The Pacific Giants (10 page)

It was now or never, Vanessa thought. She might not get another chance to meet him. If she didn't introduce herself now, she'd never learn about Caddy.

Vanessa stepped out of the shadows and approached the gate.

“Hello,” she began. But she stopped suddenly, horrified by her own pushiness. Her father would kill her if he knew she was introducing herself to strange men.

She should probably just turn and walk away. Before she could make a decision, though, she heard him call out.

“No, don't go, please,” he said in a friendly voice. “Your timing is perfect. Divine intervention, I'm
guessing,” he said dramatically. “And now that you're here, I need your advice.”

Vanessa smiled shyly. She liked his voice. He was friendly and his manner was easy.

“Just tell me what you think of the color,” he called out, waving the paintbrush in his hand.

Vanessa walked up the path and stood in front of the door.

“I'm guessing the hideous mustard color is old and the green new?” she said in an amused voice. “Kelly green. It's brave. I like it. Most people go for just the usual black or blue or red. …”

Vanessa's voice trailed off as she ran out of steam. Where did she go from here?

The man laughed.

“That's exactly what I wanted to hear. My wife always claimed that I was color-blind. Now she's passed away I have to rely on my own judgment, which ain't easy sometimes.”

He put down the paint pot and offered his hand to Vanessa.

“Jack Noire. Delighted to meet you,” he said warmly. There was the slightest hint of an accent that Vanessa couldn't place. Something other than Canadian.

“Vanessa Day. Pleased to meet you too,” she replied.

Jack Noire had a weather-beaten face that crinkled when he smiled, like a well-worn leather handbag. He wore a beige T-shirt with paint streaks all over it and long khaki shorts. His feet were bare.

“Think you could do me a favor?” he asked. “Could you check out the color for the sitting room too? I'm not really sure about the one I've picked.”

Go into his house? Oh, God! Vanessa felt a sudden rush of adrenaline. Her father and Lee would freak out.

She stared at the professor, wanting desperately to trust her instincts. It was the perfect opportunity, and if she didn't take it, how would she ever find out about Caddy? Wayne was certainly not going to tell her.

Vanessa followed him in through the front door. The hallway wasn't very long and he disappeared almost immediately. Walking slowly to the end of the hall, Vanessa peered into the room. The center of it was filled with furniture. A huge desk, leather armchairs, sofas, chests of drawers, and an assortment of lamps and books were all piled on top of each other.

“A bit of a mess at the moment, I'm afraid, but as
you see, I've got the painting bug. Now tell me what you think. Honestly.”

Vanessa looked around. The walls were bright yellow.

“Lemon sherbet,” Vanessa exclaimed with a laugh.

“Very fresh. One of my favorite colors and my favorite flavors.” For a second, Vanessa was tempted to mention Lettie Cuspard's dark chocolate and orange opinion of him, but she stopped herself in time.

Jack Noire smiled. He was clearly unbothered that she had arrived without invitation at his door and hadn't yet explained her reason for calling.

“Now, this color is for the sitting room but I do think it's a bit too strong,” he said, pointing to another pot of paint. It was wine-colored.

Vanessa caught his eye and decided to be direct.

“A bit dark and gloomy, I think. If you want to stay in the reds, something lighter, terracotta maybe, would be nicer.”

The professor looked pleased.

“You could try adding a little white and a touch of the yellow into it and see where it ends up,” Vanessa suggested.

“Brilliant. OK, that's the paints picked. Let's find
the kitchen table and the kettle and I'll make us a nice cup of tea. That's what the Irish drink all day, isn't it?”

So he'd spotted her Irish accent. At least he hadn't said Scottish.

“Were you born on Duquette Island?” Vanessa asked politely, although she knew he had retired here only recently.

“No, no. Lived most of my life in Vancouver, but born out on Kuper Island. It's a little one between Vancouver Island and the mainland—a native reservation that belongs to the Penelakut.”

“Oh, you're Indian!” Vanessa exclaimed. The professor smiled at her.

“We're actually called First Nations these days, although I still like the term Indian myself.”

