The Reef

by Mark Charan Newton

  ‘How so?’ she said.

  ‘Well, I guess I don’t take everything so seriously. I’m not getting any older, and I know for a fact that death is around the corner for all of us, all the time. And when you’re on this island it’s like ... ‘He searched for the word. ‘Well, let me put it another way. This morning I ate an orange.’

  ‘Okay.’ Yana smiled, frowned.

  ‘I eat oranges all the time in Escha. But this morning I knew it came from a tree. I peeled it back and smelled it. I felt the juice spitting on my fingers. I ate it slowly. I was mindful of the fact that I was eating it, and that it came from a tree.’

  ‘And?’ she said.

  ‘I had never tasted anything as good. It was the most delicious thing I’ve eaten. It’s the pace of things here, you know? Away from the city, you begin to li ve again, to remember those things that really satisfy.’

  ‘Yeah, I think I know what you mean,’ Yana said. ‘Kind of sensual.’

  ‘That’s the word. Sensual.’ He dropped the flower, turned to address her face to face. ‘I know I’ve been a crap husband the last few years. But I will change, I will be whatever you need, I promise. We’ve had troubles, but let’s start afresh.’

  Her throat felt thick as she forced a smile. A moment passed as he

  leaned towards her as if using telepathy. She thought it ridiculous. ‘Look, Jefry. I know we’ve had our problems. I... I want to be open with you.’

  ‘Of course, dear, of course.’

  His kindness made it all the more difficult for her. ‘I’ve done something. Something I’m not proud of. Something I am really ashamed of. I wondered if you ... had the kindness to listen and not judge me.’

  ‘Of course. Look, I’m a different man now. I’m a sensitive man.’ He held her hands in his. ‘Okay. Look, Jef, I do love you. I love you a lot.’ She looked down, to the right.

  He said, ‘And I love you.’

  She looked at the bright plants that lined the path up to the volcano’s edge. ‘Right. Well, it happened months ago. I was confused and lonely. But remember I love you, and I... Damn, this is really hard to say.’

  He said, ‘Go on.’

  ‘Well. .. ‘Her eyes settled on the reef, down In the distance. ‘There’s no easy way to say this. I’m pregnant.’ His head moved back fractionally. ‘Oh.’ Yana’s eyes reddened. She could see his face change. ‘Really?’ She nodded. Jefry said, ‘I’m not the father, am I?’ She shook her head, a tear running down her cheek. He nodded, sighed then was silent. He let go of her hands and they fell limp.

  She said, ‘Tell me what you’re thinking, Jef.’

  Jefry turned away towards the sea. A flock of birds caught his eye, graceful as they dove down the side of the volcano. ‘Jef-please. Tell me what you’re thinking.’ He sighed, still looking away. ‘What d’you want me to say?’ ‘Something, anything. Just tell me what you think. Of me.’ ‘What I think of you?’ He laughed coarsely. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Please.’ ‘You mean, you tell me all of this, and you want to know how you

  are to me.’ ‘No, no,’ she said. ‘Not like that. I just want to know what you’re feeling.’ ‘Oh, for fucking Arrahd’s sake ...’ He looked her in the eyes. She turned away. ‘If you gave a fuck about what I was feeling we

  wouldn’t be having this conversation, would we?’

  She glanced down and noticed vaguely how bold her shadow was in the intense sunshine. ‘Who’s the father then?’ She stared right into his eyes. ‘Manolin.’ He nodded. ‘Why? Was Ijust not good enough?’ She shook her head in tiny jerks. ‘It wasn’t that.’ ‘Well what was it exactly? Come on, you might as well tell me. Get it all out in the open. Had you been having an affair?’

  ‘No, not at all, no. It was a one-off.’

  , Right.’

  She said, ‘No, it was. Just the once.’

  ‘Why him?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘He was sad because he’d just split with his wife, y’know.’ ‘That’s no reason.’ ‘I know,’ she said, fully ashamed of herself. He was cutting her

  with precise, thought out words. She felt ridiculously young. ‘Look, it wasn’t that. We chatted and had drunk quite a bit.’

  ‘You were drunk, was that it?’

  ‘More or less,’ she said.

  ‘Was he good?’ he said.

  ‘What d’you mean?’ Yana said.

  ‘Was he good? Did he fuck you better than I could?’

  She began to cry. ‘No, of course not, that’s not the point at all. It just felt good talking-’

  ‘You could talk to me!’ he said.

