A few minutes on, the water turned blurry and noticeably colder, as happened around freshwater springs. There was a cave, too, one she had missed on the way down. Sandy bottom, blue light at the far end. Had she not just encountered the tiger shark, she might have gone in, but she remembered Woody talking about a sacred cave around here. A home to his family’s revered ‘aumakua. Maybe thiswas where her tiger had gone. The opening was wide but low, and she could hear the sound of water scraping on rock.
Then out of the side of her eye, she caught a flash of movement and turned to see that the shark had swung around and was swimming back her way. Not ten yards out but in a line that would bring it right to Minnow. Its energy had changed and she could tell by the way its pectoral fins were down that the shark was coming back for another look. Or perhaps a taste. Instinctively she backed toward the rocks.I come as a friend,Minnow repeated over and over in her mind.
The shark shot toward her, and though she held up the knife, it was laughable. There was nothing a small blade of steel could do against four thousand pounds of muscle and cartilage. Still, she would die fighting. Hit it right in the nose, and the animal might retreat. Miss the nose, and it would swallow her arm. But instead of colliding with Minnow, the shark passed within a foot of her, smacking her shoulder with its tail. Minnow spun around just in time to see its jaws open wide and its gills ventilate as it clamped down on a small turtle. Lightning flashed down and for a moment everything turned red. Minnow felt for the turtle, but her relief was bone-deep and pungent. Immense.
She swam for home.
Journal Entry
From the journal of Minnow Gray
Guadalupe Island, July 9, 1993
Most of the time when we see these white sharks swimming around the boat and the dive cage, they’re in cruise mode and it’s easy to forget how fast they can move––like underwater bullets. Today one of the sharks blew by us in a flash of black. This high speed is partly made possible because of their unusual skin. They have what are called “dermal denticles,” almost like teeth, with a pulp on the inside and dentine on the outside. These denticles reduce drag and add stealth by limiting the turbulence their large masses can create. I like to think of them as having their own underwater suit of armor.
Chapter 24
The Story
Mahina: moon, month, moonlight
When Minnow walked out of the water, her legs were weak and she could still feel the sway of the ocean. She stumbled, then caught herself. Woody and another man were standing on the wall, watching her. She was surprised to see him back so soon.
“Hey,” she said, attempting a smile.
Neither of them smiled back.
“I thought you were smarter than that,” Woody said.
“What do you mean?”
Though she knew exactly what he meant.
“Going out in a thunderstorm. By yourself. No note, no nothing.”
The man next to him was a younger, long-haired version of Woody, with streaks of silver. Both men were barefoot and held steaming coffee mugs in their hands.
“I had my knife,” she said, as if that meant anything in these waters.
“What’s that gonna do against lightning?”
“I know. It was dumb. But Ihadto swim. And I didn’t think you’d be here.”
When she reached the wall, Woody offered her a hand and pulledher up. The skies were still dark and a powdery rain fell, almost like snow.
Woody nodded to the house. “Come, we go inside.”
In the house she wrapped her now-shivering body in the thickest towel she could find and went to the counter, where Woody filled a mug with coffee and handed it to her.
“Here, drink. And tell us what happened. You’re white as a sheet,” he said.
No one had introduced her yet to who she figured was Cliff, so she smiled and said, “I’m Minnow.”
He nodded. “Cliff.”
She turned to Woody. “What happened to the job you were working on?”
“Canceled. It’s flooding all up and down Hamakua side and the road is closed. Better I’m down here anyway, and my brother wanted to come.”
