The Isle of Skye is a desolate, mountainous place and it was where we were spending our summer holiday this year. Dad loved camping because we were outdoors, at one with the elements, it was an adventure. Mum hated camping because it was cold, miserable and lacked any kind of creature comfort, but she didn’t complain, she was an army wife.

“Girls, you should pitch your tent over there,” Dad pointed out a flat area not far from where we stood, “Mum and I will be just here. Ready?” We nodded.

There was always a race to see which tent would go up first and Jane my younger sister and I worked well as a team. We’d had a lot of practice. Ever since I could remember we’d been away on camping holidays over the long summer.

As the last tent peg went into the ground and the guide ropes set to the correct tension, a chorus of, “we are the winners, we are the winners,” went up.

Dad smiled. I think he may have let us win on purpose but I was happy with the result even if he had. The prize for the winner was an extra peanut brittle cookie after supper.

Peanut brittle cookies were a family favorite and a staple we always carried with us on camping trips, the one luxury we had that could be bartered with.

A cold wind blew in from the sea but the sky was blue and the sun was still visible to the west, where it was just touching the top of the Coolins, the mountain range that towered over the beach and flat lands where we'd pitched our tents.

“Can we go down to the beach?” I asked.

Dad checked his watch. Mum was busy setting the stove up for supper. “Kate, make sure you’re back within the hour,” Dad said. We synchronized watches as we always did. “One last thing girls,” Dad waved us over. “Keep an eye out for dark clouds coming over the mountains, storms can spring up quickly here and you don’t want to get caught out.”

“OK Dad, got it,” I said. I was excited to get down to the beach, to paddle in the sea and search for crabs in the rock pools.   

Jane was ten, two years younger than me and although we were sisters, we were more like twins because she was the same height as me. But I was the eldest and I was responsible for her even though she could beat me at arm wrestling and could run faster than me.

We set off towards the beach. Looking back at the camp site I could see Dad searching for firewood. Butch, our Labrador was exploring his new surroundings, which were sparse, just grass, the odd bush and the mountain. The few white dots on the lower slopes were probably sheep. The place was desolate, windswept, Scottish.

The way to the beach was through a maze of sand spits and water channels. It was fun hopping over the strips of water, some were too wide and we had to figure out how to get across without wading through water. Although we had rubber boots on, some of the channels were too deep.

Jane was excited, more than usual. She loved mazes. She’d spent the afternoon at Hampton Court playing in the famous maze of hedges, loving every moment of it. I let her take the lead, knowing how much she relished the opportunity to play the big sister.

By the time we’d made it to the beach, the sky was dark. Neither of us had paid much attention to the sky behind us and I was surprised when I turned round to see dark gray clouds hanging low in the sky, covering the top of the mountain. The wind had picked up. I checked my watch; it had taken half an hour to reach the sea. Jane was already wading in, splashing through the shallows when I called to her.

“Jane! We’ve got to go back,” I shouted but she didn’t seem to have heard me. “Ja-aa-ne,” I ran down the wet sand just as she turned. Her eyes were wide and she pointed up at the sky. I waved, signaling we should get going. She bent to pick something out of the sand just as the rain started.

The wind picked up and I heard Butch barking but couldn’t see him through the raindrops on my glasses. Why hadn’t anyone invented windscreen wipers for glasses I wondered? I could just make out the two tents, barely visible through the downpour. A clap of thunder ricocheted off the mountains and made me jump.

“Kate, what are we going to do?” Jane looked worried. She hated thunder storms and would hide under the covers or climb into bed with me whenever it got too loud, and this was loud. “I don’t like it,” her voice was small and her face was screwed up against the driving rain.

“It’s going to be OK,” I tried my hardest to sound reassuring. “Now we’ve got a real race on our hands,” I said. I took her hand in mine and together we ran and jumped over the water channel and onto another sand spit. “See if you can remember the way back,” I said but knew it was impossible. Everything looked different in the growing darkness and driving rain.

The realization that the water level was rising quickly made me wonder if we’d ever get back. A bolt of forked lightning cracked across the sky and lit the whole area.

“One one thousand, two one thousand,” I heard Jane counting. Thunder boomed mere seconds behind the lightning. I knew the storm was right on top of us now.

“Jane?” I stood facing her, leaning into the wind so she could hear me. “We’ve got to get back as fast as we can OK?” She nodded. “We’re going to have to wade across the channels of water, can you do that?” Jane was a strong swimmer, stronger than me, she had stout legs. “If we do this together, we’ll be back in no time.” She nodded.

