A Beatley Christmas

Chapter Ten

    Paul was running around in circles, colliding with people pushing past him, and appearing to be having a meltdown.

    "Calm down, Macca!" John yelled in his ear, smacking him upside the head.

    "What was that for?" Paul asked, looking shocked and angry simultaneously.

    "You were flipping out for now reason! James is going to be okay. George has a plan."

    "A very famous plan," Ringo said nearby.

    "Shut up," John and Paul said in unison.

    "Come on!" Julian said, running through the snow. "They're this way." Winston was on Jules's heels, appearing to be on a mission. John had never seen such a small rescue dog.

    George and Ringo were carrying a canoe and were jogging through the snow. Ringo fell at least three times, getting a face-full of snow, spitting it out in disgust. "Winston probably went to the bathroom there. It tasted funny."

    "Just come on," George said in annoyance.

    Linda, Olivia, and Winston had already reached the bank of the pond. Olivia gasped and screamed, "Dhani!"

    "What did he do now?" George muttered.

    John squinted and saw that Dhani had fallen in as well and was flailing new James. They were separated by at least three feet of ice and James was going under for longer and longer periods of time.

    George jerked the canoe from Ringo and shoved it through the ice, which was thin and was breaking away for the boat. He took off paddling, leaving Ringo on the bank.

    "I guess he didn't want my help," Ringo said.

    George made it to Dhani first and lifted him into the boat. He then rowed to James and grabbed him by the coat, pulling him up. James was shivering, and his skin and lips had turned slightly blue. John grimaced at the sight and patted Paul's shoulder for support.

    Paul's eyes were dark with worry and Linda was sobbing into his shoulder. John's mouth tightened and looked over at Liv to see that she wasn't crying, just staring at George and the boys intently. John knew Olivia refused to cry in front of anyone, being the big toughie she was.

    The boat reached the bank and Paul lifted James out, murmuring soothing words to him, and started running for the house.

    "Dhani, are you okay?" Olivia asked, leaning down to look at him.

    "I'm . . . cold, Mum," he whined, shivering. Winston carefully came up and started licking his face, causing a slight smile to creep onto Dhani's face.

    "We'll get you inside," George said, picking him up and following Paul at a hurried pace.

    As they passed the Lennons, Olivia smiled weakly at a Julian.

    "I'm so proud of you, Jules," John said, turning to him.

    "All I did was come and tell you," Julian said, not seeming to think much of it.

    "And that was the right thing," John said, ruffling his hair. He looked at the pond, at the broken ice and how it could have claimed two young lives. "How about we don't play near the pond anymore, yeah?"

    "Yeah," Julian said, wincing.