Secrets of the Tides (19 page)

‘Nice one. Maybe I’ll give it a go then.’

‘You should.’

‘OK, I will.’ He grinned at her and Dora felt her stomach flip.

‘Watch out!’ he yelled, his eyes flicking towards the ice cream she held in her left hand. She turned just in time to see the whole vanilla head tumble off its cone and fall splat onto the pebbles. An incoming wave caught it and within seconds it had disappeared without trace into the salty foam. Dora looked at the empty cone in her hand and sighed.

‘Oh shit!’ Steven cursed. ‘Sorry, I should have said something . . .’

‘No, don’t worry,’ said Dora suddenly. ‘I didn’t really want it anyway.’

‘Well, you’ve still got that one,’ he said, indicating the ice cream in her right hand.

‘It’s for my brother.’

‘OK. We can do this,’ said Steven, suddenly getting into the spirit of the challenge. ‘We can get this ice cream to your brother in one piece. It’ll be like
Mission Impossible
.’

Dora giggled.

‘Don’t laugh,’ he urged. ‘This is a serious undertaking . . .’

‘Sorry.’ Dora copied Steven’s serious expression, trying not to let her lips curve back up into a smile.

‘Come on then, full steam ahead.’

They picked up the pace across the shingle, dodging kids and inflatables and the remains of sweaty picnics strewn across blankets. Most people, Dora noticed, lay prone upon towels, or slumped in chairs, dozing and dreaming in the heat of the sun. It seared down on them now, razor sharp, baking the beach in its glare. Dora pushed stray strands of hair, now slick with sweat off her forehead and marched onwards next to Steven. It was a relief when they finally arrived at the far end of the beach.

‘I’ve not actually been to the Crag before,’ Steven confessed as they pulled up to the base of the cliffs.

Dora was surprised. She thought all the cool kids from school hung out there. ‘Well I’ve only been here once, before today,’ Dora confirmed. ‘It’s nothing special.’

‘How do you get in?’

‘Just up here. You wouldn’t know, unless you knew what to look for. You see that shadow on the rock face, just to the left of that dead tree?’ Dora pointed with her free hand to a gnarled tree stump, bent over like a broken old man.

‘Yeah.’

‘Well, just underneath there, there’s a gap in the rock. It’s hidden from the beach, sort of a trick of the light. You can only see it when you get really close.’

Dora and Steven moved up towards the rock face. ‘Look, do you see now?’ she asked.

‘Oh yeah,’ whistled Steven. ‘Very clever.’

‘Just follow me.’

Dora hopped up onto the stone cliff face. It was harder with one hand holding an ice cream and the graze on her palm an aching reminder of her earlier stumble, but she was desperate not to look like an idiot, not in front of Steven. She misjudged one handhold and nearly lost her balance, but her fingers met with a clump of golden samphire and the roots held firm as she regained her grip. It was a major relief when she dropped down the other side and into the cool interior of the cavern.

‘OK?’ she called out.

A moment later Steven’s head appeared. ‘Blimey, you made that look easy.’

Dora smiled. ‘You get the hang of it . . . Here, throw the drinks down to me and then work your way down these gaps in the stone.’

Two cans of Coke landed on the sandy floor next to her, and then Steven dropped down beside her.

‘Well, well, well,’ he said, surveying his surroundings. ‘So this is the famous Crag.’

‘Yep. See, I told you, nothing special.’

‘Where are your brother and sister then?’

Dora looked around. She could see Cassie and Sam huddled where she had left them, strands of Cassie’s blond hair fanning out on the ground, mingling with Sam’s own raven-black hair.

‘Hey,’ she yelled out. ‘We’re back.’ She didn’t know how Cassie would react to her bringing Steven. She hoped she wouldn’t embarrass her. It would be just like Cassie to say something awful.

‘You took your time.’ Cassie sat up. She rubbed her eyes, as if she’d been asleep. ‘Did you get us our drinks?’

‘Yeah, only one, sorry.’

Cassie sighed and grabbed the can from Dora’s outstretched hand.

‘You’re welcome,’ Dora replied, her words dripping with sarcasm. ‘This is Steven,’ she added.

Cassie looked him up and down. ‘Hey, Steven,’ she said finally. ‘I’m Cassie. This is Sam.’

Sam gave a little wave and then returned to picking at her split ends.

Dora breathed a sigh of relief. It looked as though Cassie was going to behave herself. ‘So where’s Alfie?’ she asked, looking around the cavern. The ice cream she held had virtually disappeared, just a tiny white blob remained on top of the cone, with two wilting flakes for company.

