After he disappeared into the forest, Leda threw herself into chores. She didn't bother to change or wash until every animal and plant on her land had been tended to, but when her stomach growled, she decided she couldn't bring her filthy shift into the cottage.
Without thinking she went to the lake and walked into the rocky shallows. She thought about taking off the shift, and washing it and her body properly, but she was too tired to take it off. She walked over the rocks until she was wet to the waist, and then she submerged herself in the cold water and swam.
Under the water, the calm washed over her. Her hair and shift floated around her in a ghostly cloud, her body felt free of it's shell. She opened her eyes. All around her there was nothing but rock and water. On land, the lake always looked blue, either a dazzling sparkling blue or the torrid grey blue of raining days. But when she was underwater, she'd open her eyes and be suspended in green.
She surfaced for air. When she looked to the shore, she saw Rob.
It was the first time she had ever seen him in daylight. He looked just as large and brooding as he had the night before, but his wild looks seemed more out of place in the daylight. His hair and beard were black and his eyes were a steely grey, made all the more severe by his thick, furrowed brow. She was surprised by the harshness of his looks, considering how gentle he had been when they slept together. The arms that had held her steady on his chest looked like bludgeons in the daylight. And the hands which he had run through her hair to comfort her could just as easily crush her windpipe.
Just as she going to swim ashore to him, he walked into the water, submerging his breaches quickly. Unlike Leda, who had only learned to propel herself weakly in order to save herself from drowning, Rob could swim like a man born to water. In a few powerful strokes, he reached her.
"Good morning, Leda," he was treading water effortlessly.
"Good morning." she said. She could tread water, but with a great deal of effort.
"Been up long?" he smiled a crooked smile.
"I had to take care of the animals," she said, suddenly embarrassed.
"All animals have needs," he said, still smiling. "Horses, pigs, men, women."
Leda tried to think of something to say, but before the words came, her swimming failed her, and her chin dipped under the water. Before she could pull herself up, Rob caught her into his arms.
"Can't you swim?"
"I can swim," Leda tried to remove herself from his grasp, but he held her tightly. "Although you're better at it, I'll admit it."
"If you hold onto me I can use my hands to keep us up better," he said.
"Or you could just let me go," she suggested.
Rob thought about it and gave her that strange half grin again. "Alright, then"
He dropped her suddenly, and Leda felt her head go underwater so fast, it terrified her. She shot back up to the surface, throwing her arms around Rob's neck.
"Whoa, easy, I've got you."
Leda breathed deeply into the man's neck, trying not to run her hands over the taught muscles of his back and shoulders.
"Why don't you put your legs around my waist," he said in a low voice. "It'll be easier for me to hold you."
"You don't need to hold me. I swim in this lake all summer. I'm just not used to doing it with other people."
"Who taught you how to swim?"
"I taught myself."
"How?"
The look that Leda gave Rob couldn't be described as anything less than a glare. She could hide her fear, desire, terror, sadness, but annoyance was an emotion that spelled itself plainly over her face whenever she felt it.
"By starting somewhere I could stand, then pulling up my feet from the ground and trying not to drown," she said sharply, but Rob only met her indignant words with laughter.
"That's as good a method as any."
"I live alone."
"But you're not alone now," he smiled, reaching his hands under water and pulling her legs around him. Caught by surprise, Leda tried to cover her legs with her skirts, but not only was her shift floating around her uselessly, but it had gone almost transparent in the water. It occurred to her then that she should be feeling some kind of shame, to be almost naked and wrapped around a strange man from a strange place, but he acted as though it was the most normal thing in the world, so she didn't. When they were close like this, she felt safe, even though she knew she shouldn't.
They stayed together like this for a time, not saying anything, as Rob swam in small circles with her holding onto him. Then he dipped under the water with her, and together they were suspended in the green calm of the lake. Leda opened her eyes underwater, and when she looked at him she saw he was doing the same. With a smile, she detached herself from his body and kicked deeper into the lake, her shift floating around her like a spirit, and touched the rocks at the bottom with her hands. Then she felt his arms on her waist, and she allowed him to pull her up to the surface.
