'So are you,' I answered and got a mouthful of water from a broken wave cap.
We laughed. We were alive. It was good to laugh. We laughed till a wave rolled right over us. Then we didn't laugh any more. The tide was setting towards Kenidjack Castle and we were being swept in towards the headland. I stripped off all but my pants. Kitty got out of her skirt, and then we settled down to swim for it.
The tide was setting fast and we were tired. There was no chance of going with the current. That way we should have landed on the jagged rocks at the foot of the headland. We swam straight out to sea.
Kitty was a strong swimmer and she was fresher than I was. We kept a steady pace side by side. And all the time I watched the surf boiling at the foot of the headland. It was astonishing how rapidly it seemed to come towards us. The ugly black teeth of rock grinned at us. The surf slavered through them as though waiting to tear our bodies to pieces.
It came nearer and nearer. Then we were in the break of the waves, diving through them and swimming for our lives. For a moment I thought we wouldn't make it. I could feel the undertow clutching at my body as wave after wave thundered down on us. Then we were out of the surf and treading water with the headland receding slowly from us. Kitty swam up beside me. I think she must have realised how tired I was for she said, 'Can you make the shore now? There's a little beach right in under the headland.'
'Okay,' I said, and we began to swim again.
That was the longest swim I ever did. The current was not so strong now, but it was still setting south along the coast and we were trying to swim straight in on the lee side of Kenidjack Castle.
At last we were in the break of waves again. But there was no strength in them now and they carried us the way we wanted to go. I trod water between the waves and then went in with a crawl as each one broke over me. At last my hand, down-thrust to drive me forward, touched rock. I caught hold and clung to it as the surf receded. The next wave carried me in and I felt pebbles under my feet. A moment later I joined Kitty up the narrow beach, clear of the sea. I lay down on the cold pebbles, my chest heaving as though it would burst.
A cold wind blew in from the sea. It was damp and chill under the cliffs. I sat up. The waves thundered in long lines of broken surf. The water sucked and gurgled in the rocks. The moon had set, but there was still light enough in the clear sky to see the outline of Kenidjack Castle hunched against the stars. I looked at Kitty. She was breathing heavily and her teeth chattered. Her slip clung close to her body, emphasising her strong build. Her breasts rose and fell. I reached out and took her hand. She smiled, but didn't say anything. There was nothing to say. We'd been lucky — damned lucky.
I suddenly remembered those three men going up the shaft in the gig. I struggled to my feet. God I was weary! 'Come on,' I said. 'You'll get cold here. And we must see if we can do anything about the gig.'