Saving Rose

by Kate Genet

‘I'm right behind you. Ten minutes.’

  ‘Good enough,’ Claire said. ‘We’ll be waiting.’

  She dropped the handheld in her lap again and looked past Danny out at the estuary.

  ‘What?’ she asked, still eyeing the waves. It wasn’t too bad out there. The Tuatara would handle it with ease. Rose would be completely fine on the boat, snug in the shelter of its cabin.

  ‘You people,’ Danny said. ‘Don’t you ever get tired of being so smugly competent?’

  She turned her sea-green eyes on him. ‘I don’t know, Danny. Do you ever get tired of being an arsehole?’

  They stared at each other for a moment, then Danny laughed. ‘Well I think we’re making progress. No one can accuse us of hiding our feelings any longer.’

  There was another bridge ahead, but Claire wasn’t going to take any chances with this one. She’d seen too much damage on the way. Just a hundred meters down the road a big supermarket was having trouble staying upright. And she was seeing more and more water and mud bubbling up from the ground.

  The little green car bumped off the main road and she pulled into the nearest parking spot overlooking the water.

  ‘This where we’re being picked up?’ Danny asked.

  ‘Other side,’ Clare replied. ‘Across the bridge.’

  Danny stared out over the estuary. He shook his head. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I don’t think so, actually.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Nope,’ Danny said, speaking slowly as though thinking out loud. Then the words came faster. ‘No, that’s right. I'm not coming with you.’

  She stared at him in consternation.

  ‘Rose though,’ he said. ‘You can take Rose with you.’

  ‘She needs her father.’

  ‘And she’ll have her father; believe me I’ve no intention of abandoning my daughter.’

  ‘Then what the fuck?’ Claire couldn’t help herself.

  A slow smile dawned on Danny’s face, then made an effort to look pained. ‘I need to go see to my wife,’ he said. ‘Someone has to be with her, make sure she’s okay.’ A pause that managed to seem triumphant. ‘Or did you forget about her? I wouldn’t have thought so, since it was you who brought me the sad news.’

  He drew breath and turned his gaze to the view outside the car. ‘Besides, I’ll need to get my own car. Can’t be stuck in Lyttelton, under your feet all the time, relying on the kindness of your family. So I’ll see to Zoe, the house, pick up my car. Then I’ll come over.’

  Claire stared at him. She didn’t want him underfoot either but knew offering a place for him and Rose for the next few days was the right thing to do. The more she’d thought about it, the more she’d known that. She just didn’t trust him, and until she’d figured out exactly what was going on, she wanted him where she could keep an eye on him.

  But as long as she knew Rose was safe, then Danny himself wasn’t such an immediate concern.

  ‘But I can take Rose? The city’s no place for her right now.’ Claire waved her hand at the destruction around them.

  ‘Yeah, she can go with you,’ Danny said as though he was doing Claire a personal favour. ‘But I’ll be back for my daughter. Do not for a moment forget I'm her father.’

  That made Claire stare at him. She pressed her lips together, dislike for the man rising in her throat like bile.

  The VHF squawked, and she picked it up automatically. ‘Here,’ she said.

  ‘City’s covered in dust, it looks like it’s been bombed,’ Frank said, and even over the airwaves, she could hear the shock in his voice. ‘Coming in to pick you up now.’

  There wasn’t time to argue with Danny and she didn’t feel like communicating with him anyway. Claire opened the car door and got out, smelling water and dust and smoke. Somewhere, something was on fire. She shaded her eyes and looked back towards the city. It sat unsteady beneath a blanket of dust and smoke. For a moment her vision wavered, then she looked down and saw Rose still sleeping in the back seat. She closed her door and went around to the boot, tugging it open.

  ‘You want us to take your suitcase?’ she asked. ‘How are you going to get back to the city?’ She’d have to give him the keys to her mother’s car, she supposed, then discovered that she really didn’t want to.

  ‘I’ll find a way,’ he said. ‘Someone will give me a lift. I’ve a feeling everyone’s going to be neighbourly today, don’t you?’ Danny was looking back towards the city too and for a moment Claire forgot her suspicion of him and they were simply two people who had just seen a city fall down around them.

  It didn’t last.

