Family

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Grace Darling

OXFORD
CHapter 1 The Forfarshire

The Times London, 19th September 1838

()} the afternoon of 6th September the steamship

Forfarshire started its journey from Hull to Dundee,
in Scotland. There were sixty people on the Forfarshire,
which was a comfortable, modern ship. There was a strong,
north-east wind that afternoon, but at first no one was
afraid...

aniel Donovan was a passenger on the Forfarshire.

ay was a young man, about thirty years old. He
stood on the deck of the ship and looked at the sea. It was
difficult to stand on the deck, because the wind was so
strong. The ship was moving up and down uncomfortably
and Daniel felt ill. Then a big wave hit the side of the ship,
and salt water flew into his face.

‘The wind is getting stronger, said a passenger beside

him, called Mr Robb. ‘And it’s getting darker, too. He was
a tall, dark man with a black coat. He didn't like being at
sea very much, and he looked worried.

‘Yes,’ said Daniel. ‘I can’t see the land now. He looked

to the west, but he could see no land and no lights. Only
water — big grey waves with white tops, which went up
and down, up and down.

‘But the Forfarshire is a good modern ship,’ said Mr Robb.

‘Nothing can happen to a new ship like this. Listen to
those fine strong engines!’

Daniel looked down at the big paddle wheel on the

side of the ship. It went round and round, down under
the white water and up again... under the water and up.
Then he looked up at the black smoke that came from the
Forfarshire’s funnel.

‘Yes, he said. ‘They’re good, strong engines. But he

was not really sure. He was an engineer, so he knew
about engines. Sometimes the Forfarshire’s engines made
strange noises, and the paddle wheels went round slowlu.
Then there was a crash, and they went quickly again.
Daniel was not happu.

A sea bird flew low across the white tops of the big,
grey waves. Daniel watched it and felt wind and rain on

his face. Then a door opened behind him, and a woman

screamed.

‘Simon, come back! Come back at once!’

Daniel looked behind him and saw a small boy. He was

running across the deck. He was only five years old, and
the wind was much too strong for him. He fell over on the
deck and started to cry. Then another big wave hit the
side of the ship. The white water came onto the ship and

carried the boy along the deck.

‘Help!’ the woman screamed. ‘Save my child!’

Daniel put out his hand and caught the bou’s coat. Then
he carried him quickly back to his mother.

‘Quick! Get back inside, out of the wind!’ he shouted. He

hurried through the door and closed it with a crash. ‘It’s
too dangerous for children out there!’
‘Yes, I know,’ the woman said. ‘Come here, Simon!’ She
sat down and held the boy with one arm. She had another
child next to her — a Little girl, about seven years old.
‘Thank you, sir,’ she said.

The ship moved up and down very quickly, and Daniel

sat down beside the woman. She smiled at him, but she
Looked very white and iLL.

‘I'm Daniel Donovan,’ he said. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Mary Dawson,’ she said. ‘This is my son Simon and my

daughter Sarah.’

‘Isn't your husband with you?’

‘No,’ she said. ‘He’s in Scotland. We’re going home to see

him. It’s good we’re in a strong, modern ship.’

‘Yes, said Daniel. Then for a few seconds he said nothing.

It was quiet in this room. Much quieter than outside.

‘Mr Donovan,’ said Mrs Dawson suddenly. ‘What’s

happened to the engines? I can’t hear them now. Can
you?’

Daniel listened. ‘She’s right!’ he thought. ‘The engines

have stopped!’ He could hear the noise of the wind and
the sea, but not the engines. ‘You’re right, Mrs Dawson,’
he said. He stood up and ran to the door. ‘Excuse me.I...’
But then he opened the door, and his words were lost in
the wind.

Outside, he looked up at the ship’s funnel. There was no

smoke above it. He Looked over the side of the ship at the
big paddle wheels. He watched them for two minutes, but
they did not move. And all the time the big grey waves
lifted the Forfarshire up and down, and white water fell
on the deck.

‘What's happening?’ shouted Mr Robb. ‘Why aren’t we

moving?’

‘The engines have broken down!’ shouted Daniel. ‘This

isn't a sailing ship — it can’t move without its engines!’

A big wave hit the side of the paddle wheel and sent
white water over their heads. Some sailors were trying
to put up a small sail, but the wind blew it out of their
hands, away across the sea into the night.

