He Gave Our Helicopter Away, So I Stopped Waiting to Be Rescued novel · Chapter 23 of 24
Chapter 23: The Gap Between Bands
The first band hit Little Brooks at nine on Thursday night, and the radio in the ops room started to talk.
The island had emptied by noon.
Every guest was on the mainland, every staff family on the last ferry, and the rooms stood dark with their shutters down.
Only the ops crew remained on Grand Brooks, sixteen of us in a concrete room I had drawn myself.
The housekeeper sat in the back corner with Tilda in a sling.
Tilda had been asleep for an hour, with the rabbit tucked under her chin.
I sat at the long table with a headset on and the fishermen's net open in front of me.
"North tip, this is the station," said Fraser's voice, tinny and calm. "Three boats in the lee. Two more coming. I have the old man's boat on the line."
"Copy, Fraser," I said. "How is the sea?"
"Bad. Not terrible. I'll tell you when it's terrible."
"You'd better."
I heard him laugh, a short sound, and then the line filled with static and cleared.
I watched the wall clock, and the barometer, and the wind meter on the roof feed.
The gusts climbed past sixty.
At ten the radio gave a harsh crack, and a different voice came through, shouting.
"Rescue boat's lost her engine! Reeve's taken a rope on the prop!"
My hand went flat on the table.
"Fraser," I said. "Fraser, say again."
"Lena." His voice came back wet and steady. "Don't panic. Listen to me."
"I'm listening."
"The prop's fouled. The tow parted, and I'm drifting east on the old man's boat with three men. We have an anchor, but it's dragging."
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