Driving rain and a thick blanket of cloud obscured the sun. Quinn shuddered as the wind jostled the big cabin cruiser against her mooring. The gusts grew stronger, with lulls in between, as if some monstrous living thing was giving birth to the storm. What a coward he was. His little brother, all alone. Lost and in trouble . . . or worse. And yet the idea of heading out on this search filled him with dread. Quinn pulled himself together as best he could and stowed away the last of their gear in Flipper’s hull. ‘That’s it.’
Zoe ran down from the house. ‘I’ve rung the lot – police, search and rescue, coastguard . . . They’re sending out boats, but helicopters can’t get up in this weather.’ Quinn glanced across and found her watching him, compassion in her eyes and something more. Understanding. He looked away. He didn’t deserve understanding, especially not from someone like Zoe. Someone who confronted vertigo on that very first day and climbed the lookout tower anyway. Who overcame her fear of riding. Who challenged herself daily by living in a house perched high on a cliff. Someone who nearly lost her own life just two days before, and yet was prepared to brave the ocean again for Josh.
‘Will you be all right?’ she asked.
‘I’ll have to be.’
Zoe slipped a couple of tablets into his hand. ‘For seasickness,’ she whispered. ‘They might help.’ Quinn wasn’t too proud to pop them in his mouth. He could use all the help he could get.
Leo got off the radio. ‘Archie’s joined the search. It would help if we bloody well knew where Josh was going. What on earth was he thinking, heading out in a storm like this?’
‘I know where he’ll be.’ The three of them turned round. Bridget was standing there, dressed in wet-weather gear. Leo marched forwards and hugged her, didn’t let her go.
A burning anger flared in Quinn’s chest. ‘You’re not welcome, Bridget.’ He positioned himself between her and Zoe.
Bridget broke away from her father’s embrace. ‘Please, Quinn. I’m sorry, for everything.’ Her voice rose higher. ‘Please let me come. I can help.’
‘Help? This is all your fault in the first place. You’re lucky you’re not in jail.’
‘Now hold on —’ said Leo.
‘Hear her out,’ said Zoe. ‘What if she does know where he is?’
‘I do,’ said Bridget. ‘Josh is heading for Bora Reef, I’m sure of it.’
‘Why there?’ Quinn said.
‘Mirrhi’s missing too, right?’ He nodded. ‘She’s originally from the Bora Reef pod. Josh knows that. He used to talk about taking her back to her mother. When he overheard that Mirrhi was going to Oceanworld, well . . .’
‘Josh thought it was his last chance to reunite Mirrhi with her family.’ Zoe turned to Quinn and grabbed his arm. ‘It makes sense.’
Knowing Josh and his thinking, there was a certain logic to the theory. ‘But would Mirrhi follow Josh’s boat?’
‘Trust me —’ said Bridget.
‘Bad choice of words.’
She ignored Quinn’s interruption. ‘Mirrhi would follow that boy anywhere.’
Zoe nodded agreement. ‘I think she’s right, and there is a pod out at Bora. Kane joined them. I saw it for myself.’ She took Quinn’s arm, ignoring the burning in Bridget’s eyes when she saw Zoe touch him. ‘Give her a chance,’ said Zoe. ‘To put things right.’
Quinn opened his mouth, then closed it again. How could he allow it? It would be like forgiving her: for his brother, for Zoe, for making a lie of his life. But then how could he deny her if there was a chance she could lead them to Josh?
‘Well?’ asked Leo. ‘Is she coming or not? I’d just as soon my daughter stayed put in this weather, but since she wants to help . . . I reckon it’s up to you, Quinn.’
They all stared at him expectantly. ‘Get on board then, the lot of you,’ said Quinn. ‘We should be able to catch Josh up in this old tub.’
Quinn sat with Zoe on the rear bench seat, scanning the dark ocean with binoculars, grateful the cabin cruiser rode so high in the water. That small degree of separation was a comfort. Bridget sat up the front, talking on the radio. Occasionally Quinn glanced at Leo, reassured by his calm competence at the helm, determined not to let his rising panic show. High above them, sea swallows recklessly rode the wild winds.
‘Barometer’s dropping,’ called Leo. ‘Weather’s closing right in.’ Great. Leo sounded almost cheerful, like he was enjoying the battle with the sea. ‘Let’s hope we spot Josh before he reaches the Pass. Visibility’s shocking and getting worse.’ Quinn didn’t need Leo to tell him that. He could barely make out the shore, or even the lighthouse on the cape.
Zoe put a hand on his knee. ‘Are you okay?’
He managed a smile. ‘I’m sweating like a pig, sick in the guts and scared stiff of drowning. But mainly I’m terrified we won’t find him.’ Quinn clasped her briefly to him. ‘How could I live with that?’
‘We’ll find him.’ She squeezed his leg. ‘I’m sure of it.’
The sky grew blacker and the sea grew rougher. Flipper lurched between waves, crashing down in between them with belly-churning, bone-jarring impact. Quinn imagined the damage those waves would be doing to the little Seafarer: at the very least flooding her deck; at the worst, flipping her right over. But then Josh was a capable, level-headed young skipper, who understood the ocean and her moods – loved them even. He had a fair chance.
