Time To Play by KA Richardson (best book club books of all time TXT) 📗

tired to fight any more. She wondered whether he’d whispered goodbye to his family as Davy Jones pulled him deeper into the locker.

Feeling tears prick at her eyes again, she realised she was more tired than she’d initially thought. It wasn’t often she got emotional like this. It was time to go home.

By the time she came out of the bathroom, she’d calmed down.

So when she came face to face with a young girl in an extinct piece of uniform, she’d frozen in shock.

The girl looked to be about sixteen years old; slender framed with dark hair surrounding her petite face. She looked terrified.

‘Easy, love,’ said Marlo softly, holding her hands out in front of her, trying to make herself as non-threatening as she could.

It didn’t work though; the girl spun on her heels and practically flew down the stairs.

Marlo followed and heard the door at the bottom slam into the external wall to the building seconds later.

She put her hand out to stop it closing and winced as the force reverberated through her elbow and shoulder. As she entered the yard, she saw the girl who was frantically looking around for a way out. Her eyes were wide with terror and she was obviously desperate.

Dive Team HQ, South Shields – 14 November

Elvie had nearly had a heart attack when she’d almost walked into the female diver. Even now her heart pounded deep in her chest, every scenario of what could happen next running through her mind, and none of it was good. Even if the cops here weren’t like they were at home, she’d end up shipped off to some little room where the paint was peeling and be forced to answer questions.

She looked around, already feeling dread in the pit of her stomach. There was no way out. She was trapped.

The woman would kill her, she was sure of it. Well, almost sure. A voice niggled at the back of her mind. Maybe she’ll help you, maybe she’s as nice as she seems when you’ve been watching. But she knew in her heart she couldn’t take the risk.

So she did the only thing she could do. She turned and leapt as far as she could into the pitch-black sea at the bottom of the wall.

Dive Team HQ, South Shields – 14 November

‘Shit!’ exclaimed Marlo as she heard the girl land with a loud splash. She raced to the edge of the wall, but she couldn’t see the girl. She knew the wall was solid, built to hold the water back, not allow it under like some ocean walls. There was nowhere the girl could have gone.

Thankful for the torch app on her mobile phone, she shone it back and forth over the water, looking for the girl or any sign indicating where she could be. Finally, she saw a small burst of bubbles spill over the surface, and putting her mobile phone down, she pulled in a deep breath and jumped into the water.

The icy cold water was like a slap to the face, and she instinctively wanted to breathe in, but she didn’t; instead, she swam powerful strokes to the rough area she’d seen the bubbles, bent double and pushed herself beneath the surface. Kicking her feet to propel herself forward, she blindly felt around for anything that felt solid. She felt something fabric, with weight behind it, so she pulled with all her might, resurfacing only centimetres from where she’d gone under.

The girl’s body was motionless, and Marlo swore softly. Turning the girl onto her back, Marlo put her cheek up to the mouth of the girl, feeling for breath.

There was nothing, not even a whisper of breath.

Treading water to support the girl’s weight as well as her own, she firmly pinched the girl’s nose and filled her lungs with air from her own. She repeated the process, willing the girl to wake.

Suddenly the girl jerked beneath her, and started coughing, seawater splashing up onto Marlo’s face. ‘Easy, love, you’re OK.’ She soothed, twisting slightly so the girl could cough up the briny water.

Placing her arm across the girl’s chest and under her arms, Marlo swam them both to the edge of the wall. The ladder was illuminated slightly by the lights in the yard, but she held no illusion. Getting herself up the ladder would be challenging enough, the cold starting to set in now as her adrenaline abated, and she wondered how she’d manage to get the girl up too.

‘Listen, can you hear me? I know you’re cold, and I promise we’ll get warmed up as soon as we get back into the building. But first, I need your help, OK?’

The girl just mumbled in response.

‘Hey, girly, look at me. Open those pretty brown eyes and look. I need you to help me, or we’ll both die in this freezing cold sea, do you understand?’

Understanding flashed across the girl’s face, and suddenly her fight came back. Whatever Marlo had planned in relation to carrying the girl up the ladder went out of the window as the kid reached past her, grabbed the lowest rung and pulled herself forward. Reaching as though her very life depended on it, she stretched again and dragged herself further.

The second her feet hit the lowest rung, Marlo reached up and grabbed a rung too. Spurring her on, Marlo muttered encouragement until both of them finally hoisted themselves over onto the concrete of the yard. The danger now was that both had spent their energy. The girl had already collapsed with her eyes closed. Marlo was close to doing the same.

But she pushed herself, knowing they had to get inside the building. She got to her feet, and grunting, she hoisted the girl over her shoulder in a fireman’s lift. Her legs wobbled under the excess weight, but she managed to maintain