The Pacific Giants Read Free

eat, but neither Lee nor Vanessa had any appetite for food or for the conversation they would have to make. They both felt exhausted after the long journey. A shower and a bed were all either of them could think of.

CHAPTER 4
    In 1933, a lawyer and his wife from Victoria who saw a sea creature while on their yacht described it as a “horrible serpent with the head of a camel.”
    When Vanessa woke the next morning and looked out of her window, she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. It was so beautiful. The sea was a dark blue and the sky was clear. Her bedroom was really very pretty too.
    Vanessa knocked gently on the wall of Lee’sbedroom, but there was no reply. Maybe Lee was still asleep. Perfect: that meant that there was no rush for her to get up.
    She opened her window and felt the cool air pour in. Duquette Island fresh air—the guidebook was right: There was nothing quite like it! When she leaned out, she could see a long stony beach stretching out below. She wondered where the steps down to it were.
    A sound on the stairs and muffled conversation made Vanessa start slightly. She had forgotten that there might be other people staying in the guesthouse. It was hard to imagine any casual tourists turning up on Duquette Island, though—it was well and truly off the beaten track. She heard a door clunk farther down the landing and some footsteps on the stairs. Then all went quiet.
    By the time Vanessa had showered and dressed, she was ravenously hungry. She knocked a couple of times on Lee’s door on her way downstairs, but there was no answer.
    The guesthouse was bigger than Vanessa had imagined on arrival, and she took a few wrong turns before she finally found the kitchen at the back ofthe house. There was nobody there, and she could see that the kitchen table was set for only one person.
    Vanessa stood for a moment, unsure what to do. She had turned to go back up and find Lee when Mrs. Bouche’s cheerful voice boomed out from the pantry.
    â€œWelcome, welcome. Cayde mil foilte.” Mrs. Bouche mangled the Irish greeting but grinned with pride at the achievement. “Lee taught me how to say welcome in your language, but it took a bit of practice to get it good.”
    Vanessa laughed. Mrs. Bouche was infectious in her enthusiasm. “Don’t I know it! I’ve been doing it since I was five and I’m not much better.”
    Mrs. Bouche looked a bit deflated, so Vanessa hurried on: “I mean, your
céad míle fáilte
was really good. It’s just a very hard language to learn.”
    â€œAnyway, sit down, sit down. Normally people from Europe wake early when they visit here. Jetlag makes them wake really early,” she babbled on, “but you’re late and not early. Hungry, honey? I’m sure you’re hungry. Everyone is always hungry here—it’s the fresh air, you know.”
    Vanessa smiled up at her. That famous fresh air again.
    â€œNow, you just tell me what you’d like for breakfast.” Vanessa’s mind drew a blank for a moment.
    â€œUh, toast?” she said finally.
    â€œThat it?” Mrs. Bouche didn’t try to hide her disappointment.
    â€œActually, I’ll just have whatever Lee is having. She’ll be down shortly.”
    â€œAh, bless you, honey. Dr. McDonald went about her business hours ago. She was up at the crack of dawn and said she’d be home around three o’clock today so you’d have some of the afternoon together.”
    Mrs. Bouche prattled on about Lee’s breakfast and what she had eaten, oblivious to the stricken look on Vanessa’s face.
    Vanessa knew that Lee was here to work, but she hadn’t expected her to disappear without saying a word on their first day. In her own head she had even hoped that she could go with her to the research laboratory on Brighton Island today.
    â€œSo it’s pancakes you want,” Mrs. Bouche finished up,