“Is Kuper Island like Duquette?” Vanessa asked.

“Actually, I only lived at home until I was about ten. Then I was sent to the mainland with lots of other kids from the reservation, to a boarding school. I hated it,” he said vehemently.

“Why were you sent away?” Vanessa asked.

“So they could knock the savage out of us,” he said, smiling. “Don't worry,” he continued with a chuckle, “it didn't work on me.”

Mr. Fox's comments about civilization and progress flashed into Vanessa's mind. She was about to ask more about the First Nations, but the professor brought the teapot to the table with two cups.

“Milk or lemon?” he said.

“Milk, please.” Vanessa gazed out of the big bay window to the sea. She'd love a house like this someday, right on the edge of the ocean.

“So,” said her host, “you've been kind enough to listen to my life story and to help me pick my paints. Now, what can I do for you in return?”

“Well,” Vanessa said, leaning forward in her chair, “you're a professor, I hear.”

“Retired professor of marine biology—worked in the University of British Columbia for thirty years. But please, call me Jack. You can't help me pick my paint colors and then call me Professor Noire.”

“OK,” said Vanessa.

“Now ask me,” Jack said grinning at her. “I can see you'll burst if you don't.”

Vanessa was taken aback. Was she that easily read?

She inhaled deeply. “Tell me everything you know about Caddy,” she blurted out.

The most famous book about Cadborosaurus was written by scientists Paul LeBlond and Edward Bousfield and was published in 1995. It is called
Cadborosaurus: Survivor from the Deep
.

Vanessa drank her tea and listened as Professor Noire—Jack—spoke.

“I saw Caddy for the first time in Turner Bay in 1964. She just popped up out of the blue beside me while I was fishing with my brother Larry. We used to go out fishing once a week.” Jack leaned back in his
chair. “After that we went out every day, but I didn't see Caddy again for another twenty years. By that stage I was beginning to think I had imagined the whole thing.”

He paused and frowned.

“The only problem with the hallucination theory was the fact that Larry and I had both seen the exact same thing at the same time. How could we both have imagined it? I asked myself. So in the end it seemed more rational to believe that we did see a strange creature in the sea that day.”

Vanessa looked at Jack's lined face. It was an honest face. She was dying to ask him to describe the creature, but if she interrupted now, goodness knows what else she would miss.

“Soon after that, I began to go through the old newspapers and magazines to see where Caddy popped up. Larry got bored with the whole thing, but I became obsessed. I couldn't believe the number of witnesses Caddy had. From that point on, I began to collect details of all the sightings.”

Jack stopped to pour Vanessa some more tea from the pot. Then he noticed that there was no more milk in the jug and started to get up.

“I drink it black too, thanks,” Vanessa said quickly, taking a sip. She didn't care about the tea—she wanted him to sit down and keep talking.

“The reports go back right to the turn of the twentieth century. Most were just ordinary people taken by surprise and reluctant to admit it, but they felt that what they had seen was so extraordinary that they had to tell someone. Over time, other people heard what I was doing and got in touch with me. I got them to describe it and draw a picture if they could.”

Vanessa thought of the picture that she'd drawn and that Wayne now had. She wouldn't say anything yet. Plenty of time for her story later.

Jack got up from the table, went over to a huge bookshelf and ran his fingers along the spines, searching for something.

“Found you,” he said, plucking out a small paperback book and presenting it with both hands to Vanessa. “You should read this. It's the bible on Caddy.”

Vanessa looked at the title.
Cadborosaurus: Survivor from the Deep
by Paul LeBlond and Edward L. Bousfield. She opened it reverently and read the first lines:

This book is about Caddy, British Columbia's sea serpent. Although reported by hundreds of eyewitnesses over the past century, this animal remains a “cryptid”: a creature whose existence is still in doubt because of insufficient material evidence.

“Oh my God! This is so incredible, Jack. Normally I have to hunt to the ends of the earth to find out about a cryptid, and here you are, just handing me a whole book about Caddy. Do you know these people who wrote it—Paul LeBlond and Edward Bousfield?” She read the names from the cover.

