Ophelia Adrift

by Helen Goltz

  I smirked at them. “Yeah right. Have they tested this mythical legend?”

  “Yeah,” Peggy said, wide-eyed. “Two of Adam’s descendents have drowned at sea after midnight.”

  “Really?” I frowned trying to read from their faces if they were having me on. “This is too weird. You’re freaking me out.”

  “It’s just a myth,” Harry shrugged, “an old wives’ tale as Mum calls it.”

  “But it scares Adam enough that he won’t test it?” I asked.

  No-one answered.

  “I wonder if that’s why his parents move all the time? Not tempting fate maybe,” Peggy said.

  “What if he’s out after midnight and goes nowhere near the ocean?” I asked.

  Holly looked around. “Nearly everywhere around here is near the ocean. If you want my advice, just don’t agree to any midnight beach walks with him!”

  *****

  I couldn’t concentrate all afternoon in class, I had to see Adam. I hoped he was okay. Luckily Peggy and I had history for the last two classes and we could use the time for our projects since my concentration was shot. I hit the library to begin my shipwreck research for the history project. I went online, gathered all I could on the shipwreck history of the area, the shipwreck trail and some reference points where I could look at original news clippings.

  I felt his presence before I saw him; Chayse Johann dropped down into the seat next to me. He glowed with strength, like he stored the sun when surfing.

  “Ophelia,” he smiled.

  “Hi Chayse,” I looked around, he was alone. “No harem?”

  He grinned and had the good grace to look a bit embarrassed. “They’re my friends actually.”

  “Oh, sorry, my mistake,” I teased him. I studied his face. Adam did land a few blows—Chayse was bruised above his eye and his nose was swollen slightly. There was a cut on his left cheek.

  “What happened to you?” I asked, knowing full well.

  He reached up and touched the bruise above his eye. “Ah, nothing, just a friendly fight.”

  I nodded. “Does it hurt?”

  He shrugged. “A little. But he’s hurting more,” he smiled.

  “Poor guy.”

  Chayse realised he was losing out on the sympathy.

  “Oh don’t worry, he held his own. Got me a good one in the ribs,” he rubbed them. “Couldn’t breathe for a moment there.”

  I sat back and turned slightly to face him. He was gorgeous, I could see why Holly got tongue-tied around him. I bet he’d had a charmed life so far.

  “Can you tell me your shipwreck story, if you have time now?” I asked.

  “Now? Sure,” he leaned back and flashed a smile at me. “Once upon a time on a dark and stormy night ...”

  I laughed. “Can I have the real version, not the fairytale?”

  “Oh, right, the real version, okay,” he pulled his chair closer to mine. I hoped his girlfriend didn’t come by now, I would be on the death watch list. I leaned back away from him and he got the hint and backed off a bit.

  “The year was 1905 and my great, great, great grandfather, Pierre, that’s three greats right?” he asked.

  “Three greats, I’m paying attention,” I said. “Pierre, huh?”

  “Yes, Pierre,” he said with a French accent and rewarded me with his smile again and carried on. “He was on a ship called La Bella. It had been in New Zealand where it was loaded up with timber. It was coming into Warrnambool which is dangerous at the best of times, but in 1905 with less technology to guide you, it was notorious. The seas were really heavy and there was the usual mist, you’ve seen it?”

  “Thick as soup sometimes,” I agreed.

  “Imagine sailing blind in that?” Chayse shook his head. He was more interesting when he got over himself and was just real. “The captain got confused and the La Bella ran aground. It’s called La Bella Reef now, the area where it ran aground. I’ll show you some time if you like.”

  “Sure,” I said, keeping it short. I didn’t want to interrupt the story.

  “Anyway, the Warrnambool Harbour Master, his name was Captain Roe, seeing the La Bella was in distress, grabbed four lifesavers and they rowed out to help but they couldn’t get near her because the waves were too huge. The La Bella crew lashed themselves to the port rails waiting for the lifeboat and hoping they wouldn’t get washed out to sea.”

