The Sound of Whales (21 page)

CHAPTER 37

F
raser looked out across water that sparkled in the morning sunlight as if the ghosts of Solomon and a thousand other drowned souls were holding up their diamonds to a shore they never reached. He couldn't remember a sun so warm and an ocean so still, the water no longer broken even by the barnacled back of a humpback whale. As he stared toward the horizon his eyes focused on a moving speck heading their way.

‘A boat,' he said and pointed.

Five heads looked in the direction of the distant vessel, just a dot but growing gradually in size as it approached.

‘Fraser,' Ben barked. ‘The telescope.'

Fraser hesitated. The teacher–pupil, master–servant relationship no longer applied, not when the sorcerer's hostage was his apprentice's younger brother.

Ben jabbed the knife in Fraser's direction and said, ‘Go!'

Fraser stepped inside the wheelhouse and gasped in the heat – it was as hot as a glasshouse. He lifted the telescope from the shelf and went back on deck. Ben snatched it from his hand and scanned the distant ship, still pointing the knife towards Dunny.

‘Is it the police?' Fraser asked.

‘Can't tell, too far away.'

‘It's the police. Hayley's mom or Mr Wallace will have called the police.'

‘More likely a fishing boat.' Ben threw the telescope to Fraser, who only just managed to catch it. ‘But we're not staying here to find out. Into the wheelhouse. Your brother as well.'

Ben guided Dunny towards the wheelhouse with Fraser following behind. Ben looked back towards Jonah and Hayley.

‘Any silly buggers from you two and someone might get hurt.'

Once again he waved the large knife and Fraser thought Ben didn't have it in him to hurt them, but this was a different side to him, perhaps a side with murderous intent. Ben wasn't the only problem, however. If the approaching boat
was
the police then Jonah was just as doomed.

‘What's your plan?' Fraser asked.

‘We're getting out of here.'

‘You can't outrun a police boat in this old thing.'

‘We don't need to outrun them. We just need to get up to Skye and deliver our package.'

‘Is that all he is?' Fraser asked. ‘A package to be delivered?'

Ben gave him an incredulous look. ‘Of course that's all he is. I'm not a tour guide. This is a business transaction, nothing more. Your African friend has paid for his delivery and I'm facilitating the process. He's a package that posted himself.'

‘What about that other package, the one you slit open?'

Ben didn't answer for a second, sighed, then said, ‘He was already dead.'

‘You found his diamond?'

‘How do you know about that?'

‘Jonah told me. How did
you
know?'

‘It's common with the Africans. I found the diamond then lost it again. Whoever took my knife took the stone as well. I wouldn't be so careless to leave either behind. Your African friend has it, I presume, though I can't find it on him.'

‘It belongs to Jonah more than you.'

Ben gave a short, ironic laugh then fired up the engine of the lobster boat. Fraser heard the familiar clang of pistons and screws as the old vessel coaxed itself back to life. A drop of sweat trickled from the nape of his neck down his spine as he boiled behind the glass of the wheelhouse.

Slowly the boat began to move, Ben turning the wheel with one hand and brandishing the knife with the other. Fraser looked through the open door of the wheelhouse to where Hayley and Jonah stood at the side of the boat, hanging on to the rusting rail. The African stared at the water with a look of defeat and Fraser felt the heavy weight of failure rest on his shoulders. It mingled with the heat and made him giddy. He stuck his head through the door and words burst from his mouth in a spontaneous, frantic shout.

‘Swim for it, Jonah!'

He felt a boot on his backside and went sprawling through the doorway on to the deck.

‘Give it a rest, Fraser,' Ben shouted angrily. ‘The man's going nowhere.'

Fraser rolled on to his back and felt the sun warm on his face. Ben leant out of the wheelhouse and waved the knife towards Jonah.

‘If you go for a swim, they all go for a swim.'

‘I will stay here,' Jonah said firmly. ‘Do what you must do.'

Fraser felt a tug on his arm and Hayley helped him up. Ben went back to the wheel, slamming the door behind him, shooing Dunny over to the far side of the wheelhouse. Fraser turned to Jonah and said, ‘Don't worry about us. We'll be fine. Swim for the shore while it's still close.'

‘I will stay here,' Jonah repeated. ‘I will not put any of you at risk.'

‘Ben's just bluster.'

‘He cut open the belly of a dead man and reached inside. Perhaps you underestimate what the man might do.'

Fraser looked to the stern and watched the growing speck of the other boat. If it wasn't the police, it was a boat heading in their direction very fast and for no good reason.

‘You can't just give in.'

‘I will never give in,' Jonah said. ‘Sotho men never give in.'

‘How does this end, then?'

‘We are barely at the beginning. It is too soon to think about the end.'

‘Then swim!' Fraser implored. He looked towards the shore; the gap between the boat and the beach had widened. ‘It has to be now.'

Jonah didn't move. The
Moby Dick
was sailing hard, its propeller churning all the water it was engineered to churn. Ben seemed determined to reach the drop-off point on the island of Skye and pass on his African package before he was stopped and boarded. If Jonah wasn't there, what could they prove?

Fraser saw a flicker of indecision cross Jonah's face. ‘Go now,' he said quietly. ‘Trust me, Ben will not throw us overboard.'

‘The boat is moving too fast,' Jonah said.

‘Then we'll stop it.'

Fraser turned and moved with purpose towards the wheelhouse. He heard Hayley say, ‘Fraser
 . . . 
?' but he ignored her and yanked at the door.

Ben had fastened the latch and it stayed shut.

‘Open up, Ben.'

‘Go away, Fraser.' Ben didn't turn his head, his hands gripped the wooden wheel, his body craned forward as if that would make the boat go faster.

