He finished the coffee and tipped the dregs on to the tarmac. Perhaps this hadn’t been such a bad idea after all; it wasn’t just Sandra who needed a change of scenery and a chance to catch her breath. There was a bit of poetry he’d learned at school and he was trying to remember it, for it suited the occasion perfectly. But the only phrase he could recall was something about standing and staring. ‘“What is this life if, full of care, / We have no time to stand and stare?”’ he murmured, pleased that he hadn’t forgotten it completely.

‘You’re talking to yourself, Terry,’ said Sandra through the open window.

He gave a sigh as he checked the oil, water and petrol, replenished the fuel tank from one of the two cans in the boot and climbed back behind the steering wheel as some more snatches of the little poem came back to him.

‘“No time to see, in broad daylight / Streams full of stars, like skies at night,”’ he breathed. ‘“A poor life this if, full of care, / We have no time to stand and stare.’

She raised her eyes to the roof and tutted impatiently before continuing to fix her make-up. ‘Just get us out of here, Terence.’

*

Ben had spent an anxious night listening to the chatter that went back and forth between the outlying stations on the two-way radio. He’d stayed up in the tower watching the storm until midnight, when Jake arrived to take over. But they both had needed to stay alert and, after a long night of endless pots of coffee, they were not only exhausted, but jumpy from all the caffeine.

As Ben returned to the house after preparing for the day, he found Jake gathering up his things. ‘I’d better get back and give those blokes in the lock-up some breakfast,’ he said through a vast yawn. ‘Then I promised Emily I’d help to paint the schoolroom and put a new coat of varnish on the floor.’

Ben grinned and ran his fingers through his dark brown hair. ‘She’s got you on a string, mate. You wanna watch it, or before you know it you’ll be walking up the aisle.’

Jake’s answering grin was sheepish. ‘Yeah, well, worse things happen at sea, mate.’ His dark eyes met Ben’s. ‘And you’re no better,’ he added. ‘You’ve been chasing Becky for months. Ain’t it time you let her catch you?’

‘I wish she would,’ he admitted. ‘But she’s got Danny to think about, so we can’t rush things.’

Jake nodded thoughtfully as he buckled on his gun holster and adjusted the belt. ‘I know. It’s always difficult when there’s kids involved.’