Chapter 10
“Mommy, Mommy, look what I got!” Shanna raced across the beach, the fine sand sticking to her little feet.
Mom opened her arms, welcoming her into a hug. “Show me, sweetie. Oh, it’s beautiful.” She turned the scallop shell around, revealing its pearlescent insides. “I’ll have to comb the beach for some myself.”
“You won’t find it!” Shanna grinned at her. “I got it from the ocean. I dived to the bottom!”
Mom laughed and ruffled Shanna’s hair. “Aren’t you my little mermaid?”
***
The catamaran Bella glided through the coastal waters of the Abel Tasman National Park. Simon clung to the railing on its port side, watching the dense forests and tiny coves sheltering sandy beaches whiz by.
“Smart, coming outside peak tourist season,” their captain, Alfie, said to Shanna, who’d naturally roped him into a conversation. “You'll have heaps more room to yourself, especially on the beach. Now, if you want some tips on the choice, secluded ones, I’ve got you covered.”
As far as Alfie knew, they were tourists wanting to go on a trek in the park. But Shanna had done one of her tracking spells this morning, and while she was chatting with Alfie, she was also supposed to listen to her senses—or whatever she did—to hone in on the point where her mother had been.
“Brought many girls here, huh, Alfie?” Shanna asked. Alfie appeared to be about fifty, but his easygoing smile and lively dark eyes spoke of him being quite the player in his youth.
“A sweet talker never spills the beans, ay.”
As Simon looked back, he caught Alfie winking at a blushing and laughing Shanna. A strange, tight feeling awoke in his stomach, as if his insides had twisted together. Alfie obviously wasn’t hitting on Shanna, and even if he were, what did it matter?
It didn’t. Definitely not.
“Sheilas, they're here one minute, gone the next,” Alfie said.
Shanna knit her eyebrows. “You only date Sheilas?”
“Women. It’s what we call women,” Alfie clarified, trying to shed off his thick accent for a moment. “But my Bella, she's a real mate, always there. She's behaving heaps better now she's outta that feral teenage phase, ay?” Alfie tapped the side of the control console.
“Ah, but did you name your boat after one of the girls?” Shanna asked.
“Actually, I …” Alfie frowned. “Huh. Was gonna say yes, but honestly, I don’t remember.” He chuckled. “Must’ve been on the piss that day. But I'll let you in on a little secret.” He leaned closer, though he didn’t lower his voice. “I carved my initials into a couple of trees in the park.”
“With the girls? Put them in a little heart?”
“One or two that deserved it.”
“That’s so cute.” Shanna caught Simon’s eyes and grinned, and that weird feeling that came a bit close to jealousy dissipated.
“I imagine it’s also a crime if it’s a national park,” Chris said from the side. “And I’ve been told crime is bad.”
“We won’t tell on you,” Shanna said to Alfie.
They approached a small island off the shore, and Alfie slowed down. “See if we can suss out some seals, ay?” he said. “Look over there, on the rocks.”
The three passengers gathered on the starboard side. Simon scanned the rocky shore of the small island, but as nothing moved, he began wondering if “seals” was Kiwi slang for something else.
“There!” Shanna pointed out. “Aww, and there’s a puppy!”
Chris extended her hand, palm up. Simon simply handed her his phone, then continued to enjoy watching the seals with his own eyes. A larger one was lying on the flat side of a rock that stuck out of the sea at a forty-five degree angle while the pup clumsily wobbled from that rock onto another.
With the sightseeing done, Alfie switched Bella back into higher gear. After a few minutes, Shanna nudged Simon, indicating she’d felt them approaching the right area, just as Bella sputtered, and a plume of dark gray smoke erupted from the back.
“Are we sinking?” Chris asked, not sounding particularly worried.
Alfie looked back. “Yeah nah, she'll be right. The old girl's been playing up a bit lately.” He leaned down and picked up a box of tools. “I’ll suss it out, just give me a sec.”
“Sorry. I have that effect,” Shanna said.
“What effect?”
“Things tend to break around her,” Chris explained.
“I’m sure it’s not your fault,” Alfie said.
Shanna turned around, gazing over the bow. “The point I’m feeling is over there, on that beach,” she said quietly to Simon. They were close to the shore, between two coves.
“That’s our destination,” Simon said to Alfie.
“If you’re in a jiffy, you can take the dinghy.” Alfie strolled to the back of the catamaran. If there was one thing Simon had picked out about Kiwis so far, it was that they were truly never in a rush.
Simon looked at Shanna and, upon her nod, said, “Let’s do it.”
“I'll catch you at the beach once I'm sorted.”
With that, Simon, Shanna, and Chris boarded the dinghy and sped off to their chosen destination.
