The Survivors(63)

Kieran watched as Ash raised a hand and walked away. Within a few steps, he was gone.





Chapter 22


One of Kieran’s favourite things about living in Sydney was no longer needing a cold-water wetsuit. He stood among the racks of hire equipment in Sean’s shed at the marina, fighting his way into the thick material, and wondered how he had ever used to find this easy.

Verity had slipped into her borrowed suit with no trouble and her voice now floated in from outside the shed, where she was standing in the sun talking to George Barlin.

‘Is it okay if he comes too?’ Sean had asked when Kieran had called to say they would like to see the wreck after all. ‘He’s been hoping to go down for weeks.’

‘No worries. He’s certified, is he?’ Kieran wasn’t sure why he was surprised.

‘For around the outside, yeah. We’d all better stick to that anyway. I’m still not sure if anyone’s going in this year.’ Sean had paused. ‘And listen, Liam’ll be there as well.’

‘Right.’

‘He’s part of the business. He needs to be ready when the Norwegians arrive.’

‘I didn’t say anything, mate,’ Kieran said. ‘It’s your decision who you take down.’

‘Yeah, sorry.’ Sean had sighed. ‘He needs something to keep him busy. Julian reckons he can’t have him back in the Surf and Turf for a while. And Liam said something the other day that made me think people are giving him a hard time when he’s out. He says they’re not but now he just sits at home all day with his mum.’

Kieran had duly expected Liam to be subdued, but had still been taken aback when they’d approached the Nautilus Blue that morning. Liam’s head hung down and his movements were over-thought and slow. He’d barely glanced up from loading the oxygen tanks as they walked over and even then his eyes had such a faraway look that Kieran had immediately decided to double-check every piece of equipment Liam handed them.

George Barlin, at least, was in good spirits.

‘I’ve been waiting for this all summer,’ Kieran could hear him saying to Verity now. ‘I’ve wanted to go down to the wreck for years, but I wasn’t qualified for the depth.’

‘I haven’t been down there in a good while,’ Verity said.

‘How long?’

‘I don’t know. Long enough that if the certification could expire, it would have. I’ve done a lot of shallower dives, though. My husband used to really enjoy it too. Have you been out to the Mary Minerva site at all?’

‘On a boat? No, but I’ve seen it from land. Went up to the lookout to see The Survivors. Interesting piece of art.’

‘It is. It looks different from the water. Brian and I used to sail out to that spot about once a year –’

Kieran stopped, one arm in his wetsuit, listening. He was a little surprised. He hadn’t known that.

‘Well, actually, we used to go exactly once a year,’ Verity was saying. ‘For the anniversary of our older son’s death. He drowned, sadly.’

‘I know. I’m sorry,’ George said. ‘Finn, right? It was tragic.’

‘Yes.’ Verity sounded a little surprised that George knew his name. ‘Thank you.’

‘I was here myself that summer, running a writing course. I’ve never seen anything like that storm in my life,’ George said. ‘I’ve been reading around it a bit at the library since I got back. Having a look at the old photos and things. But I remember it myself. It was terrible. Very difficult if you’re caught out on the water in that. Liam’s father was on the same boat, wasn’t he?’

‘Toby.’ Verity’s voice was so soft Kieran had to strain to hear. ‘They weren’t caught out on the water, though. They were responding to an emergency call for Kieran.’

‘That’s what they were doing?’ George’s words were also close to inaudible. ‘I knew Kieran had an accident but I hadn’t realised the two were connected.’

‘Yeah. Finn and Toby went out on the boat to try to save him.’

‘Oh.’ George paused. ‘But, sorry Verity, I thought –’

Kieran couldn’t listen to any more. He forced his other arm into the wetsuit, zipped it up and shut the shed door behind him, loudly enough to make the voices outside fall silent.

The rush of the wind and waves made it hard to talk on board the Nautilus Blue, but as they rounded the point and the caves came into view in the distance, George shifted from where he was sitting.

‘Amazing,’ he said as The Survivors came into sight. The trio stood strong and straight, the water lapping at their waists.

Struggling under the weight of his gear, George scrabbled to the other side of the boat and pulled his phone out of his backpack. His arm lurched as he tried to line it up straight with the horizon and take a photo.

‘How many actually survived the shipwreck?’ he said to no-one in particular.

‘It’s not known exactly,’ Verity said. She was also watching the sculpture as they drew nearer. ‘Officially twelve, but they think there might have been a few more than that.’

‘The records aren’t great?’

‘There were a couple of men with various charges pending.’ Verity gave a small smile. ‘They didn’t manage to make it to shore to have their day in court. And a few others who probably had mistresses they preferred to their wives and kids.’