Sophie ties the rope into the slipknot her father had taught her for her school tie and pulls the loop wide. She tosses the looped rope to Becca. ‘Take hold of it, Becca. We’ll loop it over her flukes together.’ She pulls the knot tight and gives Toby a thumbs up. He and Thor thrust the oars into the churning ocean and drag the whale away from the beach.
A roar of motorcycles. Sophie looks up to see the bikes of the Chrome Warriors bounce down the rocky path towards the beach. After parking the bikes in the scrubby grass along the sand, the bikers charge like a leather-clad army down the beach to the floundering whales. Sam splashes through the pink foam towards them.
‘It’s awful, Sam. I’ve never seen anything like it.’
‘I know. I’ve called the whale release group over in Portugal Cove. They’re sending a team to help. They’ll be here this afternoon. I put a call out to the Warriors in the meantime.’
‘Emmett’s out there in the motorboat with Florie. Everyone’s here. The fishermen have been hauling the whales out into the ocean all morning. We’ve managed to get about half of the whales back out there.’
Ace stamps through the water and claps Sam on his shoulder. ‘What next, b’y?’
‘Grab as many of their flukes as you can, and haul them out. Get one of the guys to help Becca.’
‘Right, b’y.’ Ace tips his hand to his forehead in a salute. ‘Consider it done.’ He turns and strides down the beach to the others. ‘Get your hands outta your trousers, b’ys, and grab yourself some tail. Show us what you’re made of.’
Sophie holds up her phone and records the scene, spotting Becca on the screen cradling the bull-like head of a whale in her lap further down the beach. ‘Why are they doing this?’
Sam surveys the writhing bodies of the exhausted whales. ‘Some say it’s radar affecting their homing abilities, some say it’s pollution, oil in the water … How would your hotel guests like waking up to see this out of their windows? Not quite what the consortium has in mind, is it?’ He runs his hand through his hair. ‘Sorry. Thanks for coming out.’
Sophie pockets her phone. ‘I’m not all bad.’
Sam nods. ‘Come on, Princess Grace. Let’s do this.’
***
Sophie stands on top of a rock by the beach and wipes her wet face with her hand. ‘We’re getting there, Sam. There’s only thirty-five still on the beach.’
Sam leaps onto the rock beside her, waving at Becca who is in the boat with Toby and Thor. ‘I saw you and Becca working with each other earlier.’
‘Yeah. The whales, you know. I don’t imagine she’s forgiven me.’ Sophie waves at the boat. ‘Toby’s been doing a great job. He’s been back and forth all day pulling the whales away from the beach.’
Sam holds up a hand to shield his eyes from the sun and squints at the boat. ‘He’s still a distraction for Becca if she wants to pass her exams.’
‘Sam, have you ever thought that maybe she’s only taking these exams to please you? Maybe that’s why she’s procrastinating. Maybe she doesn’t want to be a doctor. Maybe she wants to do something more creative. She does amazing work with textiles and she can embroider like a dream.’
‘Are you saying I don’t know my own daughter?’
‘No, of course not. But why not just talk to her? You keep blaming Toby, but maybe it’s not all his fault. Just communicate.’
Sam’s eyes cloud over. ‘Look who’s talking. You should have been honest about the hotel.’
Sophie bites her lip. ‘I know.’
‘Look, Sophie, I know we have to move with the times. There’s a lot of people out of work. The outports are dying. Kids moving out to the cities. But, you know, we’ve got something special here in this place. It’s harsh and it’s wild, and things like this …’ he waves towards the beach ‘… things like this happen sometimes. But it’s beautiful here. I’ve never been anywhere like it. I don’t want to see Tippy’s Tickle ruined by people who just want to exploit it for their own profit.’ Sam frowns. ‘I can’t support you. I’ll do everything I can to stop it.’
Sophie nods. ‘I guess that makes us enemies.’
‘Not enemies. Adversaries, maybe.’ Sam wipes a trail of salt water from his face with the back of his hand. ‘You need to figure out want you want, Sophie.’
‘I’m not the only one, Sam.’ She shivers as a gust of wind whips across the shore. ‘Do you remember when you dropped me off at the airport last time?’
‘I remember.’
‘I wanted … I wanted you to say something, do something, to make me think we might have a chance together. I wanted it more than anything.’
Sam stares at Sophie. ‘You could have fooled me. I thought you couldn’t wait to see the back of me.’
Sophie looks out at the boats bobbing in the waves. Her heart judders. She’d been an idiot. They both had. Now, it was too late.
Something catches her eye out in the water. Dorsal fins. But they were pointing in the wrong direction, skimming through the sea towards the shore. Two, four, five, then more of the sleek grey bodies of the whales plough through the waves towards the beach.
‘They’re swimming back! Oh, my God. Sam, they’re swimming back!’
The whales thrust themselves onto the beach, one after the other, churning up the sand with their flippers and their flukes as they attempt to swim forwards in a waterless ocean.
***
That evening, later than planned, after the marine biologists of the whale release group have confirmed the deaths of one hundred and thirty-seven female pilot whales on the beach at Tippy’s Tickle, the villagers reconvene in Florie’s store. The mood is sombre, the vote unanimous.
***
‘Sam? There you are.’
Sam turns away from the view of the beach below Bufflehead Cottage. ‘Ellie?’
She joins him out on the deck of the cottage, sipping from a World’s Greatest Dad mug. ‘I made myself a cup of tea. I hope you don’t mind.’
Sam chuckles. ‘Not at all. Mi casa es tu casa.’
‘I came to see how Becca is doing. I know she’s been very upset about Sophie and this hotel.’
‘Yes. She’s not the only one.’ He takes a drink from the bottle of Blue Star beer he’s holding. He looks over at his mother-in-law. The breeze catches her fine white hair and blows it around her face. She brushes it out of her eyes with a thin hand. She’d lost weight. She seemed … smaller. When had that happened?
‘She’s gone off with Toby again.’
‘Florie said he was a great help out there today.’
Sam nods. ‘Yes, he was.’
‘She said Sophie was too. She said that Sophie was even working with Becca to pull the whales out into the water.’
‘Yeah. That’s true, too.’
‘Sam, it’s none of my business …’
He smiles. ‘But …’
‘You know, I remember when you arrived here with Becca thirteen years ago. It was a terrible time. Such a shock for all of us.’
‘Yes.’
‘I’d spent days over in the cemetery, talking to Winny. Telling her not to be afraid. Telling her you and Becca ould be fine.’