Chapter 25
“You want to go?” Harper asked, hoping Kyle would say no.
“Nope,” Kyle answered, to her relief.
Harper had suspected he didn’t want to go to the pub, but he was slipping further and further into a funk, so despite her motivation for the outing, Kyle needed to get out more than she did.
“You good here?” Harper sat next to him on the couch, where Polly stretched and rearranged herself on his lap.
“Yeah, I’m just … I don’t know, unsettled. I’m okay. This has been a strange month.” Kyle’s face looked far younger in that moment than he was.
“I know. Does it help that most research trips are really not like this? I hate to think of you being burnt on fieldwork after this.” Harper stroked Polly’s ears, who promptly dug her claws into Kyle’s legs; he grimaced in pain.
“Agh, yeah, hello, Polly.” He looked at Harper. “Don’t worry about me. I’m in a mood and I’ll get out of it. Go, have fun.”
The pub was a brick-faced hole in the wall around the corner from the movie theater. It had a domed entryway with a carved wooden sign over the door that read The Aboveboard.
Harper felt a pinch of nerves as she entered.
If the hospitality here was anything like that of the diner, she would not be a welcome sight.
The interior was dark, brick walls with wrought iron wall sconces, dark wood tables and benches.
Like its name, it had nothing to hide; not fancy, not pretentious, it felt like an embrace.
The air smelled faintly of sea water and fried food.
There were few customers, and they paid her no mind as Harper approached the U-shaped bar.
Harper was not surprised to see two giant cats lounging in a booth in the corner, their dark shapes curled in balls, utterly uncaring of the world around them.
“New face.” The bartender made Harper jump, an older woman with dark skin and eyes, her silver streaked hair piled on top of her head in a thousand braids. “But also a familiar face.” She examined Harper and tapped her finger against the bar. “Can’t place it, but you are familiar.”
“Yeah, hi. Maybe you knew my mother? Kristín Eastey?” Harper stammered.
“Hot damn.” The bartender’s face came alive with a wide grin that felt like a hug. “Kristín’s little girl, in my bar. You look so much like her, I’m sure you’ve only heard that a thousand times.”
Harper smiled back. “I’ve been told. I’m Harper, Harper Hafdóttir. I’m here with the research team.”
“Of course you are. Right in your momma’s footsteps.” The bartender paused. “I was so sorry to hear about your folks. I know it’s been some years since they passed, but they were good people. Your father fit right in on Bell, everyone loved him, even the cats.”
Harper swallowed a lump that was forming in her throat. “Thank you. It’s strange to be here, but also really good.”
The woman nodded. “I can imagine. What’ll it be?” she asked as she gestured to the spirits behind her.
“Oh God, you have Gull on tap.” Harper looked at the bar.
The bartender nodded and started filling a mug. “Don’t get too attached, when this is gone, it’s gone until that sonofabitch Gunnar comes back from his Greenland run.”
“I’ll drink slowly,” Harper answered, and the bartender snorted in response, unexpectedly amused.
Harper started to hand her cash when she heard a voice behind her.
“Put it on my tab, Maya.”
Harper turned to see Anna in the doorway. She was wearing a dark parka and snow boots, the winter night air filling the space. She nodded to the bartender.
“One for me too,” Anna said, and looked at Harper. “Well, look at you, living the Bell nightlife.”
Harper smiled. “Yep. Wild and crazy.”
“Here.” Maya the bartender slid a mug to Anna. “Go find some dark corner to giggle in, young people.” She winked at Anna.
“Fried pickles?” Anna asked as she gestured for Harper to follow.
“Already put the order in.” Maya gave Anna a smug look. “Look at you, making friends.”
“I’m full of surprises,” Anna replied dryly but with affection.
Again, Harper was hit with a wave of familiarity, not for these two people or even this place, but the connection, the concept of knowing each other on a level that went beyond blood.
She shook it off and followed Anna to a corner booth across from the sleeping cats.
“Heard about your incident. You okay?” Anna asked, sipping her beer.
“I’m fine. The life vest didn’t inflate right away.” Harper shook her head. “I checked them, multiple times checked everything. None of it makes any sense.”
“But you’re okay?” Anna asked, her light eyes catching the shadows.
“I’m good.” Harper paused, suddenly tongue-tied. “Lost Shuri, though.”
“Didn’t see that coming. I thought she’d be here through anything. Met her and the other one—Kyle?—when they arrived. Shuri had that air that nothing was going to faze her,” Anna replied as Maya set a plate of fried pickles on the table.
“Thanks, Maya,” Anna said. Maya nodded and disappeared. Across the way, the cats perked up at the smell of food, stretching and staring in their direction.
“Yeah, me too. Her mother was on the original team,” Harper said as Anna pointed to the plate.
“Please. Eat,” Anna instructed, then she looked across the bar to the cats who were stretching casually, watching the food on the table. “Not you two,” she said to them.
Harper smiled and bit into the ball of hot grease and pickle juice. “Agh, yeah, ouch.”
“Careful,” Anna said, amused. “Pace yourself. Anything exciting yet?”
Harper shrugged. “Most fieldwork is sitting around waiting for things to happen and when they do, you record as much of it as you can, and then you wait, again, for something to happen.”