  ‘What about your case?’ she prompted. The Tuatara would be drawing in any minute.

  ‘Just leave the boot open for a minute,’ Danny said. ‘I’ll grab my jacket from it, I think, and anything else I might need. I’ll get organised, then close the boot, and when you pick up Gracie’s car, you can bring my stuff along for the ride.’

  Claire nodded, not wanting to argue about it. She tugged out Rose’s little pink case and set it on the ground, bending back down to pull out the backpack Frank had said would be in there, then changed her mind. She didn’t need a go-bag when she was just getting straight on the boat. Probably better to leave that for when she came back to drive the car home.

  ‘Will you carry Rose across the bridge to the yacht club?’ She opened the back door and smiled at the sleepy face looking up at her. ‘Hi sweetie,’ she said.

  ‘Where’s Mummy?’ Rose said, swiping a knuckle across an eye.

  Claire looked over the roof of the beetle at Rose’s father. That was really a question for him.

  Danny came around, pushing Claire aside and reaching into the car for Rose. He drew her out into his arms and Claire, watching closely, saw the little girl stiffen for a moment, then relax.

  ‘Daddy,’ she said. ‘Where’s Mummy?’

  ‘Hush sweetheart,’ Danny said. ‘Mummy’s been hurt, so I'm going to go see if she’s all right.’

  ‘Hurt?’

  ‘In the big shaking we just had. Don’t worry, Pumpkin, I’ll explain it all later, okay? Right now though, you’re going to go with Auntie Claire and she’s going to take you on a boat to stay with Grandma and Grandad.’

  Big blue eyes looked at Danny in consternation.

  ‘You be a big, brave girl, okay?’ Danny said, giving her a kiss on the cheek before turning to Claire. ‘Boat’s there.’ He blinked and grinned at her. ‘Gotta say, glad I'm not coming. Boats are not my thing.’

  ‘We don’t like boats?’ Rose said.

  ‘I don’t like boats,’ Danny corrected her. ‘You are going to be a great little sailor for Grandad.’

  Rose started up a soft sobbing that broke Claire’s heart. She reached for the little girl. ‘Here,’ she said. ‘Let’s get this done, okay? No sense drawing things out.’

  Danny gave a brief nod and hitched Rose higher in his arms. Claire watched them for a moment. Rose was looking at her father, fat tears trickling down her cheeks. Fury rose up in a flood inside Claire, but she didn’t know what to do with it. This man had taken his child away from her dying mother – but then, what child should see that anyway? Questions got themselves tangled inside Claire’s mind and she decided the best thing would to be to put them all aside until she had a few quiet moments to unravel them.

  Danny hesitated in front of her before stepping out onto the bridge across the river head. She heard him mumble something but couldn’t make out the words. Rose gazed back over his shoulder at her, and the child’s expression made Claire wish she knew something, anything about children that would make it all better.

  The muttering from Danny continued all the way across the bridge, stopping only when they were back on solid land.

  Although, thought Claire, solid was now a very relative term.

  The rescue boat Tuatara, all ten meters of it, was sidling up against the launch ramp. Frank stood on deck waiting for them and Claire lifted a hand in acknowledgement. She caught up to Da
nny and walked beside him down the ramp to the boat.

  ‘Well this is fun,’ Danny said, half under his breath.

  ‘You don’t like the water?’ Claire said, unable to personally comprehend anyone not liking the wash and whisper of the sea.

  ‘Not so much,’ Danny replied. ‘Pretty pleased with the plan to get the car and drive over.’

  ‘You’ll have to take one of the overland passes, I would think,’ Claire said.

  He looked at her. ‘I would say so.’ His face was pale under the smattering of liver-coloured freckles that buried themselves in his beard. With a sniff, he turned and looked at the boat. ‘There will be a lifejacket on board for Rose?’

  ‘Yes. It’s mandatory for all boats to carry children’s vests.’

  ‘Mandatory, huh?’ The sarcasm barely hid his discomfort at the water lapping against his shoes. Rose was looking from him to the boat and back again.

  ‘Danny,’ Frank said from the boat. ‘Pass the wee one over then climb aboard.’

  ‘He’s not coming,’ Claire said. Her father stared down at Danny and she knew the question in his mind. ‘He’ll drive over later.’

