Children of Rhanna by Christine Marion Fraser

Author:Christine Marion Fraser [Fraser, Christine Marion]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Published: 2013-02-27T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

Grant thrashed in the freezing water, almost paralysed with cold and exhaustion, his brain so numb with shock he barely remembered being pitched from the Magpie into the black fury seething round the Sgor Creags. The spikes of rock had smashed a gaping hole in the Magpie’s hull and she had keeled over to lie half-submerged. With her bow impaled on a shaft of rock, she looked like a dying whale raising her snout above the waves in a desperate bid to resist the relentless pull of the churning depths. Everything had happened so quickly there had been no time to make sense of the jumbled impressions of men shouting, the boat tilting, the fleeting glimpse of Skipper Joe in the wheelhouse, his face twisted in disbelief as he struggled up from the deck, blood oozing from a gash on his cheek. He had thrown his arms round the wheel as if it were a baby and had cried out in protest, ‘Christ, no! Oh, dear Jesus, no!’

‘Leave her, Skipper! She’s breaking up.’ The warning roar had come from Grant, in a voice that didn’t seem to be his, so unreal was the screaming pitch of it. The timbers had groaned, squealing in the agony of dying, as the little boat had been torn apart by the pitiless sea smashing over the deck. Grant had staggered, slithered, screamed as the snarling water reached for him and pulled him down. His flaying hands had caught and clutched at the capping, and for a moment he had lain gasping before he was torn away, lifted by a giant wave, which hurled him relentlessly into the waiting sea. The roar of it filled his head, the embrace of its icy clutches seemed to reach right into his heart and squeeze it, so that it seemed to stop beating. Dan’s white face bobbed near him. Grant reached out but was lifted and tossed towards the rocks. Adrenalin pumped through him, spurring him into frantic activity. Kicking frenziedly he swam for his life. Something black loomed. The Magpie. The water was swirling round her, fighting to claim what was left of her from the teeth of the rocks. Grant knew that he was trapped. Behind him reared the stark treachery of the Sgor Creags, in front of him was the Magpie, no longer a friend but an enemy blocking the way to safety, seducing the sea to rage as it sucked and roared, sucked and roared, into the yawning hole amidships. He stopped struggling and allowed himself to be pounded by the waves. His limbs were growing numb, he couldn’t feel his legs . . . He closed his eyes, waiting for oblivion to release him from a watery hell.

Something rammed itself against Grant’s rib cage and lifted him up. It was a piece of wreckage as big as a raft. His frozen fingers clawed at it and he heaved himself up to lie, gasping, on it. Deep in his consciousness, a jumbled prayer of thankfulness took form.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.