“Fuck.”
“What now?”Dinesh asked.
“I, uh…I didn’t tell you, but—” I glanced at Dinesh and then looked at Domingo.“—there was an incident…in the ocean.”
“What kind of an incident?”Dinesh asked, his expression gone very grave.
I didn’t want to tell him.
“We were swimming, you see, the three of us,” Domingo said.“And Squid and I noticed that Simon was…was not where he had been.”
“I don’t understand,” Dinesh said.“What do you mean?”
“I fell asleep, that’s all,” I explained.“But to my own mind it seemed that a…a creature had grabbed me and pulled me under.”
Dinesh’s eyes went wide.“The creature?”
I nodded.“But it must have been a dream.Surely.”
“You went under?”
“I did.But Squid and Domingo found me and got me to the surface.”
Dinesh looked suddenly like he wanted to throw up.
“I’m sure I would have recovered myself, even if they hadn’t been there.But they were.”
Dinesh grabbed me and pulled me to him, holding me so close I could feel his heart beating frantically.“Rooster.Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t want to frighten you.And I convinced myself it was nothing.”
He glared at Domingo then.“Why on earth didn’t you tell me?”
Domingo shrugged, but he looked worried as well.
“Simon asked us not to.We didn’t want to worry you, Dinesh.”
“Right.Of course.Well, I’m quite worried now.”
I took a breath.“I’m afraid that’s not all.”
“What else?I don’t like it when you keep things from me.”
“I know, but I didn’t want you to think…that I was going mad.”
“What else?”
I swallowed, embarrassed and ashamed that I hadn’t told him.
“On our way back from the tidal pool, the first time we went, I swear to god I walked through a massive spider web and when I looked down, there were black spiders crawling all over my legs.I swear it.”
“Good God,” Dinesh said, and Domingo made the sign of the cross again.
I frowned at him.
“Sorry.Sorry,” he said, looking regretful but also very worried.
“But there was nothing.When I looked, there was nothing,” Dinesh asserted.