‘There are women and children on this ship, shouted Mr

Robb. ‘It’s nearly dark, and the weather is getting worse.
What can we do?’

Daniel looked at him. ‘I don’t know, my friend,’ he

shouted back. ‘I can’t do anything! And I don’t think
anyone can help us now,
CHAPTER 2 The lighthouse

hen the engines stopped, the Forfarshire was about

five kilometres east of St Abbs Head, in Scotland.

The ship was travelling north, from Hull to Dundee. But
the wind came from the north, so the Forfarshire, without
her engines, started to go south again, back to England. It
was dark, and the wind was very strong.

About thirty kilometres south-east of St Abbs Head is a

group of small rocky islands not far from the mainland.
These are the Farne Islands. On one of them, Longstone
Island, there is a lighthouse. There were three people
in the lighthouse that night — William Darling, his wife
Thomasin and their daughter Grace. Grace’s brothers
usually lived with them at the lighthouse, but that night
they were in Bamburgh, on the mainland.

At seven o'clock William Darling went up the Long stairs

of the lighthouse to light the big oil Lantern. Grace went
with him. William Darling was a thin, strong man about
fifty years old. He moved quickly and quietly. He had a
candle in his hand. Sometimes he turned to talk to Grace,
and the big brown eyes in his kind face shone in the

candlelight.

Grace was a young woman about twenty-two years old.

She was not very tall or strong. She had big brown eyes
like her father and soft brown hair. She carried an oil can
in one hand and held her long skirts with the other hand.
She smiled at her father as they talked.

At the top of the lighthouse Grace and her father came

into a small room. This room had no walls — just big
windows all around. The noise of the wind and rain was
terrible there, and they had to shout to hear each other.

Grace put oil in the big Lantern in the middle of the room,
and William Lit it. When the Lantern was burning, the big
modern ship, so it can go anywhere, in any weather! Ou
rich passengers want to go to Scotland, so that’s where
we're going, he says! But it’s too dangerous and...’

The man stopped when Captain Humble came near

‘Well, Mr Donovan? Can you help us? Do you know more
about engines than this stupid engineer here? He says he
can do nothing, and we must go back to Hull, because of
a small storm! But I’m sure...’

‘He’s right, Captain Humble!’ shouted Daniel. ‘I can dc

nothing for these engines here, in this storm! Theu’re toc
old, and this one is broken in three places! We must go
back to land, Captain, or we will all drown! I cannot help
you!’

‘Gaaaaaargh!’ The captain pushed Daniel angrily away

from him. ‘Then get out of my way, Mr Donovan — you’re
no good to me! Go back to the women and children!’

Daniel went quickly to the door and up the stairs to

the wind and rain outside. But he was a badly frightened
man. His hands were shaking, and it was hard for him to
stand in the terrible screaming wind. Above his head two
sailors were putting up a small sail. ‘That’s no good,’ he
thought. ‘It’s too small for a big ship like this. Without
engines we can do nothing.’

He stared out to sea, but he could see nothing — only the

white tops of the great black waves and the black clouds
above. No stars, no moon. But — far away to the south-
west — there was a little light flashing. On... off...on...
off. It went behind a wave and then came back again, like
a star in the night sky, far away.

But it was coming nearer. Nearer all the time.

CHAPTER 4 Nothing to see

t was half past two in the morning. In the lighthouse

etic was asleep in her room. It was a small, tidy room
with white walls. Her dress was on the back of the door,
and her other clothes were on a chair by the bed. There
were some books on a desk and some sea-birds’ eggs on
a table.

Someone knocked at the door. ‘Grace!’ her father’s voice

called. “Wake up, lass. I need you to help me,’

‘What is it, Father?’ She got up quickly and opened the

door. William Darling stood there with a candle in his
hand. He was wearing his big coat and heavy boots, and
his hat was pulled down over his ears. His face was tired
and wet with rain.

‘The storm is worse. The wind is coming from the north

now, and it’s stronger. We have to go outside and tie the
boat down, or we will Lose it!’

All right. I'll come down.’ Quickly Grace closed the door
and put her clothes on. She often got up in the night. There
was always work on a lighthouse, and the sea did not
wait for morning. A minute Later she ran downstairs to the
kitchen, put a coat over her thin dress, tied her hair under
her hat and followed her father out into the night.

