Page 43 of Infamous

Swimming had been arranged for the following day if the weather held, and it did. Nash emerged unusually early, scruffy-haired and beaming, and announced that they should go before luncheon and then come back up to the house to eat and revive themselves by the fire.

‘Nothing better for the appetite than swimming,’ he said, flicking Valentine on the head as he walked past. Valentine just scowled at him.

Mrs Hall was sent to find the linen towels, and then parcelled them out to the guests, looking grim.

‘Mrs Hall, we are not going to drown,’ said Nash.

Mrs Hall did not seem convinced. Based on her general demeanour, Eddie rather thought that it was the prospect of the amount of administrative work required if they died that was making her glum, not the idea that they might lose their lives.

They all gambolled down to the dock in high spirits, the promise of doing something foolish lending an air of hysteria to the proceedings. Juno bounded along ahead of them, barking madly; Albert and Valentine, who had announced they were not to swim, were the only two to keep level heads. When they reached the water, the reality of the plan slowed all but Nash in their tracks.

‘Bunch of bloody cowards and shit-sacks, the lot of you,’ he said, already yanking off his stockings. ‘Now look away or live with the image of me in a state of undress forever. I don’t mind which.’

‘Ladies,’ Liza said, gesturing towards the trees. ‘If you’ll follow me.’

‘You’re going in, then?’ Eddie said to Rose, holding a branch out of the way for her as they followed Liza into the woods. ‘Good Lord, what would Ava Forester say if she could see you now?’

‘Yes,’ said Rose. ‘Well .?.?. If there is any place to behave like a fool, it’s here, where nobody with better sense can see us. And .?.?. well, we did have such fun that time in Brighton.’

They all began undressing, hanging their dresses from the branches and then standing around laughing and shivering in their shifts.

‘If you get into trouble,’ Kitty said, shaking out her hair, ‘just scream as loud as you can, and I shall come and fish you out. I am a very strong swimmer.’

Eddie shot a wide-eyed look of alarm at Rose, who laughed.

When they made it back down to the shore, Nash and Dayo were already in the water.

‘How is it, Mr Akerele?’ Liza called, perhaps suspecting that Nash would not give an accurate report of the temperature.

‘Cold,’ he said. ‘But bearable once you are submerged.’

‘Listen to the man and submerge yourselves at once!’ Nash shouted, before launching himself into a spirited backstroke. Where his shirt was open, Eddie could clearly see his pale chest, covered in whorls of fine, dark hair; she looked away quickly and was greeted by the sight of Rose, her hair swinging loose as she dipped a toe in the water and shuddered.

‘Oh, hell,’ said Eddie; she grabbed Rose by the hand and dragged her into the water, both of them gasping and shrieking. There were sharp stones beneath their feet, and going slowly just made them hurt all the more, so they pushed on until they reached the carpet of soft, muddy sediment instead. The water was up to their waists now, rendering their shifts completely transparent; for decency’s sake they plunged fully into deeper water, Eddie misjudging the velocity required and ending up completely submerged. She came up choking and spluttering, shaking her head like a dog.

‘You look like some .?.?. some creature from the deep,’ Rose said through gritted teeth, kicking vigorously to stay warm, her hair still mostly dry. ‘Limbless kraken.’

‘Some sympathy would be nice,’ Eddie said, clumsily wiping dark tendrils of hair away from her face.

‘Behave less foolishly and you will receive more compassion.’

Kitty and Liza entered the water with much less fanfare; they simply strode out and in, no screaming or splashing, and then started swimming leisurely laps. Eddie attempted to emulate Kitty, who was employing big, sweeping strokes, and immediately almost drowned again. She backed up until she could stand on the bottom, just her head and shoulders above the surface.

Rose suddenly gave an ear-splitting shriek and rocketed towards Eddie, flailing about as she attempted to move faster, spray flying.

‘Something touched my leg!’ she gasped, throwing herself into Eddie’s arms; Eddie prepared to be capsized and was surprised to find herself more than capable of supporting Rose’s weight in the water. She instinctively grabbed Rose’s legs, as Rose threw her arms around Eddie’s neck.

‘What’s this now? Do you not loveallof God’s creatures?’

‘Not the ones that brush up against me in the dark,’ Rose muttered, pressing in closer. It was almost as neither of them were wearing their shifts at all; Eddie could feel every curve of Rose’s body against her, her breath hot against Eddie’s now-freezing neck. Eddie shivered, and Rose’s fingers curled in her hair.

‘This is deeply inappropriate, Miss Li. Ugh – stop wiping your nose on my neck.’

‘I’m not wiping my nose on anything,’ Rose said. ‘My nose is just wet. All of me is wet.’

‘Lovely,’ said Eddie, abruptly letting go of her; she fell hard into the water with a satisfying splash and came up with murder in her eyes.

Eddie ducked beneath the waves, feeling as if she needed a moment to collect herself, and then let out a near-silent, bubbly yelp when she felt Rose grab hold of her by the ankle and pull.