  ‘Please, don’t raise your voice. I’m truly sorry, Jef. I’ve never done

  anything like that before. You ignored me before. That night he made me feel good about myself. He complimented me. Made me feel special.’

  The rumel turned and sat on the ground. He placed his hands either side on the lichens. Out at sea were two fishing boats, their sails unfurling as they watched.

  Yana sat down next to him. ‘You’d shown no interest in me for months. What was I supposed to think? That you found me attractive? I need to feel attractive to someone, Jef. Everyone does, don’t they?’

  He said, ‘Are you asking me or telling?’

  ‘I’m telling you.’ Her voice was stronger. ‘Manolin doesn’t know yet. We both regret the act. It was a one-off, and now look at me. I’m pregnant.’

  ‘Yes, yes you are.’ He looked up and down her body. ‘What’re you going to do about it?’

  ‘What d’you mean? I’m going to have it, that’s what.’

  ‘You’ve always wanted one, haven’t you?’ Jefry said.

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘You want it, don’t you?’

  ‘Yeah.’ With her eyes wide she rolled her lips inwards in a smile.

  ‘Guess I should’ve seen it coming,’ he said. ‘A rumel and a human is never a good mix.’

  ‘It’s not that at all, Jef. I love you for who you are, not what you are. Anyway, we’re not all that different. There’re loads of rumel and human families.’

  ‘Couldn’t give you a kid though, could I?’

  Yana remained silent, rubbed her hands along the grass-like surface of the lichens that lined the path to the volcano. ‘Look, you’ve been so nice about this. Really nice. Please don’t hate me.’

  ‘I don’t hate you,’ he said.

  ‘You do, you hate me, I can tell.’

  ‘I don’t hate you.’

  She said, ‘What about Manolin?’

  ‘I don’t know how I feel about him yet.’

  ‘You’ve been so nice about all of this. You’re such a kind person, I’ve always thought that.’ ‘Yeah, I’m a real great guy, aren’t I?’ Jefry grunted a laugh. Yana was silent for a moment. ‘Do you want some time alone?’ Jefry nodded. Yana pushed herself onto one knee. She leaned in to kiss him, but

  stopped seeing his expression, pulled back, stood up. She turned back down the path.

  ‘Looks like rain tonight,’ Forb said.

  He gestured vaguely at the bulk of cumulous that were massing to bring a storm. Repeatedly, smoke from a cooking fire in the village rose a short way before being beaten down. ‘Yep, I’d say we should wrap up tight tonight.’

  Santiago, Manolin, Yana and Becq all stood around the doctor’s hut. Myranda was preparing some fruit inside, and Santiago, out of the corner of his eye, saw that she was bending over to pick up something. He wasn’t concerned with what it was.

  ‘How long’s Jefry going to be?’ Forb asked. Yana shrugged. ‘I don’t know. He wanted some time to himself so I left him there.’ She indicated the volcano. ‘That was a good few

  hours, though.’

  ‘Is everything all right?’ Becq asked.

  ‘Yes, yes. Nothing to worry about. You know us.’ Yana looked towards Becq. ‘I’ll tell you later.’ ‘Another hour and I’ll have to go look for him,’ Forb said. ‘It’s pretty dangerous up there, especially if there’s a storm
coming.’ ‘Storm? I thought you said it was rain?’ Santiago said, still glancing behind the doctor.

  ‘It’s going to be bad whatever it is. It’s a bit early. The storm season isn’t for a month or two yet. Guess you lot have brought bad weather with you.’ Forb smiled. Everyone else remained silent.

  ‘Will it be a bad one, then?’ Santiago asked. ‘I should hope not, but you can sleep further inland if you want. We’ve huts here and there all the way to the other side of the island.’ Santiago said, ‘When do you think we can use one of the ichthyocentaurs, Forb?,

  ‘Not tonight, Santiago, not tonight. It’s going to be far too rough without any extra troubles.’ Forb turned to where the upper beach bordered the forest. ‘Ah, Mr Calyban and Mr Soul. How honoured we are to have you join us. And what the devil have you been up to these past couple of days?’

  Calyban and Soul stepped out of the darkness of the forest. They were carrying fedoras, and put them on whilst approaching. Their blue shirts rippled in the escalating breeze and the palm trees were fizzing behind them.

  ‘We’ve been here and there,’ Soul said. ‘Watching what’s being going on.’

