New Girl in Little Cove by Damhnait Monaghan (fun books to read for adults .TXT) 📕

white, his eyes wild. He reached out and grabbed my hood, tugging and tugging until my chest breached the ice. Half strangled, I lay on the ice, breathing hard.

“Jaysus God tonight, woman,” he said, his voice shaky. “You’re after giving us all a fright.”

Then he untied the rope and secured it around my waist. “All right, b’ys,” he shouted. “I got her.”

Behind him the men began tugging. I tried to crawl with the rope, but mostly I let myself be dragged. It was slow going. Doug was beside me, elbowing his way across the ice, his eyes never leaving mine. When we finally reached the steps, he pulled me up and into his arms, muttering, “Thank Christ.”

Then Eddie jostled him aside, shouting instructions. Hands joined to form a chair and I was hurried up the steps to the wharf. Then Eddie hoisted me into his arms and carried me carefully up the path to Lucille’s. Doug and a few others walked behind us, their voices high as they replayed the rescue.

“More guts than brains, wha?” said Eddie as we arrived at Lucille’s door.

She appeared, all cross at the commotion until she saw the state of me. “Jaysus, Mary and Josephine,” she said. “What’s after happening?”

“Lu-Lucille,” I managed to spit out. “I’m sorry.”

The men all talked at once, trying to fill her in. One of them patted my shoulder awkwardly. “Christ on a bike,” he said. “Thought you was a goner.” Doug gave him a dirty look.

“Bring her in the kitchen quick!” Lucille shouted at Eddie. “And get that wet coat off her. I’ll get some quilts.”

Doug followed Eddie inside and fumbled with the buttons, then pulled my coat off and threw it on the floor, where a pool of red water began to form as the dye leached out. Lucille came out of her bedroom with a pile of quilts at the exact same time that Judy burst through the door.

Suddenly, I remembered that Dad’s lighter had been in my coat. I fell to the floor and clawed at the pockets, but they were both empty. I stammered my thanks to Eddie and Doug, shoulders heaving as I held back the sobs.

“Judy and I got her now, b’ys,” said Lucille, ushering the men out the door. I could hear Doug asking to stay.

Judy patted me on the back. “It’s just the shock,” she said. “You’re grand.” Then she stripped off the rest of my clothes, Lucille wrapped me in quilts, and they sat me beside the stove to warm up.

“How long do you reckon you were in the water, Rachel?” Judy asked.

I said I didn’t know. “We won’t put you in the bath,” said Lucille. “It might be too big a shock for the system. I’ll make a hot water bottle for you.” She bent down and peered at me more closely.

“What’s after happening to your face? It’s scratched up like a chicken pen.”

“The dog,” I said. “Her way of saying thanks, I guess.”

“Well, she must be feeling better, Judy,” said Lucille. “She’s got her sass back.”

The kettle had boiled and Lucille now filled a hot water bottle for me and put it on my stomach over the quilt. “Now, let’s move you to the daybed and I’m going to fix some hot soup for you.”

She and Judy helped me hobble over to the daybed. Judy sat down beside me while Lucille started banging pots and pans about on the stove.

“You okay?” Judy asked.

I nodded, shivering.

“Thank God for that,” she said. “When I asked you to find a way to reach Calvin, I wasn’t expecting anything quite so dramatic.”

I managed a little laugh.

Lucille now brought over two steaming mugs of tea. Judy put her own on the floor and held mine up so I could sip it. Before I’d made much progress, Lucille filled another mug with pea soup and brought it over. I was able to curl my fingers around the handle and slowly drink it.

“Where’s Doug?” I asked.

“I sent him to check if the roads were cleared,” said Lucille. “He was all for getting an ambulance, but I allows you’re all right now, aren’t you?”

I nodded.

Eventually, the two women helped me upstairs to bed. Lucille piled so many quilts on me, I was rendered immobile. I lay there, listening to her walk back and forth from the kitchen to the living room every time the phone rang, which was about ten times more often than I’d ever heard when I lived there. At various points I heard Lucille using the words foolish, cracked and grand, all of which I interpreted as descriptions of me.

When I awoke later, Lucille was sitting on the edge of the bed. I told her I was feeling much better. She gave me one of her robes to put on, then helped me back downstairs to the daybed. Then there was a shuffling in the hall, and Calvin came through to the kitchen. He stood awkwardly in the doorway, hands thrust in his coat pockets.

“I wanted to say t’anks, miss.”

I managed to right myself to a sitting position and patted the daybed. “Come sit down. How’s Ruthie?”

“Ah, miss, she’s the best kind. Lying by the stove now, with me mudder fussing over her. And she’s chewing the biggest bone you ever saw.” His voice cracked. “T’anks for saving her, miss.”

He sat down, hands coming out of his pockets. His bony wrists were at least two inches from the sleeve ends. He rubbed his hands up and down so hard on his cords I thought sparks might fly. Then he reached into a pocket and dropped something into my lap. It was an intricately carved bird. I turned it over, marvelling at the detail—the beady eyes, the richly feathered wings.

“Where did you get this?” I asked. “It’s beautiful.”

“I made it.” He looked at me sideways and smiled shyly. “I likes to mess around with wood. Me grandfadder taught me.” His eyes lit up as he spoke of his hand-me-down tools and how he loved to