had eased now, but the sea was still vicious. It was crashing into the boulders at the foot of the cliff.
Somewhere amongst those boulders was a child.
‘He’s eight years old,’ Harry said over the radio. ‘Name’s Mickey.’
‘If I go down, can we get directions to exactly where he is?’ Riley demanded. ‘Get the father on the radio. Have someone hold him while he watches but if he saw his kid go he’ll be the only person who can pinpoint exactly where he is. Pippa, you’re in charge up here. Total control. You know you can do it.’
Did she know? Of course she did. She gulped.
How long did normal paramedics have to train? Not six days.
‘’Course she can,’ Harry said, injecting forced lightness into his voice. ‘Or you can come up front and pilot the chopper while I do it. Piece of cake. Just hover and don’t hit anything.’
‘I think maybe I ought to hold Riley’s winch,’ Pippa said faintly. ‘I’m not all that good at hovering.’
‘You never know what you can do until you try,’ Riley said, and he caught her gaze and held. ‘We accepted you into this crew because you’re good, Pippa. Now’s the time to prove it.’
It was the longest five minutes of her life.
She operated the winch while Riley was lowered carefully down to the rocks. Despite what Harry said about ‘just hover and don’t hit anything’, she knew it took huge skill to hold the chopper steady. They were so close to the cliff. The people on the cliff top were forced to move back as Harry took the chopper almost to ground level to give Riley minimum swing as he lowered himself down.
The father’s voice crackled over the radio, thick with sobs.
‘The big rock to the north of where he is. A couple more yards. Yeah, down there, between that one and the flat one to its side. Oh, God, there’s a wave…’
Riley had reached ground level. He was on the flat rock, no longer swinging from the harness. He was on his stomach, peering down. Waves were breaking over the rocks, not much, intermittently, but Pippa thought, How far had the child slipped? How far was the water going in?
‘Mickey.’ They heard Riley through his headset. He was bracing himself against the wash, trying to see. He’d taken his flashlight down with him and Pippa could imagine him peering down into the void.
‘H-help.’ It was a child’s whisper, choking off, and through the radio system they heard it clearly.
Dear God…
‘Can you catch a rope, mate, if I throw it down to you? It’s a harness. You can loop it under your arms.’
‘My hands… I can’t… One of them’s behind me. It won’t… I can’t get it out. The other doesn’t… I can’t…’ There was a muffled sob and then a gasp.
Riley was pushing himself down into the chasm, reaching as far as he could. Swearing. ‘Hold on, mate. Hold on.’
Another wave. A scream cut short.
‘Dear God…’
He had no choice. He was as far into the chasm as he could reach. The water was swirling round his face, sucking back out of the chasm. There’d be more waves coming.
He couldn’t reach.
He couldn’t reach!
He was wasting time. There was no way he could haul the child free. If he pushed himself any further, they’d both drown.
There was one choice and one choice only.
It nearly killed him. To ask her…
He had no choice.
‘Pippa?’ It was Riley, using a voice she didn’t recognise. She’d seen the sea wash over him. She’d thought… She’d thought…
‘I’m here.’ Of course she was. Every sense was tuned to the drama below. She felt like retching.
This was no time for retching.
‘He’s more than a metre out of reach,’ Riley said, and she could feel his anguish. But still his words were clipped and decisive.
‘I can’t get in-the chasm’s too narrow and my chest’s too wide. The sea’s rising-that last wave went over his head and I damn near stuck. There’s only one way we can do this. I’m unfastening the harness. Harry, get onto the cliff and pick up one of the cops-they’ll know how to operate the winch. Then, Pippa, I need you to get down here. You’re half my size across the shoulders. Do you have the courage to be lowered feet first to grab him? We wait five minutes and we lose him. Even now… Can you do this?’
‘Yes.’ No hesitation.
‘Of course she can,’ Harry said. ‘Get that harness off, Chase, so we can get it onto Pippa. We’re moving.’
To ask her to do this…
He had no choice. Not if the child was to live.
But to ask it of Pippa… To ask it of anyone…
Watch the sea.
‘We’re coming,’ he called to the child below, not knowing if he was still capable of hearing. ‘Hold on, mate. Pippa’s coming.’
Riley was on the ledge with no harness. A wave could wash in at any time. Below him was a child, trapped where the sea washed in and out.
Pippa’s fear for them both didn’t leave room for any fear for herself.
Besides, there were things to do. Fear was for later. She had the winch up and was wearing the harness by the time they landed on the cliff top. A burly sergeant ran forward, was in the chopper, was demanding instructions as the chopper lifted off. Harry had forewarned him.
‘I know the basics,’ he said. ‘Quick run-through?’
See one, do one, teach one? Pippa had to choke back a hysterical laugh. Surely this was the mantra at its most dangerous. Harry and Riley had spent a couple of hours teaching her about winching. They’d intended to do more with her but that initial teaching was all she had.
So she’d seen one. She was about to do one. Her life, and Riley’s and Mickey’s, depended on her teaching one as well.
But needs must and it all flooded back to her, the mantra Riley had drilled in. Steadiness, keeping control at all times, watching the wind, being ready to re-winch at any moment, watching for sway, safety, safety, safety.
The sergeant was good, calm and unflappable, or maybe he was as good at hiding panic as she was. By the time Harry had the chopper centred again over Riley and the child below, he was behind the winch, putting his hand on her shoulder as if it was she who was the trainee.
Maybe she wasn’t as good at hiding panic as she’d thought.
‘You can do it, girl,’ the big policeman said, calmly and steadily. ‘We know you can. Pom, aren’t you? Never mind, even if you guys are hopeless at cricket, I reckon you can do this. You can sing “Rule Britannia” all the way down.’
She almost laughed.
But then she was slipping out of the chopper, her feet were no longer touching anything and she was heading down to Riley. She was no longer even close to laughing.
The last time she’d hung above the sea her life was being saved. Now…
Concentrate. Do not sway. Hold yourself firm, steady; Harry and the sergeant can only do so much, you have to do the rest. Head straight down.
Riley was below her.
Down, down-and he caught her. A wave washed over the rock as she landed and she gasped with the shock of the cold water-but Riley had her, holding her, steadying her.
‘It’s okay. You’re safe, Pippa. But Mickey’s not and we need to work fast.’ He shone the flashlight down and she could see a shock of red hair, a child crumpled into an impossibly narrow crevice.
‘Mickey,’ Riley called, and there was no response.
‘I can’t get down to him and he’s drowning,’ Riley said, and she heard the desperation in his voice. The water from the last wave was being sucked out of the crevice now. How far had it come up?
‘I’m watching the sea. At the next break you go down head first with me holding your feet,’ Riley said. ‘You’ll
