by Holly Martin
‘I have one brother, Lucas. He’s older than me and a complete tart when it comes to women. We’re very different in many ways but I love him to bits. He was my rock when I was going through my toughest times. My parents are still together and as crazy in love with each other now as they were when they got married.’
‘I’m glad you have great parental role models.’
‘Oh they’re amazing, I definitely want what they have,’ Nix said. ‘Sadly I don’t see them as much as I’d like because they live in Canada.’
‘Yeah, it’s hard, isn’t it, when everyone is so spread apart. Most of my conversations with my siblings are over Zoom or WhatsApp. We try to get together at Christmas but even that’s a bit sporadic, especially as Max is in Australia.’
‘You said that Michelle has a little boy. What’s his name?’
‘Zach, he’s this whirlwind of constant energy. I don’t know how Michelle and Ben keep up with him.’
‘Any other nieces and nephews?’
‘No, not yet. I know Max is keen to start a family. Frankie and Ethan are still so young themselves so I don’t think that’s on their agenda. Ethan has just bought a house with his fiancée in north Devon so it’s possible they might think about it in a year or so. I don’t think Kitty will ever have any children.’
Nix was silent for a moment and she rolled over to look at him.
‘Because of the lymphoma?’ he said, finally.
‘Because she doesn’t like children,’ Lyra laughed. ‘She adores Zach but she says the best part about being an aunt is being able to give them back. I think the lymphoma made her really look at what she wanted from life and children wasn’t on that list.’
‘How old is she?’
‘Twenty-six.’
‘And how old was she when she was diagnosed?’
‘Nineteen.’
‘Oh god, so young.’
‘I know. I was… twenty-three. Yeah, that was tough for all of us. Ethan was doing his GCSEs at the time so I was trying to help him with his exams and be there for Kitty throughout all her treatment.’
‘And your parents never came back?’
Lyra shook her head and then gave a sad smile at the look of incredulity on Nix’s face ‘I know. Do I win the award for the worst parents in the world?’
‘I think you’d come pretty damn close. How could they not care about their own child?’
‘Oh well, that’s when all the dirty laundry came out. It turned out my dad, the man who raised us, wasn’t our dad at all. I’d had no idea. When I spoke to Mum about Kitty’s treatment and how I couldn’t understand how none of us were matches for her stem cell treatment, that’s when the truth came out. Mum had already had me and was pregnant with Michelle when she met my dad… the man I knew as Dad. Me and Michelle had two different dads who we’ve never met. Mum and Dad got married and Max, Kitty, Frankie and Ethan were the product of multiple different affairs over the next few years. Apparently Dad was crap in bed, or so Mum had great pleasure in telling me, so she had to go elsewhere to get her needs met. That’s why he left when I was sixteen. He finally caught her out. I don’t know to what extent he found out – whether he realised that none of us were his, or whether he caught her having another affair – but he’d finally had enough.’
‘Oh your poor dad.’
‘I know, I actually felt really sorry for him when Mum told me. And he still sent money over the next eight years after he’d left, which I suppose was pretty decent of him, considering he had no real connection to us other than he’d raised us.’
‘That must have been so hard for you to find that out, especially at such a tough time,’ Nix said.
‘It was pretty heartbreaking,’ Lyra said.
‘And how did your brothers and sisters take it?’
‘I… never told them.’ She saw the look of surprise on Nix’s face. ‘I know, I’m a bad person. But it was such a shitty time and they were all finding it really hard that Mum and Dad didn’t care enough to come back. I didn’t want to add to that by telling them why. Michelle knows; I told her later. But with Max trying to kill himself, and Kitty’s lymphoma, and Frankie and Ethan being so young when Dad left, I’ve always felt so protective over all of them. I just want them to know I’m always here for them and I don’t want them to ever doubt that because I’m now technically only their half-sister. We all rallied round when Mum left, and later with Kitty’s illness, I think we became a lot closer because of it. I didn’t want anything to damage that.’
