Cinderella: Hired by the Prince / The Sheikh's Destiny: Cinderella: Hired by the Prince / The Sheikh's Destiny

‘If she panics there’s nothing we can do,’ Jenny said grimly. ‘Can we get near enough to cut?’

They couldn’t. Ramón edged the Marquita close, the big whale rolled a little, the swell separated them and Jenny knew they could never simply reach out and cut.

‘Can we call someone?’ she said helplessly. ‘There’s whale rescue organisations. Maybe they could come out.’

‘We’re too far from land,’ Ramón said. ‘It’s us or no one.’

No one, Jenny thought as they tried one more pass. It was hopeless. For them to cut the net the whale had to be right beside the boat. With the lurching of the swell there was no way they could steer the boat alongside and keep her there.

How else to help? To get into the water and swim, then cling and cut was far, far too risky. Jenny was a good swimmer but…

‘It’s open water, the job’s too big, there’s no way I could count on getting back into the boat,’ Ramón said, and she knew he was thinking the same.

‘You would do it if you could?’ she asked, incredulous.

‘If I knew it’d be effective. But do you think she’s going to stay still while I cut? If she rolled, if I was pushed under and caught…’

As if on cue, the whale rolled again. Her massive pectoral fins were fastened hard against her, so a sideways roll was all she could do. She blew—a spray of water misted over Jenny’s face, but Jenny’s face was wet anyway.

‘We can’t leave her like this,’ she whispered. ‘We have to try.’

‘We do,’ Ramón said. ‘Jenny, are you prepared to take a risk?’

There was no question. ‘Of course.’

‘Okay,’ he said, reaching under the seat near the wheel and hauling out life jackets. ‘Here’s the plan. We put these on. We unfasten the life raft in case worst comes to worst and we let the authorities know what’s happening. We radio in our position, we tell them what we intend to do and if they don’t hear back from us then they’ll know we’re sitting in a life raft in the middle of the Pacific. We’re wearing positional locators anyway. We should be fine.’

‘What…what are we intending to do?’ Jenny asked faintly.

‘Pull the boat up beside the whale,’ he said. ‘If you’re brave enough.’

She stared at him, almost speechless. How could he get so close? And, even if he did, if the whale rolled…‘You’d risk the boat?’ she gasped.

‘Yes.’ Unequivocal.

‘Could we be sure of rescue?’

‘I’ll set it up so we would be,’ he said. ‘I’m not risking our lives here. Only our boat and the cost of marine rescue.’

‘Marine rescue…It’d cost a fortune.’

‘Jenny, we’re wasting time. Yes or no?’

She looked out at the whale. Left alone, she’d die, dreadfully, agonisingly and, without her, her calf would slowly starve to death as well.

Ramón was asking her to risk all. She looked at him and he met her gaze, levelly and calmly.

‘Gianetta, she’s helpless,’ he said. ‘I believe at some subliminal level she’ll understand we’re trying to help and she won’t roll towards us. But you know I can’t guarantee that. There’s a small chance we may end up sitting in a lifeboat for the next few hours waiting to be winched to safety. But I won’t do it unless I have your agreement. It’s not my risk, Gianetta. It’s our risk.’

Our risk.

She thought about what he was asking—what he was doing. He’d have to explain to his owner that he’d lost his boat to save a whale. He’d lose his job at the very least. Maybe he’d be up for massive costs, for the boat and for rescue.

She looked at him and she saw it meant nothing.

He was free, she thought, with a sudden stab of something that could almost be jealousy. There was the whale to be saved. He’d do what needed to be done without thinking of the future.

Life…That was all that mattered, she thought suddenly, and with it came an unexpected lifting of the dreariness of the last couple of years. She’d fought long and hard for Matty. She’d lost but she’d had him and she’d loved him and she’d worried about the cost later.

She looked out at the whale and she knew there was only one answer to give.

‘Of course,’ she said. ‘Just give me a couple of minutes to stick a ration pack in the life raft. If I’m going to float around for a day or so waiting for rescue flights then I want at least two bottles of champagne and some really good cheeses while I’m waiting.’

Jenny didn’t have a clue what Ramón intended, but when she saw she was awed. With his safeguards in place, he stood on the highest point of the boat with a small anchor—one he presumably used in shallow waters when lowering the massive main anchor would potentially damage the sea bed.

This anchor was light enough for a man to hold. Or, rather, for Ramón to hold, Jenny corrected herself. It still looked heavy. But Ramón stood with the anchor attached by a long line and he held it as if it was no weight at all, while Jenny nosed the boat as close to the whale as she dared. Ramón swung the anchor round and round, in wider and wider circles, and then he heaved with every ounce of strength he had.

The whale was maybe fifteen feet from the boat. The anchor flew over the far side of her and slid down. As it slid, Ramón was already striding aft, a far more secure place to manoeuvre, and he was starting to tug the rope back in.

‘Cut the motor,’ he snapped. She did, and finally she realized what he was doing.

The anchor had fallen on the far side of the whale. As Ramón tugged, the anchor was being hauled up the whale’s far side. Its hooks caught the ropes of the net and held, and suddenly Ramón was reeling in the anchor with whale attached. Or, rather, the Marquita was being reeled in against the whale, and the massive creature was simply submitting.

Jenny was by Ramón’s side in an instant, pulling with him. Boat and whale moved closer. Closer still.

‘Okay, hold her as close as you can,’ Ramón said curtly as the whale’s vast body came finally within an arm’s length. ‘If she pulls, you let go. No heroics, Gianetta, just do it. But keep tension on the rope so I’ll know as soon as I have it free.’

Ramón had a lifeline clipped on. He was leaning over the side, with a massive gutting knife in his hand. Reaching so far Jenny was sure he’d fall.

The whale could roll this way, she thought wildly, and if she did he could be crushed. He was supporting himself on the whale itself, his legs still on the boat, but leaning so far over he was holding onto the netting. Slicing. Slicing. As if the danger was nothing.

She tugged on. If the whale pulled away, she’d have to release her. They’d lose the anchor. They had this one chance. Please…

But the whale didn’t move, except for the steady rise and fall of the swell, where Jenny had to let out, reel in, let out, reel in, to try and keep Ramón’s base steady against her.

He was slicing and slicing and slicing, swearing and slicing some more, until suddenly the tension on Jenny’s rope was no longer there. The anchor lifted free, the net around the whale’s midriff dislodged. Jenny, still pulling, was suddenly reeling in a mass of netting and an anchor.

And Ramón was back in the boat, pulling with her.

One of the whale’s fins was free. The whale moved it a little, stretching, and she floated away. Not far. Twenty feet, no more.

The whale stilled again. One fin was not enough. She was still trapped.

On the far side of her, her calf nudged closer.

‘Again,’ Ramón said grimly as Jenny gunned the motor back into action and nosed close. He was already on top of the cabin, swinging the anchor rope once more. ‘If she’ll let us.’

‘You’ll hit the calf,’ she said, almost to herself, and then bit her tongue. Of all the stupid objections. She knew what his answer must be.