by Lenka Dusek
It was just after midnight. Teun and Marinka had been in their beds for hours. Teun was sleeping in the small lounge; Marinka in the tiny bedroom next to the lounge. Marinka's bedroom was so tiny there was only enough space for a single bed and a chair, and it was so cramped she had to turn sideways to get in and out of bed.
She was wide awake tonight. For some reason she was restless and couldn't get off to sleep. She could hear the heavy breathing of her father who was sleeping just down the hallway, and the waves breaking outside in the distance. She wondered if Teun was having the same problem.
There was only one way to find out. She slipped out from underneath the blankets. It was cold in the house so she grabbed the jersey that she'd thrown on the floor earlier in the evening and pulled it over her head. Then she stood up, quietly so as not to wake her parents, and snuck around the corner of the doorway into the kitchen. She grabbed a glass off the bench so that if one of her parents came around the corner she could always say she was getting a glass of water.
She tiptoed up to the sofa where Teun was lying. He didn’t stir. His chest was moving up and down with a slow, steady rhythm. As far as Marinka could tell he was out to the world, but it was hard to be sure because there was only a dim light coming from the hallway and it wasn't much to see by. The contours of his face were hidden by the dark shadow it threw.
Carefully, gently, she tapped him on the shoulder.
'You awake?' she asked.
Teun's eyes shot open and his whole body jumped. Obviously he hadn’t been. After blinking away the shock of being disturbed from a deep slumber he looked up at his friend.
'Yes actually,' he grumbled. ‘I was.’
Marinka pulled an apologetic face. 'Sorry,' she said.
Of course she wasn't sorry at all. Now she had some company.
''What is it?' asked Teun.
Marinka shrugged. 'Can't sleep.'
'Terrific,' grumbled Teun through a breathy yawn. 'Well, I think I know why that is.'
'Oh?' said Marinka with a curious expression. 'Why? Something I shouldn't have eaten?'
Teun blinked his eyes hard... he was still struggling to wake up. 'No. Your Grandpa’s story.'
Marinka gave him a bewildered look. 'What?'
'That story about those people who drowned.' Teun sounded quite matter-of-fact. 'Might not be true but… yeah… well… still enough to give you nightmares. I bet he scared you half to death with that one.'
'He did not!'
Teun shrugged.
'Did not!' said Marinka again.
Teun sniffed. 'And yet, for some reason you can't sleep. Coincidence?'
'I wasn’t thinking about that story at all,' protested Marinka. 'Got nothing to do with it.'
'You wouldn't admit it if you were.'
'Yes I would.'
'No you wouldn't,' countered Teun. He sat up on his elbow. 'You were probably lying in bed and couldn't get the pictures out of your head. Scared out of your wits no doubt. Look, don't be embarrassed... happens to the best of us.'
Marinka crouched down close to him. 'For you, maybe. Not me. You were the one who got sucked into it. Remember? You were the one thought it was all real. Not me. I didn't believe a word.'
Teun brushed that off. 'Yet you're the one who can't sleep. Interesting that.'
Marinka curled her lip up in exasperation. She thought she could see a twinkle in Teun’s eye and suspected he was teasing, but his words cut through her nevertheless. She wasn't thinking about those shipwrecked people at all and was upset that he didn't believe her. It made her look like a weakling.
A thought suddenly struck her. There was one way to prove her point.
'Okay,' she said firmly. 'Let's see who the real chicken is. Let's go down to the bay. Right now.'
Teun sat up a little straighter. Now he was wide awake.
'Are you crazy?' he said, pulling the top of his sleeping bag over his shoulders. ‘It’s freezing out there.'
'We can dress warmly,' countered Marinka. ‘We don’t have to go in our jammies.’
'What about your parents? They'll wake up.'
'We can go through the lounge window. They won't hear a thing.'
'What if they wake up anyway and find we're not here?'
'Fat chance. But just to be on the safe side we can make some dummies out of cushions. They won't be able to tell.'
Teun shook his head. 'No, no, that's a dumb idea. Honestly, that's a dumb idea.'
Marinka flashed him a smile. 'Okay, if that's the way you feel. But, ah, in that case let's never forget who backed down here then, eh? Mr Chicken Pants.'
