Chapter 297: Other Side Of The Boat

The loose strip of blanket surfaced again, close enough for Qinghe to see the knot still caught in its end.

He set the bucket down and reached for Shichen’s shoulder before his friend could lean farther over the side.

"Let Jingwei take that end," Qinghe said, keeping his hand against Shichen’s back as the boat lifted. "You’ve got Zhiyi and the water between your knees. Neither of them is going anywhere until you’ve moved."

Shichen looked down, seeming to remember how he was sitting. He helped Zhiyi turn toward Qinghe, then steadied the box while she moved.

Qinghe took her hand and brought her onto the seat beside him, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as Hanchuan joined Jingwei at the bow.

They hauled in the blanket a little at a time, waiting whenever the pull became too strong. Zeyu took up the plastic lid again and worked against the boat’s turn.

By the time the wet bundle reached the rail, Qinghe could see that one corner had torn away from its knot.

Most of the blanket remained intact.

Shichen crouched over it while Hanchuan held the gathered fabric. His first attempt to loosen the damaged corner failed, and he wiped his fingers against his trousers before trying again.

"The knot held, but it pulled through the cloth," Shichen said.

He folded the torn edge inward, working without looking up. "I can gather more into it. We’ll lose some of the opening, but I’d rather have it smaller than watch the whole thing tear apart."

Hanchuan shifted his grip to help. Qinghe watched them work, keeping Zhiyi close while she tucked her hands beneath her arms.

Her teeth had begun to chatter, and the sound bothered him more than the rain running down his own neck.

He had dry blankets and spare clothes in a cupboard he would never open again.

He knew exactly which shelf held the warming packs, and for a moment he pictured reaching for one so clearly that he looked toward the stern.

Zhiyi moved against him, bringing his attention back.

"Your shirt is shaking," she said, pressing her palm against his side.

Qinghe looked down at her and managed a small smile. "That would be me. I was hoping you wouldn’t notice."

She leaned closer without trying to answer. He drew her knees onto the seat, away from the water washing across the deck, and rubbed her upper arm through her life jacket.

There was little warmth to share between them, but the windshield blocked some of the wind. He lowered his head beside hers and stayed there while the others put the blanket back overboard.

The rope drew taut again. Qinghe waited through several waves before allowing himself to look away from it.

Hanchuan came back to them with rain dripping from his hair. He crouched in front of Zhiyi and took her hands, closing his around them while he looked at Qinghe.

"She needs to get out of these wet clothes," Qinghe said quietly. "We all do, but there’s nothing dry to put on her."

Hanchuan glanced toward the salvaged shirts beneath the seat. Qinghe had already checked them twice, although he understood the urge to look again.

"We’ll get something around her as soon as this lets up," Hanchuan said. He lifted Zhiyi’s hands to his mouth and breathed warmth over her fingers before turning to Jingwei. "Get the water covered. We’ve caught what we can keep, and I need everyone low in the boat."

Jingwei retrieved the storage-box lid from Zeyu.

It no longer fitted over the container while the box rested on its side, but he tied it across the opening to keep spray out. Shichen wedged the box more firmly between the supports before sitting beside Zeyu, both of them facing the bow.

Qinghe handed Zhiyi into Hanchuan’s arms when his turn with the bucket came again. She caught his sleeve before he moved away and ran her fingers briefly over the back of his hand.

He bent to kiss her forehead, lingering despite the water on her skin.

"I’ll come back when I’ve done this," Qinghe told her. "Keep your feet up for me. I don’t want that cloth soaking through any more than it already has."

The next stretch of time passed in bucketfuls.

Qinghe stopped trying to guess how long the rain would last.

He watched the water beneath the hatch, checked the patch whenever the boat rolled enough to expose it, and passed the bucket to Jingwei when his shoulders began to ache.

The blanket held the bow roughly into the waves, although Zeyu still had to help with the lid when the wind shifted.

They lost water from the storage box despite everything they had done. Qinghe heard it splash beneath the tied lid once, and Zhiyi turned toward the sound.

Hanchuan kept his arm around her while Shichen checked the container and pushed a folded shirt beneath one edge.

Eventually, Qinghe could see farther than the next few waves.

The rain thinned gradually, leaving drops hanging from the windshield and running down the backs of the seats.

No one announced that it was over. Jingwei continued bailing, and Zeyu stayed near the bow rope until several gentler swells had passed beneath them.

Qinghe stretched his cramped fingers and looked toward the place where the wreck had been.

There was nothing left to see.

He searched farther along the horizon for the little rowing boat, but the rain had hidden their separation, and he couldn’t tell which direction to look.

They might have drifted only a short distance. They might have traveled far enough that neither boat would ever find the other again.

Behind him, Hanchuan was helping Zhiyi loosen the ties of her life jacket.

Qinghe turned back to find Jingwei holding a salvaged shirt open while she pulled one wet arm free of her dress beneath the shelter of Hanchuan’s body.

Qinghe moved closer to block the wind. The shirt was still damp, but they wrung out her dress before putting it back over her knees.

Hanchuan settled her against him again and refastened the life jacket, keeping his hand at the back of her neck while she shivered.

She looked exhausted enough to sleep where she sat.

Qinghe was reaching for the bottle when a heavy breath sounded beyond the side of the boat.

He stopped with his fingers against the cap. At first, he thought someone had surfaced nearby, but the sound came again, deeper than a person could make. Jingwei straightened beside the hatch.

A broad, dark back rose through the water several yards away. Water slid from its skin as it continued past them, showing more of its length than Qinghe had expected. He followed it with his eyes until a small fin appeared far behind the place where he had first seen it.

Hanchuan drew Zhiyi closer as she lifted her head.

Another breath sounded on the other side of the boat.

Qinghe turned toward it, still holding the bottle, while the first enormous shape disappeared beneath the rope stretched from their bow.