Chapter 2: Nature intervenes

BOB

Standing on my rock, I turned in time to see Helen’s head bob out of sight behind the eastern finger of rocks separating our cove from the next beach. She had been caught in the current.

My first instinct was to dive in and swim out to her rescue but my training as an engineer immediately convinced me that was the worst possible idea. Helen is a much better and stronger swimmer than me. If she couldn’t beat the current, I would have no chance. My second impulse was to scramble out along the rocks and catch her as she passed. A moment’s reflection convinced me that she would have been swept many metres away before I could get out there.

The only course open to me was to get help as quickly as possible. I scrambled ashore and set off running towards the hotel. As I reached the surf boarders the man in charge stepped into my path. Fighting for breath, I told him that my wife had been caught in the current. He stepped aside to find a mobile phone in a pack lying near his feet. While I fought to regain my breath, he made several phone calls in, I suppose, Greek.

I had recovered my breath when he finished the calls and turned to me. “How old is your wife?” I took a moment to understand the relevance. “She’s forty-seven, but she still swims competitively in an over forties club.” He nodded but looked skeptical. “About ten years ago she and my two oldest children took a course on wild water survival. They were taught how to survive in the sea.” He perked up at that and made another call. While he was talking, I tried to remember more about their course. I couldn’t recall the name but it happened while we were on holiday in Mallorca. I interrupted to give him this information.

He was smiling when he finished the call. “That is good news. Our coordinator knows of that course and says it is the best. Your wife’s chances just went up. I’m Agammemnon but everyone calls me Ag. I teach at the local school but I’m a member of the island’s rescue team.” He reached forward, grasped my wrist, and took my pulse, nodding his head. “You’ll do,” he smiled again. “You recovered your breath quickly and your pulse is slow and steady. Normally, I would leave you behind while we search for your wife, but I’m happy to take you along.”

I couldn’t say whether I had been standing there for one minute or ten, but I realized it had been long enough to bring support. First to arrive from the direction of the cliffs, was a young woman who took charge of Ag’s class of surf boarding pupils. While they were gathering up their gear, the hotel assistant manager and two barmen arrived. A little crowd of bathers had gathered, and two young Germans now stepped forward to offer their services. Agammemnon had the six of us gather round him.

“A coastguard cutter is leaving harbor to coordinate the sea search. She carries a helicopter which will fly along the line of the current. It has no lift capability, but it can direct boats. The larger rescue helicopter is being refueled on the next island so it will be almost an hour before it can be on station. Our job is to search the shore, starting from the rocks enclosing the little bay. If the lady manages to get ashore, she is likely to be exhausted perhaps to the point where she cannot attract the attention of rescuers. We must literally look behind every rock. Her husband is coming with us,” he finished, touching my shoulder.

“Her name is Helen. She’s a very string swimmer and she’s very precious. My name’s Bob, by the way.”

We walked quickly to the little beach where our belongings were still laid out. The sight of Helen’s novel brought tears back to my eyes. I think Ag noticed because he began my interrogation. “There are things I have to ask,” he said in an apologetic tone. “Are you and your wife on good terms?” I had a flash of anger before accepting that it was a relevant enquiry. “We were not quarreling, but we did come to the island to resolve problems in our marriage.” He said nothing so, after a pause while we scrambled over the rocks into the bay beyond, I continued. “Eight months ago, our youngest child left home and we became aware that we had grown apart. We have been together for almost thirty years – married for twenty-six of them. In that time, we have supported each other through every problem life threw at us.

“Suddenly, our primary roles of mother and father were removed, and we were just a man and a woman sharing a house. That was when we noticed that there was a gulf between us. Helen began her career as a l lawyer less than fifteen years ago when the kids were settled in school. She is still carving out her path to the top. My career is coasting – I love my job, but I don’t want to go any higher. About two years ago Helen met another lawyer who was everything I was not. Very bright, charming, and ambitious with a mastery of words.”