“Fascinating. Can’t believe I didn’t go into … whatever it is you do.” Anna paused. “What exactly do you do?”
“I’m finishing my PhD in microbial biology,” Harper replied, feeling the weight of the last few years creeping in around her joints.
“What specifically are you studying? I know you’re here about the octopus, is it that?” Anna asked.
“Not specifically, but it’s pretty perfect for my thesis.
Are you sure you want to hear about this?
It’s incredibly nerdy and even the people in my field think I’m kind of a nut.
There’s a reason I was chosen for Thalassa.
No one thinks they exist and no one wants to waste their time, so naturally, they sent me to lead the team.
” Harper bit into another pickle, this time able to enjoy the perfect balance of spice and salt. “These are ridiculously good.”
Anna laughed softly. “Yeah, they are. Worth a drive down the cliff. And yes, I really am interested, I love nerdy impossible things.” Her gaze lingered on Harper and Harper felt herself flush slightly, she was glad for the dim light.
“Okay, but you asked for it. My thesis is proving the oceans as symbiotic entities as opposed to mere ecosystems. Further, my research will prove that the world’s oceans undergo evolutionary change over time, building resilience and individualized responses to environmental stressors. ” Harper paused. “You still awake.”
“Quite.” Anna leaned in. “What does that mean exactly? Explain it like I’m a groundskeeper slash gardener slash carpenter.”
Harper took a deep breath. “Okay, so you and I are symbiotic entities, right? We are intelligent, we respond to stimuli, we adjust and adapt, but we also host a whole bunch of creatures on our bodies, most of them far too small to ever see. Did you know that there are literally millions of demodex mites on your face right now? In your eyelashes, eating your dead skin cells?” Harper took a drink of her beer, feeling energized as she explained.
“I think I did know that, but I did not know there were millions.” Anna took a bite and chewed slowly. “Go on.”
“Okay, so my thesis centers around the idea that oceans are not just ecosystems, a landscape where symbiotic creatures exist, but instead they are a symbiotic creature themselves, capable of critical thought in the sense that they react to environmental, even emotional stimuli. In essence, the octopus, the fish, whales, kelp, every creature in the ocean is living on a host, not an ecosystem.” Harper sat back.
This was where anyone in the science community started to knit their brows and started asking, Okay but what about …
“What research do you do to prove that?” Anna asked, no doubt or mockery in her voice.
Harper took another drink. “Thalassa is very much the sort of thing I like to study. Creatures in places they shouldn’t be, underexplored habitats, evidence that the ocean adapted itself in reaction to outside conditions, and those adaptations mean that it hosts creatures it never did before, in places those creatures have never been, like Thalassa.
But that’s the big, exciting concept research, what it looks like in practice are water and sediment samples, DNA sequencing of tissues and plant life, biochemical analysis. Lots of waiting for things to happen.”
Harper finished in a rush, hoping Anna hadn’t been joking about wanting to know about her research.
On the contrary, Anna looked intrigued. Harper felt a flush again and she sat back in further protection from the shadows. A giant cat was now sitting at her feet, looking at her expectantly. “Hello,” she said, the cat blinked in reply.
“Gretchen, no,” Anna said to the cat, and looked at Harper. “I don’t think you’re nuts, but I’m only an undergrad scientist. I studied botany, but I’ve been around your crowd enough to know they don’t like new ideas.”
“I’ve been doing all the talking. I want to know about you. Botany, tell me about that.” Harper pet the cat on her head, and she responded by flopping down on Harper’s feet.
“Some other night, but I have a feeling I’ll be seeing you before too long. You made a good impression on Lady Bell,” Anna said as she finished her beer.
“I really, really, really want to know how you came to be the groundskeeper slash gardener slash carpenter for a notoriously mysterious manor house on a sea cliff in the far edges of the Atlantic.” Harper felt the edge of the beer on her consciousness; she leaned in and locked eyes with Anna, who returned her gaze.
“That is a long story, and I will tell you sometime, but not tonight. Time to go, for me anyway. I have a cart to drive, so I’m a one-drink sort of lady when I’m down here. But I’ll see you soon,” Anna said, her voice teasing.
“I hope so,” Harper replied.
“Drive you home?” Anna asked.
As they pulled into the driveway of the small house, Harper looked over at Anna.
“Thanks, for everything. This was the most normal, even fun night I’ve had here.”
“What about your grand tour of Bell Manor?” Anna said with mock seriousness.
“I wouldn’t call it fun, overwhelming and a little terrifying, not to say I don’t want to do it again.” Harper could see the grand staircase in her mind’s eye as she spoke the words. “Can I ask you something?”
“Always. You might not get an answer, but you can always ask,” Anna said with an amused look.
“Lady Bell said she had more to tell me. What did she mean?” Harper asked hesitantly.
Anna shook her head. “That I cannot even guess at. But she likes you. For the record, Bell Manor gets less overwhelming and terrifying. Spend some time up there and it starts to feel like home,” Anna said softly.
“This whole island feels like home.” The words escaped Harper’s lips.
“I know what you mean, like it’s familiar,” Anna replied.
“I hope we can meet up again,” Harper said, the flush creeping back into her cheeks.
Anna smiled. “Soon enough.”