her thoughts Daisy continued to strain her eyes out to sea, hardly breathing in her distress. Those poor, poor people, whoever they were. Mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sweethearts - there would be loved ones at home waiting for them. Oh, Da, Da, please be safe, and Tom and Alf. Were they still out on the water? If a big ship like the one that had just gone down couldn’t make it safely to port, what chance did the cobles have?
And then she saw it. A small lone lifeboat being tossed about at random as the huge waves rose and fell. And someone was inside it.
Daisy clutched hold of Enid with enough force to make that good lady cry out in pain, but Daisy’s fingers tightened further as she said, ‘Mrs Hardy, there’s a lifeboat that hasn’t sunk an’ someone’s in it. Look, there. You see? Oh, we’ve got to help somehow, it could be turned over any minute. What can we do?’ And then she answered herself saying, ‘Quick, we need a rope.’
‘Rope, lass?’ Enid shook her head. ‘You’ll never get near enough with a rope.’
Daisy didn’t waste time contradicting her, turning and hurrying up the beach and on to the high bank where Jed and Dan’s boat was standing. She had noticed a thick coil of heavy-duty rope there the previous day and was praying the fishermen hadn’t moved it when they had finished working on the coble. They hadn’t.
Several of the women had remained with Enid at the water’s edge, but now Daisy called to one or two who had come back up to the cottages and were standing in a small group a few yards away. ‘There’s someone in a lifeboat! Jenny, Maggie, quick, help me carry this rope down. Come on . We haven’t got much time.’
The women had stared in amazement at first, but now all of them came running, lifting the massive coil of rope which had a small loop at one end and seemed to weigh a ton.
‘What’re you goin’ to do, lass?’ one of them gasped as they reached the others who had been with Enid, but who had come as a group to meet them halfway up the beach. ‘Try an’ lasso the poor blighter?’
‘Molly! This isn’t funny.’
Daisy heard one of the women remonstrate with Molly but her eyes were busy scanning the sea, and then her heart seemed to jump into her mouth when she caught sight of the lifeboat again just as a mighty wave seized it, tipping it over before covering it with a mountain of water. Now it was Enid clutching the younger woman’s arm as they both stood silent and frozen for some moments, only to draw breath simultaneously as the swell dipped to reveal a body clinging to a spar of wood.
Daisy was already slipping out of her thick dress, kicking off her boots as she said, ‘Give me your shawl, Mrs Hardy.’
Enid was now in such a state of alarm as to what Daisy intended that she passed over the shawl without a word, watching with the others as the girl joined it to hers, knotting them tightly together before passing them through the loop at the end of the rope. She then tied the material hard round her waist until she could hardly breathe.
‘Lass, I hope you’re not intendin’ what I think you’re intendin’.’ Enid was beside herself. ‘You’ll drown as well as the poor devil out there, an’ what good’ll that do? There’s no hope for ’em now.’
‘I have to try, Mrs Hardy, an’ I’ll be all right if you an’ the others hold fast to the rope,’ Daisy said, her teeth chattering as the wind cut through her like a knife. ‘If you all form a chain, and perhaps Jenny, Maggie, Molly and Lorna’ - Daisy singled out four of the younger women who were stout hardy fishergirls and built like trams - ‘come right into the water as far as they dare, I might just be able to reach whoever it is. If there’s a problem all you have to do is to haul me back in. All right?’
‘Don’t do it, lass. Think of yer granny. What’d she do if anythin’ happened to
And then she saw it. A small lone lifeboat being tossed about at random as the huge waves rose and fell. And someone was inside it.
Daisy clutched hold of Enid with enough force to make that good lady cry out in pain, but Daisy’s fingers tightened further as she said, ‘Mrs Hardy, there’s a lifeboat that hasn’t sunk an’ someone’s in it. Look, there. You see? Oh, we’ve got to help somehow, it could be turned over any minute. What can we do?’ And then she answered herself saying, ‘Quick, we need a rope.’
‘Rope, lass?’ Enid shook her head. ‘You’ll never get near enough with a rope.’
Daisy didn’t waste time contradicting her, turning and hurrying up the beach and on to the high bank where Jed and Dan’s boat was standing. She had noticed a thick coil of heavy-duty rope there the previous day and was praying the fishermen hadn’t moved it when they had finished working on the coble. They hadn’t.
Several of the women had remained with Enid at the water’s edge, but now Daisy called to one or two who had come back up to the cottages and were standing in a small group a few yards away. ‘There’s someone in a lifeboat! Jenny, Maggie, quick, help me carry this rope down. Come on . We haven’t got much time.’
The women had stared in amazement at first, but now all of them came running, lifting the massive coil of rope which had a small loop at one end and seemed to weigh a ton.
‘What’re you goin’ to do, lass?’ one of them gasped as they reached the others who had been with Enid, but who had come as a group to meet them halfway up the beach. ‘Try an’ lasso the poor blighter?’
‘Molly! This isn’t funny.’
Daisy heard one of the women remonstrate with Molly but her eyes were busy scanning the sea, and then her heart seemed to jump into her mouth when she caught sight of the lifeboat again just as a mighty wave seized it, tipping it over before covering it with a mountain of water. Now it was Enid clutching the younger woman’s arm as they both stood silent and frozen for some moments, only to draw breath simultaneously as the swell dipped to reveal a body clinging to a spar of wood.
Daisy was already slipping out of her thick dress, kicking off her boots as she said, ‘Give me your shawl, Mrs Hardy.’
Enid was now in such a state of alarm as to what Daisy intended that she passed over the shawl without a word, watching with the others as the girl joined it to hers, knotting them tightly together before passing them through the loop at the end of the rope. She then tied the material hard round her waist until she could hardly breathe.
‘Lass, I hope you’re not intendin’ what I think you’re intendin’.’ Enid was beside herself. ‘You’ll drown as well as the poor devil out there, an’ what good’ll that do? There’s no hope for ’em now.’
‘I have to try, Mrs Hardy, an’ I’ll be all right if you an’ the others hold fast to the rope,’ Daisy said, her teeth chattering as the wind cut through her like a knife. ‘If you all form a chain, and perhaps Jenny, Maggie, Molly and Lorna’ - Daisy singled out four of the younger women who were stout hardy fishergirls and built like trams - ‘come right into the water as far as they dare, I might just be able to reach whoever it is. If there’s a problem all you have to do is to haul me back in. All right?’
‘Don’t do it, lass. Think of yer granny. What’d she do if anythin’ happened to
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