Ocean's Cage

by Carlton, Demelza

  The splash of William's paddle sent us slicing through the waves at surprising speed. Before I knew it, I could no longer hear the noises of the port over the lap of the waves against the kolak's hull.

  When we reached the point, the wind hit me like a wall of water, plastering my shirt to my chest and whipping my hair behind me. William's chuckle made me glance behind me.

  "You look like one of those figureheads on the wooden sailing ships of old," he explained. "Or a mermaid."

  My smile fixed to my face, I nodded and turned to face the wind again before he could see my stricken expression. Surely William didn't believe in mermaids, or know I was one. Mother would kill him if he did. Or I'd have to...

  "Just around there is where we saw it," William shouted, pointing over my shoulder at the reefs to the west.

  I nodded again. "We should use the current to take us closer. Angle the boat so it can run before the wind." A few minutes without changing direction told me that William wasn't much of a ship's navigator, so I dug out a second paddle and made the course correction myself.

  "This is where we saw it," he shouted suddenly.

  Yes, it was. This was precisely where I'd encountered the whale shark on my last swim. It couldn't be a coincidence – he was looking for me.

  I dropped my paddle in the bottom of the boat and surveyed the waves. Its gills would allow it to stay beneath the surface indefinitely, but a hungry shark wouldn't stray far if it hoped to find me. I raised my voice to the edge of my hearing – nowhere near audible to humans – and summoned it with a song.

  A familiar spotted back surfaced perhaps twenty feet away, just as large as I remembered. William's excited shout confirmed it. "That's the monster that almost ate a boat!"

  "It's harmless. Nothing but a whale shark," I said. "He's just big."

  "I tell you, I saw him about to eat a man!" William insisted.

  Sighing, I knew there was only one way to demonstrate that the whale shark wasn't a man-eater. Or a woman-eater, either. I didn't see any dolphins nearby, so I figured I could risk it if I was quick. I gripped the gunwale and slid smoothly over the side into the water.

  "NO!"

  I lifted a dripping hand into the air. "Stay in the boat and watch, William." I turned my head so William wouldn't see my lips move and sang softly to the shark. It turned and altered its course to head for me and I let go of the boat, sculling with my hands to place myself in the middle of the shark's path. It opened its mouth, emitting a mournful sound that told me how hungry it was, and swam straight for me.

  Twenty-Seven

  "NO!"

  A heavy weight landed on top of me, forcing me under the water so that I got an even clearer view of the whale shark's mouth full of vestigial teeth. Strong arms dragged me away as his legs kicked wildly. I wasn't sure if William was trying to kick the shark or simply swim out of its path, but his foot caught the shark a glancing blow across its snout, making it shy away.

  Uncertainly, the shark cried again. I responded with the notes of a song of dismissal, telling it to swim to the distant mainland in search of food.

  My head broke the surface and I realised that William had capsized our boat in his crazed leap to my aid. Half full of water, it listed heavily, as one outrigger stuck high out of the water. An audible snap of one of the connecting struts was all the warning we got before it crashed down on top of us, sending William and I back under the surface.

  All I caught was a glancing blow to my arm, but William didn't move and I could see a dark trickle of blood clouding the water. Shades of Giuseppe. No. I wouldn't lose William to tiger sharks, who were undoubtedly already summoned by the blood in the water. No matter what the price. Throwing caution to the current, I raised my voice to a volume more suited to my summons, calling every dolphin within earshot. It was no request – it was a firm command that no creature in the ocean would dare disobey, even if they could.

  While I waited, I dragged William to the surface, buoying him up with my own body so he could breathe freely. His eyes were closed, but he coughed and spluttered before drawing a deep lungful of air. He wasn't conscious, but he was alive, and to keep him that way I'd need the assistance of those damn dolphins. I'd eschewed a human escort, but a cetacean one was a more than able defence against sharks of the bloodthirsty kind. I dropped my face into the water, shrieking a warning to any shark in the vicinity, but the tang of blood carried further than my voice and I was already out of breath from swimming for two of us as our wet clothing threatened to drag us under again. And with my sturdy pants on, breaking out my tail would be painful as I ripped through them. So I struggled on, letting the current carry us as I waited angrily for assistance.

