‘This feels a bit different...’
‘Yes, I adjusted the oar outriggers. You’re tall so you need them a little higher.’ Laurie turned to Tamara. ‘See how the oars are mounted on those triangular shaped brackets that stick out from the sides of the boat. That gives Ross better leverage, so we go faster.’
‘Yeah, gotcha.’
‘Right, then.’ Laurie settled herself on the bench next to Tamara. ‘Off we go.’
He started to row the boat out from the jetty. Three strokes, and then he stopped.
‘What? You’re looking at me as if I’m doing this all wrong.’
‘No! You’re doing fine.’ She probably shouldn’t interfere.
‘I know you have a few thoughts about how I could do better, though.’
Laurie shot him an apologetic look and slid forward. ‘Maybe put your feet a little closer in, then you’ve got room to bend your knees a bit more.’
‘Like this?’
‘Bit more...’ Laurie shifted closer, gripping his leg and putting it in the right spot. Good calves. Very good... ‘Back a little straighter.’
Ross squared his shoulders. Nice. ‘How’s that? Comfortable?’
He nodded, taking another few strokes with the oars and then stopping again.
‘What now?’
Her face must have betrayed her. ‘That’s a great deal better. Only the ends of the oars should go a little higher in the water. You’re not stirring a Christmas pudding.’
‘You getting all that, Tamara?’ He grinned broadly.
Laurie heard Tamara giggle behind her. At least she was enjoying this. And Ross seemed to be as well, so it was just Laurie who felt unaccountably nervous. She shifted back again, resuming her place in the stern.
‘All right, then. Give it a go... Great. Good rhythm...’ Laurie bit her tongue. That sounded like innuendo, but neither Ross or Tamara seemed to notice. Maybe it was just because a pair of good shoulders in action always turned her on.
‘What do we do?’ Tamara nudged her.
‘We could sit here and trail our fingers in the water.’ Laurie grinned. ‘Let Ross do all the work.’
‘No! I want to have a go.’
Ross shot her a smile. That was obviously the reaction he’d hoped for as well.
‘All right. Watch how Ross is doing it for a minute. If he had a sliding seat, then he’d be powering his strokes from his legs and back, but with a fixed seat like that he’s using his shoulders more. So you shouldn’t need to push with your legs.’
‘Right. So the prosthetic won’t hurt?’ Tamara pressed her lips together. Laurie knew that every step she took was painful at the moment.
‘It shouldn’t do, but honestly I don’t know. We’re trying things out at the moment, and we may need to adjust your seat and the outriggers before we get it exactly right, okay?’
Tamara nodded. ‘Okay. Let’s do it.’
She was so brave. Willing to try new things and looking at what she could do, not what she couldn’t. Laurie wondered again whether Ross had deliberately chosen these kids to make her feel ashamed of herself. If so, he’d succeeded.
She helped Tamara forward onto the seat in front of Ross’s, carefully shifting her own weight so that the movement didn’t rock the boat. Pulling her own rowing gloves from her pocket, she gave them to Tamara.
‘Put these on, it’ll stop the oars from rubbing your hands. We don’t want you getting blisters.’
Tamara pulled the gloves on, and Laurie fastened them for her at the wrists. Then she lifted the oars up from the bottom of the boat and fitted them into the rowlocks, b