‘Ha ha,’ laughed Cassie sarcastically.

Dora looked at her sister, confused. ‘What do you mean “ha ha”?’ Where is he? I’ve got his ice cream here and it’s not going to last much longer.’

Cassie glanced around the cave before returning her gaze to Dora. She gave her a strange look. ‘He left with you, didn’t he?’

‘No. I told him to stay with you guys.’

‘But . . . you said you were taking him with you.’

‘No I didn’t. I told you to look after him. When I was leaving I said, “You’ve got Alfie.” I told him to go play with you.’

‘No, Dora, you said
you’d
got Alfie. I distinctly heard you. Didn’t you hear her, Sam?’

Sam just shrugged.

‘Well, whatever, Cassie, he didn’t come with me, OK?’ Dora said, looking around the cave with irritation. ‘So he must still be in here.’

Cassie stood up, brushing sand from her denim skirt, before peering into the gloomy interior of the cavern.

‘Alfie?’ she called out. ‘Alfie, Dora’s got your ice cream.’

Silence.

‘If this is a joke, Cassie, it’s not bloody funny. I’ve just walked for twenty minutes in the heat for this ice cream. Just tell him to come out, all right?’

‘This isn’t a joke.’ Cassie looked Dora straight in the eye. ‘I don’t know where he is.’

The two girls looked at one another for a moment, each trying to read the expression in the other’s face. Dora willed her sister to break into a smile, to throw her hands up and to admit to the bad gag, to have Alfie run giggling out of some dark corner, the joke on her. But Cassie just stared back at her blankly, and in the end Dora had to turn away. She couldn’t bear to see the fear welling up in her sister’s face.

‘Come on, he’ll be here somewhere. He’s just hiding . . . making a game of it,’ Steven said, trying to break the suddenly serious atmosphere.

Dora wandered towards the pile of driftwood she and her brother had busied themselves with only half an hour or so earlier. ‘Alfie!’ she yelled, hearing his name echo off the walls. ‘I’m going to eat your ice cream if you don’t come out now. Mmmm . . . yum yum . . . Two more flakes for me!’

The silence was deep and still.

‘Alfie! Alfie. Come out now!’ Her sister’s voice joined in, a little higher in pitch, a little more panicked.

They walked around the edges of the cavern, looking for a glimpse of their brother’s cheeky face grinning out at them from his hiding place. Any moment now, Dora thought, he’s going to jump out at me. She reached the old oil drum, back near the stone table where her sister and Sam had been lying. She knew it was silly but she turned it over anyway.

‘Come on, Alfie. It’s not funny now. Come out, will you? We need to go home soon.’

Nothing. She turned back to her sister.

‘Where is he, Cass?’

‘I don’t know,’ she replied, almost a whisper.

‘Well, when did you last see him?’

Cassie thought for a moment. ‘Not for ages. Not since you left.’

Dora ran her hands through her hair in exasperation. ‘But what were you doing all that time I was gone? Didn’t you see him, or even hear him, here in the cave with you?’

‘No.’ Her eyes were downcast.

There was a male clearing of the throat. Dora turned around to see Steven. She’d forgotten he was there.

‘Look, he’s either in here, right? Or he’s found a way out of the Crag? Is that possible? How old is he?’

‘He’s only three . . .’ Cassie wailed.

‘Could he have made it up these footholds and out onto the beach, d’you think?’ Steven’s voice was calm. Dora suddenly realised she was glad he was here.

‘I . . . I don’t know.’

The two sisters looked at each other. It was true that Dora had found it easier getting out than she had getting in but . . . could Alfie have really clambered out, all on his own?

‘I guess . . . if he followed me . . .
maybe
he could have managed it. But surely I would have seen him on the beach on my way back? Unless he headed the other way . . . you know, over to the rock pools . . .’ Dora’s voice trailed off. None of them wanted to think about that possibility.

Cassie let out a sudden sob. ‘Oh God, we’ve got to find him.’ She turned to Sam imploringly. ‘We’ve got to find him, OK?’

Sam shifted uncomfortably. ‘OK, OK. Let’s think for a moment.’

‘He’s probably just headed up to the ice cream van,’ said Steven, ‘thought he’d find Dora. Let’s do one final check in here and if we’re sure he’s not still in here, head out and start looking for him on the beach. Right?’

‘Right,’ Sam and Dora agreed simultaneously. Dora patted her sister on the arm. ‘Come on, Cass, it’s OK. We’ll find him, all right?’