  A cacophony of squeaks heralded their arrival, as excited dolphins spun and splashed around us in an ostentatious display. I spat out my second mouthful of water before I snapped, "Cease playing. Carry this human safely to shore and do not let him drop below the surface or let sharks approach him from any side."

  Subdued squeaks of assent followed as the clever creatures fashioned a sort of floating sedan chair with their bodies for William, easing him from my arms and into their conveyance. I followed behind, not even bothering to break out my gills as I stayed on the surface.

  "He is the sire of the child you carry," the matriarch dolphin said as she swam beside me.

  I glanced at her. "Yes. And precious to me, so anyone who harms him will – "

  "Elder Sephira is near. She searches for you and will have heard your call."

  I stared at the dolphin. If Mother was nearby and knew about my baby, all my efforts had been for nothing. My cage had busted wide open and my catty mother could enter at will.

  I watched the dolphins carry William through the waves to the shore, then leave him on the sand as they helped each other back into the water. He'd be safe for the moment, but I'd need to take him higher up the sand so the tide wouldn't reach him. If my mother knew of him, and wanted him dead, it wouldn't be enough.

  I needed to silence the gossip before it started – and for that I needed the dolphin matriarch's help. I scrutinised the dolphin at my side. She had the slight somnolence I recognised from other creatures I'd controlled with a song. Did that mean she was more under my control than my mother's? There was only one way to find out.

  "I do not wish her to know about this human. There will be no gossip about him," I commanded.

  "As you wish, Sirena. She does not care for humans. Just you and the child you carry." The dolphin swam serenely on.

  My heart froze. Had I sacrificed my freedom and my daughter's for William's life? If I had, it was a fitting price to pay for the life of the man I loved.

  I splashed ashore beside him, then dragged him up the beach along a track that looked like it had been made by a sea turtle. Wishing I had the energy to worry about the future, I slumped to the sand beside him. Huddled up to his wet body, I sank into sleep.

  Twenty-Eight

  Something pinched my toe, as if trying to determine what it was. I let out a string of swearing that sent the crab scuttling back. No, not just one – they all retreated to a form a rough circle around us, leaving two feet of bare sand between my body and them.

  "What did you say, lass?" William opened bleary eyes and stared at me.

  "Probably nothing polite," I responded with a rueful smile. I touched his head, where a gash had oozed enough blood to make his hair matted on one side. "Are you all right?"

  "It hurts, but I'll be fine. How'd we get here?" He surveyed the empty...no, almost empty beach. While we'd slept, a half-dozen green turtles had joined us, varying in size from a foot across to a couple of three-foot creatures who were older than my mother.

  I didn't think he'd believe me if I told him the truth. "I swam us here." I managed to smile. "Dragging you up the beach was even harder, but I wasn't sure how high the tide would get."

  William chuckled. "You mean to say you saved my life again? I swore I'd protect you, yet here you are, my
courageous little heroine of a wife. I should show you just how grateful I am..." The glint in his eye was unmistakeable, sparking my desire, too.

  "I only got us to shore. I'm not sure how far back the cove and the Settlement are from here, because I don't know which beach this is," I admitted.

  William eyed the cliffs above us. "West White Beach, to the west of Margaret and Rhoda Beaches. One of the most inaccessible spots on the island without a boat, but here we are. And no boat." Now his smile looked forced. "It's too far to swim, lass. But everyone in the cove saw us leave. They'll send a boat out after us or maybe even the cargo ship, if they don't find us right away. All we have to do is wait, and I have a few ideas for what we could do while we wait."

  I surrendered to his kisses, happy to help him out of his shirt to see if he had any other injuries I didn't know about. He slipped a hand into my pants, eliciting a moan from my lips before I tried to take the pants off entirely.