Ag asked if my wife was considering leaving me for the other man. “I believe she’s thinking of leaving me but not for him. She admires him as a colleague but not as a man – he would rather take me to his bed than Helen, if you know what I mean.” We were interrupted at this point by the arrival of a small helicopter hovering over us. We had travelled about a third of the way across the next bay when it appeared. Ag waved his hand back towards the rocks bordering our private beach. The helicopter turned back and did a search along the rock finger before following the line of the tide race past us towards the rocks enclosing the bay we were traversing.

They stayed close to the sea surface before climbing to about fifty metres and then dropping again to near sea level before slowly searching the rocky outcrop. As they descended, I saw behind them the upper works of a small ship. “That’s the coastguard cutter,” Ag explained. “They’re coordinating the sea search. When we find Helen, the ‘copter will take her first to the ship where they have a fully equipped sickbay before she is flown to the hospital. Hypothermia is a very real danger.”

The helicopter was still searching the rocks while our team was hurrying across the open sandy beach to continue the search. “It sounds as if Helen was more likely to leave you than the other way round,” Ag suggested. “I was caught flat-footed by the whole thing,” I admitted. “We had met so many obstacles over the years, adjusting our interactions to agree on a way ahead. I knew that the empty nest would be another crisis, but I just assumed that we would deal with it in the same way. It was only a few weeks ago that I realized that my marriage was in danger.

“I’m a engineer, accustomed to approaching problems without preconceptions. I weighed up all the facts at my disposal and seriously considered whether our relationship was worth repairing or if I should step away and plan a future without Helen. Strangely enough, I didn’t finally make up my mind until lunchtime when I finally got it through my thick skill that Helen was worth fighting for.”

“Did your decision have any bearing on what has happened since?” Agamemnon asked in a gentle voice. “In a way, I think it did. I paid Helen some compliments. She would know that they were sincere – after thirty years you can’t fool your partner. I think she swam out to the end of the rocks to get as far from me as she could while she considered how to respond to my overture. She had too much to live for to want to harm herself.” Ag squeezed my shoulder before he suddenly made a trumpet of his hands and yelled “Helen!” loud enough to wake Zeus on Olympus.

Suddenly, everything happened at once. The helicopter veered out of sight, the engine note changing to a more urgent beat; the profile of the ship changed as it turned towards shore; and Agamemnon suddenly took off, running flat out towards the rocks about a hundred metres ahead. The rest of the team appeared to be as mystified as I was, but we picked up our pace. By the time we reached the rocks, Ag and the helicopter were both out of sight and the engine noise had faded to a murmur.

HELEN

When the current first grabbed me, I thought I was going to be dashed onto the rocks. A moment later, I felt a surge of relief when they passed alongside me, and I found myself in open water. In that moment of reprieve, I remembered the training from the survival course Mavis, Robin and I took nine years go on our holiday in the Balearics. “Panic kills more people than even hypothermia” the instructor insisted. We should as calmly as possible assess our assets. My fitness was my chief advantage, but I would have to conserve my energy for when it was most needed. I was already moving across the bay which meant that I would face a long swim even after I escaped the current.

Th coast road ran past all the bays, and I remembered the one I was now crossing as a bit bigger than the bay with the hotel. If I was right, that meant it was just over a mile to the next rocky promontory. I checked my watch which was still working as it should at the price I paid for it. I tried to recall what Bob had shouted at me about the current – four miles per hour, I think he said. If he was correct and I had remembered properly then I had about half an hour before I came near the next finger of rock. I resolved to save my strength until I was close to the rocks so I would have no distance to swim once I was clear of the current.

I think I became a bit hysterical. I remember thinking that this was one case where my lawyer’s tongue wasn’t going to get me out of the mess. Not only had my anger with Bob totally disappeared, but I couldn’t remember why I had been angry in the first place. He complimented me, rather clumsily but then he always was an ardent but unsubtle wooer. Nor was it simply the anger that had left me: I couldn’t think of any reason why I wanted to part from my soulmate. We had been together for thirty years and been through far worse crises than sharing an empty nest.

