Ocean's Gift

by Carlton, Demelza

  “Absolutely,” I replied. “The equipment is a bit pricey, but if you’re willing to pay for it, I can install it in an afternoon. You wouldn’t even need to get an installer from the mainland.”

  “How pricey?” she asked.

  I named a figure that was close to my monthly paycheck when I’d been installing lights back in Perth.

  She nodded, thoughtfully. “And how much for you to install it?”

  I told her how much the Fisheries guys had agreed to pay.

  Another nod. “How soon can you order the equipment?”

  “As soon as I can get to a phone. It might take a few weeks to get it out here, though,” I replied. Shit, if she pays what the Fisheries blokes did, I’ll have earned two weeks’ pay in a day. If every job out here pays like this, I’ll have my house in one year instead of two.

  She took a deep breath. She’s just realised that I’m asking her for a lot of money. She exhaled slowly and surprised me. “Okay. Order the lot and I’ll have your money in cash, when the girls next go out on the carrier boat. I’ll even make you dinner.”

  I opened my mouth to accept her offer, but she cut me off, blushing. “But not tonight. It’s a bit late and we both have pots to pull in a few hours. Let me know when you’re free.” She stood up and so did I.

  I headed for the front door, then went through it and across the veranda. Before I stepped out of the path of light streaming from her front door to the steps, I turned around. “Thanks. Good luck with your generator. And don’t forget, if you need an electrician, I’m just next door.”

  I tripped lightly down the steps, just about walking on air back to my house. I didn’t feel my broken toes, or even the shift of the coral shingle under my feet. I’d just had a beer with my Amazon of a next-door neighbour, I’d managed to keep from sticking my foot in my mouth for the duration and she’d not only agreed to give me a lot of money for a very simple job, she’d also invited me to dinner at her house.

  I thought of the pilot who’d brought me here. He’d said these islands were cursed with murder, mutiny and lust. Well, he could take the first two and maybe the cursed, too. He was right about the lust, but it sure didn’t seem like a curse to me.

  My strangest house call story just got better. The lady of the house threatened me with the rusty remains of a hammer, while I changed the fuel tank on her generator to save her ice cream, before she reimbursed me for my time with a beer and a dirty handshake. She offered me a repeat job with a huge paycheck. Then she asked me out.

  Nope, Dean still won’t believe me.

  23. Belinda

  Vanessa was waiting for us, her fingers curled around a cup, when we climbed aboard, fish in hand. “The generator required repairing last night.”

  “My apologies. As soon as I am dressed, I will…” Maria began.

  Vanessa cut her off. “It is already done.”

  “Then you are becoming more familiar with the generator. I’m surprised that you had so little trouble, but as the repairs were probably very simple…” Her words faded into silence as she took in Vanessa’s thunderous expression.

  Vanessa’s words were almost as curt as human speech, despite her use of our language. “They appeared to be, but I would not know. The young human fisherman came to my assistance and restored the generator to working order. We now owe him a favour.”

  I expressed my surprise. “You mean the young male human with the nice...”

  I thought of the mango in our freezer. I almost removed it to tell Vanessa why we had purchased the fruit, but I was stopped dead by her tone. “You will not do anything to antagonise the young fisherman. You will not speak to him or go near him, unless it is absolutely necessary. And you will do no further repairs of the house or any part of the land camp. For this I will engage the human fisherman’s services. Now we have lobsters to pull up.”

  Maria and I quickly retreated to the inside of the vessel and dressed. Vanessa followed us into the cabin, in search of something with which to restrain her hair. I offered her the pink ribbon she had rejected on sight when I had first shown it to her. She hesitated, then chose the blue elastic circles.

  As I headed up the stairs, I glanced back and saw her examining the pink ribbon again. She began cutting it into short lengths with some scissors, before stuffing them into her pockets. I turned and continued up to the deck.

  Maria and I hastened to untie the vessel and be under way. I wondered what kind of favour the young human fisherman would ask of her, and how much trouble it would be to provide it.

  24. Joe

  I watched Vanessa load up her crays on the carrier boat. Hers were bigger and fatter than ours, or, in fact, any of the other crates of lobsters.

  “Are those the same lobsters as ours?” I asked her, lifting up a crate of ordinary-sized ones.

  “Sort of,” she said. “Mine are what yours would grow up to be, if you left them in the water another 20 years.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes, these guys live up to 30 years. I just have a knack for catching the old-timers.” She winked and lifted another crate of the monsters. They made ours look undersized, though I knew every one of ours wasn’t. I’d measured the bastards myself.

  I figured she wouldn’t tell me, but I asked anyway. “So, what’s your secret?”

  “Everyone asks that.” She laughed and looked at me for a moment, as if she were sizing me up, before she spoke again. “I tie a pink ribbon to every pot. The old ones like pink.”

  I laughed. “You can’t be serious.”

  She shrugged. “Here, you try it.” She pulled a pink ribbon out of her pocket. “You tie that in a bow at the top of the pot and see what happens.”

  I took the ribbon and tucked it into my shorts pocket. “I bet it doesn’t do anything.”

