Humans returning. Hidden from sight under a jetty, we watched them pass.
I lifted my head from the water to hear the conversation.
Vanessa walked out to meet them. “Where’s Joe?” she asked. “Did he stay back to close up?”
A raucous laugh from one of them. “He came back early. He’s probably asleep in his bunk, dreaming about you.”
She laughed, but it sounded forced. She was worried.
She waited until they had returned to their camps before she came to us. We could not hide from her.
“His little boat has not returned. He may need help. We must find him. I will bring my little boat. You help me. Have you seen him?”
Maria answered, “His little boat is stuck on a rock between the islands. It contains some water, but he will be safe until someone rescues him.”
Vanessa proceeded from worry to incredulity. “You saw him and left him in such a precarious position?”
I defended my own role in the mess. “Maria damaged his boat motor with a poorly placed wave. We felt it would be safest to place the boat there than let it drift without power.”
Now Vanessa became angry. “The young human fisherman has offered to fit out our land home with communications like that of the mainland. If we lose him, we must spend additional months on the mainland, away from our people. You will accompany me and you will find him. We must help him, whatever it takes. If you do not find him, on our return I will inform the elders that the delay was caused by your carelessness.”
Her fury was palpable. She jumped into the small metal boat and started the motor. She moved the boat into the deeper water and headed for the gap between the islands, then to the open water between the island and the outer reef, searching.
We found his little metal boat, upside-down just below the surface. We tipped the water out and pushed it the right way up. She brought her boat over to us and tied a rope to his little vessel, towing it behind hers.
Her voice was anxious. “Find him. He must be close.”
Near the barrier reef, I saw him.
I called for my sister. “Maria. Quickly, he is by the outer reef. He cannot swim, so we must take him together.”
Maria and I carefully lifted the human to the surface. Vanessa looked relieved, but her voice was still anxious. “Bring him to the boat.”
She leaped from her boat to his, her aim so perfect that both vessels barely rocked. She dropped to her knees and held out her arms. We helped her to lift him into the boat. She didn’t let go of him, even when he was securely out of the water.
I watched her for a moment, as she held tight to the cold, wet human, her expression worried. I relented and gave her advice, as a healer who had been trained in human health as well as that of our own people. “He is colder than a human should be. He needs warmth.”
Her eyes were cold. “Then we must make him dry and warm.”
Looking at the human she held in her arms, his head resting on her breasts, I voiced both Maria’s and my wish. “I feel you are all the warmth he wishes for.”
Vanessa’s anger had softened in her concern for the human, but it was not gone. “After the trouble both of you have caused, it should be you girls who assist him to recover. However, as it appears I can trust neither of you with his well-being, this will be my responsibility. I will find another way for you to make amends. For now, Belinda will steer my boat, whilst Maria will guide us.”
Together, we guided both metal vessels back to the jetty through the waves, as she raised her voice to sing him to sleep. Her song was powerful and his sleep was deep.
We assisted her to transfer the human from the boat to a wheelbarrow on the jetty. She took him back to his dwelling alone.
We took his boat back to its usual floating place, tying it up securely.
We retired for the night, but she remained to care for the human. She devoted considerable time and effort to ensuring his well-being, leaving his house not long before dawn. She returned to her own house for long enough to wash and change her clothes. She then returned to the jetty.
I politely enquired after the human’s health. “Is the human warm enough for your liking?”
“Oh yes. He is very warm.” Vanessa smiled. Her hands rubbed her upper arms slowly. She turned away to step into the boat cabin. Both Maria and I breathed a sigh of relief that we were not required to further tend to the human.
“Time to go and pull the pots.” Vanessa’s eyes were bright and excited.
I wondered what could be so exciting about lobsters, today as opposed to any other day.