Bay of Fires (37 page)

“She’s right,” Roger said. “He should be careful. If he wants to make it back to shore in one piece. That lagoon will flick him out into the southwesterly circular current and whoosh…”

Roger tapped the air as though he were a magician wielding a wand.

“You reckon a body wouldn’t come back?”

“I know a body wouldn’t come back.”

Hall paused. His mind sorted previous conversations, rearranged small details, recalled notes he had taken. Stop it, man. It’s over. He moved away from Roger, toward the rushing water.

It would be days before the sea would return to its natural color. Rain fell in the Blue Tiers, trickled through old-growth sassafras and myrtle forests, filled ancient rainforest creeks, flushed the St. Columba and Detention Falls, nursed freshwater salmon and platypus, gushed into the Two Rivers and watered Pyengana dairy farms, trickled through unnamed tin-mining creeks, soaked through the Sloop and Piccaninny marshes before draining into the Chain of Lagoons. Now it was being returned to the ocean.

Pamela, Flip, and Jane sipped champagne. Hall stepped into line beside them.

“Come on, Hall, we’re all waiting for you to show us your stuff,” Pamela called.

The others, tipsy, hooted in agreement. Reluctantly, Hall toyed with a button on his shirt. He wasn’t a strong swimmer; how humiliating if someone, Sarah probably, had to rescue him. He knew he should wait until the torrent calmed. The canoe looked like it was spinning out to sea.

Erica was on the edge of the river, undecided whether to jump. She knelt down, her boogie board held out. She looked over her shoulder to see who was watching her and rolled her eyes and laughed. In the churning, directionless shallows, Sarah yelled directions to her father.

“You’d be an idiot to swim in there,” Jane said.

He had not noticed her move around to stand beside him. Her eyes were smiling.

“Here’s your excuse.” She held out a champagne-filled plastic cup for him to take.

Sarah wrapped her towel around her waist. It was cold now that she was out of the water. Over the roar of the draining lagoon Sarah couldn’t hear Roger and Hall’s conversation. Roger gestured with his fishing rod at the sea, and Hall was talking and counting on his fingers. She came closer and listened. Large schools of mullet were sweeping up and down the coast. Hall thought he might have a chance of catching something.

“Roger, don’t make it so easy for him,” she interrupted. “In the morning, Hall, I’m going to get some trevalla, if you’re around.”

Mullet were too easy. Not a sport fish. If Hall wanted to catch something other than a toadfish, it should be a trevalla. It would test him. It would test her, too; the frustration of standing back watching while he potentially lost the fish off the line might be more than she could stand.

This novel began as a story written at the kitchen table in the precious, fleeting hours that my babies slept. I never really believed it would be published. The person who waved the magic wand is Julia Kenny from the Markson Thoma Literary Agency. She is an amazing, creative, sensitive, and clever editor who transformed my manuscript into a novel. Julia spent countless hours editing
Bay of Fires
and apparently effortlessly found a wonderful publisher in Reagan Arthur Books (an imprint of Little, Brown) and Headline Publishing Group. I was fortunate to have two gifted editors work on my manuscript. Together, Headline’s Imogen Taylor and former Little, Brown editor Andrea Walker improved
Bay of Fires
with their insightful and intelligent editorial suggestions. Julia, Andrea, and Imogen made this novel happen. We have never met, but have worked together from opposite sides of the world, and this book is a kind of collaboration. Many thanks to Reagan Arthur and her hardworking team, including Ben Allen, Marlena Bittner, Amanda Lang, and Sarah Murphy. Everything they do exceeds my expectations. Thanks to Julianna Lee for the gorgeous cover artwork. Freelance copyeditor Amanda Heller and proofreader Audrey Sussman put the finishing touches on the novel, and I am comforted by their high standards. I am grateful to the wonderful, passionate people at Headline: Imogen Taylor, Frankie Gray, Holly McCulloch, and Laura Esslemont, all of whom are generous in sharing their talent and their time. I thank Siobhan Hooper for creating the beautiful jacket. And thank you to the fantastic people from Hachette Australia who worked on the novel: Matt Richell, Carolyn Chwalko, Anna Hayward, and Asha Mears.

