Harbinger of Spring (14 page)

‘
Come alongside me, will you, Sara?
’

She came and held on to his side rail.
‘
I telephoned Ted Barker and he should be along at any minute.
’

‘
Good. Between us we might get her off without waiting for the tide to rise.
’
He looked at her critically.
‘
You look very cold. You
’
d better duck into my cabin. Just a moment, I
’
ll make fast and get you aboard.
’

‘
I
’
m all right, really.
’

‘
Don
’
t be silly.
’

He made the yacht fast to the cruiser, then took Sara
’
s line and helped her aboard. He indicated the low cabin.

‘
In you go and sit on the bunk. I
’
ll follow and light the calor-gas oven.
’

Sara stooped low and stepped inside. As she sat down he struck a match and put it to the tiny oven, then set a kettle to boil on one of the rings.

‘
Tea or instant coffee
?
’
he asked.

‘
Have we time? Ted said in about a quarter of an hour.
’

‘
It takes him at least that time to get from his house to the boatyard. Then he has to take the covers off his towing launch and start the engine. We
’
ll have time, and we can
’
t do anything until he gets here.
’

‘
Tea, then, please.
’

As he stooped to a locker she wondered if there ought not to be some form of apology from one to the other of them, in view of their quarrel, but he merely produced a tube of condensed milk and said:
‘
I hope you don
’
t
mind this.
’

‘
Mind it! I think you
’
re very
provident to have any
stores aboard at all at this time
of
the
year.
’

He laughed.
‘
I
’
m not so good as
it might appear. I
sleep on board most nights. That so-called
holiday chalet
I
’
ve rented would freeze a polar bear.
Would you like
a biscuit or so with your tea?
’

‘
No, thanks.
’

Sara felt warmer and began to look
about her. This
small cabin she was in with its pale blue
and white paint
work was evidently a saloon-galley
and everything was
spotless. A door just to one side of her
probably led to
a sleeping cabin and she felt sure
it would be in the same
apple-pie order.

‘
I
’
ve never been on a yacht before,
’
she said.
‘
It
’
s
not at all what I expected.
’

‘
What
did
you expect
?
’

‘
Well, I hardly know, but lots of
ropes and things,
bundles of canvas. And shouldn
’
t there
be a smell of tar
and oakum? Whatever that is.
’

‘
Old ropes shredded down to their
fibres and soaked in
oil,
’
he informed her.
‘
I have a sail
locker right for
’
ard
and the sails and all the ropes are
kept in there. The
sails are terylene and most of the ropes
nylon, but I do
have a preference for good old-fashioned
cotton for my
sheets. It
’
s easier on the hands. Is
something puzzling
you?
’

‘
Yes. Cotton sheets being easier
on the hands?
’

He laughed.
‘
Sorry.
A
sheet is
a rope-and-pulley
arrangement for controlling the
set of a sail. On these
comparatively narrow rivers you
need to have the end
of the rope continually in one
hand, so a soft rope is
preferable.
’

‘
I see.
’

Sara took the cup of tea
he handed to her and stirred
it thoughtfully. Why couldn
’
t
he
be
always this way,
friendly and easy instead of criticising and being domineering? She sipped a little tea, then said,

‘
I saw the sketch you were working on from the top of the Mill. In fact I was comparing it with the view from the window when I saw this cruiser. When will you finish it?
’

‘
That
’
s rather up to you.
’

‘
Heavens, I
’
m not as touchy as all that! Have the key whenever you want it. Look, whatever you think about the danger of leaving keys hidden I
’
m going to leave it somewhere for you. After all, I might be out when you needed it. When I get back I
’
m going to hang it on a nail inside the toolshed door.
’

Sara saw the change in his expression and for a moment she thought he was going to refuse to have anything to do with the idea, but he answered in a rather stiff voice,
‘
That
’
s kind of you. I
would
like to finish the sketch.
’
At that moment they both heard the sound of a boat
’
s engine. He stepped into the yacht
’
s well. Sara followed him and watched Ted Barker turn a big open launch in the middle of the river, stopping under the cruiser
’
s stern. He hitched to it, then spoke to Hugh.

‘
We might haul her off, Hugh, if we work in tandem, but we
’
d be better if we had a couple of men on the cruiser with a quant as well.
’

‘
Yes. I
’
ll go aboard the cruiser. I think Sara won
’
t mind handling my yacht.
’

‘
Me
!’
Sara said in some alarm.

‘
Yes. There
’
s nothing to it. I
’
ll make the tow rope fast. All you have to do is go slow ahead and work up to full speed when Ted tells you to. I
’
m sure you can do that.
’

The couple who had hired the cruiser were on deck now. Ted scrambled to them with the end of a very thick rope in one hand. Hugh smiled at Sara.

‘
Come along, sailor, let
’
s see what you
’
re made of
.
This button starts
the engine and this one stops it. Push
this lever to go
ahead and pull it the other way to go
astern.
Try
them.
’

A little nervously, Sara
started the engine and went
through the motions
of
going
ahead and astern.

‘
That
’
s the ticket,
’
Hugh said approvingly.
‘
Now
I
’
ll get Ted
’
s other towing
line.
’

A minute later Sara
had the yacht in the middle of the
river and the towing
line was stretched fairly tightly to
the bow of Ted
’
s big
launch. From his
stern
another line
went to the
stern
of the
cruiser where Hugh and the other
man stood ready with
a long quant pole to push against
the tree to which the
cruiser was moored.

Ted gave the signal
and Sara went slow ahead, drawing
the towing launch
after her. The yacht
’
s propeller and
that of the launch
brought mud right from the bottom.
Her hand on the
‘
tiller,
Sara was able to turn about and
watch the rope
vibrating thousands of droplets under
the strain, and
Hugh and the other men bending the
heavy quant pole
under the combined weight. Hugh
had his duffle coat
off and his shirt sleeves rolled up and
Sara could not help
noticing how strong his muscles were.

Suddenly there
was a shout from Hugh:
‘
She
’
s
moving, Ted.
She
’
s moving!
’

Dark mud spread
out from the bank, and inch by inch
the cruiser floated
into the water.

Two or three
minutes later Sara was alongside the
cruiser with the
yacht
’
s engine stopped. The couple on
board the larger
vessel were looking pleased and excited
and
as
Ted
climbed out of his launch and went into
their wheelhouse
they followed him. Sara could not
hear what
he said, but knew something was wrong from
their changed
expressions. Next, Hugh came along the
cruiser
’
s deck
and dropped into the yacht
’
s well at Sara
’
s
side.

‘
Their steering gear
’
s jammed,
’
he told her.

‘
Is that serious? Will it ruin their holiday?
’

‘
It
’
s more of a nuisance to Ted than anything else. He
’
ll have to lift the traps in the wheelhouse and cabin floors to see exactly what
’
s happened. The whole business is likely to take two or three hours and during that time
Mr.
and
Mrs.
Rodgers will be very much in his way. It isn
’
t as if it was summer time.
’

‘
By no means, and it looks as if it
’
s going to snow again at any minute. I wonder if they
’
d like to stay overnight at the Mill house? If they did that Ted might be able to leave the job until the morning.
’

‘
Why not ask them? I
’
m sure Ted, at any rate, would be delighted with the idea.
’

‘
I will.
’
She hesitated.
‘
Would you mind giving me a hoist up on to their deck?
’

‘
Of course not.
’

He sprang up on to the cruiser and stretched a hand to her. Sara felt herself whisked up as if she was a featherweight. She went to the wheelhouse and put her proposition.

‘
Are you sure we won
’
t be any trouble to you?
’
Mr.
Rodgers asked.