The Sound of Whales (13 page)

CHAPTER 23

F
raser hoped he was swimming but knew he was not. He flapped his arms and legs and let himself be carried towards the shore. Jonah's swimming style was awkward, he half drowned Fraser in the effort, but together they made slow progress towards the shore. It seemed a long time of splashing and spluttering and struggling but eventually Fraser felt his knee touch something solid and they were being rolled over by the surf breaking up the beach. The man and boy dragged themselves the last few metres out of the water and lay panting on the wet sand as the swash flowed around their bodies.

‘Are you well?' Jonah asked between gulps of air.

‘Aye. Thank you.'

They lay on the beach some more, refilling their lungs, regaining their strength, and Fraser listened to the angry pounding of the surf just a metre away and the groan of the wind. Nature seemed annoyed that he had escaped. He began to shiver violently and then Jonah was on his feet offering him a hand. He pulled himself up and his legs were feeble and shaky but he stayed standing.

‘Come, you must get warm,' said Jonah. ‘I will light a fire.'

Fraser looked out to sea and it was dark and black clouds hung low. The
Moby Dick
lay offshore, it seemed to be moving in a slow circle, but all he could see was a faint light from the wheelhouse. He waved but knew he wouldn't be seen.

‘Come,' Jonah said again. ‘We must get dry, then you will go home.'

Together they walked up the sand towards the cave and the realization slowly came to Fraser that he had nearly drowned. The shivering increased and he felt the beginnings of a sob, partly of relief, partly of shame that he had almost ruined the lives of both himself and his family. His eyes misted over but he stifled the sob, swallowed it back down and wiped his face with his wet hand.

Jonah helped him up the rocks and into the cave. He had rolled some larger rocks together at the cave entrance and behind there he had built a fire, its glow hidden from view. The fire had been doused but embers still smouldered and the aroma of something cooking hung in the air.

Jonah sparked the fire into life again by adding new twigs. Flames soon filled the circle of stones and Fraser peeled off his sodden shirt, trousers, shoes and socks and laid them on a rock beside the fire. He sat in his underpants and allowed his body to warm. Jonah said nothing. He had waded into the sea in only his jeans, just as he had emerged from it two days earlier, and they were steaming from the heat of the fire.

After a while the shivering stopped and Fraser felt exhausted but not sleepy, his body spent but his mind buzzing.

‘You saved my life,' he said at last.

Jonah looked at the flames and said, ‘I know how it feels to be swimming in a storm.'

The fire flickered in the wind that was blowing outside. It sucked out the smoke and Fraser reckoned there was not a warmer, cosier place on earth.

‘I was trying to save my brother.'

‘Yes, I could see. He climbed on to the big boat. You saved him.'

‘I didn't do much.'

‘It was enough. He is saved.'

‘It was Hayley.'

‘You worked together.'

‘She saved him.'

‘No. I think it was
 . . .
' Jonah paused, looked beyond the cave but the sea was black.

‘What?'

‘I think it was the whales.'

The fire crackled and the wind moaned and Fraser felt a tingle that was not just the warmth of the flames.

‘You saw them? You saw the whales?'

‘I saw the small boat first and then your brother. The waves were tossing him up and down. I was about to swim out and help but then I saw them.' Jonah stoked the fire and shook his head, as if still astonished by what he had witnessed. ‘We call them
leruarua
in our language. Last night you called them orcas. It was the same whales. I feared for your brother in his small boat with such large whales. But then the creatures swam close to the boat and I saw the most amazing thing.'

Jonah paused, stared again beyond the fire, beyond the cave, beyond the sea, it seemed. Fraser waited a moment to hear this amazing thing but when the African said nothing more, he offered one of his own.

‘Dunny touched the whales.'

A bright smile erupted on Jonah's face. ‘Yes. Your brother touched
leruarua
. He stretched out a hand and stroked their backs or touched their fins.'

‘I saw it too.'

‘When the big boat appeared, the whales were gone and your brother fell into the water.'

‘I think he jumped.'

‘The storm was growing. I was surprised he did not fall in sooner.'

‘I think we spoilt his fun.'

‘He was in danger, even if he did not realize it.'

‘He didn't need our help and he didn't want it.'

‘You saved him. He is safe now.'

‘You saved
me
. I was the one needing to be saved.'

They sat in silence for a little while beside the fire and Fraser drank some rainwater that Jonah had in a plastic bottle.

‘Here, eat,' Jonah said.

From behind him he lifted an old bicycle wheel missing its tyre. Jonah had bent it into shape to allow a handful of small fish to be placed above the smouldering charcoal of his fire.

‘You caught fish?' Fraser asked.

‘I did. It would not be fair to depend on you bringing me food every day.'

‘How did you catch them?'

‘I found an old piece of fishing net among the rocks. If it is placed at high tide in the cove along the beach from here, you can gather a few small fish as the tide goes out. It is similar to how they fish the flooded lakes of South Africa.'

‘What kind of fish are they?'

‘I do not know.'

‘How do they taste?'

‘African fish taste better. Here try one.'

Jonah placed the fish that were already cooked above the fire, allowed them to warm for a few moments then picked one from the rack. He placed it on a large leaf and handed it to Fraser. Fraser examined the scrawny thing lying on the leaf. It still had its tail and eye, an eye that gazed accusingly at him, saying,
Don't you dare
.

Fraser tore into it. Jonah took one for himself and said, ‘Be careful of the bones.'

