The following morning dawned with a brilliant calm, the first rays of the sun sparkling on clear water, white birds swooping across the swell, as if the storm and our struggle down the rain-lashed mountain had been no more than a bad dream. We continued on down, step by step, pitch by pitch, until we stood on the rock platform at the southern tip on which we had first landed. And there, as if according to some prearranged schedule, we heard the purr of an engine, and Bob’s boat circled into view, just fifty metres offshore. We waved and shouted, and the boat came to a stop. It stayed out there, bobbing in the swell, and we made out the figure in the wheelhouse, looking at us through binoculars.
There was something rather eerie about the way he just waited out there, and finally I said to Anna that I would swim over. I was worried about the weight and drag of the rope across that distance, but unless he came closer there wasn’t much I could do. At least the sea was relatively calm, and if the worst happened I’d just have to untie the rope and let it go. So I stripped off and dived in. As I thrashed through the water I became aware of the engine noise increasing, and saw that he was heading towards me. Then he was alongside and hauling me aboard.
I lay in the bottom, spluttering, while he freed the rope from my waist and waved to Anna, who had tied our bags to her end of the rope, and now jumped in. I pulled myself up onto the seat and watched, shivering, as Bob hauled her across. And as I watched him, strong and capable, a nasty thought came into my mind. He had rescued us, yes, but what now? Whatever had happened to Luce on Balls Pyramid, he’d been a part of it, and it seemed to me entirely possible that he might prefer that we, too, should disappear into the ocean. I looked around, wondering if there was anything that I might use as a weapon, but I could see nothing apart from some fishing rods, an esky, a bucket and some lengths of rope. As a fisherman I assumed he would be carrying a knife. I tried desperately to think.
Now he was helping Anna over the side, and then pulling the plastic bags with our clothes and gear on board. I decided suddenly that this was the time to act, and I took a couple of paces over to the controls and pulled the key out of the switch. Immediately the motor coughed and cut out.
Bob turned to face me. ‘What’re you doing, mate?’
‘Are you carrying a knife, Bob?’
‘Yeah, sure.’
‘Take it out of your pocket and place it on the seat over there.’
‘What?’
On the other side of the boat, Anna, gasping and wiping wet hair off her face, stared at me in surprise.
‘Put the knife down and step away, or I’ll throw this key overboard.’
He squinted at me as if wondering what kind of beast he’d fished out of the sea. I must have looked demented-bruised and scraped and swollen all over, the light of madness in my eyes.
‘What’s that, Josh?’
‘Do what I say!’
‘All right.’ He felt in his trouser pocket and brought out a large clasp knife, which he carefully laid down where I’d indicated.
‘Step back.’
He did so, and I darted forward and grabbed the knife.
‘What happened to Carmel’s boat, mate?’
‘The currents smashed it on the rocks,’ I said.
‘Ah, well, reckon the same’s goin’ to happen to us if you don’t let me start that engine.’ He spoke slowly, as if he didn’t want to alarm me, or perhaps because he thought my brain wasn’t quite right.
‘Then you’d better tell us the truth, Bob. We found a note Luce left, on the Pyramid.’
‘A note? What did it say?’
‘Just tell us what happened. Then I’ll give you the key.’
He frowned, then spread his hands. ‘Okay, I’ll tell you, but I reckon I need to start the engine.’
I followed his gaze and saw that we were being drawn into the foaming swell that bordered the rocks. ‘All right.’ I replaced the key in the ignition and joined Anna on the seat as he went to the controls. We pulled on our clothes while Bob got the boat going and steered it out into open water. When we were a safe distance away from the rocks he throttled back and came to sit opposite us.
‘You’ll be getting quite a reception when you get back. They’ve had search parties out looking for you all weekend. They reckoned you must have gone up Mount Gower on your own like you’d said, and got lost or hurt on the slopes, but my hunch was you were out here, specially when I couldn’t find Carmel’s boat.’
‘And you know why, don’t you, Bob? Luce was out here, wasn’t she? You brought her.’
He nodded reluctantly. ‘Yes.’
‘You’d better tell us everything, the whole truth.’
‘Mm. You hungry?’
‘God, yes!’ Anna burst in.
‘I’ve brought some sandwiches and coffee. Here.’
I eyed him warily as he got up and brought a backpack from the wheelhouse. Anna ripped open the top of a plastic container and began stuffing a sandwich into her mouth. Bob poured coffee from a flask into a cup and handed it to me. ‘There’s cold beer and drinks in the esky, but I reckon you need to warm up.’
I took the cup gratefully. The coffee smelled wonderful. I felt as if I’d been shivering for days.
‘They finished their work on the cliffs below Mount Gower,’ Bob began, in that same slow drawl, as if we had all the time in the world, ‘and they still had a bit of time left, and Marcus wanted to have a look at Balls Pyramid. It’s the only place where the Kermadec petrel breeds, and he said he was thinking of doing a field study there the following year. Of course, being climbers the others were keen to see it too, although I told them it was out of the question to land there. Marcus said, no problem, he only wanted to take a look at the birds from the boat.
‘So I agreed to bring them out here, that was on the Thursday. It was a fine day, and I took them slowly round, stopping to let them look up there with their binoculars. There was a fair bit of whispering going on among them, as if they were discussing something private, but I didn’t take too much notice. Then, when we got to the south end, Marcus asked if I could take them in closer. I did it, and next thing, while I was concentrating on the water ahead, with Marcus standing at my side distracting me, those two blokes, Owen and Curtis, put on wetsuits and dived overboard. They made it over to the Pyramid and climbed up onto the rocks over there. They had a line, and were towing gear. Turned out they had a radio, too, so Marcus could talk to them. They’d planned the whole thing. Marcus apologised and said they just wanted to have a quiet look at the place. They were all very excited about it, Luce especially. She and Damien followed the other two over there.’
‘So Damien was with them that day, the Thursday?’
‘Sure, and the other days too.’
‘You went back again?’
Bob nodded, looking unhappy. ‘They spent most of Thursday over there, but they weren’t satisfied. They wanted to come back on the Friday, the day before they were due to leave. And Curtis and Owen wanted to stay overnight on the Pyramid, to observe the birds. I didn’t like it, but in the end I agreed.’
‘Why?’
He shrugged. ‘Marcus made me a good offer for the hire of the boat. They seemed to know what they were doing. I thought it would be okay. Big mistake.’
He hung his head. I thought the bit about Curtis and Owen staying there overnight sounded strange, and wondered if he was lying, but I let him continue.
‘What happened?’
‘We went out the next morning, weather fine as before, but there was something wrong between them. They didn’t seem happy, not talking, Luce especially. I thought they were just hung-over after the party the night before. Anyway, they went ashore, and I anchored and we kept in touch with them by radio. Then around three in the afternoon something happened. They were up on Gannet Green, I’d been watching them with the binoculars. I had a line over the side and I got a bite. I was pulling it in-a nice big yellowfin-when Marcus began shouting into the radio. When I asked him what was wrong he just shook his head, angry. I landed the fish and he began arguing on the radio with someone. I couldn’t really hear because he turned his back to me, so I looked up at the others on the rock. I could see the three men, staring upwards, but I couldn’t make out Luce. Then two of them-Owen and Curtis-began climbing up the ridge above Gannet Green. I watched them through the glasses and then I spotted Luce, high above them and climbing fast.