The Survivors(103)

‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘Thanks.’

The beach was thinner than Sean liked to see. There was no-one down there.

Gabby stood on the strip of sand and Sean watched her spin in a curious circle, soaking up the sight of the towering cliffs, the gaping dark mouths of the caves, the sea as it roared in and out.

‘Wow.’ Gabby turned to him. ‘I can’t believe I’ve never been down here before.’

Sean grinned. ‘Pretty good, hey?’

‘Really good.’ Gabby circled again, her head tilted back as she looked up at the cliff face.

‘Should we find Olivia?’ Sean said, and Gabby blinked, refocused.

‘Oh. Yeah. Where would she be?’

‘You tell me.’ Sean shrugged. ‘I guess in one of the caves?’

‘Olivia!’ Gabby called across the empty beach, the sound snatched away by the wind almost before it left her mouth.

‘She won’t hear you. You often can’t hear anything properly inside there, even on a good day.’

‘Oh.’ Gabby peered with interest into the North Cave. ‘Maybe we should go in?’

‘You want to?’ Sean glanced at the sea. The Survivors stood solid amid the swells but deeper than he thought they perhaps should be. He looked away. ‘Okay, really quickly, though.’

‘Okay.’ Gabby smiled at him again and he felt a warm surge.

Sean went first, the sky low as they stepped over the threshold into the North Cave. Sean lit the path with his own torch, then fished around in his pocket and pulled out the small spare one attached to the dry box keychain.

‘Here. You can use this.’

‘Thanks.’ Gabby took the torch from him and switched it on. They moved deeper. She followed close enough that Sean could feel the heat from her body.

‘Oh, look. Kieran,’ she said suddenly and Sean felt a wave of disappointment. He turned, expecting to see his mate silhouetted in the dwindling daylight at the mouth of the cave. But Gabby was pointing her light at the wall, where Kieran’s name was scratched alongside some others. Ash, Finn, Toby.

‘What is this?’ she said.

‘It’s this thing they do,’ Sean said. ‘It’s not hard, you just need a fishing knife or your keys or something.’ He pointed at the lanyard dangling from her hand. ‘It’s easy enough.’

Gabby ran a finger over the damp surface. ‘But what does it mean?’

‘Nothing, really.’ Sean shook his head. ‘When one of them worked out a new route or was the first to visit a part of the cave or something, they’d mark it. Except for Ash – he does whatever he wants.’

‘But your name’s not here.’ Gabby turned to him. ‘You don’t find new routes?’

‘Yeah, I do,’ Sean said truthfully. ‘Just –’ He looked at the names of his friends and brother. ‘I dunno. Doesn’t seem much point sometimes. The others seem to get to a lot of stuff first.’ He felt suddenly embarrassed and shrugged, but Gabby nodded.

‘Yeah,’ she said, her voice quiet. ‘I get that.’

Their eyes met. Through the slice of daylight still visible from the mouth of the cave, Sean could see that it had started to rain outside. He could hear the gentle rhythmic tap of water on rock. They stood there for a moment, Gabby’s features soft in the dim light.

‘I don’t think my sister’s in here.’

‘No, I guess not.’ Sean glanced over his shoulder. ‘Do you want to go a little further in? Or head back?’

Gabby lifted her chin to see beyond him, curious.

‘Maybe a bit further?’ she said. ‘Who knows? Maybe us two will discover somewhere new.’

‘I don’t think today’s the day for that.’ He smiled. ‘But let’s see what we can see. This way.’

The sandy floor was already soft and saturated under his feet.

‘Your shoes might get wet,’ he said.

‘That’s okay, they’ll dry.’

He led her in, stopping when they reached a junction where the path split in six directions. Sean shone his light down the first tunnel. The ground dropped quickly below sea level and the sand was already waterlogged. The roof of the second one was lower, but after an initial dip, he thought the way through should be visible and clear.

‘Are you okay to wait here for a minute?’ he said. ‘I need to check the path ahead. You’ve got your torch?’

‘Yep.’ Gabby held up the key lanyard, the beam reflected by the damp rock.

‘Okay, I’ll be as quick as I can.’

Sean shone his own light in front of him. The path was one of the wider ones and good for beginners, at the start at least. Deeper down – deeper than Sean planned to take them – he knew the tunnel split along ways he hadn’t been. The main route was fine, though; Sean had mapped this for Toby himself. He moved along until he was satisfied they could get through, having to go a little further than expected before he felt certain enough to turn and head back.

The six-way junction was empty as he stepped into it again.

Sean blinked in the gloom, his torch throwing shadows against the rocks. Where was Gabby? Had she seriously got herself lost in those few minutes or – Sean felt a lurch – had he? He twisted around. No, this was the spot.