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Back Down Station Save as PDF
Chapters (35)
  1. Contents
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. Copyright

Finally, he was up. The older man reached for him like he had her, and he all but fell as he was dragged over the lip of the last rock.

They exchanged a word or two, and the kid climbed further up away from the sea.

Behind them, the line of rocks submerged completely, white foam the only sign of where they’d been. The stack in the distance was now an island, the waves surging around it.

The sun came out from behind one of the quickly moving clouds, bright and strong, and the gull swooped down from the headland in a flash of grey, heading out towards the horizon.

A sinuous shape broke that same horizon, thick loops of shining green scales reflecting the light like mirrors. A streamlined head full of teeth twisted this way and that, scenting the air, before plunging back into the water. The loops grew smaller, and at last a finned tail flicked up into the sky before disappearing.

Mary was on her feet. They all were, reflexively backing away from the open sea and towards the base of the cliff, climbing up the blocky boulders.

‘What the fuck was that?’ Her wavering finger pointed at the bare horizon for a moment longer, then she dropped her arm by her side again. Perhaps it hadn’t been as she thought, she’d got hair in her face, or something else. A trick of the light. Just a wave. It had happened quickly, and far away.

But who was she kidding? They’d all seen it, or at least they’d all seen the shape of it and none of them remained unaffected. And there they were, all dressed in orange, reflective strips sewn into their clothing, standing out against the dark rock like brilliantly coloured flies on dog shit.

The bullet-headed man stood on the rock above her, staring out to sea just like her. His eyes were narrow, his lips a thin, grim line.

‘We should get off the beach,’ he said, without looking down.

‘I’m good with that.’ She was surprised at her own voice, how tight and high it was. It didn’t sound like her at all. She coughed it away, and added, ‘After you.’

4

4

Getting off the beach meant taking the long route along the shoreline into the next bay, where the unclimbable rock cliff gave way to a shallower slope, and the boulder-jumping to clattering over a series of stepped pebble banks.

The sea monster didn’t put in another appearance, despite Dalip’s constant attention.