Winter at the Light by Stephen B King

Author:Stephen B King [King, Stephen B]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Lighthouse; thriller; 1952; romance; Australia; storm of the decade
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press, Inc.
Published: 2020-06-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Falling and Catching

When Molly found the man she had come to know as John, he was sitting on the couch, and he looked ill. She dropped to her knees in front of him. “What’s wrong, I thought you were doing so well, but you look like you’ve seen a ghost.” She touched his forehead, but his temperature seemed normal.

“I don’t know, I was just watching you at the radio, and suddenly I felt like I was going to pass out,” he replied. A thin grimace crossed his face as he shrugged.

“You have concussion, recurring dizzy spells are common, and it’s nothing to worry about. Do you have a headache?”

He slowly shook his head. “No worse than it was before. I’ll be okay; it will pass; it was just…a momentary thing, I think. What do we do now, when do you have to check in again?”

“Not till four. We’ve tended the fuel and wicks, so they’re ready to light later, that’s it for work for now.” She craned her head to the side and glanced toward the window. “Looks like it’s brightening up outside, and the wind has dropped, but Rachel says another storm will come through late this afternoon. About now, I’d generally go for my walk, tend the vegetable patch, and catch some fish for dinner. But, thanks to my friend, Derek, who is the skipper of the supply boat, I have a roast leg of lamb for dinner tonight.” She got up from her knees, satisfied there was nothing seriously wrong with his health, and sat alongside him.

“You said earlier, you had an escape boat, and your dad broke his leg while checking it was tethered to the jetty, is that the same one you catch your herring from?” His eyes seemed to bore into her, with an intensity he hadn’t shown before. Suddenly her suspicions came roaring back.

She nodded. “Yes, follow the path, it will take you all the way to the boat, if that’s what you want, I won’t stop you. But I would like to know why you feel the need to steal it and run out on me.”

He looked as if she had slapped him. “You think I would do that; I would steal your only means of escape?”

“You tell me John, all of a sudden you seem to have changed, what’s caused that?”

He sighed loudly, then lowered his head as if caught by the headmaster trying to play truant. “I wouldn’t do that; I owe you my life, I was just interested, is all. I was surprised you had a boat and wondered what sort. It was like an overpowering urge to find out, and I don’t really know why.”

She relaxed, he looked so hurt by her implied accusation, and she softened. “I’m sorry if I offended, sometimes my foot is an ideal size to fit in my mouth; that’s the redhead in me. The boat is a twelve-footer, with a Biggins and Stratford outboard motor. But a fat lot of good it would do me, or you, unless you knew the way through the reef, which I don’t.

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