  Goosebumps raced up my arms. Chayse noticed and rubbed his hand over my arm, which just gave me more goose bumps.

  “Must have been so frightening,” I stuttered, trying to concentrate on his words and not his actions.

  “Especially knowing you couldn’t swim, not many of them could in those days,” he said. “It was pretty wild out there and my ancestor Pierre, and two of the other men were the first to go. They were washed overboard around midnight. Another two died from exposure not long after but they were strapped to the ship, so the ropes kept them in place until about two in the morning when they were washed away. When the lifeboat finally reached the La Bella they rescued three of the crew. A local fisherman rowed his dinghy out and saved a few others. Another of the two sailors drowned trying to get to the lifeboat. Seven died, five survived.”

  I nodded. I had read a bit already and knew the basics of the story. Chayse didn’t mention that the fisherman was Adam Ferrier’s ancestor and couldn’t swim or that he was incredibly brave to even go out in that wild ocean and risk being capsized himself.

  Chayse drew a deep breath. “Finally, the La Bella was hit by a huge wave and the ship crashed down on the reef and broke up. The captain was later found guilty of careless navigation and he was suspended for twelve months. Got off lightly I’d say.”

  “Wow,” I realised I had been holding my breath. “Is it weird to live near where the ship sunk, where Pierre drowned?”

  “It’s not weird ... but it’s kind of ...” he searched for words, “it’s sobering I guess. They say Pierre’s wife used to walk the beach until the end of her days. She’d talk aloud as though he was walking beside her. But I think it is sad that the town doesn’t acknowledge everyone who lost their lives at sea here. They’re going to be here forever more if you know what I mean?” He ran a hand over his mouth as though he was worried what he said was too poetic for his image.

  My heart swelled for Chayse; it was nice to see a side of him that wasn’t all about being flashy.

  He coughed and lowered his voice. “Sorry I get a bit carried away by this.”

  “It’s in your blood,” I said.

  “Our blood has been boiling for generations,” he almost hissed the words.

  “So do something about it,” I suggested. “Or am I overstepping the mark there?” I bit my lip waiting for an angry reaction. Instead his eyes narrowed as he looked at me.

  He nodded and rose. “Gotta’ go, Ophelia, catch you around.”

  “Thanks for sharing the ...” he was gone, “... story.”

  Chapter 9

  ADAM

  I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to avoid Ophelia but I didn’t want her to see me looking black and blue. I managed to leave before she was up in the morning, but when I got to the beach that afternoon for a surf, she was walking around the rock pools with Argo and Agnes. I was going to try and sneak off in the opposite direction, but Chayse and his mates were surfing up that end of the beach and neither of us needed another encounter just yet. I wished he’d surf in his own turf.

  Ophelia spotted me, and Argo and Agnes came bounding over. She looked so fragile—her hair was out, her jeans rolled up and she dug her hands into a large knitted jumper. Her eyes looked even lighter blue against the red of her jumper. I turned and waited for her.

  “Hey,” I said, looking at her briefly then out to the ocean. She didn’t speak so I looked back at her and she was biting her lower lip.

  “That looks bad,” she said.

  I shrugged and reached down to welcome Argo and Agnes.

  “Chayse, huh?” she said.
r />   “You heard?” I asked, “it was nothing.”

  She came closer; she smelt like powder, soft and sweet. She reached up to touch the cut and bruise above my right eye and I flinched—it was still throbbing with pain. I felt the warmth from the three fingers she placed on my skin.

  “You might need a few stitches,” she frowned, “that’s a decent cut.”

  “No, it’s fine thanks little sis,” I shrugged her off with a grin.

  “I am the woman of the house now, well Agnes and I are,” she teased, “and we’re to be obeyed in matters of first aid, women’s business and well, Mrs Ducks can keep the cooking,” she said. “No one should be inflicted with my beef stew.”

  “Feel free to practice your baking anytime you like,” I encouraged her. “I miss Mum’s cakes.” I felt hungry thinking about them.

  “Adam,” she searched my face again, “I can’t believe he did that to you.”