‘Wow, that’s a heavy burden to carry on your own.’
‘It’s always been that way, at least since my dad left. I’ve always carried the family and I probably always will.’
‘Don’t you think it’s time to let go of this guilt?’ Nix said. ‘You have more than made up for any mistakes you made after your dad left, you spent eight or nine years of your life making up for it. And you’re your own person now, there’s no one relying on you, no one to let down. It’s time to let go of the past.’
She thought about this for a moment. She wasn’t sure if she could ever let go of that.
‘Setting sail and going where the waves take us for the weekend doesn’t hurt or impact on anyone,’ Nix said.
‘I know you’re right,’ Lyra said. ‘I’ve actually really enjoyed tonight. I think you’re good for me, in many ways.’
‘I hope so.’
She rolled onto her back to stare at the skies again. Maybe he was right. She glanced over at him and he was still watching her. She snuggled up to him and he looped an arm around her, holding her close. Maybe he was the man to help her to move on, in more ways than one.
Nix woke in what must have been the very early hours of the morning. It was still pitch black, the stars sparkling above them. It was almost completely silent apart from the waves lapping gently against the side of the boat. Lyra was curled up lying facing away from him. Her shoulder was sticking out from under the blanket and, when he pulled the blanket up over her, he noticed how cold she was. The temperature had definitely dropped out here now that the sun had long since disappeared. Even Dexter had gone back inside.
Nix very carefully and gently curled himself around her, hoping to keep her warm without waking her, but she stirred in his arms and rolled over towards him, burying herself into his chest.
‘It’s cold,’ she muttered.
He kissed her head, stroking her back to keep her warm. ‘I think it’s time we went to bed.’
‘You said that last time and it didn’t exactly end well,’ Lyra said, sleepily.
‘Oh, I have very different memories of that night – it ended very well.’
She grinned.
He climbed off the makeshift bed and offered out his hand. ‘Come on.’
She sat up, stretched and stood, taking his hand. He led her inside and then closed the door to keep some of the warmth in. As he guided her down the steps, he could see her watching him carefully. He wondered if, like him, there was a huge part of her that wanted to rekindle that amazing night right now. But he would be good. He’d promised her he would take it slow. He opened his bedroom door and Dexter shot past them, launching himself at the bed and making himself comfortable right in the middle.
Nix turned his attention back to Lyra and cupped her face, kissing her softly. There was something so wonderful about kissing her, it felt like coming home, as if this was exactly where he was meant to be. It would be so easy to scoop her up and carry her into his room and make love to her for the rest of the night. He didn’t think she would protest too much either. But he couldn’t do that.
He gently pulled away, stepping back. ‘Goodnight, Lyra.’
He took a step towards his bedroom and for a second she looked like she was going to object but she didn’t.
‘Goodnight, Nix.’
He smiled as she went inside her own bedroom and closed the door. He sighed, leaning his head against her door for a moment. Taking it slow was going to be a lot harder
than he’d thought. He turned round to see Dexter giving him a look that suggested he was laughing at Nix’s predicament. Nix shook his head and went into his own bedroom, closing the door. He’d loved spending time with Lyra tonight, but suddenly having her here for the weekend seemed like a bad idea.
Chapter Nineteen
Lyra woke with the sun on her face, the sea sparkling through a little round porthole next to her head. She couldn’t help but smile. Going away on a boat for the weekend on a complete whim, without any clothes or her phone, was something she’d never have done before she met Nix. Somehow he was pulling all her walls down.
She pulled on her dress and the boxer shorts Nix had given her the night before and grabbed the toothbrush he’d given her too.
She stepped outside the bedroom and could see Nix standing out on deck, glass of orange juice in his hand as he simply stared out over the waves. He was wearing shorts and a loose linen shirt that billowed in the wind. He looked happy. This was a man who was so relaxed, so laid-back he was practically horizontal. He was everything she’d run away from for the past ten or fifteen years, but for some reason she was inexplicably drawn to him.
