I was nearly at him, I was so close, just a few more paces, but then as I struggled on, I felt something pulling me back, tugging me back from my waist, stopping my progress, dragging me back towards the house. I was being pulled in, my anchor and surely not just my anchor but other stronger people than my anchor were hauling me back to the safety of the wall. I reached out my hand for Tummis.

‘Grab on, Tummis, the wave, the wave!’

And he looked behind him and then there was fear about him and he reached out at last, he reached out as I was being dragged away, he stumbled towards me.

‘Come on! Come on!’ I cried.

He stretched something out to me, not his hand but something shining, something to extend his arm.

‘Come on! Tummis! Quick!’ I cried, because then whoever was tugging was tugging hard, so hard I could barely keep my feet on the ground.

I stretched my hand out, caught hold of the shining thing, felt metal.

‘I’ve got you!’ I cried. ‘Hold on, they’ll tug us in, only hold on!’

He stumbled a bit towards me, but then he fell. He was down in it. He was caught on something, his foot was trapped, he tried to wrestle it free.

‘I …’ he called, ‘a post office box has me,’ he said, ‘by the ankle. I can’t free myself.’

‘Tummis! Tummis! The wave!’

And then there was an almighty tug on the lead and I was dragged, pulled, heaved away from him, with only the metal thing in my hand. I was rolled over this way and that, smacked into things, but pulled and dragged on. And there he was further and further away and then a great shadow came over him and then a fearsome crashing. And that was it. I was turned over and could see nothing. When I could at last look back again he wasn’t there any more. He’d gone under.

I was still screaming when they hauled me in, by the time they got me safe to the wall. I was still holding onto that metal thing. It was a tap, a useless bloody tap. With an H on it, for hot I supposed. That was all that was left of him. Just that. A bloody tap. What was the use in that?

It had been several of the big anchors that hauled me in, they were in a panic over the storm and all were trying to scramble back in through the gates because the heaps now were getting up proper, and waves had begun to break against the house wall, it was much deeper there now than when I first came out.

‘In! In! In!’ they screamed. ‘We must get inside!’

The Captain was running around blowing his whistle, panic on his face.