Teun grumbled and pulled the sleeping bag off his shoulders. He wasn't going to take that. Nobody called him Mr Chicken Pants.
'Okay, fine,' he said. 'Let's do it.'
He reached out for the clothes that were lying on the floor beside the sofa. He picked them up one by one with brisk, self-assured movements, just to emphasise the point that he feared nothing. However, he wasn't feeling nearly as brave as he was making out to be. Deep down he was secretly hoping that Marinka was bluffing and that once she saw he meant to go through with it she would give up the pretence.
In fact he was right. She was bluffing.
However, the moment Marinka saw her friend getting mobile she felt that she couldn't back down either. She was a tomboy with a competitive streak and couldn't let him get one over her. She'd never live down the humiliation. She'd never forgive herself.
'That's more like it,' she said. Her smile was still there but it was beginning to waver a little. 'I suppose you'll be wanting to take a flashlight then?'
'Ha ha,' said Teun dryly. 'Yes, I would actually... but not to chase off ghosts. Its pitch black out there.'
'Oh, yes, yes… of course,' said Marinka dryly. 'That's a good reason to take a light. A very good reason.'
Teun heard the obvious sarcasm in her voice and let a soft disapproving snort escape through his nostrils. He began unzipping his sleeping bag, then waved his hand at Marinka to indicate that he needed to get changed so she should leave the room.
A few minutes later they were ready to go. Marinka had dressed herself warmly in jeans, a thick coat, a pair of leather boots, and a pink woollen beany that came down over her ears. Teun had pulled on jeans, a thick black overcoat that came down past his knees, and a pair of soft leather tramping shoes. Both had a torch. Seven's one was a powerful flash lamp that could shine underwater, and Marinka's was a lightweight dyno torch that could be operated by battery or by cranking a plastic trigger handle.
'Let's go,' whispered Marinka.
They both slipped out the window as quietly as they could.
Outside it was as black as a night could get. The foggy skies had blocked all the heavenly bodies so that their divine lights couldn't shine down upon Earth. And it was icy cold. The children felt the chill penetrating their bodies as they breathed deep lungfuls of air and exhaled clouds of mist that swirled in front of their faces. The torches were turned on.
'Cold,' said Teun.
'Freezing,' agreed Marinka.
'Are you sure you want to go through with this?' asked Teun.
Marinka flashed the beam of her torch in her friend's face. 'Your call. If you don't want to go on then we can just go back in.'
She saw uncertainty flickering in Teun’s eyes and got the distinct feeling that she was about to win this little battle of wits. She put a friendly hand on his shoulder and tried make it a little easier for him. 'Don't worry... I'll still respect you tomorrow. Just say the word.'
But Teun didn't take the bait. He knew that she'd probably change her tune in the morning. Should he give in now then he'd be on the receiving end of little digs for the next few months. So he turned and took a step toward the beach.
'This way?' he asked.
Marinka nodded. 'Yep.'
She turned about too, and side by side the two friends began walking towards the dunes together. Both felt a little uneasy about walking away from the
beach house in the dead of night and neither was really keen to go on. They knew they would be in a lot of hot water if Marinka's parents woke up and found two empty beds. Yet that outcome was the least of their concerns. They were more worried about the prospect of creeping around in that unforgiving misty blanket that enshrouded the coastline... there was every chance of losing their footing in a hollow or tripping over washed up driftwood or even getting lost in those disorientating dunes. And of course, in the back of their minds, there was Grandpa's story. Who could dismiss the possibility that there really were some undead creatures hidden in the darkness? It certainly seemed like the right place.
Ten minutes later they were walking along the sandy beach, following the edge of the water line. Their shoes crunched over broken shells. Now and then a little surge of water would rush at them and threaten to get their shoes wet.
'Its low tide,' said Marinka. 'We're quite a way down the beach here.'
'Hmm,' said Teun. 'And Tobban's Bay... how far away is that?'
'Oh, still another ten minutes I'd guess. We have to go around the point up ahead, and then along another cove, then you come up to a bit of a headland. Cross over that and you're there.'
Teun looked down at the sand