  My eye was black, I had cuts and scrapes on my left cheek and chin, and a deep cut above my right eye. Chayse had got a few blows in before I even got started.

  “It’s nothing, really,” I assured her and stepped back. “He didn’t get away lightly either, but I’m sure he told you that,” I didn’t mean to sound annoyed but I can imagine Chayse chatting her up at school and making himself out to be the victim to get her sympathy.

  She smirked. “Where are you going in to surf? I’ll walk that way.”

  “Okay,” I picked up my board and started down the beach in the direction I wanted to have a paddle with Lia by my side. The dogs ran around us.

  “You’re both idiots,” she said.

  I laughed and dug the hand that wasn’t holding the board into the warmth of my jumper pocket. “Yeah, well good thing I wasn’t hanging out for any sympathy. Ever thought about being a nurse when you finish school? You’d be good at it,” I teased her.

  Ophelia flashed me a smile. “I’m not big on sympathy.”

  “I noticed—you don’t give it and don’t take it well.” I remember how she brushed off my condolences when I tried to offer it. Still, I shouldn’t have said that, she shut down. I cleared my throat and tried again. “It was his fault.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure he started it,” she said.

  I nodded. “He did.”

  “Or was it started like a century ago?” she asked. She pretended to chase Argo as he ran up to her.

  “Well you know all about it,” I said. “No need for me to fill you in.” I did it again—I didn’t mean to shut her down when she seemed genuinely concerned.

  “You’re very touchy about it,” she said.

  She was so direct I wasn’t used to it. “Sorry,” I muttered because I didn’t know what to say.

  We walked for a while enjoying the embracing cold air, talking about the beauty of the beach and her first few days at the new school. I knew people in her class; I was glad she was hanging with Holly and Peggy, they were nice. Harry was okay too.

  “I’m writing a paper for school, for history,” she said. “It would be really good if you would tell me the story of the La Bella from your family’s perspective. Will you?” she asked, stopping beside me as I put the board down and stripped off my jumper. She clapped to get the dogs’ attention.

  I whistled for them and they came racing back at us, well as fast as two Great Danes could move with their big awkward limbs.

  “I’d be happy to. One night over dinner maybe ... I mean dinner at home.”

  “Yeah I get it,” she looked up at me with the hint of a smile. “Don’t panic Adam, I’m not on the hunt for a boyfriend and we’re family now, remember?”

  Direct again. “I didn’t mean to imply you were, sorry.” There it was, sorry again. I was clueless talking to her.

  “Don’t you have a girlfriend?” she asked me. “Someone called Vanessa?”

  I snapped to look at her with surprise. “Who told you that?”

  “I can’t remember.”

  “No, we broke up.”

  “Oh, sorry.” It was her turn.

  “Coming in?” I asked her.

  She shivered. “Ten wetsuits wouldn’t get me in the water in this cool weather.”

  I grinned. “Yeah, well I’m tough, I’ll be fine.”

  She shook her head and I laughed as I tied the leg rope around my ankle, hoisted my board and headed off. As I hit the water, which was bloody cold, I turned back to see Ophelia sitting on the beach near my towel, the dogs standing guard on either side of her. It was nice to have her there, to have a sort of pseudo family.

  OPHELIA

  I watched Adam and the three other surfers around him. The waves were good and he was pretty good at it. I rose to go back and take Argo and Agnes home for dinner. The sun was almost dipping below the horizon now and would disappear any minute. The ocean was red.

  I thought I heard someone whisper my name and I turned, but there was no-one there. That had happened to me a few times, okay, a lot of times in the last week. I wondered if it was Mum or Dad telling me they were with me. It made me shiver even though my jumper was warm enough.

  Before Argo, Agnes and I had got halfway home, Adam raced up beside me. He had his towel around his shoulders and board under his arm.

  “The temperature drops really quickly once the sun sets,” he said.

  “You’re good on the board.”

  “Thanks, I love it.”

  I looked towards our house on the rise. “More lights are on, Uncle Seb must be home.”

  We walked up towards the path on the beach that led to the house.

