The Survivors(75)

‘Surprised, I think, same as everyone. But Trish Birch was interesting. She reckons whatever Bronte’s mum said, she’ll run out of steam sooner or later.’

‘Really?’ Mia said. ‘I wonder if that’s true. It’s almost impossible to know, isn’t it? How you’d react. I think people would be relieved if this was resolved soon, though. Not just for the obvious reason. Have you been on EBOCH today?’

Kieran shook his head as they reached the cliff path and he began pushing the pram up the slope.

‘It’s going mad on there,’ Mia said as they walked. ‘It’s all anyone’s talking about. And people are already getting on the front foot, outing each other over all kinds of stuff. Apparently Paul Holland and Natalie Whatshername who used to work at the school have been having an affair for four years. There’s some suggestion her youngest might be his.’

‘Wow.’

‘I know. I never would have picked that.’

Kieran slowed when they neared the cemetery. Shifty was tied up at the entrance and whined as they approached. Kieran stopped to stroke his back. Through the gates, what he could see of the grounds lay deserted. No sign of Ash.

‘Any more mentions of my dad online?’ Kieran said as they carried on walking.

‘Not that I’ve seen. So that’s good at least.’ Mia’s dark hair blew across her face as they turned an exposed corner. ‘Hopefully it all calms down soon. People get hurt when old stuff gets dragged up. I mean, look at your mum when Brian let that thing slip about Finn getting a girl pregnant. I caught her in the kitchen in the middle of the night afterwards and I think she’d been crying.’

‘Yeah,’ Kieran said. ‘I’m surprised she took it quite so hard, though. I mean –’ They both looked at Audrey at the same time. Kieran smiled and Mia shrugged. ‘Anyone can stuff up their birth control. It doesn’t make him a bad person or anything.’

‘No. Of course not,’ Mia said. ‘But it seemed like a shock for Verity. I guess it was just an unexpected reminder that Finn wasn’t perfect.’

‘I don’t think any of us thinks Finn was perfect.’

Mia looked over in surprise. ‘You kind of do, though.’

‘No, we don’t.’

‘Yes, you do. You really can’t see it?’ Mia looked genuinely curious. ‘What about all those photos that are usually everywhere at your house? Finn the footy star, Finn the businessman, Finn the all-round great guy.’

‘Yeah, so? He was a great guy. What’s wrong with that?’

‘Nothing,’ Mia said quickly. ‘Nothing at all. And I didn’t even really know him. I’m just saying, your folks’ place is a bit of a shrine. Plus the way you all talk about him. And that’s fine, if it helps. But –’ She saw Kieran’s expression and her tone softened. ‘I’m sorry, I’m not trying to argue about this.’

‘No, I know. Me neither,’ Kieran said, panting a little now under the weight of the pram as they approached the top. ‘But Finn really was a good guy.’

Even as he said the words, a memory Kieran had almost forgotten tumbled off a dusty shelf in his mind. He couldn’t remember exactly when it was from, but it must have been a couple of years before Finn died, not long after he and Toby had started the diving business.

What had happened? Kieran tried to dredge up the details. Finn and Toby had got themselves into a dispute with a local tradie. Something about shoddy work on the boat, which he’d then refused to repair or refund. Finn and Toby had asked, Kieran remembered now, then argued, then pleaded, but the bloke had refused to budge.

Kieran could picture Finn, relaxing down at the beach outside the caves one warm day a couple of weeks after he and Toby had decided they hadn’t got much choice but to cut their losses. Kieran had been sixteen and lying on his towel, feeling a little light-headed from the beer and the sun and not looking forward to swimming back to the boat. Toby had been there too, of course, and Sean. And Ash as well, Kieran thought, as he pictured Finn standing there, golden in the afternoon sun. Bare-chested, beer in hand and a grin on his face as he’d made them laugh with his story of what had played out the night before. How he’d put on his best shirt, gone to the Surf and Turf where the tradie’s girlfriend was letting her hair down with a few mates and, without even breaking a sweat, had swept her off her feet and straight into the spare bed at her friend’s place.

By the next day, anyone who was interested had heard about it. The tradie had been suitably pissed off, and everyone else – Finn, Toby, Ash, perhaps not Sean, but even Brian – had laughed, and agreed it was no more than the dickhead deserved.

Kieran slowed as he walked along the cliff path with Mia and their baby daughter and wondered – for the first time ever, he realised with a flush of shame – what the girl herself had made of it all.

Ahead on the path, Mia was saying something. ‘I mean, Finn was your brother, obviously you’re going to miss him. It’s just what I was talking about the other day, how grieving people naturally focus on the good bits. You’re not the only ones though. Olivia does it too, Trish Birch definitely. Sean about Toby. Liam too, of course. Bronte’s parents, I would imagine –’

Mia stopped as they hit the lookout. Even from up there, they could hear the shrieks echoing below. The birds were screaming again.