Leanne was at the stern with her hand resting on the tiller bar as she steered the boat out of the marina. She could hear the bleat of lambs in a nearby field, and the trees lining the canal bore succulent green buds. The waterways were full of life too and her chosen course was temporarily impeded by a convoy of rented narrowboats. The holidaymakers waved and Leanne offered them a smile that almost broke her. She was leaving Sedgefield.
Dianne had organised a small farewell party at the Raven Brook Café where Leanne had said her goodbyes to friends and colleagues. Today she was on her own and, although it was a wrench to leave so much behind, she was grateful at least that she wasn’t being parted from the Soleil Anne. She and Lois had christened their boat with an anagram of their names. Two lives entwined for ever.
What a life they had planned together in Sedgefield, and what a life they had lost. Ahead of Leanne was a whole future waiting to be rewritten and, even though it looked on the face of it as if she were running away, she was in fact moving towards something new. She hoped Lois would approve.
As the canal narrowed, Leanne had an unobstructed view running the length of the tunnel. The way was clear, but to be safe, she tooted the horn in case another boat was approaching from the other side. She hadn’t been back here since her dramatic dive into the waters, despite being offered ridiculous amounts of money to be interviewed on location. She had agreed to some press, but the most compelling account had been reported in the Courier, written by Leanne from her hospital bed. It was some story.
Hypothermia had been setting in when Karin had dragged her out of the canal. Leanne’s body had been shutting down, and the blood supply to her extremities had been diverted to vital organs. She didn’t know how they had hauled Claudia’s lifeless body out of the water, but they had done it together.
‘She’s not breathing,’ Leanne had said, her body shaking violently.
Karin pulled off her coat and offered it to Leanne. ‘An ambulance is on the way.’
‘We can’t wait. Do you know CPR?’
‘Yes, but you can’t ask me to do that,’ Karin replied. ‘Not after everything she’s done.’
‘You have to.’
Despite her protests, Karin had already positioned herself to the side of Claudia’s prone body. Whatever she might say, she was the same person who had dug Amelia out of the rubble with her bare hands. Karin wouldn’t stand by and watch Claudia die, but she might have cursed under her breath as she slipped a hand beneath Claudia’s neck to tilt her head upwards. She scraped back dark tendrils of hair from Claudia’s porcelain skin and parted her blue lips. Two rescue breaths. Fifteen compressions. Leanne counted them out until the paramedics arrived.
In Leanne’s view, it was Karin who had shown the greatest courage that day. Claudia had thought she could manipulate and destroy Declan’s sister as she had done to him. In return, Karin had saved her life. What an incredible human being.
Claudia, on the other hand, was the antithesis of a hero and, as Leanne steered the boat through the tunnel, she hoped that the cell Claudia currently occupied was equally dark and dank. She had initially refuted all of the accusations that had been levelled against her. In particular, she claimed that she had been acting in self-defence when she had grappled with Karin in the tunnel. In a perverse kind of way, her attack had been a means of self-preservation, if you accept that a fantasy life was worth killing for.
In relation to the more serious charge of murder, Claudia claimed she had followed Declan up to the circle with the single intention of helping Hilary Clarke, having heard one of Hilary’s students mention she was trapped. Leanne didn’t believe it, but she hoped the part about Claudia holding Hilary’s hand as she died was true. It would undoubtedly form part of her defence and establish that Declan’s murder hadn’t been premeditated. Rumour had it that she was going to admit to a lesser charge based on diminished responsibility. Any admission of guilt would be a first for Claudia and suggested there was hope for her after all. Her husband must think so. Justin had been visiting her in prison.
Stretching her spine, Leanne glanced up at the roof of the tunnel. The light reflecting from the boat’s headlights picked up faded graffiti on the brickwork. Was that Claudia’s name? Leanne blinked and it was gone, but she had a feeling that woman would haunt her for a very long time. The Claudia Rothwell story had given Leanne the scoop she had been longing for, and there had been a flurry of job offers. The one that had taken her fancy was in television, and that was why she was relocating to Salford where she had already secured a new mooring. It wasn’t as close to home as her mum would like, but Leanne had gone back to Leeds for Christmas and had promised to make regular return visits.