It had a bland, greasy taste but nearly dying had made Fraser ravenous. The eye seemed to follow him as he twisted the fish to find the smallest bits of flesh. When he had finished he wrapped the bones in the leaf and took another that Jonah offered.

As he ate he remembered something that was bothering him. ‘You said you knew what happened to the man Solomon. Why he was stabbed.'

It took a while for Jonah to answer, as if he was reluctant for Fraser to share the burden, or the danger, of knowing.

‘The money to make this journey from Africa to Europe is paid in two instalments, half at the beginning and half upon arrival. Most people who are smuggled into Britain have a relative waiting with the final payment. The man Solomon had another way to pay.'

He stopped and Fraser leant forward, wanting to know more.

‘He had swallowed a small diamond.'

‘A
diamond?'

Jonah nodded.
‘
He told me this one night while we were travelling. I believe the person who cut him open was looking for it. Certainly there is no diamond there now.'

Fraser had a sudden image of Jonah rooting about in the inner parts of a corpse. ‘You searched?' he asked.

Jonah shuddered and Fraser could tell it hadn't been a pleasant experience.

‘We had agreed to help each other when our journey began,' he said at last. ‘His diamond would have helped.'

‘Do you have one of your own?' Fraser nodded towards Jonah's stomach.

Jonah smiled but shook his head. ‘It will not be so easy for me to make my second payment. And there are people looking for me and expecting their money.'

‘What's your plan?'

‘The plan was to get to London and then
. . .
' He shrugged, ‘disappear.'

‘What will happen if they find you?'

Jonah sighed. ‘They may send my body back to Lesotho as an example to others of what happens to those who fail to pay. More likely I will become a kind of slave. They will own me.'

Fraser felt cold again, despite the fire. Hiding in caves no longer seemed such a lark. ‘Why not go to the police?'

‘I could, and I would be safe for a while, but eventually I would be sent back home and these people would be waiting. I need to stay and I need time. There is someone I am here to find in London.'

Jonah paused in his tale and Fraser could feel his eyes getting heavy. The crackling fire and the breaking waves were a lullaby. He knew he should head for home and let everyone know he was alive. He pulled his mobile phone from his damp trouser pocket but it wouldn't turn on. His shirt was practically dry so he put that on and repositioned his socks closer to the fire. Jonah pulled on the old sweatshirt, socks and boots Fraser had given him.

‘Of course,' Jonah said, ‘there is one way I can get to London without being hunted by men looking for money. The reason why I have been hiding in this cave since I washed ashore.'

‘If people think you're dead,' Fraser said, understanding.

‘Exactly. If they think I drowned like Solomon, then perhaps they will leave me alone.'

‘Where are these people?'

‘I do not know. It could be that man who was on the beach.'

‘No, that was Willie McGregor. He's not a people smuggler.'

‘Does he own a boat?'

‘Aye, a big yacht.'

‘Then he might be.'

Fraser whistled through pursed lips at the possibility.

‘If I stay here in this cave for a few weeks, then they might think me dead. Then I can leave.'

‘But the place is full of police now,' Fraser said.

‘And that is the problem. They will search this cave again I am sure.'

‘So who cut open Solomon and stole his diamond?'

‘I assume it is one of the men to whom we both owed money.'

Fraser gave a small gasp. ‘But that means there is someone on the island already.'

‘And now he is looking for me.' Jonah patted his stomach and laughed. ‘All he will find are very small fish bones.'

‘We have to get you away from here.'

‘It will not be so easy.'

‘I have some money. It is isn't much but it might buy you the train fare to London.'

‘I cannot take your money, Fraser.'

‘You have to. I owe you.'

‘You owe me nothing.'

‘You saved my life.'

‘You have done more than enough already. You have been my friend.'

They sat in silence again for a little while and watched the fire and listened to the wind.

Fraser asked, ‘Who is it you have to find in London?'

‘My brother.'

‘You have a brother in London?'

‘I have not seen him for many years. I have an address but I do not know if he is still there.'

‘Your brother will look after you?'

Jonah grinned. ‘My brother does not know I am coming.' His smile faded. ‘He has not spoken to me for many years.'

‘I know how that feels,' Fraser said.

‘My brother and I argued when we were still young. I did things and said things
 . . . 
I regret them. He left Lesotho, came to this country for a new life. We lost contact with each other. But now I have heard that he is in trouble and needs help. I have to find him.'

‘London is a big place.'

‘That is why I need time. It will be good to see my brother again. He will be a man now. We were just boys when he left. I have to make things right again.'

‘If you need time you could stay here for a bit, get a job on one of the lobster boats, get a proper house.'

The African laughed. ‘I might miss my cave. But it is a nice thought.' He sighed now. ‘I cannot stay. My brother needs me. Just as Dunny needs you.'

‘I haven't been much use so far.'

‘Do not underestimate the bond of brothers.'

‘I hope you find him.'

‘First I have to escape the people who are looking for their money.'

‘Take my money, use that.'

Jonah laid a hand gently on Fraser's shoulder. ‘You are a kind boy, Fraser. But the money I owe is much, much more than a train ticket to London. I will be working for these men for a long time to pay it off. It is better that they think me dead.'

They sat on the warm rocks and Fraser wondered how he could help make this man's hopes come true. He owed him his life and getting him to London would never be repayment for that, but it was a start.

‘We need to tell Ben.'

‘Who is Ben?'

‘He's a scientist. That's his boat out there.' Fraser looked out at the ocean but all was black. ‘We need a boat to get off the island.'

‘You think I should sail to London?'