  A deep, bass throbbing began in the distance and William's skilful fingers deserted me. I started to protest, but William laid a salty finger across my lips. "We're saved," he said softly.

  We lay on the sand, scanning the horizon as the cargo ship steamed into view from the west. It must have circled the whole island. It proceeded slowly, as close to shore as its deep draught would allow, and I could see men at the railing, scanning the shore. Searching for us.

  William rose, grabbed his shirt and started waving it above his head like a flag, shouting at the top of his lungs. I clambered to my feet more slowly, wondering whether I should do the same or fasten the buttons of my shirt, which had mysteriously come undone.

  The cargo ship cruised closer and dropped anchor just offshore, signalling that they'd seen us as they lowered a launch. Four men manned it, rowing far faster than William and I had in our kolak. As I watched their approach, I caught a glimpse of something shimmering between the waves breaking against the ship's hull. For a moment, I thought it was the morning sun reflecting off the water, but this was in the ship's shadow. I looked harder and glimpsed her again – a tail fluke this time. Definitely deep blue, but with a gold sheen that I knew all too well. Mother lurked offshore, ready to snatch me up the moment I got close enough.

  I straightened so I stood at my full height, facing the threat head-on. If she wanted me, she'd have to take me against my will and in front of a shipload of human witnesses...and I wouldn't lift a fin to help her.

  I was so intent on Mother that I barely noticed the launch had reached the shallows. The men aboard beckoned to us. William scooped me up in his arms and carried me to the boat, for all the world as if he'd saved me and not the other way around. I didn't mind – this might be the last time I felt his warm embrace and I wanted to remember it. If these were our last moments together, his life was worth the sacrifice. Worth everything.

  The lighter clanged against the ship, jolting me out of my morbid thoughts as the cargo ship's crew winched us aboard. After what seemed like an eternity banging up the side, the lighter swung around and landed on the deck with one final, jarring bump. William lifted me out, his feet thumping onto the solid cargo ship's deck. I didn't take my eyes off Mother for a moment, expecting her to try and sink the ship. As I watched her inaction, I realised that I was mistaken. I could sink this ship, driving those aboard to insanity and violence with a song, but her voice lacked the power to do so. The one time we'd both sought to control Tony, I had won. She could control a human as well as any siren...but only if I didn't fight her. And I'd fight for William with my last breath.

  "Don't cry, lass. We're safe now," he said, and I realised that my tears had spilled down my cheeks, blurring my vision.

  The ship weighed anchor and I lost sight of Mother in our wake as we steamed back to the cove. Manoeuvring the ship into its old mooring against the pier took considerable time and more than once I caught my fingers drumming against the railing in impatience. Every moment spent docking was time Mother would swim to catch up. And she wouldn't let me slip through her fingers again.

  When William helped me off the gangplank, I risked a glance at the water. Mother's eyes met mine from the shadows under the pier. A long moment passed before she bowed her head and sank beneath the surface.

  "No more fishing for you, lass. No more boats for me, either," William said, setting me down on the shore.

  "No. I don't think I'll be spending much time on the ocean at all, at least until after the birth." I patted my belly, feeling the tiny flutter as the child inside reminded me of her presence.

  "We're safe now."

  Safe. Perhaps.

  A dark blue tail broke the surface at the entrance to the cove.

  But for how long?

  Author's Note

  William and Maria's tale continues in Ocean's Birth.

  If you'd like to be the first to know when I release a new book, you can sign up to receive emails about my new releases HERE.

  And if you'd like another taste of Maria's tale...read on for a bonus chapter from Ocean's Birth, the next book in the Turbulence and Triumph series.

  One

  "Lass, I love you dearly, but I've scarcely slept in a fortnight, we've made love so late into the night. I know you rest during the day, but I can't sleep at work. What would the mine crews say? They'll be calling me Sleepy McGregor!"

