“I’m fine. I’m just leaving the city.” He hesitated, not wanting to cause her undue worry, but he wasn’t used to lying, even by omission. Plus, she’d probably figured it out when he’d said Sebastian’s name. “But Sebastian isn’t with me. He’s out on the island.”
“Why would he be out there without you?” She sounded puzzled.
“It’s a long story, Mum. But I’m on my way there now. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
“The news bulletin said to evacuate the coast. I don’t like the idea of either one of you being there.”
“Like I said, it’ll be fine. I’ll call you once I get to him. Listen, I really can’t talk now, I’m in the car—“
“Okay, honey. I’ll let you concentrate on driving. But you will call me, won’t you?”
“I will,” Owen reassured. “And, Mum? If you hear from Sebastian, please let me know. Oh, and maybe give his mum a call and let her know we’ll be in contact soon and not to worry.” He said a silent prayer there would be nothing to worry about.
They disconnected the call, and Owen focused on the news again. He scanned through the channels, and every station was broadcasting something about the tsunami. Reports were starting to filter in about the impact on New Zealand, but he chose to ignore the stories of flooding and damage, and God knows what else, and instead tuned into a local Hobart station that was focused on updating residents. He didn’t need to be freaked out by whatever devastation was happening on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, he was freaked out enough already.
The information on the radio was obviously designed to stem the panic, and the public must have been listening given the lack of chaos on the roads, but no matter how many times Owen heard that the majority of the area of Tasmania was safe, he couldn’t get past his fear. His hands felt shaky as they gripped the steering wheel, and he had to concentrate to calm his breathing.In through the nose, out through the mouth.He repeated the mantra as he focused on driving as quickly as possible to the ferry terminal.
“You are advised to take sensible precautions, including evacuating low-lying areas, but there is no need for those people away from the coast to take any action. It is anticipated the influx of water will only impact low-lying areas, and only below elevations of up to a metre above sea level. The Tasmanian Police have requested that residents avoid unnecessary trips to avoid congestion on roads, allowing those people who need to move inland the ability to do so. It is requested that emergency services vehicles are given priority.”
The broadcast continued with an interview with a scientist from a tsunami research centre. He prattled on about plate motion and angles of slip at the earthquake fault zone, and how the ocean depths between New Zealand and Australia impacted the size of the wave. He threw around terms like propagation and amplification of the tsunami, and how all of this was working in our favour, reducing the size of the wave. Then he got even more scientific as he spoke about how the bathymetric variation of the coast determined the near-shore action of the wave. None of it made much sense. What the hell did that mean for their house on the island?
Owen found himself doing calculations in his head. Adventure Bay, where the house was located, was nearly at sea level. Surely the wave, relatively low as it was predicted, would flood the land and reach the house.
Why the fuck didn’t we buy a house up on the headland? Why the fuck didn’t we buy a house you could get all the way to by car?
Adventure Bay on Bruny Island had appealed when they’d been looking for a weekend retreat. It was not too far from Hobart, and relatively secluded. Access was via a vehicular ferry, part of the excitement of the visits in itself. From the minute they’d driven onto the ferry each weekend, and the moorings had been released, Owen and Sebastian had felt the weight of the world lifted from their shoulders. They were off to their special place on the island, at a place aptly named Adventure Bay. There were some tourists, but not enough of them to overwhelm and take away the sense of isolation and peace. Owen and Sebastian spent their time exploring the outdoors, and spent time on the water, but also enjoyed the quiet of the house, staying in to watch movies and spend evenings just talking while sharing a bottle of wine. Some weekends they had friends come and visit, filling the house with people and laughter. Sebastian loved to entertain, and they seemed to prepare an endless supply of food for their guests. Actually, he did the same thing when it was just the two of them—serving Owen breakfast in bed on Sundays, packing picnics of cheese and gourmet products, or cooking a quiet dinner for just the two of them. Cooking was something they enjoyed doing together, but sometimes when Owen often offered to take over or help in the kitchen, Sebastian didn’t let him, insisting nothing gave him more pleasure than making a meal. Owen could almost hear him saying, “The way to a man’s heart…” in that sexy tone he used so often.
The radio cut through his reminiscing.
“The tsunami is forecast to reach landfall in just over an hour, at approximately ten a.m. There has been some positive news. Experts have confirmed that the wave reaching our shores is not expected to be as large as first thought. However, coastalflooding will damage low-lying land. Residents are asked to move quickly and calmly away from the coast to areas of higher elevation. Emergency services will advise once the danger has passed and it’s safe enough to return to your homes.”
Owen hit the “send” button again, hoping Sebastian would answer the phone this time. After a disappointing number of rings, the call went to voicemail again.Shit!
Owen hit “end.”
He wasn’t far from Kettering now, and it was only as he made the final approach to the town he thought about the next steps. Would the ferry even be running? There was usually a service at regular intervals on a Sunday. In fact, the next ferry should be leaving soon. Owen looked at the dashboard clock, not sure if he’d make it. He crossed his fingers he’d get there in time and that the ferry would be running, although he had a sinking feeling in his gut that finding the ferry operating would be a miracle.
And once he got to the island? The ferry terminal was on North Bruny, and he’d have to drive the narrow, low-lying stretch of road known as the The Neck, to get to South Bruny Island and Adventure Bay. The isolation of their holiday house suddenly lost its appeal. Owen’s thoughts took a darker turn. What if Sebastian was hurt? How would they make the return—
Shit!
The LandCruiser pulled to the side as Owen took a corner too fast. He’d been so focused on his thoughts of Sebastian that he had been driving on autopilot. He hit the brakes, reducing speed as the tyres skidded and threw up stones and dirt as they left the asphalt.
The speedometer settled back to sixty and Owen lifted his gaze from the dials to the road, only to slam on his brakes again. His heart jumped into his throat. Traffic had come to a complete standstill only a couple of hundred metres fromhis final destination, with cars pulled off to the side but still blocking the lane Owen was travelling in. The car shuddered to a halt centimetres from the last car in the queue, a small white hatchback that would never have withstood being rear-ended by his huge four-wheel drive. Owen swallowed heavily and loosened his grip on the steering wheel, flexing his fingers to relieve the tingling from the surge of adrenalin.
The Channel Highway wasn’t a highway in the usual sense of the word. There was only one lane in each direction, weaving its way through the bushland along the coast. Water glimpses could be seen through the eucalyptus trees on the left-hand side. Owen looked through the passenger window in frustration—the ferry terminal was on that stretch of water. All he needed to do was turn off a little further down the road and a short drive later he would have arrived in the carpark.Damn!
There were a couple of people standing alongside the cars in front, a sign they’d been stopped for a while. Now he had his heartbeat back under control, he pulled on the handbrake then turned off the ignition.
An older man and a younger couple turned on his approach.
“Hi,” the young woman said. The two men nodded but didn’t smile.
“What’s going on?” Owen asked, assuming no need for pleasantries.
The girl pushed back a lock of hair, eyes darting between Owen and the water in the distance and didn’t let go of her companion’s arm. “They’ve closed the road down to the ferry.”
The man spoke up. “Yeah. About five minutes ago.” That’d explain why the line of cars wasn’t too long, if they’d only recently blocked access.