Cassie didn’t say anything, just turned and ran to the end of the cave, calling Alfie’s name loudly.

For the next few minutes the four teenagers scoured the cavern from top to bottom for signs of Alfie. They looked in vain for hiding places they might have missed, called his name, coaxingly at first, then with increasing panic, and even tried to find little footprints in the silty earth that would reveal where he had gone. He had, it seemed, vanished into thin air. When they met back in the centre, moments later, it was clear to them all that the hunt would need to continue outside the Crag. They were silent as they took it in turns to climb up the rocky side of the cave and drop back down onto the beach.

It was only half an hour or so since she had first left the Crag to buy ice cream and yet as her feet landed back on the hot pebbles on the other side of the cave, it seemed to Dora as if the landscape outside had tilted slightly. On the surface it was still a picture-perfect postcard setting; the sun still shone down on a thousand happy holidaymakers; there were squeals and giggles floating in the air; pink bodies shone under greasy slicks of sunscreen like grilled saveloys under a hot plate; the grassy green slopes of the campsite rose up out of the distance, dotted with colourful tents and caravans winking at them in the brightness of the day. And yet the sun was even more shocking in its intensity. Dora could feel the skin across her shoulders prickle and tighten under its blaze. The seaside chorus of gull cries, the tinny call sign of the ice cream van and the shrieks of children all mingled in the air into one frenzied crescendo. And from somewhere far out across the ocean a breeze had picked up. Dora held a hand up to her eyes and squinted out to sea. She saw white caps topping the waves out towards the horizon and closer to shore her ear tuned in to the unmistakable
whoomph
of water dumping onto limestone. She looked nervously towards the rock pools. Sea spray flew up, glinted like diamante caught in the sun, and then fell, vanishing into the path of another incoming wave.

The tide had turned.

She swallowed back sticky-sweet bile and turned to Cassie with a renewed sense of urgency. ‘We should split up.’

Cassie nodded but she seemed lost in her distress.

‘We’ll check over by the rock pools,’ offered Sam.

‘Yes, and Steven and I will go back up the beach and see if anyone has seen him. Let’s meet back at the car park in twenty minutes. OK?’ Then louder. ‘OK?’

Sam and Cassie nodded again and then turned, walking quickly towards the rocky outcrop.

Dora wrung her hands.

‘It’ll be OK,’ Steven tried to reassure her. ‘You’ll see. He’s probably making mischief up at the beach shop. Or queuing up for more ice cream as we speak.’

‘I hope so,’ Dora agreed. ‘I really do.’ She felt Steven take her hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. Under other circumstances, she realised, she’d be delirious with happiness to be holding hands with Steven Page. Under other circumstances . . .

They looked at the beach spread before them. It suddenly seemed huge.

‘Should we split up?’ Dora asked, uncertain where to begin.

‘Let’s walk in parallel with each other, one down by the shoreline, one further up the beach. That way we can sweep the width of it together and one of us should spot him.’

Dora nodded, grateful for his calm logic.

‘I guess I should ask what’s he wearing? Can you remember?’

Dora gave a little sob, half laugh, half cry. ‘Oh, I can remember. He’s wearing a Superman costume.’

Steven smiled. ‘Well, that’s certainly original. Shouldn’t be too many Supermen on the beach today. I reckon he’ll be pretty easy to spot.’

‘Yeah,’ agreed Dora, suddenly more optimistic. ‘You’re right.’

They started off towards the car park. Steven opted for the harder route, taking the higher path along the shore across the baking pebbles while Dora retraced her steps for the second time that day along the shingle near the water’s edge. Her eyes scanned the water’s edge for signs of a little boy, and every so often she would turn in vain to the ground, looking for some sort of imprint of her brother’s footsteps on the ever-shifting stones. As she got closer to the car park she scanned the camps of families set up on the beach for a flash of red and blue, asking every so often if anyone had seen a little boy in a Superman costume. Every time she was met with an indulgent smile and the shake of a head. And once in a while she’d turn her gaze to the water. The waves were slapping onto the shore with increasing violence. She saw a little girl on a lilo, her father beside her in the water, suddenly flip with the force of a wave and disappear under the wash of foam. She appeared, seconds later, all tangled hair and limbs, her shock turning to hilarity when she saw her father reach for her and she realised she was safe. They chased the inflatable out of the water onto the beach in front of her. Dora couldn’t look any more. She turned her glance back to the bodies strewn across the seashore and tried desperately to banish the thoughts that had suddenly flooded into her head. Alfie couldn’t swim without his armbands.