Chapter 31: The Moon Ray
Saturday 12:01 a.m.
At the Wilson Hotel, the signal flare drowned out the last chime of the clock at midnight and shook the picture windows that overlooked the harbour. The signal flare was followed by another, and then a third, each one shooting up outside cutting through the darkness and deepening mist, and accompanied a split second later by a loud boom.
The few people left in the hotel bar ran to the windows, joined by Mrs. Wilson holding her tiny Yorkshire terrier in her arms. "Oh my, those Lifeboat signals are always so noisy. They disturb my little Princess Tinkle," she said. "Look at her shaking!"
"It's important though, someone's in trouble out there and they're summoning the emergency rescue crew," said Mrs. Wenn. She seemed relieved to have an opportunity to change the subject from Al's revelations about her past obsession with Wenn Hall.
"Someone must have run aground out there in the storm," Pauline said. "We should head down. I'm not a member of the Lifeboat crew any more but maybe I could lend a hand."
All thoughts of a romantic night at the hotel forgotten, Al hastily paid the bill and they took leave of the Wenns and the Wilson Hotel, driving in the plumber's van down the steep road to the Platt.
The ball attendees were spilling out onto the Platt, their splendid costumes looking bedraggled in the misty air. Pauline was amused to see Louisa Glasson dressed like a fairy tale princess, a fancy mask tucked up on her forehead, followed close on by Jago Powell in an equally impressive fairy tale prince costume. Then came the Doc in his usual full suit and tie, clutching his medical bag and with an eye mask dangling out of his breast pocket.
The Doc and Louisa seemed to be arguing about something, nothing unusual there, but then Batman burst out of the tent, pulling a protesting mermaid with him. Pauline recognized them as Penhale and, was that… yes it was! Sandra Mylow.
"Doc, what's going on?" Penhale said.
Martin looked at Louisa. "I'm afraid I've my hands full at the moment with a criminal matter and now there's a Lifeboat emergency." As the rain began to fall in earnest, Louisa walked away and got in the open door of a small black limousine across the Platt.
"Penhale, you need to arrest this woman for attempted poisoning," Martin barked, indicating Sandra.
"What's going on?" Al wondered aloud in all the commotion. "No time for that," Pauline replied, making her way through the crowd to the Lifeboat Station. Steve Baker, who was not in costume, was already unlocking the doors. He was clearly relishing the chance to go into action.
"It's the Moon Ray, a yacht out of Barnstaple," Steve told the volunteer crew gathering around. "They radioed for help, they've run up against the cliffs outside the harbour with four crew and passengers aboard. It's hardly to be wondered at in this weather. It's difficult to find your way on the road, let alone on the water, and you can't always rely on GPS alone. They're listing and taking on water. The storm's moving in faster than expected, no time to lose getting out there."
Lifeboat Station Chairman Art Johnson, still costumed as King Arthur, went over to the Doc, who was talking heatedly with Penhale. "Never mind that, Dr. Ellingham. We need you to set up in the Village Hall in case there's injuries to deal with when the Lifeboat gets back."
Meanwhile, Steve was still full of bravado, leading the effort to pull the motorboat out of the garage. "Don't try and stop me, Art. No matter how bad the storm looks out there."
"I'm not stopping you," Art replied. "You need to get out there ASAP."
"The wind is picking up fast but we've got a duty to help no matter what," Steve declared. "I purposely skipped the ball so we'd have a skeleton crew ready and able to help in case something like this happened. And now it has!"
"My only concern is you having a full crew that hasn't been drinking," Art said.
Pauline stepped forward. "I'm ready to help. I've kept up with my first aid skills. We weren't at the ball and I've only had a bit of wine to drink."
"Now Pauline, you quit the crew and you have to be recertified and have your insurance up-to-date and all to go out with them," Art said.
Pauline was afraid he would say that. She turned to the Doc. "I'm trained in first aid, I could help out at your triage centre in the Village Hall."
"Er, that won't be necessary," he replied. "I'll have plenty of help with the certified emergency first responders here. You can… um, enjoy the rest of your work holiday."
Pauline could see his scepticism that she could be of any help at all. Reception Chickie, that's all people think I am, she thought. She sulked and stood aside as a crew of three took their positions in the motorboat and then raced out through the rain across the choppy harbour.
"It's not fair. I miss out on all the excitement," she protested, in vain.
"All right everyone, move along. Nothing to see here," Art declared.
The rain began to increase as the remaining costumed revellers scattered for their homes or vehicles. Pauline pulled her cardigan up to ineffectually cover her head and then took a wrong step and planted her left foot into a pothole full of water. Her new chestnut brown satin kitten heel court shoe got stuck and came off. She pulled it out of the hole and held it up, dripping. Ruined.
Al sighed. "Come on Paul, party's over. I'll take you home."
To be continued…