Beth hopped in to the passenger seat. “Are you sure it’s a great white?”
“They’re unmistakable,” Ryder said.
“What killed it?”
“We don’t know yet. The great white’s only enemy is humans. Maybe it was shot.”
It didn’t take long to get to Madaket Road, but once there, the narrow two-way road was packed bumper to bumper with cars. Ryder concentrated on driving, past the old pump, past the entrance to Sanford Farm and its walking paths, past the Eel Point turnoff leading to the 40th Pole Beach, past the dump, past the 1st Bridge off the Madaket Road where kids lay on the dock to catch crabs, past the sign for Madaket Marine.
Ryder groaned when he saw the line of cars U-turning and looking for parking spots. He found a place on a dirt road, parked, jumped out, and hurried toward the beach. Beth followed. At the far western tip of the island, this beach had the strongest waves and the worst undertow, but its long gleaming stretch of sand was unsurpassed in beauty. If you climbed the dune, you could see Madaket Harbor with its calmer waters and docks. The lure for most people was the brilliant sunsets, but swimming on the Atlantic side was also popular for everyone, especially strong swimmers.
And now a shark had washed up on the western shore, where families were swimming every day. This was a major event.
Beth saw photographers and journalists heading out to the site, among a crowd of people she recognized as conservationists and people she didn’t know but guessed from their apparel were tourists: a father with a small child riding on his shoulders, a group of giggling girls, the town’s local eccentric, covered with tattoos.
“Beth! Wait up!”
Beth looked over her shoulder. Alice Cameron, the head of the chamber of commerce, was striding toward her. Her salt and pepper hair, normally coiled into a neat bun on the top of her head, had come loose and flew around her face like loose strings.
“Isn’t this terrible?” Alice cried when she reached Beth.
“It is,” Beth agreed. “The poor shark—”
“The poor shark? Are you kidding me?” Alice’s voice rose several octaves. “Do you understand what this means for tourism? A shark on a Nantucket beach? People will stop coming, our hotels and B&Bs will be empty, the restaurants will have no customers, and think of all the shopkeepers! The island will become a ghost town!”
“Alice, I don’t think that will happen. I mean, the shark is dead. Maybe the currents brought it here from way out in the ocean.”
“Oh, thank heavens, you are brilliant, yes, that’s probably the reason it’s here.” Alice patted her chest to calm herself.
They finally reached the shore where the creature lay, at least fifteen feet long, showing its white underbelly. Its terrifying long mouth was open, exposing rows of triangular sharply serrated teeth.
Already a crowd had formed and Beth saw that the lifeguard and Ryder had drawn a circle in the sand around the shark and were standing sentry.
“Stand back!” Ryder yelled at the mass of people. “Scientists are on their way.”
“You don’t even live here!” a man shouted at Ryder.
The ring of watchers protested, pushing and shoving and cursing. They were an odd group, some dressed for swimming, some dressed for work, all of them enthralled to be so near this notorious creature.
Eddie Boyton, who owned an island outerwear shop, yelled, “This is OUR island, OUR property, and OUR shark!”
A little boy broke with the crowd and ran, zigzagging past the crowd, to touch the shark. The mother screamed as if the shark was attacking her son.
“Stand back!” the lifeguard yelled, deftly and gently scooping the boy up in his arms. The boy burst into tears.
The crowd shouted and waved their arms in the air.
“This could get ugly,” Alice said to Beth.
“Beth!” Ryder yelled. “Anyone who wants to help, come form a protective ring around the shark until Ocearch gets here.”
“What the hell is Ocearch?” called a woman.
“A collaboration of scientists studying the great whites,” the lifeguard told her.
“We don’t need to study them, we need to kill them!” another woman yelled.
Bill Blount, a town resident and working fisherman, strode down between the shark and the crowd. “Leave this poor creature alone! Don’t be so ignorant! Sharks are at the top of the food chain. If we didn’t have sharks eating the seals, human beings would have no fish to eat. Give this animal some respect!”
Prudence Starbuck, her shining white hair piled so high she seemed taller than her true six feet, stomped through the crowd. “I’ll help!”
This drew a number of people to stand guard around the shark. Beth was among them. She didn’t see Theo or Juliet or Lisa although she continued to scan the crowd.
Ryder put his hand to his ear. Not until then did Beth realize he was wearing a Bluetooth device. “Everyone! Listen! Ocearch is coming with a boat. They’ve got a lift to take the shark from the water onto the boat. We need to get the shark out in the water. Who can help?”
“I will!” a man growled.
“Me, too!”
At least a dozen men came forward, and it took all of them to lift and pull the shark into the water.
“Beth,” Ryder said, tossing her his car keys. “Take my car back to the house. I’m going with the shark.”
“Sure,” Beth answered. She was secretly pleased to have the chance to drive a Range Rover SUV.
The crowd gradually broke up, trudging back up the beach to the road and their cars. A kind of fatigue came over them all, a letdown from the high of the shark finding. A real great white shark. They had been this close to a great white shark.
twenty-six
It was a good morning. Mack and his crew were pulling into the driveway when Lisa left for the shop. And miracle of miracles, Theo was already up, dressed, and out the door to help Dave and Tom unload Sheetrock. Lisa wanted to talk with Mack about the night before, but now was not the time. The summer day was hot and humid, and the streets were already busy with summer people doing errands. The Bartlett’s Farm truck was parked on Main Street, and women were unloading baskets of just-picked tomatoes, strawberries, and lettuce. Men strolled past Sail on the way to buy a newspaper and a cup of coffee. They sat on the benches on Main Street, soaking in the sun and the pure clear sense of leisure, chatting with anyone passing by. For the summer, for the people from big cities, the small town was sweet with ordinary pleasures.
It was a quiet morning in Lisa’s shop. She caught up on paperwork, put out new jewelry in the display case, and tried not to check her phone every five minutes. She’d caught only a quick glimpse of Mack as she walked away from her house earlier. He winked at her. She smiled back.