Kraken Read Online Free PDF Page A

wouldn’t mind if he used some shampoo. He’d send him some thank you cash when he got home.
     
    While he was drying off there was a tap on the bathroom door.
     
    “There’s something for you to wear today when you’re ready,” called Cyrus.
     
    He dried off, and found a pile of clothes right outside the bathroom door. Tan pants, and a cable-knit sweater to go over a soft navy-blue t-shirt. As he came back out into the main room Cyrus was just coming in from the porch. He gestured past Will to a steaming mug on the dining table.
     
    “At least there’s coffee. I’ll be quick.”
     
    “Thanks for the clothes.”
     
    “No problem.”
     
    Once he was certain Cyrus was in the shower Will stepped out under the trees and tipped the hot beverage out into the leaf litter, grimacing. He didn’t like to be rude, but instant coffee was not coffee. A handful of tiny thrushes clustered around a nearby tree, fluttering at his bad manners. He heard the sussurrar of waves, and realized he was on a headland.
     
    He found his shoes, stuffed with newspaper, drying on the porch, and sat down to put them on. A drip of water landed on his neck, and he shivered. Cyrus stood close behind him, radiating heat from his shower.
     
    “I’m glad you’re here,” said Cyrus.
     
    Will shifted uneasily. “Shall we go?”
     
    “Right.”
     
    Cyrus grabbed a knapsack on their way out. There was a second sliding door on the other side of the house, opening on to the other side of the wraparound porch. Cyrus started down the steps.
     
    “Aren’t you going to lock it?” asked Will.
     
    Cyrus looked back and grinned. “City boy. No one here would steal from me. Come on.”
     
    The path to the beach appeared be designed for something small and nimble with hydraulic brakes. It was built in a series of switchback turns, with only a few begrudging steps made from logs and rammed earth to make it manageable.
     
    At the bottom of the cliff was a tiny shingle beach, only just big enough for the large aluminum dinghy pulled above the high-water mark, and tied to a handy tree with a red and white painter. To the right a rocky shore extended forty feet or so before the point curved away out of sight. To the left a bay carved through the forest, the deeper green of a channel visible in the centre, where a creek must run down from the hills before feeding out to the ocean.
     
    “Which way?” asked Will, looking across the bay to where a matching point marked its end, far on the other side.
     
    “Here,” said Cyrus, pointing to the boat.
     
    “I thought we were going to the store?”
     
    “Yes.”
     
    “But that’s a boat.”
     
    “You don’t miss much, do you?”
     
    “No, I can’t— “ Will took a deep breath. “I can’t go in a boat.”
     
    “What do you mean? She’s plenty big enough for two of us. She’s 12 feet long!”
     
    “That’s not it.” Will hoped Cyrus would drop it, but he stood there, hands on hips, watching Will, until finally he burst out, “I’m afraid of the water.”
     
    Cyrus snorted. “That’s stupid. You came here in a boat.”
     
    “No, that was . . .” Will gestured vaguely with his arms. “Bigger. I didn’t have to see the ocean.” Will thought of Aiden’s arms wrapped around him. The water hadn’t seemed so scary at that moment.
     
    Cyrus considered Will through narrowed eyes, then huffed out a breath. “Can you help me push her out, at least? You can get wet, right?”
     
    “No, I can . . . I mean, yes, I can help you push her out. I can paddle. You know. Wade. Just not— not over my head.”
     
    Cyrus dusted a deep layer of pine needles and ash leaves off the seats.
     
    “Hang on a minute,” he said. “Here, hold these.” Cyrus handed Will two honey-colored wooden oars. “Just go and stand down there, for a second.” He pointed at the sea’s edge. As soon as Will moved Cyrus pushed the little boat up on edge and let it tip over upside down, like a turtle.