harry and Louie a second ago bobbing around that big rock. And the lifeboat station is over on the far side of the beach. They’ll be here soon.’ Cal sounds frantic and I definitely can’t see the lifeboat launching yet.
Luckily I can see Ben on his phone and a few people gathering next to him. But even if the RNLI launch right this instant it will be a few more minutes before they get here. Harry and the dog could have drowned by then. It takes moments in this freezing water.
‘Look!’ I shout and point to a large jagged rock a few yards ahead of us. Harry is swimming towards it but keeps being beaten back by the surf. ‘It’s Harry, and Louie too. I’m sure I spotted him.’
‘Where?’ Cal shouts and Lily wails.
Harry has disappeared again and I wonder if I imagined my glimpse of Louie.
‘Why isn’t anyone going to help them? Why not?’ Lily shouts to Cal.
Cal wavers. Lily grabs his arm and screams at him and then he starts to take off his jacket.
‘No. No, Cal!’ My shout makes him hesitate. ‘You can’t go in there. It will only make things worse.’
‘There’s Louie!’ Lily screams and without warning takes a flying leap from the rocks into the angry sea.
I might throw up. There are now three of them in the water and Cal is taking off his boots too despite my protests. I scramble forward, ignoring the sharp rocks and the slimy wet pools until I can grab him. ‘Don’t go in, Cal, please,’ I beg.
‘I need to do something.’ He sounds completely desperate.
‘Look. The lifeboat’s on its way!’ I point to the station across the other side of the beach where the orange inshore boat is now clearly visible on the slipway. ‘They’re coming. Please don’t go in and make it even worse.’
Cal holds his head and shouts ‘Shittttttt!’ but I’m so relieved because he realises I’m right. My relief lasts a second because I’ve spotted Lily bobbing up in the surf and flailing her arms. There’s no sign of Harry or Louie and I start to fear the worst.
‘I’ll stay here to try and keep sight of them,’ Cal says.
‘Be careful.’
‘I think I see Harry – and look, there’s Louie!’ he shouts.
Louie has somehow scrambled up the cliff at the edge of the beach and is shivering on a tiny ledge. Harry’s head pops up a few yards away, making for Lily who’s being tossed around by the waves. There’s a high-pitched whine as the lifeboat zooms towards us across the bay. Please, please let them get here in time. Please.
Cal points across the water at the spot where Lily can just about be seen, guiding the lifeboat towards her. She’s like a little ragdoll, picked up by the swell and dropped again, and she’s very quiet. Harry comes into view. There’s red on his face – he’s cut himself – but he’s somehow struggled free of the currents and has almost reached Lily. The lifeboat is closer now and Cal shouts: ‘There, over there,’ holding his arm straight to mark the spot.
Fighting the churning surf, Harry reaches Lily and pulls her onto her back and starts to kick for the shore. The lifeboat nears them but Harry is already dragging Lily though the surf. Ben wades into the water but is almost knocked over by another large wave. Mawgan seems to have gone in at the edge of the sea too but I’m way more concerned about Louie again now.
‘I’m going down to the beach to help,’ Cal tells me.
‘I’ll keep an eye on Louie to make sure he stays put.’
‘OK, but be careful and don’t do anything stupid,’ Cal warns before clambering back over the rocks towards the beach.
I make my way back towards Louie’s perch by keeping close to the overhanging cliffs at the very edge of the rocks. The cliffs are crumbly and there are danger signs up warning of rock falls but Louie is terrified and I daren’t leave him. The spray of the largest waves spatters my hair so I press closer to the cliff and edge, as close as I dare get to the wet and shivering Louie. I’m not sure he can hear me but I call him, gently, coaxing him. He creeps along the narrow ledge towards me and then, to my huge relief, jumps down onto a lower, broader ledge. Like a tiny mountain goat, he makes his way under the cliff overhang towards me.
As soon as he’s within reach, I scoop him up and tuck him inside my coat.
‘You’ve scared us to death, boy,’ I say, soothing him and rubbing his soaked fur through my coat. He licks my hand. ‘At least you’ll live to fight another day.’
On the beach, Cal is helping Harry carry Lily out of the surf. A drenched Ben is lying on the sand, with Mawgan kneeling over him, appearing to give him the kiss of life. Is he in a bad way too after a wave knocked him over? It’s Lily who concerns me most. Fortunately the RNLI have leapt out of their boat and are now taking over from Cal. Two paramedics are running down the sand towards everyone. Realising I’m shivering as much as little Louie, I make my way back over the rocks to the beach.