The Pacific Giants (11 page)

“Is Wayne back yet?” Vanessa persisted.

Surely the mention of the precious one would finally change the subject?

“He's just back too,” said Frankie cheerfully. “I'm surprised you two didn't bump into each other in town.”

Lee gave Vanessa a questioning look. Was it so obvious that she was hiding something?

“I'll get the dinner on the table,” said Frankie, heaving herself up and going to a large pot sitting on the stove. She hummed a tune under her breath, unaware of the tension in the room.

Lee sidled up to Vanessa.

“You didn't discuss Ziggy with the professor, did you, Vanessa?” she said quietly.

“Absolutely not, Lee!” Vanessa said with conviction. “Nothing at all about Ziggy or the humpbacks, I promise.” At least on that score she was telling Lee the absolute truth.

On 5 January 1934 Murray Jackson, Billy Alexander, and three friends saw a creature with a 4-foot long neck and a cowlike head with horns or ears. It was reported in the
Vancouver Sun
later that week.

That evening, Vanessa propped Toddy up against her pillow and flicked through the book. Her eye was caught by a silly rhyme about Caddy, which she read out loud to herself.

British Columbians! Lift up a chorus!

To greet the arrival of Cadborosaurus!

He may have been here quite a long time before us,

But he's shy and don't stay round too long, so's to bore us.

Cadborosaurus! Cadborosaurus!

Come up and see us again, you old war 'oss!

“See, Toddy, Caddy is famous in this part of the world.” Vanessa let the book drop onto her lap and leaned back on the bed. “Lee would love that—she loves rhymes and limericks.”

She felt guilty keeping Caddy a secret. So why not tell Lee? After all, Lee had shared Vanessa's adventure with Nessie.

Vanessa sighed. Her thoughts returned to their walk along the beach after dinner. She just hadn't found the right moment to mention Caddy. Lee had done most of the talking. She seemed to want to talk about the whales, and Vanessa had been very happy to listen. They had not discovered anything new about the whale hunters, Lee had said, but they had gotten great recordings of the whales' song.

“It's amazing, Vanessa. The male humpbacks in the same area sing the same song. So the North Pacific
males sing something different from the southern hemisphere males. But the next year when they migrate back up from Hawaii, the song has evolved into something new.”

It was getting dark by the time they came in.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you the most important thing, though,” Lee said as they climbed the stairs. “Dr. Mitchell said it would be OK for you to visit the research center with me on Friday.”

Vanessa had been thrilled. Just two days away—she couldn't wait!

She put down her book now and picked up Toddy.

“Any ideas about the illegal whale hunting?” Vanessa asked him.

Nothing.

“I wonder how Lee is going to track them down.”

Nothing.

Vanessa smoothed the long hair off the face of the shrunken head, put it back on the pillow, and said sternly, “OK, if you're not prepared to talk, then you can listen and learn.”

Vanessa read the first chapter of the book to Toddy. She did it quietly, listening all the time for sounds of people on the stairs, just in case. It was interesting
stuff about cryptozoology and the definitions, but Vanessa really wanted to know about Caddy. She flicked ahead, skipping through the pictures of native petroglyphs made by the Indian tribes, who spoke of a sea serpent in the waters.

She stopped at a picture of a man in a suit and tie with the words “Caddy's ‘godfather,' Archie Wills” underneath. She read on.

The first mention of the name “Cadborosaurus” appeared on 11 October 1933. Several suggestions for names for the monster had been received by the
Victoria Daily Times
, one of which is “Cadborosaurus,” which can be shortened to “Caddy,” in honor of Cadboro Bay, where the creature was first sighted.

Vanessa's eyes stopped on a picture of Caddy. It was a postcard from 1933, drawn by Charles Eagles. Beneath it she read, “Body approximately twenty feet, tail thirty feet, head and neck ten feet. Total length sixty feet.”

While she couldn't really say much about the length of the creature she'd seen, the head certainly looked similar.

She wriggled with suppressed excitement. She read on.

