A Father's Pledge

As they rounded the corner, leaving the house behind, Kat glanced back. Flight seemed to smile at her, she thought, as if they shared a secret. She suppressed a smile. Luke Travis would think she was quite irresponsible if he knew what sometimes went on in her head. One thing he definitely did not have was an imagination, though she probably had too much of one, if that was possible. Well, she decided, she needed her overactive imagination. Her career depended on it.

“Come on, kids,” she called. “I’ll race you to the path.”

* * *

LUKE GLANCED AT his watch and grimaced. He’d gotten caught up talking to Mike and lost track of time. Apparently, Kat had been pushing him about the animal therapy and she’d also asked for a meeting with Mollie Jackson. He should be the one talking to Mollie; Ben was his son, and Luke was desperate to make things right between them. Somehow he had to make amends for being missing for nine years...if that was even possible.

Reaching the front hall, he looked around for any sign of Kat or the children. It was only ten past six; surely she would have waited a few minutes. By twenty past, he realized he must have missed them. But he wasn’t giving up that easily. Luke strode out into the evening sunshine, deciding he’d go down into the bay and try to catch up with them. Mike had told him about Kat renting one of the cottages right on the shore, so he guessed they’d be headed in that direction.

He jogged down the narrow cliffside path, scanning the wide expanse of sea and sand. The tide was coming in, rushing round the perimeter of the bay. Prickles of alarm ran along his spine. Jenny Brown’s Bay was renowned for being dangerous, and these were the exact conditions that could cause serious problems. Apart from the undercurrents that were capable of dragging even strong swimmers out to sea, there were also quicksands. Kat had been here for only five minutes; did she even realize what could happen? The smooth stretches of sand might look harmless, but they could set around an unsuspecting wader’s feet and legs like concrete...and if the tide came in, they’d be trapped in rising waters. He increased his pace. Where were they?

* * *

KAT HEADED ALONG the shoreline with the children running ahead. When the tide began to rush in, she settled them safely on the rocks to watch.

“It’s called the bore,” she told them. “It’s a wave that rushes around the outside of the bay just as the tide starts coming in. Unsuspecting people who have gone out too far can get trapped by the water on the sandbank in the center.”

Ben looked up with interest. “Will we get caught?”

She shook her head. “No, because we understand the dangers. Eventually the tide will rise, almost to the edge of the track if it’s a high tide. Today, though, it will probably be lower than the flotsam and jetsam that we’re going to look at in a minute.”

“What’s flotsam and jetsam?” Tammy piped up.

Kat gave what she hoped was a mysterious smile. “It’s things cast off from life,” she said. “Things that people have let drift out to sea.”

“What kind of things?” asked Ben, obviously intrigued by the idea. He looked at her with his father’s eyes and her heart tightened. How come Luke Travis always managed to rattle her, even when he wasn’t here?

“Who knows,” she said. “Bottles, perhaps, from the other side of the world, maybe even with messages in them. Or toys or pottery, just objects from people’s lives. You can depend on the sea. It comes in every day and goes out again right on cue. No matter what’s going on in the world, the tides never change. You can depend on lots of things in nature—trees and animals and plants just do what they do, year after year. Grow, blossom, bear fruit...and have babies if they’re animals, of course.”

“Can we see the flotsam and jetsam now?” Ben asked.

“Of course you can.” Kat smiled. “As long as you promise not to try and go for a swim this time.”

“He’s not here this time, though, is he?” Ben said quietly.

For a moment, Kat felt a flicker of sympathy for Luke. He may have done wrong by Ben, but maybe it wasn’t right of her to judge him too harshly. She didn’t know all the details. He was Ben’s dad, after all, and it must hurt to see that the little boy wanted nothing to do with him. “Come on, then,” she urged. “Let’s go see what treasures we can find.”

She watched in delight as the three children searched for treasure among the rubbish and seaweed that made up the flotsam and jetsam. It was Ben who found a bottle; he picked it up carefully, holding it out to catch the rays of the sun. Despite its time spent being battered by the sea, the glass sparkled.

“Where do you think it came from?” he asked her, turning it to and fro.

“Could be anywhere in the whole wide world,” Kat told him. “Spain, perhaps...or France or Scotland.”

They all peered at it with excitement in their eyes, as if expecting the bottle to suddenly reveal its secrets.

“No message,” Ben announced sadly.

“Maybe not,” Kat said. “But it does have a picture on it.”

The sailing ship embossed in the glass immediately caught the imagination of all three children.

“What if it came from a pirate ship?” Ben suggested with awe.