The Boatman's Wife(10)

Her father always said Lily belonged on the ocean. He’d known it from the first day she’d gone out with him, when she was sat up on his captain’s chair at the wheel and had gripped on to it with both hands. So tiny she could barely see over it, let alone the way forward. But she’d been so happy on the ocean, and so excited when all they could see was water all around them. Not one tiny bit of land. She hadn’t been frightened, not for one instant. But this was her world, not Connor’s. If only someone else could have gone out today in her place – but every other fisherman had his own boat and crew. There had been no one else available. Connor had been the only option.

‘Your dad and Ryan will look after Connor,’ her mom said in a steady voice, her face rigid. ‘The chopper is on the way out. They’ve got this.’

‘I should have been there instead,’ Lily whispered.

‘Oh, honey,’ her mom said, her eyes big. ‘Can’t tell you how glad I am you’re not.’

Amidst the sound of the wind and the thrashing ocean, Lily heard knocking at the door. It was Cherie’s sister, Lou, and her daughter, Angie. Not long after, another knock. Cherie’s neighbours on both sides arrived in. This was what happened when a boat went down. The fishing community came together. Held hands, some prayed, and all of them waited for news. Lily made herself busy in Cherie’s kitchen, making tea and coffee and more sandwiches, which none of them ate.

Everyone huddled on seats around the TV, keeping watch on the weather while looking out at the wind whipping the ocean, its spray spattering the windows. Lily stared at the grey bleak violence of the stormy Atlantic. If the boat had capsized, had they had time to get into the emergency suits her dad kept in the tiny hold? Or had they gone straight into the water, which was likely to be less than fifty degrees? How long could they survive before getting hypothermia?

Lily looked over at her mom, the wife of a fisherman and used to occasional dramas. Lily’s dad had been caught in storms before. Lily remembered at least three from her childhood. Her mom pacing in the lounge, surrounded by friends and neighbours, glaring out the window as if to banish the bad weather. She had been through this all before. Yet Lily could see the fear in her mother’s eyes now as she tried to stay calm for Cherie.

‘Have you ever seen it so bad, Sarah?’ Cherie kept asking her mom, who repeated again and again as if she was trying to convince herself:

‘They’ll be rescued. Our Coast Guard is the best.’



At last, her mom’s phone rang and she snatched it up. Got off the couch and walked into the kitchen, as the rest of them waited in anticipation for her return.

‘Okay, that was Petty Officer Grimes. They’ve picked them up and landed in Brunswick Airport,’ her mom said. ‘They’ve brought them to Mid Coast Hospital.’

Already, the wind was beginning to drop a little as Lily and her mom jumped into the station wagon. This time her mom drove, as fast as she could, while negotiating all the debris from fallen branches on the roads. Behind them followed Cherie, Lou and Angie in Lou’s pickup.

The trees had been stripped bare of their golden bounty of leaves, and the roads were plastered with wet brown mulch. Lily’s whole body was rigid with dread. She couldn’t speak. Besides, her mom was concentrating so hard on driving she didn’t want to distract her. It was over an hour to Brunswick. As they headed inland, they had to be so careful of the conditions. Lily knew all about the dangers of the ocean. Lived it every day. And yet she was shocked, because she had never thought something like this would happen to her.

The evening had never felt so dark to Lily as they raced along the treacherous roads to Brunswick. All the moonlight and stars obscured by dark clouds in the dusky sky. The hospital was on the way into the city centre, but they managed to drive right past the entrance. It was only after they passed the fire station and noticed Lou was no longer driving behind them, that her mom realised her mistake and turned the car. It was a good few minutes before they took a right onto Medical Center Drive and flew down the tree-lined road into the semi-circular car park, pulling up beside Lou’s vehicle.

As they ran into the ER entrance, Lily’s mom almost collided with Ray George, one of the coastguards her parents knew.

‘They okay, Ray?’ Her mom grabbed Ray’s arm, and Lily saw Ray almost wince from her grip.

‘It was one hell of a storm, Sarah, but Jack’s okay,’ he said. ‘The boat capsized, but we picked him up in the life raft.’

Her mom’s body sagged with relief. ‘Thank God. What about the boys?’

Lily saw Ray’s hesitation, the beginning of what he was saying. ‘One of them—’

Lily couldn’t wait to hear any more. She took off down the hospital corridor, her heart pounding with terror, rushing past surprised-looking medics in white coats and weary nurses in their blue scrubs.

‘Connor!’ she called, all the while praying inside her head. Dear Jesus, make Connor be okay. Please. Although if Connor was okay, did that mean Ryan was gone? ‘Connor!’

She ran past an open door. Saw her daddy sitting up in one of the beds, the look on his face when he saw her. His expression told her what she didn’t want to believe, but she couldn’t stop. Kept calling out for Connor, until she came to the next open door. There, she saw him. Ryan.

Cherie, Lou and Angie were already in the room with him. Ryan was unconscious and all connected up to tubes and monitors. Cherie was wailing her son’s name, Lou with her arm around her. But Lily’s cousin, Angie, looked up at her with sorrowful eyes.