  Forb said, ‘I trust you’ve been making use of our fine facilities?’

  Calyban laughed. ‘Chance would be a fine thing.’

  ‘So, what have you two been doing?’ Santiago asked. ‘Two men spending all that time in a hut together. Alone. Must be ... intimate, no?’

  ‘Mr DeBrelt. Kindly refrain from such accusations. I would’ve assumed someone such as you would’ve been above that. Someone who postures as a gentleman.’

  ‘Indeed,’ Santiago said.

  ‘Well,’ Soul said, turning to Calyban, ‘he’s a Collectivist, after all. A rather rum lot.’

  Santiago tried not to fall for their bait, but felt such disdain at their presence, at their language. He strolled up to them, said, ‘You two’d better watch your backs. You’re a long way from home. Anything could happen.’

  ‘Tut tut, Mr DeBrelt. Should anything happen to us, the navy would be here within weeks. They’d scour the seas for you. They’d hunt you down.’

  Santiago looked between them. ‘Just what are you doing here?’ ‘Keeping an eye on things,’ Calyban said. ‘Someone needs to by the looks of it.’ Santiago said, ‘We’re doing pretty well without government shits

  interfering.’

  ‘Yes, one dead already,’ Calyban said. ‘Impressive.’

  Santiago reflected on this for a moment, considered their words carefully. They were a secretive lot, as were all agents for Mayor Gio, so you had to examine each hint, each expression. ‘How exactly are the navy going to know you’re gone?’

  ‘That’s for us to know, Mr DeBrelt,’ Soul said.

  Forb walked up behind Santiago, placed a hand on his arm. ‘The navy must never come here, Santiago. Never. Let them be.’ ‘Our host is right, DeBrelt, let us be,’ Calyban said. ‘There’s plenty of fish in the village, if you’re hungry,’ Forb said.

  ‘Go help yourselves. You’ll need feeding before the weather turns sour.’ He tilted his head up at the grey sky as the government agents walked behind the doctor’s hut, to the village as Myranda stepped out with a basket of fruit.

  ‘Ah, splendid,’ Manolin said.

  Myranda smiled at him. Santiago noted that they held each other in their eyes for a moment. ‘Very sweet of you, Myranda,’ Manolin said. ‘Thanks, Manolin,’ she said. She turned to offer the fruit to the

  others. She was wearing a bikini top and a pair of baggy trousers, which he assumed were Forb’s, as they were tied tightly with vine, bunching over at the top. Manolin glanced to Forb, who had a strange smile. Santiago suspected that the young man was being obvious about his attraction, but somehow the doctor did not mind. Perversely, he seemed to encourage it.

  He turned to the sea. Nearing dusk and under a grey sky, had lost some of its colour. It was rough. White tips of waves gathered in large numbers. The wind was strong and you could see the huts in the lagoon swaying. Birds were returning to the island in great numbers. It was cooler than before.

  ‘It’s not going to be a quiet one,’ Forb said. ‘Still no sign of Jefry?’

  No one said anything.

  ‘Right, I’ll go look for him. I’ll leave you in Myranda’s capable hands.’ Buttoning his white shirt, Forb marched barefoot along the

  beach, hopped up onto the grassy bank that bordered the forest, then into the darkness.

  Forb jogged through vines, ferns, over boulders, fallen branches. He wanted to get to the volcano before it was dark. Although he knew the paths well, he was well aware how dangerous they could be. You had to respect nature. You had to play by its rules.

  He headed up the slope. The forest was pungent as plants opened to breath in the cooler evening air. This far in you could hear the sea, so sounds were travelling further noticeably. He knew the storm was on its way.

  After a while scrambling through the undergrowth, he came across the path that he thought Jefry, Yana and Santiago would have taken earlier. It took large strides to pull himself out into the clearing, but he wasn’t out of breath. To his right he could see the sea through an area where the forest was cut away. It was grey, and cumulus had massed, false cirrus were forming below, tiny wisps of white under a dark thunderhead. It was some way away yet, but the winds had risen since he had been running. To his left the slope lead up to the rim of the volcano, about a short run away. The ground, littered with lichens, would be slippery later, but at least it was soft underfoot. There was no sign of Jefry. Forb thought that he would have intercepted him on the way back, but it was possible he was back at the village already.