She quickly washed her face and cleaned her teeth and then went out on deck to join him.
His whole face lit up when he saw her and he stepped forward and kissed her before he’d even uttered a word. This kiss was everything. She had never been kissed like this before, as if she was Nix’s entire world. He stroked her face as the kiss continued and it was just so gentle.
He pulled back slightly to look at her. ‘Hi.’
‘Hello.’
He kissed her on the forehead, wrapping his arms around her, and she leaned her head against his chest as she looked out over the sea too.
‘I could definitely get used to this,’ Lyra said. ‘Waking up to you and to this view every morning.’
‘Well that could be arranged. Did you sleep OK?’
‘Yes, like a baby. There’s something very calming about the gentle lull of the boat on the water. Were you up early? I heard movement around six?’
He hesitated for just a second before he spoke. ‘Yeah, sorry if I woke you. I couldn’t sleep so I went for a swim.’
She looked up at him and for a fleeting second thought she saw worry in his eyes. ‘Are you OK?’
‘Yes, I just… I think we’re coming to the end of this treasure hunt and… I worry you’re going to be disappointed.’
She frowned. ‘Why would I be disappointed?’
‘I don’t know. What if we don’t find anything? The fisherman could have come back to get the treasure a few months after he’d hid it but never bothered to retrieve the clues. What if we do find something but… it’s not what you were expecting?’
‘But none of that matters. I was never expecting to get rich from this. I’ve loved going on this quest, the fun of solving the clues and finding the next one, but the best thing was that I got to go on this journey with you.’
Nix studied her face and smiled slightly. ‘Come on, I’ll cook you some breakfast. We need our strength if we are going to find this treasure today.’
He let her go, then walked back inside and started dragging out pots and pans ready to make breakfast.
She watched him for a moment. That was weird, why would he be worried about her finding the treasure? Unless he knew something that she didn’t. She looked over her shoulder at the statue of the mermaid, standing on the edge of the island, supposedly presiding over the treasure, or at least the next clue. She guessed she would find out soon enough.
She turned and went back inside to help Nix with the breakfast.
Nix had managed to manoeuvre the boat very close to the beach so they could wade ashore without getting anything other than their legs wet. Nix had a couple of little trowels with him for when they needed to dig, which Lyra hoped would be enough. She wasn’t sure how deep the treasure or the next clue would be buried. If she’d been the fisherman, she certainly wouldn’t have buried a chest of priceless jewels just below the surface.
Nix was right: the seals loved this place and, as the island was completely uninhabited, she imagined they were relatively undisturbed most of the time, apart from the odd explorer who came here looking for adventure. Hundreds of seals littered the beach, most unmoving apart from the odd flick of a tail, or a roll as they tried to get more comfortable on the damp sand. As Lyra and Nix came ashore a couple shuffled a few metres away from them, but there was certainly no great alarm at their arrival.
‘They’re amazing, aren’t they,’ Lyra said. ‘So beautiful.’
‘Yes, I love watching them catch and eat fish. I snorkel off the boat sometimes and they’re just so incredible to watch – so graceful in the water and very playful too.’
‘I’d love to do that, that sounds incredible.’
‘I have a few masks and snorkels on the boat, we can do it after we get back.’
‘That would be great.’
Nix nodded. ‘Do you want to explore the island a little while we’re here or do you want to just get on with finding the next clue?’
‘Let’s get our treasure,’ Lyra said, excitedly.
He smiled sadly, almost as if he didn’t want to find this treasure after all.
She took his hand and they started walking towards the end of the island. They had to clamber over some rocks to get there but they were soon on a grassy patch of land and the mermaid was standing right at the end of it, towering over the rocks below.
‘She’s so big,’ Lyra said as they approached. ‘How the hell did she get here and why?’