The wind nearly lifted her off her feet. It was strong and
wet. She opened her mouth to call to her father, but the
words blew away into the night. Her coat and dress blew
out behind her like paper, and the rain hit her face, like
small stones.

She walked slowly after her father, to the boathouse.

Her father was carrying a small Lantern, and in its light
Grace saw a great wave of white water. It broke against

the rock in front of the boathouse, and white water

crashed against the boathouse doors. William shouted
something to Grace, but she could not hear him — the
noise of the wind and the sea was too Loud, too terrible.

In the boathouse she helped her father to tie the boat

down to the rock. They tied down the oars, too, so that
nothing could move them. Then they ran outside and
carried everything into the kitchen — their chickens, their
fishing things. They couldn’t leave anything outside on a
night like this.

Before they went back in, Grace stared out into the
night. The light from the top of the lighthouse flashed out
over the water, and for thirty seconds she could see very
well. One after another the big, black waves came out of
the darkness — waves ten, twenty metres high! When they
hit the rock, there was a huge crash, and white water flew
everywhere, thirty, forty metres up over the Longstone
rock.
Grace stared out, over the waves, past the rocks and

islands. But — thank goodness! — she could see no lights,

no ships. No ship could Live in that sea tonight.

‘Grace! Come on in, lass!’ Her father held the door open
behind her. She went in quickly, and he closed the door
behind them. Her mother had warm drinks ready for
them.

‘Go to bed now, Father,’ Grace said. ‘You haven't slept

yet tonight. Let me watch the Light now, and Mother can
come up at five.’

All right, lass,’ he said. William was very tired. He went

upstairs with his wife, and in two minutes they were
asleep.

Grace finished her drink quickly and changed out of her

wet clothes. Then she went up alone to the room with the
big windows at the top of the lighthouse. The wild wind
screamed and shook the glass. It was half past three in
the morning.

CHapTEeR 5 The shipwreck

n the passengers’ sitting room on the Forfarshire Mrs

ccs looked unhappily at Daniel, Mr Robb and two
other men — Thomas Buchanan and James Kelly. Her two
children were crying. ‘I’m so frightened. Do you think
we're going to die? What can we do, Mr Donovan, without
the engines?’

‘Not much, Mrs Dawson,’ said Daniel slowly. ‘But there

are some islands south of here, called the Farne Islands.
They are very near. I've seen the lighthouse flashing on
them. I think the captain is trying to go into the quieter
water between the islands and the mainland. I... I’m
going to go outside again to see how near the lighthouse
is. ’LL come back and tell you.

Daniel got up and went out into the night. It was raining
hard now, and the wind was screaming from the back of
the ship. He stared into the dark. He could see nothing in
the west. Where was the light? He walked carefully across
the ship to the other side. Suddenly he fell on the wet
deck, and he caught the side of the ship with his hands.
Then he looked up, and a light flashed into his eyes. There
it was — the lighthouse, only three hundred metres away
to the north!

‘But this is wrong!’ he thought. ‘We're too close! Much

too close! I must tell the captain!’

He stood up and started to run along the deck. But there

in front of him a great mountain of white water flew into
the sky... ten... twenty metres above the ship.

‘Rocks!’ screamed Daniel. ‘Rocks! There are rocks in front

of us, rocks all round! Captain! CAPTAIN!

The captain was already shouting at the sailors, and

the ship was turning, turning to the west, away from the
light. But it was too late. There was a great crash, and
Daniel and all the sailors fell to the deck. Then another
crash...and another. The waves Lifted the Forfarshire and
threw it onto the rock, like a child playing with a toy.

Daniel held onto a rope and stared into the dark. The
light flashed again from the lighthouse. Then he looked
back along the ship. People were running out onto the
deck and screaming.

Then another very big wave hit the ship. White water
flew everywhere and fell on Daniel like stones. He heard
a terrible crash, and more water fell on him. He opened his
eyes and looked back along the ship.

But there was nothing there.

Nothing but black water and more waves. The ship was
broken in two, and the back of the ship, with the captain
and all the rich passengers, was not there.

