By the halfway point of the race, Gaby could barely breathe and her lungs were ready to burst. Every muscle in her arms and legs felt as if it was on fire and yet, incredibly, when they rounded the buoy, St Saviour’s weren’t last. According to Len – who admittedly might have been lying – they were fourth out of eight.
‘Pull! Come on! Put your bloody backs into it! Row, you buggers, row!’
Len had used every swearword Gaby had ever heard and few she hadn’t and she was ready to get out of the boat and strangle him, but with Adam on board, they’d managed to keep in the middle of the pack. Of course, one person alone didn’t make a team, but Adam’s skill, power and timing had rubbed off and everyone else felt they had to step up to the mark.
Nonetheless, Gaby wanted to stop rowing more than anything else in the world. Spray stung her eyes, people were breathing heavily and grunting, but no one was going to let the boat behind catch them.
‘We’re closing the gap on the Gull boat!’ Len screamed.
Gaby didn’t know where Gull were. She only knew she had to keep going if it killed her. She gritted her teeth and pulled harder.
‘Come on!’ shouted Will from the rear. ‘Petroc aren’t that far ahead.’
Gaby knew that was a lie, but she hadn’t the breath to argue then the boat bucked a little, throwing her off her stroke, but she recovered and pulled with all her might.
‘Bit of chop as we round the headland. Come on!’ screamed Len, then burst into a coughing fit. No wonder he’d given up rowing, with the number of fags he smoked, thought Gaby wickedly.
‘We can get third!’ Will yelled. ‘We’re almost on Gull. More effort. Bloody come on!’
Gaby thought she couldn’t pull any harder, but Will and Adam had upped the stroke rate and she had no choice but to ignore the fire tearing through her limbs and try to keep up.
‘We’re getting there. We can do this!’
‘Len. Shut up!’ shouted Jess.
‘Oh my God,’ Natalia screeched.
‘What?’ shouted Will.
Len’s face was purple as he glanced to the side of them. ‘What the fuck is going on … Petroc are heading for St Piran’s. Jesus, what is their cox doing? They’re going to collide.’
‘Whaaaa …’ Gaby mouthed but didn’t have the breath to finish the sentence.
‘Fucking hell!’ Len shouted. ‘They’re going to crash into each other.’
‘My God!’ That was Jess.
‘They’ve clashed oars. Great! Don’t you bloody dare slow down. Ye-ess! I think we can win this.’ Len was grinning in delight.
‘Nooo. I c-can’t.’ Gaby let out a howl, but it was too late. The stroke rate picked up again and she had to keep up.
‘We’re past Gull!’ Will yelled in delight.
Between gasps, Gaby caught sight of Patrick and his crew alongside them to the right, faces contorted with effort and despair. Seconds later, she spotted the Petroc and St Piran’s boats off to the left-hand side. They’d come to a halt and were almost on top of each other with their crews shouting and swearing. Then they were gone as the Athene sped past, powered by six demented lunatics and an evil despot called Len.
‘Row! Row until it kills you!’ he shouted.
‘It will!’ said Gaby and wished she hadn’t because speaking meant she’d missed a vital chance to snatch some oxygen.
‘Line coming up. Faster. Faster. Gull are closing again.’
Gaby almost wept as the spray battered her face and her muscles screamed. Then there was a horn blast and cheering and shouting. The boat slowed dramatically and Will was screaming down her ear.
‘We bloody did it!’
Gaby slumped over her oar, gasping for air. Around her, the crew were going nuts, whooping and shouting as she did a goldfish impression.
‘You were fantastic!’ Will slapped her on the back and she started coughing.
‘Whoa! We won! We actually won!’ Jess cried.
‘Course we did. We’re bloody fantastic.’
‘Not half bad for novices,’ said Len.
Gaby supported herself on the oar, wondering if she would make it to shore without throwing up. She managed to glance around to see Will punching the air and Jess with her arms around Adam. He twisted round and hugged her.
No one else seemed to have noticed, however. Len and Natalia were singing ‘We are the Champions!’ as the Petroc boat limped alongside, looking like it was the end of the world.
‘Congratulations!’ Luca called sportingly from his boat, though his smile faded as he caught sight of Jess with her arms around Adam, laughing. Gaby didn’t have time to dwell on them because Len was bawling at them to pick up their oars once more and row back to the shore, before they drifted into any other boats.
Once they were close enough to the beach, Gaby hauled her aching limbs over the side of the boat and stumbled through the shallows. Jess leapt out of the boat and splashed onto the beach, without speaking.
‘Jess. Wait!’ Adam called, dashing round to the other side of the boat to follow her.
Will pulled him back. ‘Leave her, mate.’
‘It’s prob-bably for the b-best,’ said Gaby, whose legs felt decidedly wobbly.
Adam let out a groan. ‘You don’t know …’ he began. ‘Jesus. What a mess.’
Will was sheepish. ‘I asked you to row. It’s my fault.’
Adam’s face was agonised as he saw Jess run towards Luca who was helping to haul the damaged Petroc gig onto the sand. ‘Not the rowing. Everything … I have to go. Emmy and Keri need me. It’s been a long day …’
Glancing up, Gaby saw Keri and Emmy making their way through the crowds on the quay. Keri waved at him and Emmy broke free of her mum, heading for the slipway and Adam.
‘See you,’ said Adam and hurried off towards her.
Will groaned. ‘Shit. What have I done now? I’m a total idiot.’
‘At last. The penny drops,’ said Gaby.
Will glanced down at her, shook his head and sighed. ‘I’d better go after Jess and apologise for asking Adam.’
Gaby touched his arm. Will glanced down as she kept her fingers on his skin. His arm was very sweaty, salty and hairy: a heady cocktail that ought to be gross but, perversely, sent a shiver of lust right through her. Besides, she was hardly fresh from the box herself. Her hair had escaped its scrunchie and tendrils were sticking to her face, which was probably as red as a beetroot.
‘I was joking about you being an idiot, but you should leave Jess and Luca alone,’ she said. ‘The last thing they need is you sticking your oar in. If you’ll excuse the pun.’
‘I’ll excuse anything today.’ He looked at her intently in a way that made her feel deliciously shivery. ‘You gave everything in that boat.’
The moment was interrupted by Len slapping Will on the back so hard, he almost staggered forward. ‘Come on, skipper, there’s a large pint of Tribute waiting for you.’
Will nodded, but his eyes lingered on Gaby. ‘I can’t wait,’ he said and she might have been imagining it but she wasn’t at all sure he was referring to the pint.