By then, someone had launched a lifeboat. Its engine cut a harsh line through the morning stillness as it sped toward the drifting skiff. Even from the cliffs, Nora could see the crew keeping well clear of the pale trail, circling wide as if no one trusted the water around it.
The skiff was hooked and dragged back before it crossed the darkest part of the spinning patch. The rescue took less than three minutes. Yet when it was over, the whole cove seemed altered. The white line thinned, the circle weakened, and the sea became ordinary again quickly.