  Danny turned to her and suddenly her arms were full of three-year-old.

  ‘Be good for Grandad and Grandma, okay Pumpkin? I’ll see you in a little while.’ He tickled her under the chin, then turned and strode away up the ramp. All three of them stared after him.

  ‘What was that about?’ Frank asked, leaning forward to take Rose from Claire’s arms.

  ‘Doesn’t like boats, apparently. Or the water they float in.’

  ‘Huh,’ was all Frank had to say to that before he had Rose safe in his grasp. ‘Hey Sweet Pea,’ he said. ‘Ready for an adventure?’

  Claire tossed the suitcase onto the boat and scrambled on board. She breathed a sigh of relief at the feel of the boat rocking gently underneath her feet.

  Rose had her head tucked down on Frank’s broad chest. ‘I don’t like today,’ she said.

  ‘Nope,’ Frank said. ‘But we’re going to go see Grandma now and she’s going to make us all feel much better. She’s going to give you a big cuddle and probably some cake. How’s that sound?’ He patted the wee girl and carried her into the cockpit, Claire following him.

  ‘Jim, this is my granddaughter Rose, and daughter Claire. They’re both real grateful you let us come pick them up. We owe you, don’t we, Claire?’

  She nodded. ‘That’s for sure. Add my personal thanks to that, Jim, and it’s good to meet you. I really did not want to dodge boulders on the way over the Port Hills.’

  ‘My pleasure,’ the man at the controls said. He turned his shaggy head and manoeuvred the boat back out into the channel, gradually increasing the speed and heading for the open sea.

  Frank sat down, picking up a waiting life vest and fitting it gently onto Rose, who perched quietly on his lap.

  ‘There,’ he said to her when he was done. ‘Safe and snug, huh Sweet Pea. You hungry?’

  The little girl shook her head, and Claire exchanged looks with her father.

  ‘Today is a bad day,’ was all Rose had to say and she leaned against her adopted grandfather and closed her eyes. One small hand inched its way closer to her mouth, until she was sucking her thumb. Claire wondered how long it had been since she’d done such a thing.

  ‘Poor mite,’ Frank said, leaning back in the seat, arms around the child. He looked at Claire in the chair opposite.

  ‘The news is all bad this time,’ he said, and she knew he was talking about the earthquake. She nodded. It had looked bad, the little she’d seen.

  ‘The number of fatalities is growing. I think it’s going to be pretty high.’ He sighed and looked down at Rose, her eyes bruised with shadows. ‘This one’s lucky she didn’t get hurt.’

  ‘Or worse,’ Claire whispered.

  ‘Bad?’

  She could only nod. ‘You get hold of Colin?’

  ‘Yeah.’ Franks voice was heavy with sorrow. ‘Like I said, he’s in town, so he’ll be with her by now.’ He shook his head. ‘Poor man’s going to be real cut up about this. I don’t think he ever got over the passing of Zoe’s mother.’

  ‘Zoe’s my mummy,’ Rose said, her thumb sliding out of her mouth.

  ‘She sure is, Sweet Pea,’ Frank said, giving her a squeeze.

  ‘She’s dead.’ Rose’s voice was a whisper of spray in the breeze.

  Claire looked at her father in surprise.

  ‘I seen dead,’ Rose went on. ‘Miss McGuire’s cat was dead. It had blood coming out of its mouth.’ Her eyes squeezed shut. ‘Mummy had blood coming out of her mouth too.’

  Claire’s hands clenched into helpless fists. Inside her chest her heart hurt. Actually, physically hurt. She could feel the pain as though someone had slid something sharp and cold into it.

  But at least she knew one thing for sure now.

  Rose had been there in the car.

  Which meant Danny really had lied.

  The only question was why?

  28

  No, Danny really didn’t like the water, or the boats that had no business whizzing around on top of it. Or drowning underneath it, which he always feared was far the more likely scenario.

  But Rose would be all right. Intellectually he knew the boat would get where it was going without incident, like planes do. Hell, it was a damned rescue boat.

  And if he didn’t have Rose with him, then he could move around and get done the things he needed to do without having to worry about her. As much as he loved the kid, right now was not the best time to have to think about lunch and juice bottles and whether or not she’d go down for a nap.

