The Survivors(76)

‘What is going on?’ Mia put a hand against the safety rail and leaned over. ‘I’ve never seen them like this.’

‘They were riled up the other day when I went down there –’ He stopped as Mia looked up sharply.

‘I didn’t know you went down there.’

‘Oh,’ he said. ‘Yeah.’

‘I thought you’d stopped doing that.’

He shrugged.

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Mia was watching him now.

‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry. But it was low tide. I had my phone if anything happened.’

‘It’s not the safety stuff. Or not only that.’ Mia looked out, beyond The Survivors to where the Nautilus Blue was bobbing in the waves above the site of the Mary Minerva, the dive flag raised. She turned back to Kieran. ‘I mean, are you okay? Being back here?’

‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘I am. It wasn’t –’

He stopped and they both turned again as another chorus of shrieks bounced off the rocks, echoing and discordant. Kieran hoisted himself up onto the barrier and leaned over at the waist, looking straight down, beyond the overhang to the sliver of beach that was visible.

‘Can you see –?’ Kieran started as Mia held up a hand.

She was craning her neck at an angle, listening, but all he could hear beneath the screech of birds was the wash of the sea. Neither spoke, then suddenly Mia pointed.

Kieran leaned over the barrier again. At first, he could see nothing. Then, all at once, he caught it. A shadow flickering dark against the sand. From the angle and the position of the sun, it had to be thrown by the scramble of movement from one place. Kieran watched. The shadow was gone, but only from sight. He looked at Mia. Someone was at the mouth of the caves.





Chapter 27


Kieran could hear Audrey’s cries growing fainter as he edged down the overgrown path. Mia had tried to stop him.

‘Don’t. Please, Kieran. Seriously. It doesn’t matter who’s down there.’

He had leaned over the safety rail as far as he could. ‘What if they don’t know how deep the tunnels run? Or about the tide?’

Mia had leaned out again as well, squinting into the wind. They could see no-one. She had pushed her hair out of her eyes, exasperated.

‘Oh God, I don’t know. Is it bad if I say I don’t care? Please, don’t go. I know you think what happened to Bronte can’t happen –’

Another flicker of shadow and they both stopped.

‘Tell you what,’ he said. ‘I’ll go down halfway and stay on the path. See if I can spot anyone from there.’

Mia had eventually agreed. Kieran had left her and Audrey at the top, looking down over the water. The gust of wind caught Audrey’s wail, mournful and pleading, and Kieran almost stopped walking. He was no longer quite sure why this had seemed like a good idea.

He made himself go to the halfway point, where his view of the caves was completely obscured by a jutting-out rock. Kieran debated, then went a few steps lower. He stopped as the path rounded the curve, revealing the water below, grey-blue and glistening. The shadow had disappeared and the stretch of empty beach lay before him. The birds circled warily overhead.

‘Who’s down here?’ Kieran called, his voice bouncing off the rocks.

The faint echo was swallowed by the sea. No-one replied.

‘I saw you.’ His words repeated, tumbling over themselves before fading away. ‘You’re not supposed to be down here.’

The only response was the roll of the water, leaving a foamy residue as it chased itself in and out. Then the birds collectively seemed to bristle and Kieran felt himself tense a split second before he registered the flash of movement.

A shadow, tight and black in the sun, emerged from the hidden gloom of the South Cave. Someone stepped out, blinking as the darkness gave way to daylight.

Kieran squinted as the figure became clear, then he sighed and pulled out his phone. He sent a text to Mia.

It’s fine. It’s Sue Pendlebury. I’m going down.

‘Kieran.’ Pendlebury raised a hand as she saw him. She looked a little windswept and damp as she headed across the beach, a fine dusting of sand in her hair. She had a computer tablet tucked under her arm.

‘Was that you I heard?’ She looked back at the cave and frowned. ‘The sound’s unusual in there. It seems to get swallowed up somehow.’

‘Yeah, it does.’ Kieran met her near the tideline. ‘It’s the tunnels. Makes it hard to tell where it’s coming from.’ He looked around. ‘Is Renn here?’

‘Just me. Sergeant Renn is with Bronte’s parents.’

‘How are they?’

‘Hopeful we can give them the answer they need,’ Pendlebury said. ‘As am I.’

‘Right.’ Kieran could see that the cuffs of Pendlebury’s trousers were damp and he wondered how far she’d gone into the caves. The routes were strewn with pools, some shallow, some deceptively deep. ‘Is there something you wanted down here? Because the tide’s still pretty high. Some of the cave tunnels are below sea level. If you get lost, you can drown. It’s not safe.’

‘Understood.’ Pendlebury nodded out to sea. ‘It was really them I wanted to look at.’