CHAPTER 6

MACKEREL

Mackerel sat in the front seat of Shelby’s Jeep, all of his senses on edge. The cherry air-freshener gave him a headache. Awkward silence, clenched jaw, the drone of the Black Wind seeming to grow louder by the second. The bumpy road made his stomach roll.

They passed the triple-storey Mermaid’s Darling inn, the domain of his cousin Ahab, tourists milling about the front, in jackets now that fine rain had begun to fall across it all. He wondered how Ahab was taking the news. Probably doing his best to take control of the situation, as usual.

They reached Ivy’s house. Safe Harbour. They parked on the street, outside the garden gate, an arched hedge wreathed with stained-glass fishing floats of red and bottle green.

Shelby gushed, ‘I’ll just go in and check with her first. Let her know you’re here, just so there isn’t as much . . . unpleasantness.’ She slipped out of the car, and Kane quickly followed.

Mackerel wanted to wait in the Jeep, but he felt that was too cowardly. He climbed out and looked – for the first time in a long time – upon Safe Harbour.

His sprawling childhood home looked different these days. Cabbage gums that were taller and wilder, more grey and white in their bark. A cleaner coat of paint covered the wooden walls, golden metallic finishes along the window frames. A vegetable garden where Dad’s maritime paraphernalia had once been.

And then Shelby was back at the gate, with her. His mother, Ivy, wrapped in a cardigan, handbag across her shoulder. She took Mackerel in with one glance. ‘Oh Shelby, you didn’t tell me he was the one you wanted to bring with us. No, dear. Not him.’

‘Mackerel needs to come,’ said Shelby firmly.

‘And I said no,’ said Ivy, adopting her tone.

‘Without Davey, Mackerel is the closest blood relative. Which is what they’ll want,’ said Shelby. ‘Unless, of course, we grab Ahab?’

Ivy’s nostrils flared. ‘You know I don’t like being manipulated, dear.’

‘We have to see him, ASAP.’ Shelby’s voice trembled. ‘He’s back!’

‘What are you talking about?’ said Mackerel.

‘We’re going to Hobart, to the hospital, to see Forest,’ said Shelby. ‘Don’t you want to come?’

There was guilt in her voice, but it was her eyes that were pleading with him.

She’d tricked him. Manipulated him. That should’ve made him angry, but some other feeling was more pressing.

‘You want me to come?’

Of course he wanted to see his nephew. Jesse may have been a nightmare, but Alexandra and Forest were a part of the family – Forest with his wide, curious eyes, Alexandra with her bright laugh, quick wit.