Page 66 of Refuge for Ailsa

“Oh, those are something we’re trying. We call them pods. Water movement disturbs the mussels, so we had those made. We keep enough air inside them to make them buoyant, and they’re tethered to the bottom of the lake with chains on rings embedded in the lake bed.”

“Is there a gap between the pods and the lake bed?”

“Yeah. ’Bout four or five feet. Our people dive and go under to check on the mussels, set the racks, things like that.”

“Oh, fuck,” Tavish heard Harley whisper. “We’ve been looking in the wrong direction this whole time.”

Tavish forged ahead. “Are any of them empty right now?”

The man looked out over the rows of the huge steel pods. They were five deep running out into the lake and eight of them across?forty in all. “No. They’re all… Wait. That one right there, at the far corner,” he said, pointing to the left. “It’s empty right now. Haven’t gotten it loaded yet.”

Tavish was already shucking his clothes off. “What do you need?” Harley asked.

“Goggles. Waterproof light. And an oxygen canister. And get everybody here?EMS, EMTs, at least one ambo, search and rescue.”

Harley spun to look at Mr.Gilchrist. “Is there any way to lift that thing?”

“No!” Harley wheeled back to stare at Tavish, and the conservation officer shook his head. “You pull that thing up and it’ll cause a suction that’ll pull whatever is in it straight to the bottom. And if she’s been in there this whole time, she’ll be weak and?”

“You can’t really think that missing woman is in there, can you?” Mr.Gilchrist fairly shrieked.

“Sir, I’m almost one hundred percent positive. Now, get me the goggles, a small air canister, and a light.” The man stood and stared with his jaw dropped. “NOW!” Tavish screamed, and he watched the man turn and run toward the building behind them.

“Tav, please, wait for search and rescue,” Harley pleaded. “We don’t need to lose you too.”

“You won’t lose me, but I’ve got to go down there. Make the calls, Harley. Please, I beg you, make the calls. And don’t try to stop me.” Mr.Gilchrist ran toward him carrying a light, a small air canister, and some goggles, all in a drawstring bag. Tavish was already standing there in nothing but his briefs, so he pulled out the goggles and drew his left arm through the drawstring on the bag. “If she’s there, I’ll try to beat on the walls to let you know, but I’m betting you won’t be able to hear me.”

He fastened the goggles as Harley called dispatch from the radio on his shoulder, and Tavish turned to look at the bedraggled dog. “I love you, Starlight. You stayed right here with your mistress. You’re a good girl. I’ll have her back in just a couple of minutes.” Then he waded out into the lukewarm water and started swimming. It was difficult with the bag dragging behind him, but he was a strong swimmer and he would manage.

When he reached the pod, he pulled the bag off his shoulder, took out the light, and stuck his arm back through the drawstring.Please, please, please be there. Oh, god, Ailsa, if you’re not here, I don’t know what else to do. You’ve gotta be here. Please?Tavish took a deep breath and dropped straight down.

When his feet hit the bottom, he realized he was in about fifteen feet of water. With the light turned on, he shone it around. The water was typical murky lake water, but he could see the bottom edge of the pod and the chains at the two nearest corners. It was about four and a half feet off the lake bed, so he pulled off the drawstring bag and dragged it under the edge, then turned it loose to let it float up inside. Without another thought, he dove and swam under the edge of the pod. As he rose, he bumped into something.

It was a foot.

His head broke the surface and he shined the light around. There, in the corner, with her face just an inch from the water, was Ailsa. She was unconscious, but he took her pulse, and it was strong. “Come on, baby. Come on, Ailsa, honey, wake up. It’s Tavish. Wake up, babe.” The bag with the air canister was floating a few feet from him, and he reached out, grabbed it, and drew it to him. His hand swept under her chin and pushed her face upward, but her head just dropped back. “Okay, baby, here we go.” Tavish opened the valve on the canister just a little and pressed it to one of Ailsa’s nostrils. “Breathe, babe. Please breathe.” And he waited.

It took over thirty seconds, but he heard her moan. “Ohhhhh, uhhhhh…”

“Ailsa! Ailsa, it’s Tavish. Honey, open your eyes and look at me. Ailsa, look at me. Right now.”

Her head rose slowly, and then her eyes opened. “Tavish?”

“Yeah, babe! It’s me! Oh, god, Ailsa, you gave me such a scare. I didn’t think I’d ever find you.”

“Tav, I kept praying you’d find me. Where am I?”

“I’ll explain that in a few minutes.” He held the cannister aloft and banged it into the side of the pod. It made enough noise that he was pretty sure the people on the shore could hear it. “Now they know that I’ve found you. Search and rescue will be here in a few minutes, and those guys will be able to get you out safely. But until then, you’re here with me.”

“There’s a ledge,” she mumbled, and Tavish felt down the side of the pod. Sure enough, he found the ledge. “I slid off.”

“Yeah. It’s not very big. Let’s climb back up there and sit until they come, okay?”

She held up her bound hands. “Can’t.”

“Shit. I didn’t think to bring a knife. It’s okay. I’ll get you up there. Let me get up there and I’ll pull you up, okay?”

“Hung.”

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