  “What will you bet me?” she asked mischievously.

  I thought for a moment. I could think of a hundred things I wanted from her, but not much I could offer her. Dinner sounded good, if only I could cook something halfway decent. “A six-pack of beer,” I said finally.

  “Done,” she replied instantly. “I bet you a six-pack of beer that you get at least one old-timer in the pot you tie that ribbon to.”

  “And if there’s none, or they’re all normal sized?” I asked.

  “Then I owe you beer.” She laughed. “Make sure you have a spare six-pack in the fridge.” She headed back to her camp.

  “You make sure my beer’s chilled, too,” I called after her.

  She just laughed and kept going.

  25. Belinda

  “Checking the buoys at the surface to identify our pots is time-consuming. You will place these on all of my pots, for ease of recognition beneath the water.” Vanessa placed a handful of strips of pink ribbon on the deck.

  I took the fabric and examined it. I recognised the ribbon she’d been cutting up in the sleep cabin. “A brighter colour or a more durable material might be more appropriate. This fabric will rapidly decay in the water.”

  Her tone was commanding, brooking no argument. “You may examine other materials when you are next on the mainland. Now you will place the ribbons on the pots, until they decay beyond use. Then you will know which to fill with the old lobsters, without needing to look closely.”

  I looked askance after her as she marched down the jetty to her house. I turned to Maria. “Does this seem peculiar to you?”

  “It does. I suspect the troublesome young human fisherman is involved somehow,” she replied.

  I nodded. “As do I.”

  26. Joe

  “It’s not good weather for them tomorrow. We’ll only put down half as many, closer in. No point in putting them all out in bad weather,” Skipper grumbled.

  I admit the wind was picking up and the waves were stronger, but I didn’t see how that affected the lobsters. I shrugged, not really fussed. Only half the pots means only half the work tomorrow morning.

  I stuck my hands in my pockets to warm them up a bit
. My fingers closed around Vanessa’s pink ribbon.

  “Hey, do you know why Vanessa gets bigger crays than anyone else?” I asked him.

  “Nope. Her mother did that, too, and neither of them ever told me why.” He shrugged. “Those are her pots over there, not far from ours. You’d think we’d get some big ones, too, but no one ever does, when they put their pots out near hers.”

  I held out the pink ribbon. “Vanessa told me she ties pink bows on her pots and the big ones are attracted to them.”

  He looked like he was considering his words carefully. “And you believe that?” he asked slowly.

  He’s wondering if I’m an absolute idiot, possibly even more stupid than his last deckie.

  I laughed and he joined in. “No, actually. But I bet her some beer I’d try it and prove her wrong.”

  He stopped laughing. “Well, if there’s beer at stake, maybe we should put another pot down. All prettied up with Vanessa’s ribbon.”

  I tied the ribbon on myself and pushed the pot over the side.

  27. Belinda

  “I swear she has put down more of these wooden boxes than usual. I have counted twice and both times the total is 61,” Maria complained.

  I shrugged as I responded. “They all have ribbons on them. What is one more? Here, I have several lobsters which will not fit in my box. Place them in the last one and our task is complete.” I urged the lobsters toward her.

  She pushed them into the box as the complaints continued. “Why does she not fish like the humans, placing fish scraps in the box and leaving it to attract the spiny lobsters without assistance?”

  I repeated the answer Vanessa had given to us when I had asked her this question. “Because she has ordered that we will only give the humans the lobsters that are near the end of their lives. That means singing the old ones from the depths and placing them in the boxes.”

  “And if she does not obtain the information we seek before our fishing is complete?” Maria’s expression was worried.

  I kept my tone light. “Then we will perhaps have some quiet nights, as she will decline to fish in order to extend our time here.”

  Her expression darkened. “Do you think it likely that our exile here will be extended?”

  Like my sister, I sincerely hoped not, but I said instead, “She may need to do so, if her gathering of information does not progress.”

  Maria’s question took me by surprise. “What do you think slows her progress?”

  I was thoughtful, so my reply was slow. “Either the humans here have no further information to give, or she feels some attraction for the young human fisherman. She spends time in his company and avoids the task at hand.”

  Maria voiced a possibility I had not considered. “Is it possible that he holds information that the others do not? He is not a very experienced fisherman. From what I understand, his knowledge of fish or fishing is far less than most.”

  I did not discount her idea, though I doubted it. “Perhaps.”

  Maria sounded suspicious. “Or have we underestimated her preference for his shapely behind?”

  Even the thought of Vanessa with a preference for a human was ludicrous. I could not stop my laughter. When I did reply, it was in a more serious vein. “Would you question her on her motives? I would not. She will reveal her purpose when she chooses and not before.” I changed the subject to lift her spirits. “Come, our fishing is complete for a few hours. Shall we call up some dolphins and play?”

  Maria started to smile. “Certainly. At least our exile here has its compensations, shallow water and dolphins to call.”

  “Then let us make the most of it!” I started off with a flip of my tail.

  28. Joe

  As we pulled up the pots the following morning, Skipper kept grumbling. The catch was poor, the weather was bad, we should go in instead of wasting our time...