Shanna gasped as the little cove came into view: a perfect half-moon shape with clear, turquoise water and a strip of bright yellow sand disappearing into a thicket.
A large round rock, split almost neatly in half, rose from the water on one side of the bay.
“It looks like a heart,” Shanna said to Simon.
Indeed, from a certain perspective, it was like a giant granite heart.
They disembarked and pulled the dinghy onto the shore.
“So, your mom did something on this beach?” Simon asked. “Maybe buried treasure?”
“I’m not digging,” Chris said.
“Let me try to re-focus.” Shanna pulled a crystal out of her bag and stepped into the shadow of a tree. She turned away from them and stood there for a solid five minutes.
“It’s not here,” she said. “It’s inside the forest.”
Simon looked to the thick jungle. Oh, boy.
“There’s a path.” Chris pointed to the side.
Shanna shrugged at Simon. “Might as well.”
As they headed in, Simon soon realized the simple footpath was their only way; there was no chance to otherwise make it through the thick underbrush.
Giant ferns the size and look of palm trees rose on all sides, the backs of their leaves a pure silver, as if they’d captured moonlight.
They mixed in with other trees—palms, white-barked beeches, and climbers that wrapped themselves around larger trees, blossoming with bright red flowers.
The path led slightly upward. As they ascended single file, soon, there was nothing else to be heard but the occasional squawking of a bird and their labored breathing.
“I was not created for this,” Chris said.
“Oh, come on.” Shanna looked over her shoulder, smiling at both. “What’s a little exercise?”
“Death,” Chris said.
Simon, surprisingly, found he was doing well. He’d always exercised, but somehow, he’d thought three years of body-soul separation would have affected his stamina.
Although, now that he thought about it … his body was still in good shape. Perhaps even in better shape than he’d left it.
That one’s on you, Raleigh. At least his impostor did one thing right.
“I feel it. It’s close. Ah!” Shanna suddenly picked up the pace, coming to the peak of the hill, then disappeared into the brush.
Simon and Chris rushed after her, finding her at the foot of a giant tree with almost black bark.
“What’s here?” Chris asked.
Shanna brushed some lichen off the bark at the level of her head. Etched in the bark, barely visible, were the letters A + B, surrounded with a vague outline of a heart.
“You found one of Alfie’s trees,” Chris said.
“But the spell led me here.” Shanna sounded dejected.
“Are you sure you didn’t focus on Alfie by mistake?” Simon asked.
“I did it before I even met him. The meditation at the beach was to help me strengthen it.”
Simon stepped to the tree, tracing the almost-forgotten etchings with his fingers.
Almost forgotten…
“Everyone else forgets, but the trees will remember,” he whispered. “That’s what your mom wrote on the postcard, right?”
Shanna put her hand on the tree back. “A and B. Alfie … and Bella. Isabel.”
“That’s why he couldn’t remember who he named the boat after.”
“He forgot her.” Shanna leaned her forehead against the trunk. “But the tree remembers.”
Simon couldn’t put a name to the feeling that overcame him—the closest he’d come to a similar feeling before was when watching a movie with a sad, but satisfying ending.
Catharsis didn’t cover it. It was more, a deep sadness of knowing that not a single soul on Earth remembered Isabel, and that the same would happen to Shanna; but also a sliver of satisfaction, knowing Isabel had enjoyed at least this part of her life.
She must have found some happiness here, even if it came at the cost of her own family.
And he wished, suddenly, that he could give the same to Shanna. A sliver of happiness, a sliver of satisfaction.
“So, now what?” Chris asked. “Do we dig?”
“No.” Shanna turned around. “She didn’t leave anything else here. Just her mark and a day spent in paradise with Alfie.” She gave Simon a gentle smile. “Come. Let’s go back.”
The trip back was just as quiet but felt much shorter. Alfie’s boat was not yet on the horizon when they reached the beach.
“We could go out to meet him with the dinghy,” Simon said.
“Or we could enjoy the afternoon on this lovely beach,” Shanna said.
“I vote for beach,” Chris said. “I’m gonna go find some snails.” She headed down the beach.
“Well.” Shanna swung out her arms and rocked on her heels. “The sea is nice and calm. I might go for a swim.”
“Isn’t it a bit cold?” The sun made it better, but it wouldn’t be enough to warm the water.
She shrugged. “It’s good for the skin.” And she disappeared behind the bushes next to the beach.
Simon sat down on a fallen log overlooking the cove and exhaled, letting the stress leave his body. For a second, his mind flashed back to home and whatever mess Aries might have been driven into—and then that thought was chased away by Shanna, darting from behind the bushes to the water.
Stark naked.