"Where is Holmes?"
"I – I –"
"So help me, Fenton, I'll kill you!"
"N-no! Th-the caves, h-he's in the big one," the man gasped.
My heart leapt into my throat, choking me.
"But – the tides!"
"That was Jefferson's idea, n-not mine!" he whimpered.
I only had thirty minutes before high tide.
I stopped at the mouth of the cave, swallowing down that paralysing fear of water that threatened to make a coward of me once again, staring at the tide that was already filling the passage.
Then I held my breath, plunging into the current.
I admit to panic, fearing I would fall and be swept away, but I headed into the cave, jaw clenched.
Suddenly I heard a splash, and I whirled in time to see a dark head disappear under the water, now chest-high. I dove and caught him, yanking his head above water just as the current tugged about us.
Holmes's eyes grew wide above the gag, but there was no time to release him, the tide was pouring in on us. I threw him over my shoulder and staggered back through the rising current, finally collapsing on firm ground, untying him with shaking hands.
"Y-you c-came through that w-water," he whispered in wonder, shivering in my arms.
I do not know which of us was trembling more badly.