  The last one we pulled up was full. I opened up the pot to let them out and gasped as the first one hit the bottom of the box. It was huge. So were the rest that fell in on top of it. My heart sinking, I looked at the top of the pot and there was Vanessa’s pink ribbon, still tied in a bow.

  Skipper looked at the catch and cracked a smile for the first time that morning. “Well, I guess it was worth going out today.”

  I pointed at the ribbon.

  He laughed. “Now you owe Vanessa some beer. I told you to stay away from her!”

  He started picking through the lobsters. They all looked like the monsters Vanessa had loaded onto the carrier boat earlier in the week. “I’ll tell you what, though. As a deckie this lucky, I’ll buy you a couple of beers in the Club tonight.”

  “Fair enough.” I nodded.

  We baited the pot up again and pushed it off the side, the ribbon still in place.

  29. Belinda

  “The human fishermen are aware of changes, but only as it affects their fishing. Their knowledge is limited. They discuss this among themselves as they cautiously describe their catch,” I told Vanessa.

  It was clear from her expression that I told her nothing new. “I find the same and I have spoken to many. The Fisheries Officers appear more knowledgeable, but they defer to other humans for more information. I believe there may be more, but in order to find this out it will be necessary to communicate with the humans they refer to. Some other Fisheries office, in Perth? We may need to go further afield, unless the humans are to visit here. I will see who I can contact, to discover what I can. If we must go to Perth, then at the end of the fishing season, we shall.”

  My heart sank as a knocking at the door echoed loudly through the house. We shifted to a room with a window, where we could see the young human stood outside, his face all shiny.

  I spoke first. “It is the young fisherman. I believe he carries some beer.”

  Vanessa’s voice was quick, quiet and urgent. “You will not speak to him, nor will you alert him to your presence. You will remain in my bedroom until he has left.”

  I retreated to her bedroom. She glared at me until I shut the door. Then I heard her open the door which the human knocked at with such fervour.

  I spoke the words aloud, though only she would hear and understand them. “This young human fisherman is trouble. We do not hide from our sisters. Who is this human that I must hide from him?”

  30. Joe

  After we got back, I showered and got changed into some clean clothes. I even shaved carefully. When I was as presentable as I could manage, I got a six-pack of Stella out of the fridge and headed over to Vanessa’s place.

  The Siren was tied up at the jetty and there was a fresh set of washing out on her veranda. I dodged through the washing to get to her front door.

  I had to knock twice before she answered. She looked surprised to see me.

  “What is it?” she asked, a piece of toast in her hand.

  I held out the six-pack of beer. “You were right. The big lobsters like pink ribbons. I tried it on one of Skipper’s pots last night and now he thinks I’m the luckiest deckie in the Abrolhos, if not the world. So, now I owe you some beer.”

  She put the toast down and took the beers. She looked as if she was puzzled by them. “But I can’t drink all these by myself,” she said. “Come over tonight and share them with me.”

  My heart soared and then sank, like a rotten lobster thrown over the side. “Skipper said we had to go to the club on Little Rat tonight. He wanted to buy me a beer.”

  Her face fell. “Well, when you can. Afterwards, maybe, or another night.”

  “I’ll get out of the club as early as possible and come over tonight, if I can,” I promised her eagerly. “Otherwise, tomorrow for sure.”

  She smiled. “I’d like that.”

  31. Belinda

  I told Maria of the conversation when I joined her in the water.

  She enjoys the company of a human male? I do not understand. Who else among our people has dallied long enough with them to conceive more than one child? Except under necessary
circumstances.

  I looked at her in surprise. “It’s because of your father.”

  Maria’s confusion was palpable. “But she spent only a few days and nights here and the deed was done. Then she swam home with me inside her. She did not linger.”

  I was careful in my response, for it was difficult to believe she did not know. “Did you never ask why Mother was absent when you were little?”

  Maria was bitter. “Duty, the elders told me. She allowed it because she does not like me. I am a painful reminder of when duty required her to permit one of those dirty human males inside her.”

  My voice was gentle. “No. She spent only a brief time with your father, then swam home and announced to the elders that she would not do her duty.”

  Maria let out a very human snort with a stream of bubbles. “That would have gone down well. How could she say that when she already carried me?”

  I spoke as a healer, to one who knew little of such things. “It was too early to tell. She did not know and nor did the elders. So when she defied them, she was instructed to do her duty, and not return until she had.”

  “But she gave birth to me in the Nursery Grounds. She did not depart immediately.” Maria’s confusion lingered.

  I explained the story Grandmother Sephira had told me, many years ago. “No, she was permitted time to rest in the deep before she was required to depart, and in that time she discovered she carried you. The elders permitted her to stay until you were weaned, but for her defiance the judgement still stood.

  “She chose a rock island, far to the north of where she met your father. She hid in the caves beneath the island and roared her defiance at the cave walls, avoiding both her people and her duty. Yet the humans on the island heard her and one day one of them glimpsed her, swimming in the water. They called her a water dragon, for that was what she appeared to be to them.