Devil's Rock - Chris Speyer [26]
Normally, Zaki would have hurried over to catch mooring lines and help the skipper make fast; it was the friendly thing to do, particularly when someone was bringing a boat alongside single-handed. But instead, Zaki slid off the wall and ducked behind a large green recycling bin. Peeping around the bin, he watched the boat close the last few metres to the harbour wall.
If she’d got the speed wrong, he thought, that long bowsprit would skewer the sailing trawler. But she hadn’t got it wrong – the boat slowed gently, and as the side kissed the harbour wall, the girl reached over and dropped a mooring rope round a bollard, let the line run out, then with a flick of her wrist tied off the other end. In another moment she was ashore securing her bow line. It was so expertly done that Zaki felt like applauding.
Then she dropped and furled the sails before disappearing into the cabin.
* * *
‘Why are you hiding?’
Zaki spun round and found Anusha standing behind him.
‘You weren’t by the tourist information office, so I came looking for you.’
‘Sorry,’ said Zaki, not wanting to take his eyes off the boat for more than a second. ‘I wasn’t hiding from you.’
The girl was still below decks.
‘What are you doing, then? Who are you spying on?’
‘You see that boat there?’
Anusha nodded.
‘There’s a girl on it. And I think I know who she is. Well, I don’t really know who she is. That’s the thing, you see? And I want to know what she’s doing here.’
Anusha examined him quizzically, her head tipped slightly to one side. ‘You’re not making that much sense.’
‘Sorry. It’s just – I don’t have time to explain it all.’
‘All what?’
Zaki could hear the note of irritation in her voice but he couldn’t think of a simple answer.
‘OK,’ she said, ‘if you don’t want to trust me.’ And she turned to leave.
‘Wait! Please . . . I need your help.’
Anusha waited, arms folded, while Zaki struggled to organise his thoughts.
‘On holiday . . . we were on my dad’s boat and I found a cave . . . with a skeleton in it . . .’
‘A what! A skeleton! Are you making this up?’
‘. . . and she’s got something to do with it, but I don’t know what.’
Anusha sucked her lip and said nothing. Zaki knew she was having trouble believing him. Then, a wild idea came into his head.
‘Listen. If she comes ashore, I want you to follow her.’
‘You’re kidding! Me? Why?’
‘I want to know where she goes.’
‘What about you?’
‘I can’t follow her, she might recognise me. Anyway, if she leaves the boat open, I’m going to take a look on board.’
‘Isn’t that against the law, or something?’
‘I need to know who she is.’
‘Well . . . why don’t you just ask her?’
‘You don’t understand.’
‘No – I don’t.’
‘The skeleton – maybe she did it – maybe she killed someone. She made me promise not to tell. She’s keeping it a secret.’
‘So, maybe she’s a murderer, and you want me to follow her?’
‘Yes,’ said Zaki, thinking, when put like that, it didn’t sound such a great idea. Also, he had just broken his promise to the girl who had saved his life.
‘All right,’ said Anusha, after a pause. ‘OK, I’ll follow her. But make sure you’re out of her boat before she gets back. Please?’
‘If she starts coming back suddenly, try to warn me.’
‘How?’ Anusha demanded.
‘I don’t know. Look! She’s coming ashore.’
The girl jumped ashore. She was barefooted and had an old canvas rucksack, the sort with leather straps that you might find in an army surplus store, slung over one shoulder. It looked empty. She took a moment to put her rucksack on properly and then strode off towards the road into town. Anusha allowed the girl to get to the corner of the waterside buildings and then hurried off after her.
Zaki waited until Anusha was out of sight, checked that nobody was watching