Chapter 20
Boston was blowing up her phone as Harper followed Kyle’s directions to the low-level building on the north edge of the village that served as a hospital and clinic for the islanders.
There was a small wing of hospital rooms, and the means for emergency surgeries and services, and the rest was community clinic.
She found Shuri and Kyle in an exam room.
Shuri’s ankle was ensconced in a white plaster cast.
“Fracture,” Shuri said with annoyance. “I could still move it, I thought it was a sprain.”
“We’re lucky that it wasn’t worse,” Harper replied. “Murphy said the equipment took a hit; she’s assessing the damage, but it’s not good.”
“It’s like that wave came down only on the boat. It was windy but generally calm everywhere else, I mean everywhere,” Kyle said.
“Boston is calling it a rogue wave,” Harper said with a sigh. “Everyone did exactly what they were supposed to do, and Murphy is checking the sonar as we speak. I’ll head back to the dock after this.”
“Harper, I think they’re sending me home,” Shuri said in a small voice.
“I know,” Harper replied, sitting on the edge of the bed. “I’m so sorry. I know you wanted this.”
“My mother … she wanted to see Thalassa so much, I thought maybe …” Shuri’s voice was a combination of anger and grief.
“I know.” Harper took her hand and squeezed. “There’s nothing fair about this at all. I’ll see you back at the house, you’re on the morning ferry?”
Shuri nodded and squeezed her hand back.
“Shuri, I saw something, when I went under, I can’t explain it.” Harper struggled for the words. Shuri looked at her curiously. Had she really seen anything at all? She had nearly drowned, what if she had imagined everything?
“What did you see?” Shuri asked cautiously.
“Nothing. I’ll see you back home.” As Harper walked down the white hallway of the clinic, the smell of antiseptic and sterility in the air, her head was full of the image of the translucent creature, the soft clicks ringing in her ears, and the faint, ghostly laughter that drifted up from below.
Kyle stayed at the hospital; he’d ride back in the golf cart that would transport Shuri to the house when she was released.
Harper hiked across town to the dock. Rogue wave …
something nagged her about how cavalier Boston was being.
It came out of nowhere, Harper thought to herself.
Answering her own question aloud, she muttered, “They can do that, nonlinear wave interaction, constructive interference, volcanic activity below the surface, earthquake …” Her mind was spinning with everything she remembered from her studies.
And what of the air pockets? Harper wondered if the water samples had survived the wave and if they’d tell them anything at all.
“Sonar got hit with what looks like a rock? Doesn’t make a damn bit of sense,” Murphy called out to Harper as she approached. “How’s Shuri?”
“Broken ankle, they’re sending her back to the mainland in the morning,” Harper replied, approaching the boat. “Give me a hand.” She reached out and Murphy pulled her onboard.
They surveyed the mess. The case with the water samples looked more or less intact, the sonar lay in a crumpled heap in the bow.
“What hit it? This looks like more than just a wave. I’ve had sonar survive some pretty gnarly storms before.” Harper peered at the wreckage.
“Beats me. I didn’t see anything but water, but there must have been debris. Laptop is toast too, but that’s the least of the problem. The engine got us back here, but I’ll need to really open this thing up to see what’s wrong.” Murphy leaned against the control booth. “What did you see?”
“Nothing that would have done that work,” Harper said softly, running her fingers along the dent. “Nothing that anyone would believe.”
“Try me,” Murphy said. “But let’s get some coffee. I need coffee.”
At the café, Bennie slid two mugs of coffee at them across the counter and grunted. The mottled black-and-gray cat sat on a stool, ears sharp and eyes taking inventory of all around her. Murphy stroked the top of her head and the cat gazed at her appreciatively.
“Let’s talk,” Murphy said as she carried the coffee to a booth.
“The vest didn’t inflate, which makes no sense, because we checked them. I was going down fast, the water was pulling me.” Harper sipped the strong coffee. “The manual pump might have worked, but I couldn’t … it was so cold.”
“You popped back up like you’d been thrown,” Murphy stated flatly.
“I don’t remember that.” Harper looked around at the empty diner, not sure who she was afraid of hearing.
The cat was staring right at her from her perch, she already knew what Harper was going to say.
“Thalassa. I saw it. It grabbed me by the waist and legs, pulled me to the surface, it looked right at me. I saw its eyes. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen.
It was luminescent, like the inside of a shell. ”
Murphy nodded, slowly digesting the words. “It would be, if it really was Thalassa. Plenty of bioluminescent creatures down there, jellies, zooplankton.”
Harper took a long drink of the coffee. “We were nowhere near the coordinates.”
“There is that.” Murphy looked at her watch.
“Murph …” Harper began.
“Is that a question?” Murphy looked amused.
“It’s a weird one. But here it goes. I know you weren’t on Bell when the New Brunswick team was here, but … have you heard anything about it? They must talk on this island.” Harper stumbled over her words, not sure of what she was asking.
“Plenty of talk, not sure there’s anything useful.
” Murphy rotated her coffee cup counterclockwise, considering her words.
“I wasn’t here, so don’t take any of this for truth.
But I know that the locals take what you call Thalassa very seriously, and have long before any researchers showed up and acted like they discovered it. ”
Harper gave her a curious look.
“You want to talk to a true local to get the skinny, but they have a name for it. You’re an Icelander, you’ll appreciate it: Blódughadda. And she’s been around far longer than the New Brunswick team or any outsiders can ever claim.” Murphy spoke carefully.
“Einar told me about it, daughter of Rán, the sea herself …” The words suddenly clicked in Harper’s mind. “Wait, you are saying that they’re the same? Blódughadda and our Thalassa? Like they really believe Blódughadda exists? I’ve heard about it, but I thought it was folklore.”
“It is folklore, and it is also a truth here on Bell. Like I said, ask one of the old-timers. I’m not the expert, not by a long shot.
” Murphy looked over her shoulder and glanced at Bennie, who was leaning against the counter doing a crossword puzzle.
“I’m starving. Want a grilled cheese? No one’s eaten today. ”
Harper nodded and smiled. As Murphy went to the counter, the cat stared at Harper, her eyes like the octopus, alien and all-knowing.