The Survivors(109)

‘Great,’ he said. ‘Bring your camera.’





Chapter 41


A thousand thoughts were crowding Kieran’s head, but the only thing he could see clearly was the way the water was circling Sean. The swell was waist-high and rising. His friend still didn’t move. Kieran took another step down the cliff path, stopping at the point where dry land disappeared.

‘Come out.’

Sean had both hands over his face and Kieran could see he was crying.

‘Come out, mate.’

No response. The water surged.

‘I can’t find Gabby’s carving,’ Sean said at last. ‘I’ve been looking, but I don’t know which tunnel she was in. The police will find it, though. Or someone else will one day.’

‘Sean, mate. That’s okay. All right?’ Kieran tried hard to keep his voice calm but he was struggling. ‘You can explain. A decent lawyer will –’

‘That doesn’t matter.’ Sean almost laughed. ‘Everyone will know, won’t they? Liam. And Olivia. And Trish. You.’ His voice dropped. ‘I know.’

‘Okay. I get that, mate. But come out of the water. Please. Now. I know you can feel the tide, Sean.’ Kieran was afraid to look too closely out to sea, scared to see how high the water was lapping against The Survivors. ‘You know what that means out here.’

Sean wiped a rough palm over his eyes. When he dropped his hands, he wasn’t looking at Kieran or the path. He was staring at the caves. ‘I knew what high tide meant back then, too.’

‘No, mate, just –’ Kieran was already punching in the emergency number on his phone. He took another step and was in the water now. He blurted his location to whoever answered and turned back to Sean, who was standing very still. Kieran’s heart lurched with every wave rolling in. ‘Sean. Come out.’

No answer.

‘Sean. Please.’ The tide felt like it was moving very fast and Kieran shouted to make sure he was heard. ‘If you go in now, you won’t come out again.’

Still no reply, only the swell of the water and the screams of the birds circling overhead. The Survivors continued to look away. Kieran made himself check. They were deep now.

‘I can’t follow you, Sean.’ Even as Kieran spoke, he took another step into the water. ‘I’m not going to come in there and try and stop you. Someone’s coming but it’s not going to be me.’ The freezing waves washed against his legs. He had to brace himself to keep his balance. ‘I can’t do it to Mia and Audrey.’

Sean didn’t react. His distress had given way to a cold calm that made Kieran feel very afraid.

‘Sean?’

His friend at last dragged his gaze away from the caves, steadying himself against the pull of the tide as he turned to look at Kieran.

‘How did you do it, mate?’ Sean’s voice was almost lost beneath the crash of the surf and the call of the birds. ‘Live with that guilt after the storm?’

‘How? I don’t know, I –’ Kieran’s thoughts were racing but even in the midst of them, he knew the answer. Of course he knew. Mia and Audrey. He looked at Sean through the spray. ‘I was lucky. I found something that mattered to me more.’

Sean seemed to accept that. He turned back to the caves, still horribly calm.

‘Listen, you can do that thing you talked about,’ Kieran tried, desperate now. ‘Can’t you? Just draw a circle around it all and pretend –’

‘Not this.’

At last, Sean moved. He drew in a breath, then took a step towards the North Cave.

‘Wait.’

Sean didn’t stop. He didn’t look back.

‘Please wait.’ Kieran was well in the water now. He wouldn’t follow, he promised himself, even as he waded deeper, the sand soft and shifting under his feet. ‘Please –’

Sean ignored him. He was moving fast now, forcing his way through the water.

‘Wait!’

He didn’t, instead driving forward, pulling himself onward as the breakers rolled alongside. He seemed to stop for a single moment, at the very mouth of the cave, then dropped his head and followed the rush of the water from daylight into the darkness.

‘Please –’

The surf swelled, almost knocking Kieran’s feet out from under him and he had to fight not to get dragged in. He heard the smash of water hitting a wall of rock inside the cave, and when he’d found his footing and the wave retreated he couldn’t see Sean at all anymore. Kieran’s eyes raced over the surface as he splashed through the water, waist-deep himself before he realised it. The freezing ocean pulled at him. The mouths of the caves yawned open and empty.

Sean – who had always been there, who had been Kieran’s friend for all of his life – was gone.

Kieran felt like he couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think what he should do. He could see the waves lapping high against The Survivors and suddenly it was twelve years ago and he was lost all over again. He scrambled in the water, his head twisting from the caves to the cliff path, trying to find his way out. He couldn’t see the bottom of the trail. It was submerged, he realised, and his world lurched until he wasn’t sure what was sky and what was sea.

‘Kieran?’

The shout bounced off the rocks. He tried to steady himself, focusing on the mouth of the cave. It remained dark and hollow. No-one was there.