A voice shouted into the wind. ‘Help us! Save us from

the sea!’ The door of the passengers’ room was broken.
But there were still some people inside the room — Mr
Robb, Mrs Dawson and her two children, Mr Buchanan
and James Kelly. Daniel went carefully back along the
deck to the broken door. He put out his hand to touch it,

and then a wall of white water hit the ship, and he could
see nothing.
CHAPTER 6 Out of the window

t twenty to five that morning Grace felt a hand on her

face. It was her mother. Grace was nearly asleep. The

wind was screaming and shaking the big windows, and
Thomasin Darling had to shout.

‘Go to bed, Grace! It’s nearly morning. I can look after

the lantern now,

All right, Mother. Grace got up slowly and went

downstairs to her bedroom. It was much quieter in her
room, because of the strong stone walls. She Looked at the
birds’ eggs on her table, the books on the desk near the
bed. The bed Looked warm and comfortable. She smiled
and started to get undressed.

A little grey light was coming in through the window.

‘It’s nearly morning, she thought. ‘I want to look at the
sea before I go to sleep.

She walked to the window and looked out. But she could
see nothing, because of the salt and rain on the glass. ‘It
doesn’t matter,’ she thought. ‘I’m too tired. I’m going to
go to bed.’

But before she went to bed, she heard a mysterious voice

in her head. ‘Go to the window, Grace,’ it said. ‘Go and look
out.

So she got up, went to the window and opened it. The
wind blew strongly into the room. It blew her hair across
her face, and some books fell on the floor. In the grey
morning light Grace looked out across the sea.

Most of the rocks and small islands were under water.

Big white waves were breaking over them. The sea was
wild, frightening, terrible. Grace Looked, and felt cold. She
could not remember a storm as bad as this. She thought of
her warm bed and started to close the window.

Then she saw the ship.

It was a big ship on Harcar’s Rock, about three hundred

metres away to the south west. A very big ship, but it
was broken in two, with white water breaking all over it.

Grace could not see it very well, because of the rain and

the sea.

‘Father! Father! Come quickly! She ran out of the room,

down the stairs to her parents’ bedroom. ‘Come quick!
There’s a ship on Harcar’s Rock! A big one — a passenger
ship! It’s broken in two!’

William Darling got out of bed in a second. He quickly

got dressed and followed Grace up the stairs. ‘Did you see
any people?’
‘No, Father. But it’s difficult to see anything in this wild

sed.

Her father took a telescope from his pocket and stared

out of Grace’s window at the wreck of the Forfarshire. He
looked for a Long time, then said, ‘I can see no one, but my
eyes are old. You Look, Lass.’

Grace stared carefully through the telescope. White

water crashed over the wreck. Sometimes the ship moved
on the rock, and sometimes pieces of wood fell off into the
sea. But she saw no people.

‘No, Father. I think they have all drowned,’

‘Poor, poor people.’

‘Yes, but it’s a good thing too, William, Grace’s mother

was in the room now, and she was Looking out of the
window with her husband and daughter.

‘Why is that, Thomasin?’ William asked her.

‘Why? Because the boys aren’t here, William. You can’t

take a boat out in that wild sea alone. If there are people
alive on that ship now, you won’t be able to save them,
William.’

I could go with him, Mother,’ said Grace quietly.

‘Not in a sea Like that, Grace,’ her mother said.

Her father said nothing.

‘We mustn't stop looking,’ said Grace. ‘There might be

someone alive, and we can’t just leave them to die.’

And so for the next two hours Grace and her parents
watched the wreck of the Forfarshire through the telescope.

Slowly daylight came. But they saw no people... only

rain and waves and a broken ship in the wild angry sea.
CHAPTER 7 On Harcar’s Rock

=a were twelve people on Harcar’s Rock. Daniel

Donovan was with Mrs Dawson and her children, and

there were eight other people near them. The wreck of

the Forfarshire was behind them, between them and the

Lighthouse.

They were nearly dead with wet and cold. Every two
minutes white water fell on them. Daniel didn’t have his
coat any more, and the wind cut through his thin shirt
like a knife. His hands and legs were red with blood. Mrs
Dawson was crying and sat with her arms around her two
small children. Mr Robb was shouting, begging someone
to save them. Thomas Buchanan and the other men sat
together, too cold to move. One man had a broken Leg.

The waves got bigger, and the people on the rock moved
closer together. After half an hour Mr Robb stopped
shouting. Daniel looked at him. He was lying on the rock,
his face white and cold. His eyes were open, but he did not
see Daniel’s hand in front of his face. He was dead.