  I don't deny I was disappointed to have William's magnificent body lying beside instead of inside mine, but he told the truth: we'd made love more times than I could count since our stranding on West White Beach. It was as if we both knew our time together was constrained by the growth of the child inside me, for after her birth we'd be forever changed. We'd be a family.

  Sighing, I snuggled against him and sank into sleep. No night-time swims for me any more – Mother patrolled the cove and the dolphins were everywhere, sharing gossip until it flowed faster than water. If I dipped a toe beneath the ocean's surface, she would hear of it. And William's life would be in danger.

  It felt like I'd barely closed my eyes when William slipped out of bed, promising to see me at breakfast. Pregnancy made me more somnolent than ever – I nodded and went straight back to sleep, only to be woken by a kiss from William when the sun was high in the sky.

  "You missed breakfast, lass, but if you hurry, you can be dressed in time to join me for lunch."

  I scrambled out of bed and into suitable afternoon clothes, barely pausing to splash some water on my face before I reached for a comb to tame my sleep-tangled locks.

  I'd managed to deal with half of it when I heard Sarah's quiet steps approaching. "How are you feeling this morning?" she asked.

  I waited until she appeared in the doorway before I replied, "Fine. A little tired, is all." My stomach gurgled and my daughter kicked it from inside my womb. I wish I could see her angry face, for I was sure she would be. All the movement distracted me and I realised, "There's no morning sickness today!"

  Sarah smiled. "It's about time it went away. You have the glow of motherhood about you now instead of the green tinge of illness."

  Was my insatiable lust for William part of my pregnancy, or just my natural response to William's evident ardour for my increasingly rounded form? Not that my breasts had been small before, but now...none of my brassieres fit properly and I'd had to send to Singapore for more underthings. Luckily, Anne and Jackson had sailed with the Islander at the beginning of last week, and we expected their return any day now.

  Sarah's impatience won and she seized the comb from my fingers, dragging it through my hair as if trying to carve my scalp with the teeth. Not like handing my comb to William, where every stroke was a caress. Still, five minutes later, she'd pinned my hair up for me and we headed for the dining room where William waited.

  I tucked into my lunch as if I were eating for two and I guess I was – two people as well as two meals, to make up for the breakfast I'd missed – letting William and Sarah talk. He spoke of the Islander docking while I slept, the huge fish the coolies had caught fishin
g last night, as the monster shark had mysteriously disappeared. He moved restlessly in his seat, his eyes darting from his food to me and back to his food, even when Sarah spoke. I wondered what news he'd received from the Islander that he couldn't share with Sarah and I. I didn't think it was bad news, as he seemed on the brink of blurting something out for most of the meal, yet when Amah took the empty plates from the table, his eagerness only increased, so he hadn't spilled his news yet.

  Perhaps it was someone who'd arrived on the Islander, I guessed. Another of his relatives, or a dear friend. Anne and her husband were undoubtedly aboard, but their return home was hardly news.

  I caught the faint chugging of an engine approaching – it sounded like William's motorcycle, but as he was here, the sound evidently heralded the arrival of Jackson, the acting island manager, on his ageing Triumph.

  William threw his napkin on the table and rose, grinning widely. Was it Jackson's return he'd so eagerly awaited? Surely not.

  "Sounds like the Jacksons are home. Care to come greet them, lass?" William held out his hand and curiously, I took it, letting him pull me outside. He left me in the shade of the veranda, trotting down the steps to meet Jackson as he pulled up in our garden.

  Behind me, Sarah sidled out of the door, no less curious than I was. After all, she knew her brother and his excitement must have been just as obvious to her. "What is it?" she asked softly.

  I shrugged. "Mr Jackson's returned, and it looks like he has a new motorcycle. This one's not rusted at all." More than not rusted – this one was black and shiny and completely unlike William's or Jackson's. Yet as I peered at the blue logo on the fuel tank, barely a shade lighter than my tail, I realised that this was also a Triumph...but a much newer model.

  William stood beside the Triumph as Jackson dismounted, spreading his arms wide. "What do you think, lass?"