“Oh, yes indeed. I've met them both, and I've met Heulvemann too. He's the father of cryptozoology.”

“I can't believe it,” Vanessa said dramatically. “I'm standing here talking to a real cryptozoologist.”

“And I can't believe I've met a kid who knows what a cryptozoologist is!” Jack laughed. “How come?”

“It's my mum,” Vanessa said, stumbling over her words. “She is … she was … she was fascinated by cryptids and kept files on them—the Loch Ness Monster, the Chupacabra, Ogopogo. …”

“And Caddy?” Jack added.

“No, not Caddy. Mind you, it was only Ronan
checking for me, so he could have missed it.”

Jack didn't ask who Ronan was or pepper her with questions like most people would. Instead he took a drink of his tea and waited for her to explain.

“Can I borrow the book, please? Just for a few days?” said Vanessa.

“Of course. I'm sorry I can't give it to you to keep—it's my only copy and it's out of print now.”

“I promise I won't lose it. I won't let it out of my sight even for a moment,” Vanessa said, clutching the book to her chest. “I'd better go, or Lee will be worried,” she said then, forgetting that she hadn't explained who Lee was or what they were doing on the island. “Can I come again?”

She stood up from the table.

“Absolutely, Vanessa,” said Jack. “You've still got to pick the paint color for the hall.”

Although Caddy is only rarely seen at the surface, all indications are that it is an air-breather. Several observers have described nostrils at the snout end of the head and some have described “steam” or “jet” emissions from them
.

—Cadborosaurus: Survivor from the Deep

Lee was sitting at the kitchen table with Frankie when Vanessa arrived back. There was a big pot of coffee between them, which was almost empty. Lee jumped up when she saw Vanessa and hugged her
without saying a word.

When she had arrived back, Lee had been surprised to find that Vanessa was not in the guesthouse or on the beach. At first she had tried not to let herself worry, but distant ripples—the memory of Vanessa's disappearance in Scotland not so long ago—began to gather momentum in Lee's head. An hour drinking coffee with Mrs. Bouche hadn't soothed her nerves either.

She's just biked to the village
, Lee had reminded herself.
She needed to get away from Wayne for a bit, that's all.

But another part of Lee wondered why Vanessa had been gone so long.

Vanessa knew immediately from Lee's face that she had been worried, and she was annoyed with herself. How would she explain about going into Jack Noire's cottage now? What an idiot she was!

“Sorry. I got talking to a professor,” Vanessa said brightly, hoping that the “professor” bit might distract Lee. She made it sound as if she had just met him in town.

“Oh, Lee, I'd forgotten all about him,” Mrs. Bouche exclaimed. “So you found him, Vanessa. Well
done, you!” She patted Vanessa enthusiastically on the shoulder.

For some reason that Vanessa couldn't quite understand herself, she wanted to keep Caddy a secret from Lee—just for the moment. She would tell her soon, but there was a lot of stuff to read and digest first. Besides, Lee had the whales to worry about. The image of Ziggy's sliced dorsal fin hit her suddenly. How could she have forgotten?

Lee looked from Frankie to Vanessa and back again, waiting for further explanation.

“He's a professor of …” Mrs. Bouche stopped. She had no idea of what.

“Marine biology,” Vanessa said quickly. “He's retired now, but he worked for thirty years in the University of British Columbia. You know, the one in Vancouver, Lee. It sounded like an amazing place.”

Vanessa was beginning to babble and she knew that Lee would spot it soon. She just had to keep the conversation away from cryptids. Otherwise Mrs. Bouche would bring up Caddy sooner or later.

“The professor was really interesting. He knew so much about whales,” Vanessa said, meeting Lee's eyes
and hoping the mention of whales would throw her on to a different track.

Lee looked slightly stunned but said nothing.

“I'm starving,” Vanessa said heartily. “Did I miss dinner, Frankie? I'm really sorry.”

Vanessa felt her guilt as a lead weight in her stomach. She wasn't the tiniest bit hungry. All she wanted was to go to her bedroom and read the Cadborosaurus book. She had to understand what she had seen first; then she would tell Lee.