A few more people arrived who Leifur didn’t know but who were friends or business acquaintances of Jonas. He relaxed as everyone greeted him with wide smiles, their excitement building into a palpable buzz. Then he spotted his mother walking along the quay. She waved a hand once she saw he’d seen her.
‘Oh, Leifur.’ She had tears in her eyes, and for a moment his heart clenched in horror until she smiled and put a hand on his cheek. ‘Brimfaxilooks wonderful. Her fresh paint makes it look as if she’s left the hard work and had a makeover ready for a new adventure. The start of her new life. Just like you.’
Leifur pulled Peta into his arms and buried his face in her shoulder, feeling as if he were five years old again. ‘Takk, Mamma.’
‘Now,’ she said, swiping under her eyes with her forefingers, ‘are you going to find me some whales?’
‘I hope so.’
With Peta on board, Jonas gave the nod that everyone he was expecting to show up was here, and Leifur went to find Astrid, who was helping people with their suits.
‘We’re ready to go. Help me with the ropes, and then you can start the safety briefing.’
‘Okay.’ She picked up a suit and held it out for his mother. ‘I think this one will be a good fit for you.’
‘Thank you. You’re one of Leifur’s colleagues?’
‘Mamma, this is Astrid,’ said Leifur. ‘We’ll see you soon. We have to get started.’
‘Nice to meet you,’ Astrid said, following Leifur.
‘Call me Peta!’
‘Your mother is lovely.’
‘Thank you. Here is the headset. Come on, you take theropes off and throw them onto the dock like we practised.’ He could hear himself being curt, but there was no time to have a cosy chat about how nice his mother was. They had work to do.
He climbed into the wheelhouse and started the engines. He turned to see Astrid waiting for his signal, as they had planned. He raised his hand, and she unhooked the two ropes that were left, the one at the bow first, followed by the stern. With just two of them on the boat, the other lines had already been taken off by Leifur once everyone was on board.
As Leifur manoeuvredBrimfaxitowards the harbour entrance, Astrid stood on the bow and started her safety briefing. The headset that she wore transmitted wirelessly to speakers all over the boat so that wherever a guest was, they could hear her. He listened, the combination of being on their way, and the soothing sound of Astrid explaining to the guests what to do in the event of someone falling overboard, relaxed him so that when they passed through the yellow buoys that marked the entrance to the harbour, he actually started to enjoy himself.
The plan was to head out into Faxaflói Bay. Astrid would spend the first part of the trip making refreshments for guests before going onto the deck to look for signs of whale activity. The hope was that the guests would join her on deck, but if they preferred to stay inside, the view from the new windows was good enough that they wouldn’t miss out if there was something to see.
From his years as a fisherman, Leifur knew the classic signs to look out. One of them was birds. Seabirds that were gathering together in a particular area were a sign that whales were around. The whales made circles of bubbles that pushed fish up to the surface so that they could eat them, and the birds could benefit from that too. Also, the telltale vapour releasing from a whale’s blowhole could be seen from quite adistance.
Leifur had his eyes on the horizon, scanning as he always did, but this time trying to pay attention to spotting blows. He was surprised when Astrid came in with a coffee for him.
‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘How’s it going down there?’
‘Good. Everyone’s kitted up and heading outside. I’ve left the galley as a help-yourself. Do you think that’s okay?’
‘Sure. It’s only coffee and cake.’
‘That’s what I thought. Any sign of anything yet?’
She leant in front of him to peer out of the window, and he resisted the urge to touch her hair. It was glossy and fell from her shoulder, brushing past him so he caught the scent of something sweet.
‘Nothing yet.’ Though he’d not been concentrating since she came up here.
‘Okay. I’m going to start.’
‘Good luck.’
She grinned at him and pushed the headset on, then took her hair and pulled it into a bun with a twist of her hands. ‘Thanks.’ Then she leant in and kissed his cheek, turning and leaving before he could say anything.
He took a deep breath and then settled in to listen to her commentary. She began by explaining the signs to look out for, the four Bs: birds and blows, which he already knew about, and bubbles and boats. The bubbles signalled that a whale was surfacing, and boats because where there were tour boats, you hoped there were whales.
The guests were gathering around the edge of the deck.
