Storms. Chris Vick
girl pointed. Steve stood behind the whales talking into a brick of a radio phone. Hannah waved. He gave her a quick smile. Hannah looked at Little One. The whale’s head moved, slightly, its eye rolling around, and – she was certain – seeing her. Its tail lifted and dropped. The whale moaned. A low cry of despair that reached inside Hannah and tore at her heart.
She stepped towards the fence, ready to climb over.
‘Hannah,’ said Steve, walking over.
‘What’s going to happen?’ she said.
‘We don’t know yet,’ said Steve. His face was pale, his forehead creased with stress.
‘Can I come in? I want to see the young one. When I found them I knew they weren’t all dead, because she cried out to me.’
‘You understand how this works, right? How serious this is.’
She did. She understood too well.
An older, serious-looking man was examining the whales. He had a stethoscope and a large oilskin case. He was a vet at a stranding, there to sort the living from the dead, the healthy from the sick, the ones that had hope from the ones that didn’t. Inside the bag would be vials, some full of vitamins and minerals, others loaded with poison ready to be injected.
Hannah swallowed hard. She wanted to be a marine biologist. She’d see plenty of dead, and dying, whales in years to come. She had to get used to it.
Steve got close, so no one would overhear. In the low tone of a doctor delivering bad news he said, ‘That animal is not in good shape. Even if we refloat it, it won’t leave its mother, who is dead. And if it did, it wouldn’t survive out there,’ he pointed at the raging sea.
‘No. No … you can’t.’ Hannah wanted to be strong, but she felt like the wind might knock her over.
Steve shook his head. ‘We’re set up for seals and dolphins. We don’t have refloat equipment for whales. If the tide is high enough in the next day or so, we might be able to dig a channel, and get the healthy adults out. But the highest spring tide is what deposited them here …’ He shrugged. ‘Emotion can’t get in the way. We’ll do what we can, but in the end putting these whales down may be the kindest thing we can do.’ He looked deep into her eyes. To see if she got it. To see if she’d be a pain about this.
‘That’s it, is it?’ she said, looking past him, at Little One She felt anger rising like a tidal surge. ‘Dig a ditch, see if the whales swim out, and if they don’t, kill them?’
‘Keep your voice down,’ said Steve, through his teeth.
‘Why? You don’t want people knowing the truth?’
‘Hannah, sweetheart,’ Dad appeared at her side, getting a hold on her arm, trying to pull her away.
She twisted her arm out of his grip. ‘Don’t “sweetheart” me, Dad.’ She turned back to Steve.
‘You don’t have the equipment, right?’
‘No.’
‘Who does?’
‘Sorry?’ He gasped, exasperated by her naivety. He waved at one of his team and held a finger up. A sign: One minute. Soon as I get rid of this girl.
Hannah leant over the fencing and poked him in the chest.
‘There’s a team in Massachusetts, north-east USA, who rescue stranded pilot whales all the time. Their pontoons will be big enough for the smaller orcas. Get them.’
‘Get them from America? You have no idea …’
‘Get their equipment too.’
‘That would take days and cost thousands.’
‘How long can we keep these whales alive?’
‘Forty-eight hours. Seventy-two at the outside. After a couple of days on land their internal organs will start collapsing. Their bones will start breaking. You can’t get that equipment here that quick. Even if you did, it would probably be too late. And we don’t have that kind of money.’
‘How much?’ Hannah folded her arms, staring at her old teacher.
‘Ten thousand. Twenty if we had to charter a plane. Even if we could manage it, even if the whales didn’t die before the team got here, in all likelihood the calf is the only one we could refloat and it would probably still die. No one’s going to fund that.’
Hannah shook her head. ‘She’s a juvenile, not a calf. She might join another pod. One of the others might foster her. It’s happened before. North Vancouver. San Juan Islands. I’m calling Paul Rocca. He’ll know.’
‘You know Dr Rocca?’
‘Yes. I’m one of his interns. Now, you going to let me in?’ Hannah was making a powerful nuisance of herself. It felt good. It felt right.
Steve shrugged, sighed.
‘Go home, make your calls. But you’re wasting your time.’
Hannah looked at Little One again. A girl was slowly pouring water over the whale’s back. Hannah had a strong, sick twinge in her gut. It was concern for the whale, but also a pang of jealousy. She wanted to care for Little One. She had found her on the beach. They’d found each other.
‘I want to see Li— the whale,’ said Hannah. ‘Can I?’ Not forceful now. Pleading. ‘Steve … please?’
‘No. And you know why. No emotional attachment. It doesn’t help.’ Steve looked to her dad for help. Dad took Hannah’s arm and pulled her gently, but firmly, away.
JAKE STOOD OUTSIDE Ned’s house. He checked his phone: another message from Hannah. Shit. He turned it off. He’d call her. Right after he got this sorted.
Ned’s workshop was in his garage.
Above the main garage door, Ned had once painted a graffiti pic of Little Red Riding Hood holding a basket of spray cans, with the words: ‘Fear makes the wolf look bigger.’ But he’d painted over it now. Maybe it was a bit attention-grabbing for a weed dealer.
Jake knocked on the door. The rap music blasting out was so loud, he guessed Ned couldn’t hear. So he walked in.
A long rack of surfboards lay against one wall. Against the opposite wall were shelves filled with foam blanks, rolls of material and sanders. The equipment of a dedicated board shaper.
Ned stood in the middle of the garage, leaning over a board on a workbench. His overalls were stained, and his hair was hanging round his face. He was hand-sanding the tail of the board. Blowing on it. Sanding a bit more. Blowing again. Smiling at his handiwork.
Jake waited for Ned to look up. Ned turned the music down.
‘Thought you’d be out surfing, Jakey boy. Getting practice for yer big trip.’
‘Been already. You?’
‘Nah, waiting till it calms down a bit. Got this fix to finish anyway.’ Any talk with Ned started this way. About surf. Often it stayed that way. ‘You here for a board to take to Hawaii?’
‘No. That’s not why I’m here. Is Rag around?’
‘Little Bro? He’s off with his mates.’
‘Sue?’
‘Sue’s history, mate. Gave me the sack, the silly mare,’ he said, grinning and winking. That was Ned. Always grinning, always smiling. He had an easy flow about him. A permanent smile, which might be due to his almost always being stoned.
‘You don’t seem too upset,’ said Jake.