The Survivors(87)

Pendlebury pressed her lips together and Kieran had the strange sense that she was arguing with herself.

‘I can’t really imagine what that must be like to live with,’ Pendlebury said at last.

‘It’s not great.’

‘No. I saw what guilt did to that friend I mentioned.’ A shadow crossed Pendlebury’s features. ‘We used to be very close, but she’s like a different person now. Kieran –’ She turned her head in the vague direction of where the town lay, well out of sight beyond cliffs and water. ‘There are a lot of people dragging up all kinds of things right now. A lot of chatter being flung around, and not all of it true or helpful.’

Kieran wasn’t sure what to say to that. He could hear water dripping somewhere in the cave.

‘I would really hate for you to stumble across a half-baked version of this,’ Pendlebury said.

Kieran felt a prickle of warning at the base of his neck. ‘Half-baked version of what?’

Pendlebury’s internal struggle flickered again in her eyes. She stared deep into the cave, then back out to where the sea water was foaming blue and white against the sand. At last, she took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. Decision made.

‘Kieran, there’s something you deserve to know.’





Chapter 30


Pendlebury started towards the mouth of the cave. ‘Let’s get out of here first. I think it would be helpful for Mia to hear this too.’

This time, it was Kieran following as she led them back out into the daylight, blinking.

‘What –?’ he started, but she held up a hand.

‘At the lookout. Then we’ll talk.’

They found Mia sitting on the bench, rocking the pram back and forth as they emerged at the top of the overgrown path. She looked up, her worried expression turning into relief.

‘Finished?’ She went to stand, stopping when she saw Kieran’s face. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Something’s come to my attention recently that I think Kieran should be aware of,’ Pendlebury said, taking a seat on the bench. Mia looked wary but slowly sat back down too.

Kieran remained standing. In the pale summer light, the sea was sparkling. Above the wreck he could see the Nautilus Blue listing gently.

‘All right.’ Pendlebury’s voice was calm. ‘I’m here in Evelyn Bay to find out what happened to Bronte Laidler. That’s it. That’s my whole job. This storm of yours, Gabby Birch’s disappearance, all this local gossip that’s getting put about online – none of that is why I’m here.’ She paused. ‘But part of asking questions means you tend to get answers. Things that aren’t necessarily relevant to me, but it doesn’t mean they’re not relevant at all.’

Kieran shifted impatiently. Mia was looking back and forth between them.

‘I’ve spoken to George Barlin a couple of times,’ Pendlebury said. ‘You know he’s a former journalist?’

‘Yeah.’

‘You’ve read his books?’

‘Most of them,’ Kieran said and Mia nodded.

‘Me too,’ Pendlebury said. ‘Not my usual taste, but not bad at all. Anyway, since he moved here, he’s been doing a bit of research around the storm.’

‘For a book?’ Mia said.

‘He says mostly for his own interest. He was in town that year. He said experiencing that storm was something he’s never forgotten.’ Pendlebury shrugged. ‘Personally, it’s none of my business if he’s planning to write about it or not. And at first, I wasn’t too interested in what happened back then. Like I said, I’m here to worry about what took place a few days ago, not twelve years ago.’ She stared out at the water, tapping a finger absently on her knee. ‘But then George mentioned something that did strike me as interesting.’

‘What?’ Kieran said.

‘The accident that happened out here? With you and your brother and Toby Gilroy?’ Pendlebury turned to him now. ‘The timing doesn’t work.’

Kieran frowned and saw Mia do the same.

‘What do you mean?’ she said. ‘What timing?’

‘The events on that day of the storm. You getting into trouble in the water, Kieran. The distress call, the attempted rescue. The drownings. It can’t have happened the way you think it happened.’

‘Of course it did.’ Kieran gave a laugh that sounded odd to his ears. ‘I was literally there.’

Pendlebury shook her head. ‘No. It didn’t.’

She opened her computer tablet again, squinting as she shielded the screen from the sun. Kieran waited, suddenly disoriented, like when a wave dropped out from under a boat. Momentarily airborne, followed by a jarring slam.

‘Are you going to tell us what you mean?’ Mia was saying. She got to her feet and came to stand next to Kieran.

Pendlebury held up a finger, nodding as she searched for something. Finally, she made a noise of satisfaction and looked up.

‘Right. So the accepted version of the accident – by you, Kieran, by everyone, essentially – is that you were here at the caves doing some route mapping work for your brother, the storm came in faster than you realised and you were swept into the sea. You’ve told me Olivia Birch was with you –’