It was different this time I realized, as I floated across the bay. In earlier emergencies we had a common goal, usually connected with parenting. This time, the children weren’t a consideration. Now it was mano a mano – or mano a womano, I giggled into myself. Recognizing that the hysteria was still close to the surface, I popped up and looked ahead. I was astonished to find that I was so close to the rocks. A quick check of my watch confirmed that it was thirty-five minutes since I set off across the bay.

I was ready to throw everything I had into a few moments of effort. I was doing well when something hampered my legs. The obstruction only lasted for an instant, but it was enough to kill my momentum. Déjà vu! Once gain I saw the rocks rush past and I was faced with another stretch of open water. I was devastated, certain that the cold would sap whatever strength I still possessed before I next approached a finger of rocks. My last despairing look at the rocky outcrop I was passing revealed a figure standing on the rocks looking down at me.

It appeared to be a naked man, perhaps Adonis or one of the other Greek gods. Deux ex machina, I thought. It must be an illusion. Perhaps this was the start of my life flashing before my eyes, and I was already drowning. I was searching my mind for a memory of such a hunk in my past life when an arm snaked around my chest and a warm baritone voice told me not to worry. “I’ve got you and with a bit of luck we’ll be home in time for tea.” That seemed to me such a stupid thing to say that I was convinced that it was all part of the illusion.

The arm across my breasts under my arms was real enough and I began to feel myself being tugged against the current. I finally realized it was actually happening when the voice spoke again in my ear. “It’s stronger than I thought. Can you kick as hard as you can with your legs?” I had been lying still, back in energy conservation mode when he took control. I kicked and kicked until my strength was gone. “We’re out of it,” the voice whispered. “Relax now. It’s still a long swim to the beach.”

I spaced out until I felt gravel under my bum. I quickly realized that it was solid land; it took me a little longer to work out that my bottom was bare. The obstruction when I was fighting the current must have been my bikini bottoms coming undone and entangling my legs. “Can you stand?” the voice asked, drawing my attention back to the here and now. Kneeling beside me, still supporting me in his arms, was my very own Greek god.

Together we crawled up the beach under the cliff. “We have to cuddle together to conserve body heat until we recover our strength,” the voice insisted. I spaced out at that point, conscious only of the strong arm that held my naked body safe and sound.

“Cold is our biggest enemy,” the voice sounded agitated. I had pulled away a little which prompted his remark. “Someone called my name,” I said, my voice sounding really strange to me. “It wasn’t me,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m Paul and I think it’s time we were introduced, don’t you?” looked up and saw another Greek god smiling down at me. “Helen, I presume,” he said.

I had a suspicion that I was in the wrong mythology. I had been hauled from the sea by Paul, so this new man must be Saint Peter. Just as my sluggish mind reached that conclusion, Bob’s worried face appeared at St. Peter’s shoulder. Now I knew for sure that I had drowned. I had heard that it was a painless death, and I certainly wasn’t hurting but I was very weary. The next little while consisted of flashes of still pictures separated by oceans of darkness.

At one moment I was flying, approaching the deck of a white ship. Perhaps with so many islands, ships are used to carry the dear departed to heaven. Another moment, I was in a white room with a man dressed all in white doing something close to my head. I heard him say: “That should hold her while we make the transfer.” After that I was in a white room with a woman in white, wearing a starched headdress, hovering over me. This time the picture started moving like a video. She checked my arm, and I looked down to see a catheter in the back of my hand.

This puzzled me. If I was dead, why did I need medical attention? Death was not at all as it had been presented by the church. When I was flying towards the boat there was a regular swishing noise when there should have been choirs of angels. My attendant looked like a nun, now I looked more closely. The movie ended and the darkness returned. Some indeterminate time later, I woke up.