‘We'll all be dead soon,’ shouted Thomas Buchanan

angrily. ‘No one can Live long here, in this wind.’

‘Why don’t they come from the lighthouse to save us?’

shouted James KelLu.

The lighthouse! Daniel remembered it suddenly. ‘We

must wave to it!’ he shouted. ‘They can’t see us here!
Come up onto the top of the rock! Wave to them!’

Daniel and James Kelly climbed to the top of the rock,

but at first the others did not move — they were too cold,
too tired, too frightened. Thomas Buchanan had to hit
them and push them to the top of the rock.

The wind was very strong there, so it was difficult to

stand. They held onto the rock and shouted and waved at
the lighthouse as hard as they could.

No one answered. Behind the wild sea and the rain the
lighthouse stood still and quiet. A few minutes later the
light stopped flashing. But they saw nobody. One by
one the men came down from the top of the rock and sat
close together, out of the wind. Only Daniel and Thomas
Buchanan stayed on top of the rock. They waved and
shouted and cried, but they saw no one. Their faces were
as cold as ice, and salty and wet from the sea.
CHAPTER 8 The worst sea of the year

race saw them first. Her mother was cooking breakfast

G in the kitchen, and her father was turning off the
Lantern. Grace was still looking out of her window through
the telescope. For a second she saw a man on top of the
rock, then she could not see him behind the waves. But a
minute Later she saw him again — and there were two men
this time. They stood together and waved wildly. Then the
rain came, and she could see nothing. But perhaps there
were four, or five? She put down the telescope and called
her father.

‘Father, come quickly! There are men on the rock! They

are still alive!’

William Darling ran into the room. He saw them. He put

down the telescope and looked at his daughter.

‘We must go, lass,’ he said quietly. ‘You and I. We must

take the boat and save them. Will you come?’

‘Of course, Father,’ she said. ‘If we don’t save them, who
will?’

‘That’s right, lass. William Darling looked out of the

window unhappily. ‘I’ve not seen a worse sea this year. No
boat could come from the mainland in this wind.’

Grace’s mother came into the room and heard him. ‘You
can’t go, William!’ she said. ‘Grace is only a girl. Look at
that sea! You'll both drown!’

‘We have to try, Mother!’ said Grace angrily. ‘Think

of those poor people, alone on that rock. We live on a
Lighthouse — it’s our job!’

‘It’s a job for your father and brothers, Grace, not you!
You'll drown! How will that help those men?’

‘How will it help them if we do nothing?’

Thomasin Darling looked out of the window again at

the wild, angry sea. She shook her head. ‘Perhaps you'll
get to the rock, Grace, she said. ‘With good luck and the
wind behind you. But you won't get back here against the
wind. Not one man and a girl in a storm Like this.’

William Darling took his wife’s hands in his. ‘Listen to

me, Thomasin,’ he said. ‘There are three or four seamen
on that rock. Strong men. They'll help us row back, if we

save them.
‘If you save them,’ said Thomasin. ‘And if you don't... ?’
At first William Darling did not answer. He looked into
his wife’s eyes. ‘We're going, Thomasin,’ he said quietly.
‘We have to go. Come down now and help us with the
boat.
Outside in the terrible wind and the rain it took them
fifteen minutes to get the boat ready. Three times the
waves nearly broke the boat on the rock. William got into
the boat first and sat at the front. Grace and her mother
held the boat away from the rocks. William got two oars
ready and waited for the next wave.

ALl right, Grace! Get in now!’ he shouted.

Grace jumped into the boat, and William pulled hard

with the oars. One... two...three pulls, and then a wave
lifted the boat, and the oars were pulling at air. But they
were away from the rocks. The boat came down between
two waves, and Grace quickly took her oars. They both
pulled hard together, but carefully, too. They did not want
to lose an oar in the wild water. Grace was cold, and her
dress and hat were wet. She was afraid, but happy and
excited too. ‘I’m glad we’re going, she thought. ‘We must
try to save those poor people.’ At the top of a wave she
could easily see across the Longstone rock to the other
side. Then the boat went down between the waves, and

—7
she could see only mountains of wild water everywhere.

‘Pull Left! Left!’ William shouted. ‘We must keep the

rocks between us and the worst waves!’

Grace pulled hard at her oars and watched the waves. ‘I

hope we can save them!’ she thought anxiously.

