The Survivors(23)

‘That’s it,’ Ash had said, putting his bottle down on a sticky countertop a few weeks later and a few drinks deeper than he should have been. ‘I’m going to rescue her.’

And he had tried, marching across the party and throwing a heavy arm around Sean before cutting him off mid-sentence. Olivia, to the surprise of no-one but Ash himself, had blanked him until he’d been forced to slink away, red-faced, and spend the rest of the night muttering furiously into his beer.

‘You and Olivia are nice and tight, mate. You’re officially one of the girls now,’ Ash had said casually the next day, wiping the tiny hint of triumph off Sean’s face.

Sean had looked to Kieran, who had checked his phone and pretended not to notice, partly because – for reasons he couldn’t quite articulate – he found the whole situation a little irritating himself. After that, Sean had mostly gone back to standing alone at parties, and everyone was happy.

The police cars parked outside Fisherman’s Cottage were empty, Kieran could see now as they drew closer. Caution tape had been strung between the gateposts, barring entry, and a uniformed officer Kieran didn’t recognise stood watch outside. Other than that, he could see no activity at the front of the property. Whatever was happening, it was going on within the house or down on the beach, Kieran guessed.

‘Do you think I’ll have to go back inside?’ Olivia slowed as they got nearer to the cottage.

‘I don’t know,’ Ash said. ‘Maybe.’

They slowed with her, eventually coming to a complete stop a short distance from her home.

‘Liv, hey.’ Ash turned to face her, his voice soft. ‘It’s okay. Yeah? It’ll be okay.’

When Olivia didn’t make any sign that she agreed, Ash reached out and took her hand.

The next time Kieran had seen Olivia properly was a few weeks later as summer was slipping away. Kieran, for once, hadn’t minded too much when the heat began to dip and the tourists thinned out. His exam results had come in and were acceptable, if not overly impressive, and in a matter of weeks he’d be heading to Sydney where there was a uni place with his name on it.

It had been a warm, lazy day when Kieran had found himself climbing the cliff path to the lookout. At the top, he’d stood on the edge, peering over. Below, he could see the strip of deserted sandy beach leading to the caves. The path down was not formally marked, but it may as well have been. The worn ground showed the way as clearly as any sign.

The surface of the sea was calm above the Mary Minerva as Kieran picked his way down. On the edge of a rocky outcrop that was almost always under water, the sculptural memorial to the wreck glinted in the sun, facing out towards the site.

The sea itself was empty, though. It was too early in the season for wreck diving, and even if it hadn’t been, Kieran knew his brother wouldn’t be out on the boat that day. Finn and Toby’s request to add a cave tour to their program had languished in the council’s inbox for months before unexpectedly receiving tentative approval. The news had sent them scrambling to pull together routes of varying difficulty that showcased the labyrinth of tunnels.

Kieran really wasn’t sure what all the stress was about. The caves were technically off limits, but they had all been there enough times over the years to know which of the routes led to cavernous rooms lit by internal shafts of natural light, and which led to bottlenecks and dead ends that dipped below sea level. Either way, Finn had wanted to alter the beginner route, Toby had disagreed and, when both had been summoned to a meeting by their accountant, they had dispatched Kieran with instructions to follow both courses and take photos at the turns.

Kieran got through the job in about forty minutes and, back out in the bright light of the empty beach, had dropped his towel and bag on the sand and dived into the water. He’d simply floated, staring at the vivid blue sky, with no-one else around. He had been enjoying the peace when he sensed rather than heard someone heading down the cliff path. Finding his feet, he wiped the salt water from his face and watched the figure descend.

Olivia.

She was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, and her hair was tied up. She was alone. She spotted him in the sea, slowed for half a step, then continued down to the beach. Kieran stood and waded towards shore, suddenly very aware as the water dripped from his bare chest that the footy off-season strength program he’d been following in the gym all summer had done him no harm at all.

Olivia thought so too, he hoped, from the tiny flicker of her eyes as she took her sunglasses off.

‘Hey.’

‘Hey.’

‘I ran into Sean yesterday.’ She glanced around the empty beach. ‘He said you guys were working down here this afternoon.’

‘Just me now. He had to help his mum with something.’

‘This is working?’ Olivia smiled at Kieran’s towel, his wet hair. ‘I need to get myself a job like this.’

Kieran grinned. ‘I’ve finished.’

‘Checking the cave routes?’

‘Just the easy one. Sean told you? It’s this thing our brothers are starting.’

‘Yeah. He said if I stopped by he’d show me. I’ll be gone for uni by the time the real tours start.’

‘Right. Well, he’s not here today.’

‘Oh.’ Olivia glanced back towards the path she’d just walked down, then hesitated. She turned her head and looked out instead at the water, then raised a hand and shielded her eyes as she studied the memorial to the Mary Minerva.