The Lost Years by E.V. Thompson Read Free Book Online Page B

men he had just abandoned so dramatically.
    Reaching the spot where he had seen the head, Perys dived beneath the wreckage. He touched something that moved, but was forced to the surface before he could be certain. Drawing in a deep breath, he dived again. This time he found the body of a man, but when he tried to take it with him to the surface, he realised it was entangled in rigging.
    He struggled to free the man, but did not succeed until he had almost exhausted all the air he had taken in and it felt as though his lungs would burst. Then, with the inert body in his arms, he kicked out for the surface.
    When he emerged with his burden, the men in the boat put up a shout of encouragement. A few minutes later the seaman was taken from him, then Perys was hauled into the boat to the congratulations of the crew.
    Perys feared his rescue attempt had been in vain, but, laid face down over one of the thwarts, the rescued man had his back pummelled by one of the crew and he suddenly coughed. Water gushed from his mouth and his whole body twitched . . . He was alive.
    Soon afterwards, Perys and his fellow crew-men rescued another two men, while the Mevagissey lifeboat rescued others, by which time a number of fishing boats had arrived, drawn to the scene by the sound of the explosion.
    In addition to the partly drowned man, one of the other crewmen was badly injured. The oldest man in the Mevagissey boat, who had assumed command, said, ‘There are enough boats out here to carry on the search now, we’ll get these men back to shore.’
    The lifeboat coxwain had been of the same opinion he was already taking his boat back to the harbour. The boat in which Perys was a crewman followed behind.
    The seamen sat huddled quietly together as the boat headed back towards the harbour, the more seriously injured man rocking backwards and forwards, as though by so doing he might lessen his pain.
    The men spoke sufficient English to give their nationality as Russian, but they were unable to tell their rescuers anything else.
    When the boat bumped against a flight of stone steps built into the wall of Mevagissey’s outer harbour, a number of young boys eagerly secured it while older men helped the survivors ashore.
    The injured men were taken to the lifeboat station, which had been turned into a temporary first aid post. There, Perys, his clothes dripping water, was surprised to find Morwenna capably assisting the local doctor. With her was a pale-faced Arabella.

CHAPTER 9
    Miraculously, only three members of the unfortunate barque’s crew died in the explosion which wrecked their ship, but many were injured. Morwenna and the local doctor were kept busy until help arrived from the St Austell Hospital, summoned to Mevagissey by a telephone appeal from the local coastguard.
    Despite being urged to go home and change out of his wet clothes, Perys remained until Morwenna was ready to return to Heligan. She left Mevagissey with the warm thanks of the doctor ringing in her ears for the important part she had played in the dramatic rescue of the Russian seamen.
    As they made their way back to Heligan House, Perys said, wryly, ‘That was rather more excitement than we expected to find when we set out this morning.’
    ‘It was indeed!’ Morwenna agreed. ‘Did I hear one of the fishermen say that if you ever decided to take up fishing he would be happy to have you in his crew?’
    ‘Yes,’ Perys said. Holding out his hands, he added, sheepishly, ‘but he hadn’t seen these.’ He extended his fingers to reveal a mess of bloody blisters and torn skin.
    ‘Perys!’ Arabella was horrified. ‘They are awful! You must be in agonies of pain - as well as uncomfortably wet.’
    ‘You should have showed your hands to me when we were in the village.’ Morwenna chided. ‘I could have treated them there.’
    ‘I would have felt foolish.’ Perys confessed. ‘There were far more serious injuries for you to deal with - and I thought you dealt with