Outside the lighthouse Thomasin Darling watched the

little boat. She saw it for a second, then it went behind
wave and came up again. ‘It’s not possible,’ she thought.
‘No boat can make g journey ina sea like that! Oh, I hope
I won't lose my husband and daughter!’

She watched, and the Little boat got smaller and smaller
on the wild, grey sea.

CHAPTER A little boat

g elp me, Mr Donovan! Please help!’

H ‘How can I help you?’ Daniel shouted to Mrs

Dawson. ‘
frightened, too tired. He couldn’t think now.

‘Please help my children!’ cried Mrs Dawson. ‘Keep them

How can anyone help?’ He was too cold, too

warm for me — they’re so cold!’

It was true. The children were cold — very cold. Their

eyes were open, but they were not moving. He tried to
warm them with his hands. He shook them, but they did
not move.

‘It’s no good!’ he said. ‘No one can...’

‘They're not dead yet!’ screamed Mrs Dawson. ‘I know

they're not dead!’ She looked into her children’s faces.
‘Wake up, Simon! Sarah! Someone will save us soon.
Please don’t die!’

Daniel was tired and angry. ‘Don’t be stupid!’ he shouted

at her. ‘We're all going to die, don’t you understand? No
one knows we're here!’ He turned and stared at the wild,
empty sea.

Mrs Dawson stared at him. Her face was wet with rain,
and her hair was blowing in her eyes. ‘Someone must
come!’ she shouted. ‘We can’t die here! Go to the top of the
rock and Look again! Tell them about my children!’

‘Your children are...’ But he was afraid to say it. He

turned away, feeling very angry, and climbed to the top
of the rock. The wind screamed in his ears. He looked
across to the lighthouse and saw nothing — only waves
and more waves. ‘I hate the sea!’ he thought. ‘It’s like a
great grey animal with a hundred white teeth. I hate it!
It wants to kill us all!’
And then he saw the boat.

He saw it only for a second. It was on top of a white

wave. It went down behind the wave, but then it came
up again. Down and up again. And it was coming nearer!
A little boat with two people in it. He held the rock and
stared at it. The boat came nearer, and nearer again. Then
a great wave like a mountain came, with white angry

teeth, and the Little boat went down behind it.

‘No!’ Daniel cried.

The boat came up on top of the wave, with white water

all around it. The oars were up, out of the water. For a
second the boat started to turn on its side, then the oars
went down into the water, and the boat came down the
side of the wave. Daniel could see the two people in the
boat now. One was a man. One was a young woman.

He got up and ran down the rock. He was crying and

laughing at the same time. ‘It’s all right, Mrs Dawson!’ he

shouted.
‘It’s all right! Look there! Look! Someone has come to

save us!’
CHAPTER 10 Too many people

race looked quickly behind her and saw the people

G on the rock. They were waving, shouting, Laughing.

But there were eight, nine, perhaps ten of them! Too

many for this small boat.

She looked back at the waves and pulled hard and

carefully with her oars. It was more than a kilometre
around the islands from the lighthouse to the ship, and
every wave, every rock was different and dangerous. She
was tired now, but the job was not finished. The wrecked
ship on Harcar’s Rock was still fifty metres away.

‘How many can you see, Grace?’ her father shouted.

She looked again. ‘Ten... twelve perhaps,’ she said. ‘It’s

too many, Father. We'Ll all drown, if they try to get in’

‘Yes. Put me on the rock, lass, and then take the boat out
again, shouted William. ‘T’ll talk to them. We can’t take
more than five, the first time.’

Tt was very dangerous near the rock. In the best place

the waves went up and down two or three metres every
minute. ‘If we make one mistake,’ Grace thought, ‘the
boat will break into fifty small pieces, and we’ll be on the
rock with the others.’

Carefully, slowly Grace and her father tried to get the

boat near the rock, but three times they had to pull away
at the last minute. Then, the fourth time, William Darling
jumped. The passengers pulled him onto the rock.

Grace quickly rowed the boat out to sea again. She was
alone in the boat now, and the boat moved differently.
She was tired, and her arms and back were hurting. But
she knew about boats. ‘Watch the sea all the time,’ she
thought. ‘The waves must meet the front of the boat first,

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or the boat will turn over. Forget the cold and the rain and
the wet.’