‘There!’ yelled Bridget. ‘Up ahead, near the neck of the channel.’
Quinn ran to the bow of the boat, his fears forgotten, replaced by a wild, hopeful joy. ‘Well, if the little bugger isn’t still powering out to sea.’
Leo grinned and gave him the thumbs up. ‘He’s a cocky one, your lad. If he’d made it to open ocean though, he would have had his hands full.’ For a moment they watched the runabout framed by the grey sea, grey sky. Bridget’s eyes brimmed with tears and Leo patted her arm. ‘All right, let’s head him off at the Pass,’ he yelled, and then, more quietly: ‘I’ve always wanted to say that.’
Ten minutes later, and they’d caught him. Josh made a valiant attempt to escape up the channel, but his little runabout was no match for the twin-engine, fifteen-metre cabin cruiser. Leo blocked him at every turn. What Flipper lacked in manoeuvrability she made up for in sheer horsepower and stability. Quinn couldn’t breathe. If Josh strayed too far onto the shallow inshore reef, the razor-sharp coral could puncture Seafarer’s thin hull. ‘Watch it,’ said Quinn, as Leo brought the bow dangerously close to Josh’s boat, and a wave broke over his hull. ‘You’ll capsize him. He already looks like a drowned rat.’
One more drenching and Josh gave up the game. Leo executed a final, skilful movement with a hard starboard rudder. Now Seafarer lay on the lee side of Flipper’s hull, sheltered from the worst of the weather, almost within reach of the mid-ship boarding ladder.
‘Tie her on,’ screamed Quinn, but the wind whipped his words away. ‘Where’s the loudhailer?’ Zoe ran to Leo and returned with a handset. Quinn turned it on. ‘Josh,’ he said again. His words boomed loud and clear across the dark choppy waters. ‘Tie on your boat.’ But although Josh was tantalisingly close, he made no effort to secure the offered line or grab hold of the dangling lifebuoy.
‘Look,’ yelled Zoe. ‘There’s Mirrhi.’ The dolphin emerged briefly from behind Seafarer, spy-hopped and then ducked round the other side.
‘Let me try,’ said Zoe. ‘Josh, listen, you have to bring Mirrhi home. She’ll get sick out here . . . she could die.’
Josh turned a defiant face towards her.
‘It’s no use,’ said Quinn. ‘I know that look. I’ll have to go after him.’
‘There are no safety harnesses on board,’ she said. ‘I’ve already asked.’
‘Have you now?’ he said. ‘Planning to do me out of my hero status, were you?’
She favoured him with a faint smile. ‘But you’re —’
‘Off-the-scale shit-scared to be even standing here on this deck? That’s right.’ He tested a lifebuoy rope. ‘So things can’t get much worse, can they?’ He pulled her in for a kiss. ‘Give Leo the heads-up. Tell him, steady as she goes.’
Zoe ran to the cockpit to deliver the message as Quinn donned a life-jacket and tied a rope around his waist.
‘Be careful,’ said Bridget.
He ignored her. Taking a bottomless breath he tried to calm himself, calm the racing nerves, and the hammer of his heart against his ribs. Then he climbed over the side, holding fast to the ladder as Flipper pitched and rolled.
Quinn looked up. Much safer that way. Bridget was leaning over the rail, holding the loudhailer. Rain streamed down her face. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. He hadn’t seen her like this since they were children, stripped of composure, raw emotions on show for all to see.
‘Josh,’ called Bridget. ‘Mirrhi isn’t going anywhere. I went to see the people at Oceanworld yesterday. The deal’s off.’
Quinn dared to turn and face the water. Josh stared back at him, almost on a level now, but still out of reach. ‘She’s lying,’ said Josh.
‘No, she’s not, mate,’ said Quinn. ‘I promise.’ His voice sounded echoey and far away, like it belonged to somebody else. ‘We have to get that dolphin back home quick smart. There’s a disease out here.’ The knot in his gut tightened. ‘Farm chemicals have been running out to sea, making the animals sick.’ A look of horror spread across his brother’s face. ‘Mirrhi’s not safe out here, Josh. Will you help us get her home?’
‘And Bridget won’t sell her?’
‘No, mate.’ Mirrhi surfaced and uttered a loud series of clicks and whistles. ‘See? She says she’s homesick.’
A smile sneaked out around Josh’s eyes. ‘You don’t speak dolphin.’
Quinn pointed to his watch. ‘My secret dolphin translation device.’ A big wave broadsided him; he gasped for breath and closed his eyes. But surprise, not terror, was his overwhelming emotion. He’d been so intent on coaxing Josh off the boat that he’d put his fears aside, without even realising it. When he brushed the water from his eyes, Josh was securing the line to Seafarer’s bow. Faint cheering floated down from Flipper’s deck.
Quinn grabbed the lifebuoy. ‘Ready?’ Josh nodded and Quinn flung it across. ‘Quickly, before your stern swings wide.’ Josh wriggled into it, tested it once with his weight, then swung like a monkey across to the ladder. ‘Come on,’ said Quinn. ‘Let’s go home.’