I am extremely grateful to the staff in the School of English, Media Studies and Art History at the University of Queensland, where I wrote this book as part of a master’s degree in creative writing.
Bay of Fires
owes a big debt to Venero Armanno; in particular, he was influential in transforming the novel from an odd love story into a murder mystery. Veny was generous, honest, and encouraging, and I feel lucky that he was my thesis advisor. The theoretical research I did under Hilary Emmett’s exceptional guidance broadened my mind and the scope of this novel, such as the focus on single women. I received a five-thousand-dollar University of Queensland Completion Scholarship, which was helpful as I finalized the draft of my book. I was fortunate to have two accomplished writers kindly read my manuscript: Laurent Boulanger and Marion May Campbell. They both advised me well on how to improve the novel. I also thank Stuart Glover, Bronwyn Lea, and Julienne Van Loon for their creative ideas in the early stages of writing.

My brilliant University of Queensland writers’ group—James Halford, Jessica Miller, Sree Ramachandran, and Matt Sini—gave ruthless, thoughtful criticism that improved my writing. Over the years, my friend Eleanor Limprecht has read many terrible drafts of my writing, and she has given heartfelt feedback for which I am appreciative. I am lucky to have worked with talented writers such as these.

The scraps for a story come from many cupboards, and so do the motivation and inspiration for a first novel. First, thank you to my parents, Kaye and Nick Gee, and Lucy and George, Sophie and Paul, and Steven. I’m grateful to have such a close, encouraging family. In particular, I thank my mum for fostering a love of reading in all her children.

In the real Bay of Fires Conservation Area there is no village, no shop, no guesthouse, and no large campground. There is a group of family and friends who love the Bay of Fires area and together with my family we have shared many beautiful summers. I thank you all.

I am grateful to my wonderful teachers Mrs. Forster, Ms. Davies, and Mrs. Bryan from West Launceston Primary School for teaching me to read and write. English teachers are special people, and I thank those at Launceston Church Grammar School, especially Mr. Fairfax, Mrs. Frost, Mr. Leo, and Miss Pitt. Other teachers encouraged my passion for storytelling and language, in particular Mrs. Bailey-Smith, Mrs. Bower, Mrs. Evans, and Mr. Harris.

My first job as a journalist was on a Sydney newspaper, the
Village Voice,
and I wish to thank owner-publisher Kylie Davis and her staff for training me. During my time there as a cadet reporter, and eventually as the editor, I learned how to interview and how to write professionally.

I am grateful to fish experts Stuart Atherton and Paul DeIonno for allowing me to interview them about fishing. I hope I have not exposed too many of your fishing secrets!

The biggest challenge I faced in writing this novel was finding the time to write. This was made possible for me by the people who cared for my children at various times in the past few years: Sarah Newman, Amy Duncan, and the wonderful people at Kindypatch Paddington, Jahjumbeen Occasional Child Care Centre, and C&K Paddington Community Kindergarten.

My lovely mothers’ group gave me invaluable friendship as I wrote this novel—words cannot express what you all mean to me. Many others showed their support and interest in various ways, and I thank the Gee, Embery, Alvey, and Bell families, Helen Bennett, Ron Bennett, Madeleine Gallagher, Louise Grayson, Simon Groth, Dana Lomer, and Tim Velema.

I also wish to acknowledge the many strong, inspiring women in my family, especially my two grandmothers, Margaret Embery and Diana Gee, who are very much missed. 

Finally, most importantly, thank you to my husband, William, my children, Scarlett and Miles, and my cat, Jet, for being such a nice family.

This novel was indirectly motivated by two separate tragedies: the disappearance of Nancy Grunwaldt and the murder of Victoria Cafasso, both overseas visitors to Tasmania whose untimely deaths remain unsolved. This is not their story. I simply wish to acknowledge these two women.

Poppy Alice Marguerite Gee was born in Tasmania, Australia, in 1977. She lives in southeast Queensland with her husband, daughter, and son. She has written for and edited newspapers and magazines, and has taught journalism at university. She completed her master’s degree in creative writing at the University of Queensland in 2011, for which she received the Dean’s Award for Excellence. This is her first published work of fiction.

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Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
Preface
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Newsletters
Copyright