Castle Cay by Lee Hanson Page A

was out of her sight
again.
    She heard something…
    What was that? Was that Dan?
    Julie ran out onto the point and scrambled
down the rocks.
    “DAN! YOU OKAY?” she yelled into the
darkness.
    Startled, the bats flew out of the cave en
masse, a dark, beating cloud. They engulfed her, squealing.
Swatting at her hair, Julie screamed and screamed as she knocked
one loose that was caught. Gasping, she hung onto the rocks,
petrified.
    Suddenly, the water blew up and out of the
cave, knocking her down. As she was catching her breath and shaking
wet hair from her eyes, a huge swell came rushing out of the mouth
of the cave. Dan was face down, like a body surfer, on top of
it.
    In moments, he went under and came up
again…way out, and moving fast.
    “DAN! DAN!”
    No time! Go now…NOW…while the water’s
receding…
    Quickly, Julie kicked off her shoes and
climbed over to a jagged rock, which stuck out further than the
rest. She bent her knees and pushed off, diving as far out into the
water as she could… praying to God that she would clear the rocks
below.
    The water was shockingly cold, and the
current incredibly fast. There was no undertow; it was moving Julie
near the surface, faster than she could swim…faster than anyone
could swim! Julie held her breath, tucked her head, and stretched
out like a torpedo.
    I can get him… I can get him!
    When her lungs were empty and aching for air,
she surfaced, still being carried by the current, but sensing it
had weakened some. Gulping air, she looked around in panic. Oh,
God, where was he? Then she saw him ahead of her, rising on the
crest of a wave.
    NO! He’s further! Swim harder…
    Julie took a deep breath, tucked her face
into the water and swam furiously ahead. Left, right, left,
right…she powered through the sea, propelled even faster by the rip
current. At last she lifted her head, gasping, and saw Dan in front
of her.
    “DAN! DAN!” she yelled, reaching him,
grabbing at his clothes.
    He was unresponsive, unconscious.
    It doesn’t matter…Swim!
    Struggling to keep Dan with her as the
current swept them along, Julie managed to get him on his back and
hook her left arm under his chin. Holding his head up out of the
water, she began swimming with her right arm. She swam in the
direction of the current, but fought to make headway to her right.
The rip current, though lessened, continued to drag them out to
sea.
    Julie kicked furiously, her right arm pulling
hard, fighting with all her might to get parallel with the
shoreline. Fear pumped adrenalin through her body, giving her
strength she could never have imagined. Something large brushed
against her, but Julie was struggling for their lives, and whatever
it was, it barely registered.
    She felt the terrible pull fade. Somehow, she
had managed the turn; they were free of the damned current!
    “We’re out of it, Dan! We’re out!”
    Julie continued to swim parallel to the shore
to get as far away from the deadly rip as possible. Almost at the
end of her endurance, she turned toward the beach for the long swim
back in. She talked to Dan steadily, encouraging him. She thanked
God out loud for saving them…and she prayed from the depth of her
soul that He would help her make it to the breakers that would
carry them in.
    •
    Al Drum was working in the garden when
Chinaman and Daisy came galloping into the yard, stopping short of
their own accord, reins trailing on the ground. Al’s mother was
hanging sheets on a clothesline.
    “Jesus, Mary and Joseph!” she said, dropping
the sheet into the basket and running for the barn, as Al went for
the lathered, panting horses.
    “JOHN! Come quickly! Something’s happened to
the O’Haras!”
    John Drum had been in the barn fixing a heavy
deep-sea fishing reel and line. He’d heard the horses come
thundering in, and was already on his way out.
    “What the hell…?”
    He took one look at the horses, and knew
something terrible had happened.
    “Mary,” he said, “you take