  He jogged up the slope to the volcano at an angle. When he was higher than the forest canopy, the wind rattled him, but he had a perfect panorama of Arya. He stopped for a moment to watch the tide foam with energy. At that point, he wondered if there would be any end to the ichthyocentaur killings. Their survival was essential. Forb looked up to the volcano but there was still no sign of anyone.

  It was some time until he reached the summit of the dormant volcano. As scrambled up the last few feet, his hands clawing the moss, he could see a figure crouched over the rim some way away, silhouetted against the clouds behind. Forb walked along the crest, which was a couple hundred feet across, glancing down into the darkness below, treading carefully one side of the plants and shrubs that lined the edge. A stumble to his left and he would be dead.

  The figure was Jefry, and his face was over the edge of the volcano. Forb paused, watched, wondered what the rumel was doing. Jefry’s tail was curved around a rock behind, and he was swaying to and fro, as if to suggest suicide yet uncertainty.

  Forb walked forwards, next to the chasm. ‘Jefry,’ he called out above the noise of the wind. ‘Jefry, are you all right?’

  The rumel turned to face the doctor. The distress in his face was too apparent. ‘I suppose y’all know now, don’t you?’ Jefry said. ‘Eh? About my slut of a wife?’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Forb said. ‘I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.’

  ‘Don’t fuck with me, Doctor-if you are a doctor at all.’

  ‘Well, as a matter of fact I am, of archaeology and zoology. Botany, too, but that’s besides the point. Look, Jefry, are you quite all right? I’m not sure I follow what’s going on.’

  ‘It’s clear when I’m not wanted. It’s clear I’m no fucking good for anyone. My closest friend has been killed. All within a day.’

  Forb could see his body shake as he sobbed. Jefry stood up, and placed his feet at the edge. His muscles in his legs were quivering with nervousness. That made Forb think he was likely to jump. You could feel the wind channelling across the edge of the volcano, a sudden and saddening groan, and it came at you from different directions. ‘Jefry, please. Will talking about it help?’

  ‘Not going to do any good,’ he said. ‘Might as well go.’ ‘No you won’t. Not now, not ever.’ Forb was angry. ‘Don’t be so damn
stupid.’ Why should someone give up something so precious as

  life.

  Jefry turned to face him. ‘Why should you care about me? I’ve only known you a couple days.’ ‘No one should kill themselves,’ Forb said. ‘A man should never kill himself.’

  ‘I’m not a man anymore. Slut’s just proved that.’

  ‘This is one afternoon’s thoughts, Jefry. You’ll think differently in the morning, believe me.’ The rumel shrugged, looked down at the fall. ‘Couldn’t give a fuck.’ ‘Yes you bloody well could. Look, I do give a fuck about this, Jefry. Please, don’t do anything stupid-’

  ‘And why should I listen to a jumped-up shit who’s got everything? A gorgeous and loyal wife, a beautiful home. Not a care in the fucking world. Just why would you bother about me?’

  ‘Because I’m dying.’ Forb said the words with precision, exasperation. There was silence before he continued. ‘Because I’m dying. I have cancer, and I’m dying quicker each day.’ He ran his palm over his head.

  Jefry turned his body to face him. He looked shocked, curious, his grin had changed to a sneer. Tears were streaming down his face, although you wouldn’t have guessed that by his calm voice.

  ‘That’s right,’ Forb said. ‘That’s why I’m here on Arya. That’s why I’m so interested in the ichthyocentaurs.’ Jefry did not show any emotion now except discomfort. ‘I don’t

  follow.’

  ‘I have cancer, Jefry. In my head is a tumour, and it’s killing me.’

  ‘You’re only saying this to stop me.’

  Forb said, ‘D’you think I’m that fucking stupid? Go kill yourself then, rid me of your damn ignorance.’

  Jefry stared at the doctor.

  ‘Think about it. I have cancer. I’ve tried everything. Why d’you think I’ve no hair? D’you think this is to enhance my cheekbones? I don’t think so. Had all sorts of chemical treatments back in Escha. All sorts of therapy. Everything failed. Myth had it that the ichthyocentaurs on this island had cures for everything. They can use plants to stop you dying. That’s why they live so long and never have diseases. I’ve catalogued all the plants they know of. Thousands. And only one of them’s any good for me. Extract from an orchid root. It’s kept me alive for longer than I should be here, but I’ve no idea how long I’ve got left and that’s why I sent for help: to investigate and stop them being wiped out. To preserve the race and preserve a cure for my ... illness.’