“Your modern man would rather disbelieve something than believe it,” Archie Wills wrote. “He likes to think he is cynical and hard-boiled, whereas he is the most credulous creature ever made. When he can't understand a thing like astronomy, or relativity, or finance, he believes anything you care to tell him, if you tell him with sufficient scientific or financial trimmings. But the trouble is he can understand a sea serpent. He can visualize it. Therefore he disbelieves it. His disbelief flatters his vanity, makes him think he is a superior fellow. Well, it doesn't make him a superior fellow. Any fool can disbelieve in sea serpents.”

“That's almost exactly what my mum used to say to me, Toddy. She said that some scientists believe that science is truth, whereas science sometimes clouds the truth and hides the obvious.”

Vanessa shut the book with a snap. She wouldn't allow herself to read the whole thing in one go. That would be gorging herself. She would take it bit by bit, digest it, and think about it.

“What do you think I should do? I mean, should I
discuss it with Lee?” Vanessa mused. “Or find out as much as I can first?”

The sightless eyes stared at her.

“Maybe you're right. Keep silent for the moment. Knowledge is power, or something like that. Caesar said so.”

Vanessa turned off her lamp and lay down.

“Night, Toddy,” she murmured as she tucked him under her pillow. She always hid him when she was going to sleep in case someone came into her room.

It was Sir Francis Bacon who said that, actually
.

It was the gentlest of whispers that tickled her inner ear, but Vanessa heard it and laughed.

She closed her eyes. “You're such a know-it-all!” she replied.

In September 1963 the carcass of a sea creature was found near Oak Harbor, Whidbey Island. Although it appeared to have a head that resembled a horse, Mr. Welander of Fisheries is said to have thought it was a basking shark.

“Can I borrow the bike again, please, Frankie?” Vanessa asked politely the next morning after breakfast.

Mrs. Bouche frowned. “I think you know why that's impossible, Vanessa,” she said sternly. “Wayne was really very upset last night.”

“I only borrowed it for a few hours, Frankie,” Vanessa said defensively. “I'm sorry I was late back.”

“New tires will have to be sent from the mainland,” Frankie said, as if she hadn't heard her. “It could take weeks, not to mention the money involved.”

Vanessa stared at Mrs. Bouche, shocked to see how upset she was.

“It was very, very careless of you,” Frankie said crossly. “I think you should apologize to Wayne. He was so generous, lending it to you in the first place.”

Fighting an internal battle between her rising indignation and the worry that she had somehow damaged the bike without realizing it, Vanessa stared wildly at Mrs. Bouche. She didn't point out that it was Frankie who had done the lending. Wayne wouldn't have let her anywhere near his bike.

“I'm sorry, Frankie,” she said eventually. “I really don't know what you mean. I rode it back from Jack Noire's and it was fine.”

“Well, I'm not sure how two punctured tires can be called ‘fine,' Vanessa. I checked the bike myself this morning when Wayne told me, and it's true.”

“But that's terrible,” Vanessa said hotly. “Of course I'll find Wayne and sort it out with him.” She
mumbled something under her breath and then finished with the words “pay for it.”

Mrs. Bouche looked up and gave her a small, grateful smile.

“Thank you, Vanessa. It was the fact that you said nothing that bothered Wayne, more so than the money. But we do appreciate your offering to pay.”

Vanessa nodded silently. She would make Wayne pay for this all right. She felt a cold fury growing in her chest and she pursed her lips for fear of what she might say. She excused herself and then flung herself out the back door into the yard.

“I'm going to kill him,” she whispered over and over as she searched for Wayne, slamming the doors of the various outhouses and sheds as she went.

Vanessa could see that Mrs. Bouche was staring out of the kitchen window at her. She looked really sad and that made Vanessa even more furious. Why had Wayne done it? Was it just spite—or did he have a screw loose?

Vanessa found the bike sitting against the outside wall of the utility room. Kneeling down, she inspected the tires. It was obvious to her that they weren't just punctured. They had been slashed with a knife.
She felt another wave of intense fury wash over her, and she kicked the wheel so hard she hurt her foot. Why? Was Wayne trying to get her in trouble? Make things so horrible that she'd want to leave?