  “So, did you have a boyfriend in Brisbane?” Adam asked, reversing my former query.

  I shook my head. “No.”

  We got to the path to cross the road, checked for traffic even though it was at the end of a cul de sac and rarely attracted anyone, crossed the road and began the ascent up the driveway, Agnes and Argo rushing up to greet Uncle Seb.

  “I’ve learned a few tricks from being a new kid at school multiple times,” Adam said. “Want to hear them?”

  “Yeah, oh wise one, sock them to me,” I invited him.

  “You’ll thank me,” he teased. “Number one: you shouldn’t agree to go out with anyone until you have perspective. Everyone is very nice and likeable when you are new and everyone wants to go out with the new person, but you don’t know who they are—whether they are the class idiot or not—and how you feel about anything yet.”

  “You nailed it,” I agreed. “I feel like everyone is watching me and several of the guys have already sort of shown interest, but I don’t need that right now and I don’t want to make decisions until I feel grounded.”

  “Good move. To be continued ...” Adam said, and he moved away to the external shower at the side of the house to get the sand off. I opened the front door and Argo, Agnes and I bundled in.

  I wondered did he say that to make sure I didn’t develop a crush on him. If so, he was either a big head or still in love with Vanessa, whoever she may be.

  JACK

  I waited for her that night, I waited until five in the morning, just before the sun rose, but she didn’t come to the window or join me on the rocks. I’m losing her.

  OPHELIA

  I had the strangest dream—a dream within a dream to quote Edgar Allan Poe, my English teacher would be pleased. I woke up but I was still dreaming. So weird. I dreamt I had always been in this house but I was in the wrong room, and I couldn’t find the right room. Even when I woke up, or thought I had woken up, I couldn’t work out where I was and I was still searching for my room. I woke up for real some time after that and realised what was going on. I don’t know what it means.

  The house howled last night; it wasn’t that windy, but I later found out why. Uncle Seb went to bed early; he said he had an early start, but he was quiet and a little flat. The night started normally enough—Mrs Duck had left us a salmon mornay and it was superb. I filled Uncle Seb in on my day and he asked Adam about the injuries he was sporting
. Uncle Seb filled us in on his day fighting for funds. Both brutal.

  I didn’t tell Uncle Seb or Adam about Jack—I don’t know why I didn’t tell them, they might have known him, but I needed to see Jack again and just wanted to keep him to myself for a while. It had been on my mind all day. There was something about Jack ... something. We sat for a long time not saying anything but his presence was so strong beside me that I missed him when I left him. I’ve never felt that before.

  Anyway, I’m going way off track. After dinner, Argo and Agnes settled onto the rug, Uncle Seb read for a while in the lounge room and I sat opposite him and did my homework. Adam wearing his earphones, sat with his laptop at the kitchen table. I could have gone upstairs, but it was kind of cosy and comfortable downstairs. Regardless, the night dragged on and on ... I just wanted it to be late enough so I could sneak out and see if Jack was there. What if he wasn’t there? What if I never saw him again? So what, I told myself a few times. I don’t even know him, but I want to know him.

  At nine p.m. Uncle Seb rose, kissed the top of my head, then the top of Argo and Agnes’s heads, waved goodnight to Adam and turned in. I watched him walk down the hallway, he looked weary. Adam logged out fifteen minutes later and followed suit. I was alone. I went to the window and glanced out—the beach and rocks were deserted.

  I returned to the couch, packed away my school gear and put the television on low. I watched a re-run of Torchwood just to stop thinking for a while. I nodded off a few times; I’d had so little sleep the night before and was on the rocks with Jack from three o’clock to sunrise, that it was catching up with me.

  A loud commercial woke me and I got up and made a hot chocolate. I didn’t want to go to sleep too early and risk not seeing Jack. It was then that I discovered what made Uncle Seb a bit melancholy. I was looking through the drawers for a coaster for the table and I found a drawer full of paperwork—insurance papers, how to use the dishwasher manual and a memorial program—I recognised it right away, I had just done one for my parents. It was Meg, his wife’s funeral.