‘No idea. I tried to look into it once, thinking there must be some mention of her in the local history books. She crops up in several but there’s no information on her. Other than the curse.’ Nix’s eyes widened as if he was scared and she laughed.
‘I’ll look after you.’
She pulled the latest clue out of her bag. ‘If this drawing is accurate, this looks like the front of the statue and it looks like the cross is directly in front of it, so shall we start digging there?’
Nix nodded.
The area immediately surrounding the statue was more mud than grass, probably because the statue’s presence had stopped anything growing in its immediate vicinity. Lyra knelt down and started digging with one of the trowels and Nix bent and started digging too. She was surprised by how loose the dirt was – she’d been expecting it to be fairly solid after years of not being touched, but it seemed to crumble very easily. They had only been digging a few minutes when her trowel hit something soft.
‘There’s something here,’ Lyra said, excitedly, as she quickly scraped the dirt away from the thing she’d found.
It looked like some kind of cloth bag but it was buried pretty well. As she tried to pull the bag from the hole, she realised that whatever was in it was fairly large and heavy. It took quite a while to free it but eventually the bag came out. There was something square inside but it clanged against something else, like there was more than one thing in it.
The bag was tied at the top with some rope but, as Lyra tried to untangle it, it became very clear that the rope was heavily knotted.
She groaned in frustration, desperate to see what was inside.
‘Why don’t we take this back to the boat,’ Nix said. ‘I have a knife there we can use to cut the rope.’
She nodded and they started walking back. Lyra had to stop herself from running back in her enthusiasm to find out what was in the bag. ‘Do you think this is it? Do you think this is the treasure?’ she said, excitedly.
‘It’s fairly big if it’s just the next clue,’ Nix said. ‘Considering all the other clues have just been inside bottles.’
They waded out to the boat, Lyra lifting up her dress as the water was up to her knees and Nix holding the bag. Nix climbed on board first, dropping the bag on the deck, then turned back to help her aboard. He went inside to retrieve his knife and let Dexter out onto the deck, leaving Lyra wit
h the bag. She ran her hands over it impatiently and it was obvious her first thoughts were correct: there was a box inside, maybe made from wood, and a second object which felt like another glass bottle.
‘Here we go, watch your hands,’ Nix said, carrying a big knife. He cut the rope away and then passed the bag back to Lyra.
She eagerly opened it to find something that was undoubtedly a treasure chest inside.
‘Oh my god,’ she squealed. ‘Look.’ She pulled out the box, which felt quite heavy, and as she did she could hear things moving around inside. ‘This is it, this is what we’ve been looking for.’
It was a smallish wooden chest, probably around a foot long, inlaid with gold.
‘Go on, open it,’ Nix said.
She ran her hands over the front but it was quite clear that the chest was locked and needed a key to open it.
She shook her head. ‘We need a key.’
‘Is there anything else in the bag?’
Lyra remembered that it had felt like there was a bottle inside. She opened the bag and, sure enough, there was a small glass bottle at the bottom of the bag. She grabbed it and pulled the cork out, releasing another yellowy piece of paper. She passed the scroll to Nix who broke it open and laid it out on the bench next to Lyra. It was another drawing, seemingly of a different island – it was definitely a different shape to Mermaid Island.
There was what appeared to be a pointy tower at the end of this island, with a cross underneath the tower. Next to the island there was a picture of a lion.
There were no more clues or writing.
She looked at Nix to see he was studying the drawing intently. ‘I think I know this place too.’
‘That’s a relief, because the fisherman has definitely been a bit stingy with this clue.’
Nix smiled. ‘This is a daymark to help mariners identify where they are. It’s a really tall obelisk-type building and it has these great archways at the bottom, which you can kind of see here in the drawing. It’s really distinctive. It’s on another uninhabited island, more of a rock really. It’s called Dagger’s Point. It’s not too far from Jewel Island actually, maybe an hour down the coast, but in the other direction from here, so we’d have to go past Jewel Island to get to it.’