  He had more important things to do. And as much as he disliked Frank and Gracie, he knew they’d take good care of Rose. He’d drive over later in the day, when he had the photographs safely in hand.

  The boot of Gracie’s silly little green car was still open, and he leaned over it, not bothering to watch the boat leave.

  Nose wrinkling, he had to admit that Claire, the uppity lesbo bitch, had probably been right when she’d suggested a more portable bag for his clothes and things.

  For a moment he stood debating, feeling time ticking away on him. Not that he really had to hurry, since he’d just cleared his schedule, so to speak.

  He didn’t want to leave the photograph albums in the car. Sure, he’d be able to come up with a reason for bringing them, but he’d rather avoid any questions in the first place, and he didn’t trust Claire not to go snooping through his things.

  The questions she’d tried to trick him into answering! He laughed, unzipped his case and levered out the two albums. Even if he did have to come clean about his impulse lie, he had the best excuse – not wanting his daughter any more caught up in such a distressing situation. No one would be able to fault him on that one. Rose was probably going to say something about it anyway, but what did it matter? He hadn’t killed Zoe. Nope, mother nature had come along at just the right moment and done the dirty work for him. What did they call it in movies? Wet work, that was it.

  The term made him grin as he dug around in the boot of Gracie’s car. Snatching up the backpack he’d seen Claire hesitate over, he opened it and took a quick inventory of the contents, his grin widening into chortling laughter.

  This was convenient. Some sort of emergency ditch-and-run bag. Sailors, he thought on a smirk. They sure were a well-prepared lot.

  There was a bottle of water, some snack bars, a first aid kit, and other bits and pieces in the bag he didn’t give a shit about. Taking out the water he twisted off the cap and took several big swallows. It was important to stay hydrated.

  The albums went into the bag. So too did the laptop computer once he’d removed it from its carry case. Easier to cart everything in the back pack and he sure as shit wasn’t going to leave the computer in the car. It was passworded, of course, but he hadn’t got this far by taking risks. Not stupid ones anyway.

  The cameras made him paus
e. Two of them, they were pretty bulky.

  On the other hand, it didn’t feel right not to have at least one of them slung around his neck, so that was exactly what he did.

  Besides, maybe he could take some decent images on the way back through the city and sell them later for a few bucks. After all, he wouldn’t have Zoe’s paycheque coming in any longer. Not that government departments believed in paying well.

  He wondered if they still had life insurance. Zoe had taken care of all that stuff, but he thought they probably did. If he remembered right, it was for a pretty decent sum. A few hundred thou.

  Maybe he’d take Rose and head back over the ditch to Aussie again. It had been long enough, he reckoned.

  Unsnapping the lens cap, he focused the camera on the buckled road and took a few pictures. Lifted the camera to the billows of smoke from the supermarket and sought the best angle. The building was a disaster. They’d be pulling this one down by the end of the week.

  Which made him wonder what was going to happen to his house. Hole in the roof, cracks wandering up and down the walls. Everyone would understand if he decided he couldn’t bear to live there now that Zoe was gone. Even supposing it could be repaired.

  He nodded to himself, scanning the road through the eye of his camera. Maybe it was time to go home to Australia, for all that. Show Rose where her roots lay.

  It would get her away from the bloody Wilde’s as well.

  A plan worth considering.

  All he needed were his albums of photographs, and the insurance papers. Some photographs of the house to collect the home insurance. And a death certificate for his dearly departed wife.

  But the photographs of Rachel first.

  He just needed time to figure out where the bitch had put them.

  There were cars heading in both directions, all of them going as the same speed Claire had – snail pace. Jogging across the road, Danny stuck out his thumb and waved it at the oncoming vehicles.

  It took less than a minute to get a ride.

  29

  Claire walked at her father’s side. He was still carrying Rose and she didn’t object. The little girl knew Frank and Gracie far better than she did Claire, although for a moment that knowledge sliced into her like a piece of glass. She’d been so busy sailing she’d only been around for odd moments of the child’s life. It may not have seemed to matter much before, but now that Zoe was gone, it loomed in Claire’s mind, a giant shadow.