Pip just wanted to get away but the lady was still talking.
‘I’m probably just a silly old woman but, just for a moment, you reminded me of someone I haven’t seen in a long time, a girl who used to live next door years ago,’ the old lady continued. ‘It’s been empty for a while now but when I saw you there I thought…well, anyway, now I can see it’s just the eyes that are similar.’
‘Cassandra. She was my mother.’
‘Oh, my dear.’ The woman’s eyes were sympathetic. ‘I’m so sorry.’
Confused, Pip blinked. ‘What for?’
‘Well, that she died.’
‘Oh, she didn’t die,’ Pip explained. ‘I don’t think so, anyway. I just meant…I’ve never seen her. Not since I was born, anyway.’
‘Oh, well, I see.’ The old lady looked confused. ‘I must admit I don’t understand modern families, so complicated. But I’m glad she’s not…you know.’ She reached over to pat Pip’s hand just as the four o’clock news began on the radio.
Reports are emerging that wild child Frankie J., a former Star Seeker finalist, has reunited with her family. This comes just days after locals spotted her performing in the market square with a young girl, who some are saying is missing ten-year-old Pip Sullivan, and her dog. What an uplifting story as Christmas approaches…
Pip’s despair at not finding Cass turned slowly to delight for Frankie. At least someone had found their way home, even if it wasn’t Pip.
‘Is everything all right?’ the woman asked, turning off the radio.
Pip managed a smile. ‘Yes, thank you.’
‘When I see her friend around, I often wonder what happened to Cassandra. She was a lovely girl but she’d a difficult start in life, I think.’
Pip’s interest was tweaked. ‘Her friend?’
‘I see him in town occasionally heading down to the surf. Those surfers mostly look the same to me. Hair that looks like it’s never seen a brush, wetsuit and big tanned feet. But I always know which one Cassandra’s friend is because of that tattoo he has on his neck. I mean, an octopus with a top hat! Ridiculous!’ She clucked in disapproval. ‘Although I think he’s also a volunteer surf lifesaver, so I have to give him points for that.’
Pip nodded, wondering if Cass’s surfer friend might know where she was.
‘Do you know his name or where I can find him? The surfer?’
The woman’s face fell. ‘I’m sorry. Byron is getting so busy these days; it’s hard to know everyone personally. But I’m pretty sure he’s local.’
They exchanged goodbyes, and Pip and Houdini began the walk back down the street towards the surfing beach.
As she passed by the lighthouse, a brisk late afternoon wind whipped the waves into frothy sea horses charging towards shore. A long way from shore, a line of surfers sat astride their boards. Then, as one, they sprang up and surged into shore. Only three made it all the way without falling off, and only one of the three looked completely confident. As if it was the most natural thing in the world. Pip wanted to clap. She wanted to feel what it was like to ride the waves.
Close to, the lighthouse was even taller than she’d thought, with views up and down the coast. Next to the surfing beach was a much smaller bay where the water surged more wildly, first this way and then that.
They’d walked on a short way when Houdini gave a sharp woof, and then a long whine. It was hardly surprising. He had to be hungry.
‘Come on, then. Let’s go to the beach, Houdini, and then I’ll work out what to do next.’
Houdini whined again and pulled at his lead, his eyes fixed on the surfers down on the main bay. Pip followed his gaze but couldn’t see anything unusual. The line-up of surfers was sitting, paddling. She figured they were waiting for a worthwhile wave.
Where was the man who’d glided into shore so smoothly a few minutes before? Scanning the water, she couldn’t see him anywhere. Then, there he was! He was paddling around to the smaller bay with the bigger waves. Pip watched, fascinated, at how much distance he covered with minimal effort.
He was right around the headland now and into the narrow bay. With a look behind him, he leapt up onto his board, caught the wave and raced in towards shore.
Pip cheered and Houdini leapt forward, barking loudly.
‘Cool!’ Pip said. But then the man lost his balance and pitched into the ocean, reappearing a second later, sleek as a seal.
Houdini growled, and it was then that Pip saw what her dog had. Not far behind the man and closing in fast was the distinctive triangle fin of the ocean’s greatest predator.
For a moment, Pip’s brain froze – along with all her limbs. Then, just as suddenly, she sprang to life, racing to the edge of the cliff with hands in the air, waving frantically to get the man’s attention.
