Radclyffe - When Dreams Tremble

Dev wasn’t anywhere. No. No no no. She

circled one more time, and suddenly Dev surfaced just beyond arm’s reach. Her

face was contorted with pain and even as Leslie’s heart thrilled with elation, Dev

slid beneath the water and did not come up.

JackkniÞ ng, Leslie plunged headÞ rst and reached her within seconds.

She grabbed Dev’s hand and dragged her up into the air.

Dev coughed and gagged as Leslie grabbed her shirt.

“You’re okay, sweetheart. You’re okay. I’ve got you,” Leslie gasped.

“That…woman…lost her,” Dev wheezed. “Need to…look.”

“She’s okay. She’s in the boat. Can you swim? Dev! Can you swim?”

Dev shook her head. “Cramp in my…hip. Can’t…”

“You hold on to me.” Leslie gripped Dev’s shirt so hard her Þ ngers went

numb. “You hear me? You hold on to me, and I’ll get you to shore.”

Dev didn’t answer, but she did her best to help Leslie as Leslie swam them both

toward safety. Natalie waded out into chest-high water to meet them and

grabbed Dev around the waist.

“I’ve got her,” Natalie said.

Leslie kept swimming, her hold on Dev never loosening. She didn’t feel the cold

or the pain in her arms and legs or the burning in her lungs. All she knew was

that she would not lose Dev. Not ever again.

“Leslie,” Natalie shouted. “Let go. I’ve got her.”

Eileen joined Natalie and wrapped her arm around Leslie. “It’s all right, sweetie.

It’s all right. Let Natalie help you. Let go now.”

Natalie and Eileen dragged Dev and Leslie onto the bank.

Slumping down, shivering violently, Leslie pulled Dev into her lap.

She pressed Dev’s face to her breasts and wrapped her as tightly as she could

in her arms. Dev’s lips were blue, her face terrifyingly white.

“Dev, love, are you all right?” Leslie cried. She brushed Dev’s hair from her

face, stroked her cheek, kissed her forehead. “Dev?”

“I’m okay,” Dev gasped. “Les, I’m okay.”

Natalie draped a rescue blanket around Leslie’s shoulders and another over

Dev.

“It’ll be a while before we can get her to an ambulance,” Natalie said. “They’re

overloaded and transporting victims as fast as they can.”

“Don’t need an ambulance,” Dev said, her teeth chattering. “Just need to get

warm.”

“Go help the others, Natalie,” Leslie said, rubbing Dev’s back and arms. “I’ll

take care of her.”

Natalie smiled and brieß y touched Leslie’s cheek. “I know you will. I’ll be

back. You stay warm too.”

Leslie closed her eyes and cradled Dev, absolutely certain that there was

nothing else in the world she wanted except Dev. She closed her eyes, Þ ghting

to stay awake. The sound of an engine approaching Þ nally roused her. Her

father guided his motorized cart up next to them.

“Can you get her up in here, honey? I’ll take you both up to the lodge.”

Dev opened her eyes and met Leslie’s. “I can make it if you give me a hand.”

“You bet,” Leslie said, kissing Dev softly on the mouth.

“Anytime.”

CHAPTER THIRTY

As soon as her father dropped Leslie and Dev off in front of the lodge and

hurried back down the hill to help transport other injured, Leslie took Dev

upstairs, raided her parents’ closet for dry clothes, and led her into one of the

empty guestrooms.

“Let me help you get your clothes off,” Leslie said, tugging Dev’s shirt from her

jeans.

“I got it,” Dev rasped. “You get undressed too. You’re shaking.”

“At least I’m not blue,” Leslie snapped, still remembering the terror of watching

Dev slide beneath the surface of the lake. “Oh, God, I’m sorry.” She brushed a

trembling hand over her face. “I was just so scared.” She pulled Dev, wet

clothes and all, into her arms and hugged her close. “I was afraid I was going to

lose you. I couldn’t bear it, Dev.

I just couldn’t.”

“It’s okay.” Dev wrapped her arms around Leslie’s waist and rocked her.

“We’re both okay.”

Still shaky, but immeasurably comforted by Dev’s rapidly returning strength,

Leslie leaned behind her to turn on the shower, keeping one hand on Dev’s

shoulder. “Let’s get warm, and then I’ll Þ nd something for us to wear.”

Wordlessly, Dev stripped off the rest of her clothes and stumbled into the

steaming water, leaving the door ajar for Leslie to follow. For long moments she

leaned against the wall, not speaking, eyes closed, her hand linked with Leslie’s.

As the heat penetrated her body, her mind cleared. With clarity came disbelief.

The events at the lake seemed like a surreal dream, a nightmare that had slid into

her consciousness, leaving indelible images of horror behind.

“I still can’t believe it,” Leslie whispered, seeming to read Dev’s mind.

“Neither can I.” Dev ß ung her hair back out of her face and met Leslie’s eyes.

“You’re amazing. I can’t even guess how many people you just saved.”

Tears brimmed in Leslie’s eyes. “No more than you.”

Dev shook her head. “I never could swim like you. I think you made two trips

to my one. Jesus, Les. Are you okay?”

“I have no idea.” Leslie’s smile was brittle. “All I know is that you’re here and

that’s all that matters.”

“I love you,” Dev said, gently drawing Leslie back into her arms.

She rested her cheek against Leslie’s hair. “And it feels so good.”

“Better than anything in the world.” Leslie kissed the base of Dev’s throat, then

her mouth.

A few minutes later, dressed in borrowed pants and sweatshirts, barefoot

except for thick socks, Dev and Leslie went back downstairs.

Leslie carried another sweatshirt under one arm.

“The sun is going down,” Dev observed as she walked to the front window.

“It’s going to get cold pretty fast. Looks like they’ve got almost everyone into

the ambulances now.”

“Can you start a Þ re in the great room?” Leslie asked Dev. “I’m going to take

this down to Natalie and see if I can get my mother and father to come inside.

They’ve got to be freezing.”

“Tell Natalie she needs to take a break. Get her to come inside and get warm

too.”

“I will,” Leslie said, tugging on her mother’s rubber mud boots.

“I’ll be right back.”

By the time Leslie returned with Natalie, her parents, and a deputy sheriff, Dev

had a roaring blaze going, the heat and ß ames chasing away the ghosts in her

mind as well as the chill from her bones. While Natalie, Eileen, and Paul went to

change into dry clothing, the sheriff—

a short-haired blonde with the body of a rugby player who introduced herself as

Jules Kipling—asked Leslie and Dev for their account of events. They were just

starting the interview when Natalie, wearing khaki pants that were six inches too

long and a faded blue cable-knit sweater, joined them.

“I’m Sergeant Natalie Evans, Park Service,” Natalie said to the sheriff.

“Sergeant.” The sheriff nodded a greeting as Natalie sat down on the couch next

to Dev. “I suspect when things are all sorted out this will fall under Park

jurisdiction because it happened on the lake. Just the same, I think we better

consider it a joint investigation for now.”

“Fine,” Natalie said, studying the blonde. “I didn’t get your name.”

“It’s Kipling.” The sheriff smiled as her eyes held Natalie’s just a beat longer

than absolutely necessary. “But you can call me Kip.”