Leanne would return to Sedgefield too, although she might avoid the high street. The Empress had been boarded up for over eighteen months and remained an open sore. Some would like to see it torn down, but there was talk of a second restoration. Bryony Sutherland was putting together a proposal, and Leanne tried not to have a view on the subject. Her crusade was over. She was leaving behind small-town politics.
With two weeks to kill until she was due to start her new job, Leanne had one last assignment to complete for the Courier. Mal had accepted her resignation on the condition that she deliver that personal piece he had been urging her to write. It wasn’t enough for him that she had reported on events that had involved her personally, he wanted her to express her innermost feelings, and so, with the echo of the boat’s engine thudding against the arched walls, she began to compose her final article, albeit in her head.
Bravery doesn’t come with a cape, but it does have a mask of sorts. It hides undetected until we are placed in extraordinary circumstances and find ourselves doing extraordinary things, and I’m not talking about racing into a burning building, or jumping into icy waters. It’s having the courage to face what comes next. It’s the parent who buries their child, the spouse who takes over the role of two parents, the teacher who encourages her students to dance on, and the friends who gather around a table with one empty seat. It’s these small acts of bravery that are often the hardest – the carrying on when you are very much aware of what you have left behind.
Leanne’s eyes stung as she emerged into the light and at first she didn’t recognise the figures on the bank, not least because she was temporarily distracted by the collection of helium balloons with good luck messages on them. She began to laugh, just in case any other emotions dared to make an appearance.
As she steered the boat towards them, Joe jumped on to the Soleil Anne and shuffled towards her along the gunwale running the length of the boat. He tied the balloons to the handrail before jumping onto the deck to plant a kiss on her cheek.
‘I said no fuss.’
‘This isn’t a fuss!’ Beth shouted over to her.
‘We just wanted to see you off,’ Karin added.
Leanne wasn’t surprised that Joe, Beth, and Karin had been in cahoots. They had enjoyed some serious debriefing sessions in the Bridgewater Inn after Leanne’s dip in the canal, and had been joined occasionally by Amelia and her mum. Karin refused vehemently to take credit for saving Amelia. It was as if there was a mental block, or perhaps a memory that refused to resurface. The Empress hadn’t given up all her secrets and never would, but it had allowed a small group of friends to make bonds that would never be broken. This simple fact should have made it easier for Leanne to leave.
‘Don’t you dare make me cry,’ Leanne warned.
She cut back the engine and allowed the boat to drift slowly along the canal without coming to a complete stop. She wasn’t going to moor up. She didn’t want to face leaving all over again.
As Karin and Beth linked arms and began walking along the towpath at a pace that matched the boat, Joe put his arm around Leanne. He pressed his head against hers. ‘You’re making me cry,’ he whispered. ‘I’m going to miss you.’
‘And I’ll miss you,’ she replied as the boat thumped against the side of the bank.
Leanne moved the tiller bar to steer it back on course and pushed Joe away in the process. He needed a new start too and Leanne was holding him back. She didn’t want to be around when he found a new love that wasn’t Lois, and she suspected that was going to happen sooner rather than later. She hoped sooner. She really did.
‘I get the message,’ he said, giving her one last hug.
To rejoin Karin and Beth, Joe had to jump a couple feet to get ashore. He landed on an uneven patch of grass and for one heart-stopping moment it looked like he was going to fall backwards. Instinctively, Leanne revved the engine and steered the boat away from him to avoid hitting Joe or squashing him against the canal bank if he did fall in. Beth and Karin reacted too, and it was Karin who grabbed the hem of Joe’s T-shirt and held on until he righted himself.
‘Jesus, Joe!’ Leanne called. ‘Don’t frighten me like that.’
‘Don’t worry, he’s safe with us!’ Karin shouted, her smile a beam of light and joy.
Leanne hadn’t slowed the boat after Joe’s near-miss and the distance lengthened between them. ‘Look after each other,’ she called back, ‘or I’ll be back to sort you out.’
‘You had better come back anyway!’ Joe called.
Leanne tried not to look back for the longest time and when she did, she found only Joe had persisted in following in her wake. He waved furiously and when Leanne squinted her eyes, she tried so hard to place Lois next to him.
‘Goodbye, my friend,’ Leanne whispered, before turning to face the future.