Silver Bay Read Free Page A

impossible to believe they would be back.
    To be the first to see one didn’t mean much – once the whales were known to be out there, all five boats that operated off Whale Jetty would switch their business from dolphins to whale-watching. But it was of importance to the crew. And, like all great passions, it made them mad. Boy, did it make them mad.
    ‘Look at that great idiot. Funny how he can hold a straight course now,’ Lance spat. Greg was portside of us, but seemed to be gaining.
    ‘He can’t bear the thought of us getting there before him.’ Yoshi grabbed a waterproof and threw it at me. ‘There! Just in case we go out front. It’s going to get pretty wet.’
    ‘I don’t bloody believe it.’ Lance had spied another boat on the horizon. He must have forgotten I was there, to be swearing. ‘There’s Mitchell! I bet you he’s been sitting on the radio all afternoon and now he swans up, probably with a cabinful of passengers. I’m going to swing for that bloke one of these days.’
    They were always moaning about Mitchell Dray. He never bothered to look for the dolphins, like the others: he would just wait until he overheard a sighting on the ship-to-ship radio and go where everyone else was headed.
    ‘Am I really going to see a whale?’ I asked. Beneath our feet, the hull smacked noisily against the waves, forcing me to hang on to the side. Through the open window, I could hear the excited shouts of the tourists, the laughter of those who had been hit by rogue waves.
    ‘Fingers crossed.’ Yoshi’s eyes were trained on the horizon.
    A real whale. I had only once seen a whale, with my aunt Kathleen. Usually I wasn’t allowed this far out to sea.
    ‘There . . . There! No, it’s just spray.’ Yoshi had lifted the binoculars. ‘Can’t you change course? There’s too much glare.’
    ‘Not if you want me to get there first.’ Lance swung the boat to starboard, trying to alter the angle of the sun on the waves.
    ‘We should radio ashore. Find out exactly where the chopper saw it.’
    ‘No point,’ said Lance. ‘It could have travelled two miles by now. And Mitchell will be listening in. I’m not giving that bugger any more information. He’s been stealing passengers from us all summer.’
    ‘Just watch for the blow.’
    ‘Yeah. And the little flag that says, “Whale.”’
    ‘Just trying to help, Lance.’
    ‘There!’ I could just make out the shape, like a distant black pebble dipping below the water. ‘North-north-east. Heading behind Break Nose Island. Just dived.’ I thought I might be sick with excitement. I heard Lance start counting behind me. ‘One . . . two . . . three . . . four . . . whale !’ An unmistakable plume of water rose joyously above the horizon. Yoshi let out a squeal. Lance glanced towards Greg, who, from his course, hadn’t seen it. ‘We got her!’ Lance hissed. All whales were ‘her’ to Lance, just as all kids were ‘squirt’.
    Whale . I took the word into my mouth, rolled it around and savoured it. My eyes did not leave the water. Moby On e shifted course, the huge catamaran slapping hard as it bounded over each wave. Behind the island I imagined the whale breaching, displaying its white belly to the world in an unseen display of buoyancy. ‘Whale,’ I whispered.
    ‘We’re going to be first,’ muttered Yoshi, excitedly. ‘Just for once we’re going to get there first.’
    I watched Lance swing the wheel, counting under his breath to mark the number of times the whale blew. More than thirty seconds apart and it was likely to dive deep. Then we would have lost it. Closer together meant it had already dived, and we would have a chance to follow.
    ‘Seven . . . eight . . . She’s up. Yessss .’ Lance hit the wheel with his palm, then grabbed the PA system. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, if you look over to your right, you might make out the whale, which is headed behind that piece of land there.’
    ‘Greg’s realised where