chapter 2
There were five people in the boat, including Sally's parents, but only one was to survive the accident. A second boat, caught in the high wave's backlash, was overturned too, but all of its occupants, except for a little black terrier, that had been yapping excitedly on deck only moments before, were rescued. The freak wave had taken everyone by surprise.
It was when Sally first realised that the terrible sea could take away anyone it wanted to. Nothing and nobody could stop it. It was how it was. Just how it was.
A hot sun tempered by cooling breezes blew refreshingly on three-year-old Sally Keating's face. Sunlight glistened on a large cockroach scurrying through the wet, grainy sand. Occasionally someone passed them by on the slippery gravel to take the short cut that led out to the supermercardo at the top of the hill.
They sat, she and Isabelle on the low wall that overlooked the shingle beach, where the views were the very best for watching the sailing boats emerge cautiously from round the cliffs before they gained in confidence and, with noisy, flapping white sails, glided out to the open turquoise waters. Isabelle was teaching Sally Spanish words and she placed her hand gently on the little girl's head and said nina and Sally said it back, kicking her heels contentedly against the wall to admire her new espadrilles because they looked like Isabelle's.
Isabelle worked as a waitress at their holiday hotel and they had taken a great shine to each other although Sally couldn't always understand Isabel's accent and Isabel didn't always know how to say something in English. Isabel said she hoped she and Rico, her fiancé, had four Sallys one day and Sally said it might really be best if they had four different names or everybody would get mixed up. That made Isabel and her parents laugh though Sally didn't know why.
The day of the tragedy Mr and Mrs Keating, feeling a sailing boat wasn't a safe place for a small child, planned to leave Sally in the hotel kindergarten for a few hours, but then Isabel was asked to swap shifts and, finding herself with an unexpected free afternoon, suggested, instead of them leaving Sally behind, she could take her to watch. And that was how Sally and Isabel came to be sitting on the low wall, eating ice creams that melted in the hot sun, swapping Spanish and English words, and taking it in turns to peer through the heavy binoculars, looking out for Sally's Mum and Dad.
And at last, through the powerful binoculars that magically turned the tiny figures dotting the boats into people, they saw them, and they jumped up excitedly, waving and shouting. But then something happened that was to change the lazy, calm afternoon and Sally's life forever. It came without warning. Suddenly there was a peculiar rumbling sound, as though an angry lion was waking from a long sleep, and a wave, high as a tree, rose and crashed down again, obliterating the sailing boat, the water sweeping so far inland that Sally's ankles were immersed in its icy coldness. It was gone as abruptly as it came. The pretty little Menorcan town was spared, for it came no further.
But all that Sally could see was water flooding towards her and all that Sally could hear was the thunder of the sea and her own terrified screaming.
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Jeez, things like this were always happening! Scotty would leave Kane to keep watch while he bashed someone or nicked stuff, and then, half the time, forget Kane was there. Or maybe, as Kane was beginning to suspect, he remembered Kane was there but thought it would more fun to leave him hanging around.
The caravan shop, closed for the caravan park's annual essential maintenance work, had been the lucky recipient of one hours' worth of painstakingly chalked pictures on its side wall and door (and all that effort obviously unappreciated as everything had been scrubbed out by the time the caravan park re-opened for the season) while Kane waited for Scott and Scott, having completed the trashing of empty shelves and fixtures and fittings to his satisfaction, walked out through the front door and forgot to tell him. But to leave him guarding Milko on his own, this was the biggest yet!
Kane had no intention of shirking his responsibility and every intention of making his older brother proud. His ankle still throbbing from Scotty's kicks, he hobbled out of the bushes and stared for a while in mild curiosity at the weirdo who was screaming with both hands pressed over her ears. Finally he had to ask.
"If ya screaming bothers ya that much, why don't ya stop?"
Sally opened her eyes. She hadn't even realised she'd closed them again but she must have done. She checked out the ground. The terrible sea had gone. Closing your eyes sometimes shut out the bad stuff, like washing your hands six times every morning meant no one you knew would get crook and have to be taken to hospital and dodging the cracks in the pavement stopped the earth from opening up and plunging everything and everyone into the water. Milko understood all these things and sometimes, with Milko, Sally felt safe enough not to have to do them. But now Milko was being held prisoner by this kid who owned Summer Bay and she was alone.
Two large tears spilled down the little girl's cheeks, twanging at Kane's heart strings. He hated it when people were sooky. Dad and Scott said sooks deserved everything they got, which was why Dad had to bash Mum sometimes. But sookiness made Kane uneasy. He knew he should have laughed or spat in her face or swore at her but he couldn't bring himself to. Truth was, Kane was something of a sook himself though he knew that was wrong and he was working hard not to be.
"For ----'s sake, we're not gonna kill the guy," he said, hoping they weren't. "Not if ya's both do what ya's are told anyway. I just wanna know, what does Milko like to eat?"
Sally started. She'd never been asked the question before. She'd never even thought about it.
"Berries - I think."
"Jeez, he's ya best mate, isn't he? D'ya's never talk to each other? Don't ya know?"
"Steak." Sally said the first thing that came into her head.
"Bloody hell, he's got expensive tastes! Where the ---- d'ya expect me to get steak from?"
"And chips," Sally amended quickly. Chips were cheap. You could get them anywhere. She didn't want Milko to go without food.
"Gotcha." Kane nodded, looking up as the bell for afternoon school rang and grinning as he saw his brother. Scotty was going to be stoked with the way he was handling the kidnap. "Milko likes steak, chips and berries so, no probs, I'll get that sorted for his tea tonight."
Scott slowed down and absently jingled the coins weighing down his pockets, deep in thought. He and a couple of mates had been going round collecting protection money (easy deal: a dollar a week and you didn't get bashed; two dollars up front and you got three weeks' protection) but, suddenly realising he was hungry, he'd come back to see if his younger brother had any of the cheese-and-pickle sandwiches left from the half dozen they'd nicked that morning from the Summer Bay Diner.
He'd been about to swear impatiently at Kane's warped idea of how you taunted dorks who thought they had invisible friends, but then he saw the look on the dag's face. Jeez, if they played their cards right, this could pay. And pay well.
"Good work," he said instead. "I just hope ya didn't give this Milko drongo any of our own sangers, I'm starving."
"No worries!" Kane proudly produced a very squashed sandwich from each pocket, puzzled when Scotty pulled a face and swiped him across the head before tucking in. There wasn't that much fluff on them and only one had had all its cellophane wrapping come off.
Sally gulped, realising she was just going to have to be brave for Milko's sake. Like Sally, Milko hated being with strangers. He'd be terrified by now.
"Excuse me," she said very politely and in a very small voice. "But...but Milko's very shy and...and probably needs me to talk to him so he won't be scared." She took a deep breath. "Please can I have him back? For just a...just a little bit?"
"Nu-uh. He's staying with me till we decide what we're gonna do next," Kane said, totally getting the hang of this terrorizing the other kids lark. At this rate he'd ace school. He turned to Scott. "Don't'cha worry, I'll make sure he stays well outta sight of stickybeak teachers."
"Right," Scott said, swallowing his lunch, and feeling a tad too confused to comment further. Listening to all this was beginning to make him feel like he'd been brain zapped.
"Guess we better split," Kane added, noticing his class and teacher were already making their way towards their beloved flower garden.
"Guess," Scotty agreed. "Catch ya after school. And you..." he glared at Sally threateningly. "You'll keep ya mouth zipped if ya know what's good for ya."
"I will," Sally whispered.
She could only watch, heartbroken and trembling, as, whistling cockily, Kane Phillips tagged on after his classmates. Milko was the very last of the line.
