Suddenly, without warning, there was an explosion of water about twenty-five metres away as a huge grey shape arced out of the water and landed ahead of her. The wash tossed the kayak up and down, as Hannah’s heart leaped into her mouth and she gasped, sucking in so much air she almost choked, nearly dropping her paddle. What! Was! That? She gripped the paddle in both hands, terrified she might let go of it. If that happened she’d really be in trouble. Her pulse thudded as she fearfully twisted this way and that, looking all around her. Oh God, where was it? Now holding the paddle in front of her like a barrier, she frantically searched the water, her heart pounding so hard she thought her ears might explode. What was it and was it coming back?

Then she saw the unmistakable shape of a dorsal fin snaking through the water just behind Conor. A shark! It was a shark.

‘Conor!’ she managed in a hoarse scream as fear paralysed her muscles. She couldn’t even lift her arm to point as she recoiled from the sides of the kayak. Oh God, that earlier bump. It could have turned the kayak over easily. The shoreline looked terrifyingly distant. Could the two of them fight off a shark? Perhaps if they doubled up to seem bigger? She tried to remember everything she’d ever known about sharks; it wasn’t a lot. They could smell blood from miles away. They had a lot of teeth. Could you fight one off with a paddle? She gripped the handle in her gloved hands. Wasn’t there some guy that had once punched a shark on the nose? An Australian surfer?

She’d seen Jaws. She could hear Roy Schneider’s Chief Brody saying, ‘We need a bigger boat.’ It didn’t get much smaller than a kayak. The fin had disappeared now. She closed her eyes. What if it were underneath them?

‘C-Conor. We need to get out of here.’

He executed an elegant turn and slid toward her, a huge smile on his face. ‘Did you see him?’

She stared at him. ‘See him?’

‘Fungie. The dolphin.’

‘Dolphin?’ she echoed stupidly. ‘I thought it was a shark.’

Conor grinned with complete unconcern. ‘Sharks don’t leap out of the water like that.’

She slumped in her kayak, relief coursing through her. A ruddy dolphin. Of course it was.

‘It’s news to me that there are dolphins,’ she snapped, irritated by his amusement. He seemed to think it was funny. As far as she was concerned while dolphins might have the reputation of being the lovable, cuddly animals of the sea, that didn’t mean she wanted to get up close and personal with one. Especially not now she’d seen how big the flipping thing was. It could easily capsize her.

‘Only one dolphin. Fungie.’ Conor peered around them and suddenly pointed. ‘There he is.’