On the rock William Darling spoke quickly. ‘I’m going

to take the woman back with me,’ he said. ‘And that man
there, with the broken leg. Then I need three strong men
to help me row the boat. He looked at Daniel Donovan
and two others. ‘You, man, and you and you. The others
must wait here. We'll come back for you Later’
‘No! Why me?’ shouted James Kelly. ‘I want to come
now!’

‘You're going to stay here, sir!’ shouted William angrily.

‘Don’t you understand? If you get in the boat, we'll all
drown!’

And my children,’ cried Mrs Dawson, ‘don’t forget my

children!’

William looked at her unhappily. He held out his arms.

‘Give the children to me,’ he said.

Carefully he took the boy and the girl from her and put
the little bodies on the rock, near the sea. They were dead
and cold. ‘We can do nothing for them,’ he said. Then he
spoke quickly and quietly to Daniel Donovan. ‘When the
boat comes, help me get the woman in. We can’t take her
children,’

Daniel agreed. William put his arm around Mrs Dawson

and waved to Grace.

Carefully, slowly she rowed the boat in to the rock. It

was harder without her father. The wind and the waves
moved the boat more quickly, and Grace was very tired
now. One mistake meant death for them all. She came
closer — twenty metres, ten, seven, five... A big wave
lifted the boat, then a smaller one behind it. She pulled
hard on the oars and threw a rope to a man on the rock.
Then her father got into the boat, with the woman in his
arms. She was screaming.

‘My children! Bring the children, please!’

‘No, we can’t. William Darling took the oars. ‘Help her,

Grace.’

Grace went to the back of the boat with the woman and
held her. Daniel Donovan and two other men got in. They
were carrying the man with the broken leg. The front of

the boat was very near the rock now — too near. Grace
looked behind her and saw a big wave.

‘Pull, Father!’ she shouted. ‘Pull hard!’ She stood up and

pushed against the rock with an oar. The boat was very
heavy now, with all these people in it.

William pulled hard with his oars. The big wave came in
and broke into white water all around them. But the boat
did not hit the rock. William pulled again and shouted.
‘You men, help me! Take the oars!’
The little boat was very full. The sides were only just
above the water, and often the water came in. Grace threw
the water out with her hat. The wind and waves were
against them now, and the four men had to row hard.
But slowly, very slowly the lighthouse came nearer. At
Last, from the top of the waves, they could see Thomasin
Darling. She was standing in front of the lighthouse and
waving to them.

They were very tired when they got to the lighthouse.

William and Daniel carried the man with the broken leg
into the kitchen, and Grace and her mother helped Mrs
Dawson.

Inside the kitchen William smiled at his daughter. ‘You

did a good job, Lass,’ he said. ‘Thank you.’

‘Let me come back again with you, Father,’ she said.

‘No, he said. ‘You're too tired. I can take two of these

men. He looked at Daniel and the other two men. ‘Which
are the strongest?’ he asked.

Daniel was very tired. There was a fire in the kitchen —a

warm, beautiful fire. He wanted to lie down in front of
the fire and go to sleep for a long, long time. But William
Darling's quiet brown eyes were looking at him.

‘Tl come with you,’ Daniel said.

‘T’LL come too,’ said Thomas Buchanan.

William Darling smiled. ‘Good men,’ he said. ‘Can you

two men row as well as my daughter?’

Daniel looked at Grace, who was busy helping Mrs

Dawson. She looked very small here in the kitchen — Like
any young woman. ‘TL try,’ he said.

‘Right,’ said William. ‘Come on then.’

So Daniel and Thomas Buchanan followed the old

lighthouseman away from the warm kitchen fire, out into
the rain and wind again. Daniel looked at the angry sea
with its terrible waves, and he felt cold and frightened.

He remembered the small young woman alone in the

boat by Harcar’s Rock. ‘That girl was strong and brave, he
thought. ‘I need to be strong and brave, too, Like her.’

Daniel was wet and very, very tired. But he got back into
the boat with the other two men, and rowed out again
into the wild, stormy sea.

The Times London, 19th September 1838

Mr Darling and his young daughter saved nine people from

the wreck of the Forfarshire. The storm lasted for three
days, and they stayed all that time with the Darlings in the
lighthouse.

Queen Victoria thinks that Grace Darling is one of the

finest young women in this country, and she is writing
to thank her. One hundred years from now people will
remember this day.