Chapters (46)
- Cover
- Other Titles
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Friday
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- Saturday
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- Sunday
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- Monday
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- EPILOGUE
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Coast Guard had already found her by the time Walter and Harry tracked them down to a tiny outcropping no more than half a kilometre wide, edged with steep rock faces. Through a small cut in the rock Walter could see the Miss Penelope tied loosely to a piece of deadwood, rocking perilously close to the cliff face with each incoming wave. For one brief moment he imagined that the boat had been hijacked by some thieving relative of the fugitive lighthouse keeper come to claim his rightful inheritance, and that Kate was just off at the grocery store or the doctor’s office. But then he saw Kate’s slender outline, her hair blowing behind her in the wind as she carefully picked her way along the cliff face towards the lighthouse, and he knew that had just been wishful thinking.
The Coast Guard had surrounded the outcropping and were trying to hail her with a bullhorn. Walter was surprised to see that the lighthouse even existed, crumbling and neglected on a bare slab of rock surrounded by a stand of scrubby Jack pines. “Hey!” an officer yelled as Harry pulled the boat up alongside them. “This is a security matter.”
“That’s his wife!” Harry yelled back, and the officer motioned for Walter to board.
“We’ve been trying to hail her on the radio, but she hasn’t been answering,” said the officer, who introduced himself as Briggs. He was tall and burly and distinctly American. That’s when Walter realized that this had become an international incident. Not only were the rock outcropping and lighthouse protected territory, but they had been breached by someone who had technically illegally crossed the border. His head began to pound.
“She doesn’t know how to use the radio,” Walter said.
Briggs stared at him with what Walter recognized as barely disguised pity. “Do you think you can get her to come down?”
Walter nodded, although he wasn’t sure. He took the bullhorn from Briggs and switched it back on. “Katie,” he said, his voice echoing out across the water at an alarming volume. “Please come down. They’re not going to arrest you.” He looked sideways at Briggs as he said it, hoping it was true. “But you’re not allowed to be here. I need you to come down.”