“Are you guys crazy?” Susan interjected, her voice rising in pitch.
“Yeah, you’ll get yourselves killed,” said the young guy.
Owen spoke up, not sure if he was trying to allay their fears or his own. “The radio said they’re not expecting the wave to be as big as first thought. It’ll only be the immediate coastal areas that are dangerous. It’ll probably be like a high tide.”
Susan’s eyes were wide. “A high tide? You have seen what a tsunami looks like, right? I saw a documentary on the Boxing Day tsunami and everyone thought it was just going to be a big wave. They stood there and watched it until it was too late and they had nowhere to go—“
“Susan!” the young man snapped.
“Sorry.” She looked to the ground then met Owen’s horrified stare. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to scare you, but you have no idea what you’re facing.”
Part of Owen knew she was right but that was the rational part, and his emotional side pushed her concerns away. He looked at the older man. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
The man shrugged then nodded. He gave Owen a half smile and stuck out his hand. “Howard Rogers.”
“Owen Hewitt.”
They shook hands, Howard’s grip sure and firm. “No point waiting around here then. Let’s get cracking. Want to follow me?”
Soon they were on the road again, slowly creeping past the stopped traffic, Owen in his LandCruiser and Howard driving in front in an old sedan. The radio kept Owen company until he switched off the engine about fifteen minutes down the road. He let out a big breath.
One step closer to Sebastian.
The morning was glorious. Blue skies with hardly a cloud in sight, only a few wispy pale streaks across the horizon. The sunshine glittered on the water, the wide-open bay calling to him. Sebastian cut his run short, taking the path back towards the house. He was pleasantly hot from running a couple of kilometres along the foreshore and back, and he had a smile on his face. There was nothing like an early morning run to get the blood pumping. An even better start to the day was getting out onto the water.
Their kayaks were kept in a shed at the back of the house. He only stopped for a brief drink of water and to change out of his running gear, before heading back out and retrieving his gear. The kayak was a birthday gift from Owen a couple of years ago, and the simple act of getting it from the shed broughtback a flood of memories, and reminded Sebastian that Owen’s birthday was coming up soon.I’ll have to figure out what to get him.
Owen was a hard man to buy for, given they were blessed and didn’t want for much in the way of material things. Perhaps something for the kitchen given their shared love of cooking, or one of those cooking experiences where you had a lesson from a top chef? Sebastian tossed around a few ideas as he dragged the kayak to the water’s edge.
He waded into the shallows, flinching at the chill. Despite it being summer, the water temps in Tassie were always on the cooler side. Not that he’d trade this beautiful place for anything. He loved the ruggedness of the wilderness and the relative solitude of the island, and that made up for any deficit in water temperature. He chuckled, not that he’d say no to spending some time in tropical waters. That lead him back to the holiday plans he’d been thinking about for the last couple of months. A holiday would make a perfect gift for Owen. He’d whisk him away and spoil him for a few weeks.
With that happy thought, he pushed off and headed out into the bay.
Chapter Eleven
Howard’s boat was ahalf-cabin boat he used for fishing. Maybe a fifteen-footer, it looked like it had seen a fair bit of time on the water, but it appeared solid and well maintained. The boat was sitting on the back of a trailer, and it didn’t take Howard and Owen long to reverse the four-wheel drive and attach the trailer to the tow bar. Owen’s powerful LandCruiser wouldn’t have any trouble hauling the large vessel.
“We don’t have far to go, anyway, mate,” Howard said. “I usually put her in at the boat ramp down the road a bit. Maybe ten minutes away, if that.”
Owen nodded.Thank God. The quicker the better.
Owen twisted his hands in frustration as he watched Howard fiddling with the couplings. He was taking his time to connect the electric cables that would ensure the brake lights and indicators on the trailer worked. Owen couldn’t give a shit about making sure the trailer and boat were correctly fitted. So long as the bloody trailer didn’t fall off, who cared if any people who were driving behind couldn’t see their lights? If it was only ten minutes away then nothing was going to happen and surelygetting to the water was more important than being legal. This wasn’t the time for doing things by the books. Owen paced but bit his tongue—after all, the old man was doing him a favour.
Once all the cables were connected to Howard’s satisfaction, he turned to look at Owen. Owen held open the car door impatiently. “C’mon, Howard, jump in.”
Howard hesitated beside the LandCruiser. “Is there anything you want from the house before we leave?” he asked. “I’m not sure what you might need but you’re welcome to anything if I have it.”
Owen warmed at the sensitivity shown by the older man but was impatient to get going. He indicated the back seat of the car. “I’ve got a pack in the back. I hope I’ve got what I need, but to be honest I’m probably not really thinking properly anyway.”
“You got water? A first aid kit?”
Owen thought for a moment before nodding again. “Uh-huh. I tossed some water in before I left home. Not a lot, but a couple of litres. There’s a first aid kit in the pack already. We keep it there for when we go hiking.”
“Good-o, then. Well, let’s get this show on the road.”
Owen moved to let Howard climb in the passenger side of the vehicle and ran around the car, grabbing the door frame and heaving himself into the driver’s seat. Within moments they were circling the open backyard, dragging the large boat behind them. Approximately ten minutes later, exactly as Howard said, they were pulling up to the turn-off for the boat ramp. A steep bitumen road led to a parking area that bordered the coastline. From the carpark, a long concrete ramp disappeared into the water; a short wharf sat a little further along.
“Hold it here a minute.” Howard’s instructions were the first words spoken since they’d been on the road. They’d both been listening intently to the car radio, too focused on gettingupdates to make conversation. There wasn’t much they could say anyway.
