The next morning I was at the Big Bay dock picking up some herring and switching out the gas tank I had borrowed. I noticed Carol on the fantail of the Breland’s boat. She and Brenda Breland had their heads together over a cup of coffee.
When I got back for lunch, they were gone. Both of them had caught the mail plane into town. There was obviously something going on. My impression turned out to be correct. Vop eventually filled me in on all the details, although he had to calm down first before he could find the words.
Before Carol flew off with Mrs. Breland that morning, she left a message for Vop. Carol knew it was Vop’s turn to go shopping in Campbell River the next day, and her message told him to meet her first at the Swiss Chalet at the south end of town for lunch at eleven o’clock sharp, or else. The message also advised him to book off the next day, if possible, and to maybe get Gilly to cover for him.
“I feel like I’ve been summoned,” said Vop when Troutbreath gave him the message.
“You have, my good man,” said Troutbreath, “and the Swiss Chalet too. You’d better be wearing a clean shirt.”
There was a certain amount of whining from Vop that night. Getting to town for an eleven o’clock lunch meant getting up earlier than usual. Vop was very protective of his sleep time. Still, he managed to get organized and left the house more or less on time.
Vop set off in his boat into a cold, blustery summer morning. The sky threatened rain, and he was dressed accordingly. He left the shelter of Stuart Island, heading south toward the Rendezvous Islands and Heriot Bay on Quadra Island. Out in the more open water, the wind slammed into him, sending a stinging cold spray into his face. He decided to take the more sheltered route through Hole-in-the-Wall.
Hole-in-the-Wall is a very narrow passage between Sonora and Maurelle Islands. In some places you could almost throw a stone from one side to the other, especially at the west end. On a big tide, when you had to watch for the rocks on either shore, it wasn’t the easiest way to reach Heriot Bay. This day, though, the tides were small and the west-end passage would be safe enough.
As Vop entered Hole-in-the-Wall, the sun began to poke through the clouds. At the far end of the passage, the sun’s rays picked out the telltale spray of a killer whale surfacing. More whales followed behind, their spray turning into rainbows in the sunlight. A family group was headed toward Vop, filling the channel. There was nothing to do but pull over into the kelp and wait for them to go past.
Vop shut off his motor and watched. They all surfaced together. Vop could hear their relaxed exhalations and then something more. His fish box, built into the side of his boat, acted like a sound box and amplified the song the whales were sharing. They called and answered each other, and Vop could make out the high pitch of younger calves.
One of the young ones broke away from the pod and swam over to Vop. He watched it swim under his boat and come up on the other side, between Vop and the shore. If it wanted to, even this smaller whale could have easily flipped Vop into the water with its tail. As its head broke the surface, it sprayed Vop with a fine mist, almost as if trying to get his attention. Vop looked over the side of his boat, down into the water, into the face of the most intelligent creature he had ever encountered, human or non-human.
The young whale looked back at him. Vop had the distinct impression it was smiling at him, as if, somehow, the whale had heard about him and all his antics. The whale regarded him with keen interest and cocked its head to one side. Vop, without thinking, reached his hand out and gently rested it on its snout. The whale flicked his head, not to knock his hand loose but to nudge it in a way that made Vop want to caress it. Vop petted the whale the way you might stroke a beloved dog. The whale lingered for a few moments. It nudged Vop’s hand again until it had enough petting, then slipped effortlessly down into the water. The shadowy shape turned and headed back to the pod, which had almost reached the mouth of the Hole-in-the-Wall, the same way Vop had come in.