We held hands and waded into the water channel, the water soon came over the tops of our boots, up to our knees, up to our thighs and then we were clambering up the bank on the far side.

“Freezing, hell's freezing,” she shouted above the wind. I smiled, it was one of Mum’s favorite phrases, but no-one was around to tell her off so I shouted it too and it made us both laugh.

We squelched across the sand and down again into the water channel. This one was much deeper and the water was swirling with fat raindrops. More lightning split the sky, this time it was bright enough to see the tents in the distance, the flaps closed against the storm. The water was up to my waist and my teeth were chattering. Jane pulled me up the bank and we both fell onto the sand gasping from the effort. I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream for my Dad to come and get us, and I wanted to be inside the tent, dry.

I heard my father’s voice in my head, “Kate, you’re the eldest, you are responsible for your sister.”  

I looked over at her and saw tears pouring down her checks, or maybe they were just rain drops? Either way, we were in trouble and I had to get us out of it. I pulled her up beside me and shouted above the wind, “you’re doing great Janie, keep going, we’re nearly there.” I was scared. But I didn’t want her to know it. Fear travels fast; it spreads through a single word, a tone of voice. The air was thick with it, but I wasn’t going to give in to it. I had to look after my little sister.

Another lightning bolt cracked followed immediately by a roll of thunder that went on and on across the sky. The storm was right over us now, it was moving fast. I started to shiver, we had to keep moving. “Ready?” I squeezed Jane’s hand. “1-2-3 go,” and we plunged into the water channel, this one shallower than the last and we didn’t stop on the sand spit, instead we plunged on through the next channel. There were two more water channels separating us from dry land.

I heard Butch barking again; this time I could make him out, standing by the first channel. “Look who’s come to rescue us,” I pointed. Jane loved Butch and the fact he was there spurred her on. We scrambled down the bank into the water but I lost my footing and slipped under. I swallowed a mouthful of salty water as I went down. I scrambled with my hands and legs but couldn’t find the bottom and couldn’t find the top either. Panic flooded my body. I remember hearing thunder and then everything went black.

“Katie, Katie, wake up.” I felt something warm on my face; I coughed up water and sat up. My whole body was shaking with cold and my teeth were chattering so hard I had to be careful not to bite my tongue. Standing beside me was Butch; he barked and wagged his tail. “He saved you Katie; Butch swam over the channels and pulled you out of the water. He’s a hero,” Jane was crying now.

“It’s OK now, shh,” I reached out for her. She was still my little sister and I hated seeing her so scared. “I’m OK. Come on, not far to go now and we have Butch to show us the way.” We crossed the final channels and within minutes we were opening the front of Mum and Dad’s tent. Butch shook himself and scrambled in after us. Mum had towels ready for us and we peeled off our clothes and snuggled into the fluffy bath towels while Mum rubbed our hair dry.

Dad hadn’t said a word. I looked over at him. “I didn’t watch the sky, I’m sorry,” I said. I knew better than to pretend otherwise. Dad nodded.
“Why didn’t you come and get us?” Jane asked.

Dad looked over at me, I knew what I had to do. “Janie, it was my fault. Dad knew we’d make it back OK. He sent Butch to help us.”

Jane shuffled over and crawled into Dad’s lap. She looked up at him in that angelic way she has, her blond hair sticking up all over her head, “I’m glad I’m not the big sister,” she said. “I was really, really scared, but Katie made it all better.”

Dad smiled down at her and then reached behind him for the box of peanut brittle cookies. “I think you both deserve an extra piece after supper and a mug of hot chocolate.”

We ate dinner and listened to the storm howling outside. It subsided an hour later. Jane was already fast asleep when Dad carried her back to our tent. We sat for a few minutes watching her sleep, thumb in her mouth, something she hadn’t done in a year or two. 

Dad hugged me hard, “you learned a valuable lesson today.” I nodded. “I’m very proud of you.” My heart leaped, he’d never said that to me before. For the first time ever, I knew what it felt like to be just a little more grown up. Dad kissed me goodnight and zipped up the tent. I drifted off to sleep, comforted by the sound of my little sister asleep beside me.

When I woke the next morning Jane's sleeping bag was empty. Before I could scramble out of mine I found a beautiful shell on my pillow. I smiled; it must have been the one Jane picked up from the beach yesterday.