She screamed at him. ‘Shark! Shark! Behind you! Hurry!’ But he was oblivious to her. The towering cliffs that made this a prime spot for a lighthouse also made it impossible for her voice to carry all the way down to the bay below.
Houdini joined the effort, too, prancing up and down next to Pip, barking as his own life depended on it, when in fact it was a stranger’s survival.
But still the surfer casually clung to his board, gradually making his way back to the shore as if he had all the time in the world and Jaws wasn’t about to shred him with a thousand pointy teeth. Once the image was in her mind, Pip couldn’t banish it. If the shark got hold of him, it would be all over red rover. At the very least, he would lose an arm or a leg.
The fin disappeared – and not knowing where the shark had gone was ten times worse. Pip redoubled her efforts, expecting at any moment to see the waters erupt and the shark make its deadly move.
‘Mister! Mister!’ she screamed, waving frantically. ‘Shark! Danger! Get out!’
Still he was oblivious. She had to get his attention another way!
Looking around, she saw some large pebbles. She seized one the size of her hand, stood back, ran and hurled it in the direction of the bay. But her weedy little arm didn’t have the strength, and the stone thudded onto the rocks below, not even reaching the water.
A branch! He might see a branch waving better than he’d see her arms. There was a short stubby tree nearby with bright red flowers. Using all her might, she ripped off a limb and ran back to the shore, waving it madly. But the surfer was looking towards the beach, not up on the cliff.
The fin emerged from the dark water, closer now, cutting from side to side as it hunted its prey. From Pip’s position, the shark was almost on top of the man, but moving with such smooth menace, it seemed to cause almost no disturbance in the water. Either that, or the man was so deep in his thoughts that he had blocked everything out.
Just then, the late afternoon sun peeked out from behind a cloud, casting its rays across the small beach and narrow bay, catching an empty glass bottle someone had tossed in the grass. It made Pip think of how a lighthouse warned of danger. Picking up the bottle, she twisted it until it caught the sun’s rays. Light danced around it, painted in a thousand brilliant colours. She held it out and twirled it again.
Finally, the surfer was looking her way, as the shark moved in…
Pip dropped the bottle, cupped her hands and yelled at the top of her voice. ‘Shark! Get out, now!’
The man cupped his ear as though he couldn’t quite make out what she was saying.
Pip yelled harder. ‘Shark!’ She made a triangle shape with her hands. He went very still as he finally got the message, and then swung around.
She saw the water thrash alongside him, saw his mouth open to yell out in fear although the sound of his cry was carried away on the wind. As the water churned wildly, Pip and Houdini hared down the path towards the beach. She kept losing sight of the surfer as she descended into the trees.
It seemed to take forever, although it was probably only a few minutes before she reached the beach and saw the surfer swimming madly for the beach in a confusing spray of white surf, his surfboard bobbing up and down behind him. Was the shark following him? She couldn’t tell from ground level.
Hurdling a low fence, Houdini flew onto the beach, Pip at his heels. Just at that moment, a large breaker gathered, the surfer looked over his shoulder, tugged his board alongside and jumped on to it, cruising into the beach in style.
Pip splashed into the shallow surf, not even thinking of her wet sneakers. Houdini was more wary of the lapping waves, approaching and dancing away at the last minute, even though he had no sneakers to get wet. Panting hard, Pip stopped, hands on her knees and stared up at the surfer as he jumped off his board and trotted through the shallows, grinning as though he was having the time of his life.
Pip looked him up and down, expecting to see an arm hanging by a thread or a missing ear at the very least, but there was no blood, no missing body parts. He looked perfectly whole and normal, apart from being almost as skinny as Pip, but a whole lot taller and with much broader shoulders.
His grin widened, light brown eyes glinting with laughter. ‘Woohoo, that was close!’
Pip couldn’t help but grin back. ‘I thought he’d get you.’
‘Old Toothless? He’s been trying for years but he hasn’t got me yet!’
With that, the surfer flicked back a mane of wet brown hair as he bent down to scratch Houdini underneath his chin, and Pip spotted the tattoo of a wickedly grinning, top-hatted octopus, its many tentacles twisted around his neck.