Any vestige of pity that Vanessa had felt for Wayne disappeared. He really was dangerous. She'd have to be careful, but she would find a way to get him back.

Vancouver restaurateur Peter Pantages; his wife, Helen; and their friend Chris Altman saw Caddy while they were fishing in English Bay in 1947. Mrs. Pantages said that the animal had a horse's face and three humps, and it swam up and down like a caterpillar.

There was no sign of Wayne on the beach, but Vanessa took a stick to the bushes to make sure he wasn't hiding there. She walked to the very end. On the way back she found that the famous Duquette fresh air was beginning to work its magic, and she felt calmer.

When she found a smooth, flat rock that looked inviting, she decided to sit down for a bit. She stared out at the horizon. The sun warmed her head. It felt nice.

Would she ever see Caddy again? she wondered. She imagined his funny head suddenly breaking the surface of the water right in front of her and she smiled to herself. If only! Jack had said that he had to wait twenty years for his second sighting—and she only had three more days left on the island. It was hard to believe that a week ago she had never even heard of
Cadborosaurus willsi
. Vanessa picked up a stone and threw it into the water. Her mum had always said that passion and patience were important traits for a cryptozoologist. Well, she certainly had the passion. Now all she had to do was work on the patience.

Vanessa's eyes picked out a boat in the distance. It looked as if it was coming into the next bay. Was it Mr. Fox's? Was Wayne with him? Maybe she should go and have a look.

Vanessa took her time. As she rounded the corner that led to the next bay, she stopped abruptly. Mr. Fox was on the beach talking to a man that she didn't recognize. Vanessa ducked behind a rock. She was sure
they hadn't seen her, as they were deep in conversation. There was something in Mr. Fox's hand, but she would have needed binoculars to make it out properly.

Then she had a brainwave. She opened her backpack, pulled out her camera, lifted it to her eye, and zoomed in. She could see it quite clearly now: It was just like the GPS tracker that Lee had used the day they'd found Ziggy's fin.

Vanessa continued to watch, and then almost through force of habit she pushed down the button and took a photo. Then a few more.

As the men shook hands, something else passed between them. Was it money? Was Mr. Fox selling the tracker to this other man? Why? It had all happened too quickly and Vanessa wasn't sure if she had caught it on camera.

The two men looked around and Vanessa ducked down.

She waited for a while before looking again. By then they were going their separate ways: Mr. Fox to the tender and the other man back up the rocky slope and through the trees.

When they were gone, Vanessa hurried back along the beach as quickly as she could. Who was that other
man, and what had they been talking about? And had money actually changed hands, as she'd thought?

Near the bottom of the steps to the guesthouse, Vanessa sat down on a fallen tree trunk and looked at the pictures again. She was disappointed to find that there was nothing really suspicious in the photos. It just looked like two men talking on a beach. If she zoomed in she could make out the whale tracker in Mr. Fox's hand, but that was all. Perhaps it was an innocent meeting and the second man was also working on Brighton Island. So why did it not feel right to her?

She heaved a sigh. Maybe she was letting her imagination run away again. Worse—what if she was actually turning into Wayne? After just a few days in his company, she was already spying on people and sneaking around taking photographs.

I must confess, I believe in sea serpents—perhaps because Caddy's lovable nature intrigues my imagination. I like the idea of this homely monster coming up from the caverns of the deep every so often, just to have a look around and see how we're getting along
.

—Canada's Monsters,
Betty Sanders Garner

Vanessa packed the essentials into her backpack—a bottle of water, Toddy, her camera, and Jack's book—and set out for Salem's Lane. She needed to talk to the professor. It was time to tell him about her sighting.
Maybe she would tell him about Mr. Fox too, see what he made of it.

The occasional car passed Vanessa on the road, and each driver honked and gave her a big wave on the way past. It was a friendly island, yet nobody stopped to offer her a lift.

Even if they did, she wouldn't get in, she decided. Going into Professor Noire's cottage was bad enough, but getting into a stranger's car would be pushing her luck.