‘Stop the boat.'

‘We'll be stopping soon enough when we reach Skye.'

Fraser tugged harder on the door handle. ‘Stop the boat now.'

Ben glanced at him and said angrily, ‘You're putting your brother's health in jeopardy.'

‘You're all talk. You wouldn't dare.'

‘You've no idea what I might do. I've no idea what I might do. It's probably best not to test me.'

Fraser punched the door a final time and turned to face the ocean. He banged the rail in frustration and screamed to Ben, Dunny, the whale, and anyone else who could possibly bring it about,

‘Stop the boat!'

CHAPTER 38

H
ayley watched Fraser ready himself to crash through the wheelhouse window and then the pitch of the engine changed and the boat swung violently to the side. She was thrown across the rail, held on tight as her side of the deck dipped towards the water. The throttle was pulled back and the boat decelerated sharply, rocking hard in its own wake. It moved forward slowly, carried by momentum, but the engine had been cut to a growly purr and Ben was swinging her around so they now faced the shore on the far side of the sound.

‘We've stopped,' Hayley said.

Fraser turned to Jonah. ‘Now's your chance.'

Jonah stared at the distant mainland but before he could do anything the boat's engine picked up and they began to move again, the propeller once more whisking the flat water into froth.

‘Too late,' he said, turning to Fraser. He looked agonized.

Ben swung the
Moby Dick
back around to sail up the sound towards Skye. A moment later they were again travelling at full speed. Hayley looked back at the vessel that was following. It was closer but still not close, still impossible to tell whether it was police or a trawler. They would know soon enough.

Again with a violent suddenness Ben swung the boat hard around and pulled back on the throttle. Once more Hayley clung to the rail as the boat pitched on the flat ocean as if battered by a sudden storm. Ben hugged the wheel and craned his head forward, searching ahead for something.

‘Have we hit a rock?' she asked Fraser.

Fraser moved towards the bow. ‘We can't have,' he said, frowning. ‘Ben knows every shoal and skerry out here. It's perfect weather, the sun's even shining.'

Hayley thought,
If we've collided with the sun, we've sailed too far
.

At the bow she stared ahead at the ocean. There
was
a rock in the water: a small island, a dark reef, except this island moved.

‘It is the whale,' Jonah said.

‘
Leruarua
,' Fraser said.

‘You remember.'

‘
Muc vara
,' Hayley said.

‘Something like that,' said Fraser.

As they watched, the whale sank slowly beneath the water and a moment later the ocean was again a flat shimmer of sparkles from the high, hot sun. Ben pushed forward once more on the throttle and the boat began to move.

The tail fluke and then the broad back of the whale re-emerged just ahead of the boat. Again the engine died.

‘It's almost like
 . . .
' Hayley hesitated. ‘Like it's doing it on purpose.'

She glanced at Fraser and a look passed between them, the unspoken acknowledgement that
of course
the beast was doing it on purpose, that Dunny could command a whale to slow a boat.

The wheelhouse door flew open and Ben strode towards them. He no longer carried his knife, seemed to have forgotten about Dunny, who inched out on to the deck behind him.

The whale rested in front of the boat, gentle ripples emanating from its giant hulk. It blew – a sharp whoosh that Ben seemed to take as a mocking jibe.

‘What's it doing?' he spat in fright and anger. ‘Why won't it let me past?'

‘You're the whale scientist,' Fraser said. ‘You tell us.'

Ben moved to the starboard side and leant out across the rail. Behind them the other vessel had closed the gap. Its livery was distinct now: a dark blue hull with light blue and yellow squares on the wheelhouse. If Ben still had doubts, there was a word written large across the side of the boat: P
OLICE
.

‘Aw, crap,' Ben said.

‘I was right, then,' said Fraser.

‘Don't be a clever sod, Fraze. When that police boat reaches us, we're all done for.' He jabbed a finger towards the African. ‘Especially him.'

‘The whale has decided,' Jonah said quietly. ‘I am returning to Africa.'

‘No,' Fraser said. He turned to Ben. ‘Take him to shore. Give him a chance at least.'

‘Don't be ridiculous. He has to be delivered.'

‘That's not going to happen. And this way you won't be caught
people trafficking
.'

‘And what would I tell my
 . . . 
friends?'

‘Tell them you threw him overboard and he was swallowed by a whale.'

There wasn't even a hint of a smile on Ben's face. He looked at the whale floating serenely in front of the bow. ‘Even if I wanted to, I can't go anywhere.'

‘It will let you past.'

‘Oh, will it? You're going to ask it nicely for me?'

‘Not me. Dunny.'

Ben looked incredulous and Hayley knew that whatever Fraser said next would sound far-fetched and fanciful. She hoped he would tell the truth, or the little he understood of it.

‘Dunny's a
gairmie
.'

Ben said nothing for a few moments. ‘A whale-summoner? They're just a myth, there's no such thing.' He glared at Dunny. ‘Your brother is not a
gairmie
.'

‘I wouldn't be too sure,' Hayley said.

‘Think about it, Ben. Whenever Dunny was out in the boat with us we saw whales. And when we saw those orcas offshore, Dunny was on the beach.'

‘It's nonsense,' said Ben. ‘You can't just summon a whale. And you can't make one disappear.'

‘Dunny can.'

They all turned to look at Dunny. Throughout his young life actions had always spoken louder than words; now he raised his arms and gave a musical whoop that, Hayley thought suddenly, had a hint of whale song about it. The humpback sank slowly beneath the surface with barely a splash.

‘No way,' Ben said quietly.

The small lobster boat sat on a sheet of glittering glass and even the usually raucous seagulls had the good grace to be silent. All that spoilt the picture perfect seascape was a rapidly closing police boat.