The Silence of the Sea Read Online Free PDF

Arna. Father and daughter had both been wild with excitement the night before, whereas Lára and Bylgja’s response had been more muted. Lára’s main worry had been that she wasn’t that strong a swimmer, and of course Bylgja had not revealed what was going on in her mind. Eventually, however, Lára had been infected by their enthusiasm and become the prime mover in organising the trip. She would be terribly disappointed if it didn’t go ahead. He would have to shrug off his apprehension, especially now that he was about to meet the captain face to face. He braced himself. ‘Well, let’s go. The man’s waiting.’ Again his wife and daughters looked at him in surprise over this sudden volte-face, but they followed him without a word.
    As they drew near the picturesque square, which Ægir had read was the largest in Europe, they were greeted by a warm gust of wind – a harbinger of spring. Ægir’s doubts evaporated. In the distance the innocently calm sea sparkled as if to reassure him that everything would be all right. Indeed, what could go wrong? He smiled to himself: what had got into him? It would be an adventure, and he had successfully won round trickier customers than this captain in his time. In fact, it was his reputation as an accomplished mediator that had secured him the job of sorting out the red tape surrounding the yacht. He had spent the last two days going from one Portuguese office to another, settling unpaid harbour fees, obtaining licences and submitting documents to confirm the transfer of ownership.
    On the other side of the river, Christ opened his arms to the city. The statue, magnificent on its lofty pedestal, was a smaller scale version of Rio’s famous ‘Christ the Redeemer’. ‘Look, Daddy. There’s Jesus again.’ Arna pointed to the monument. Bylgja shaded her eyes and contemplated it in silence. She had been very impressed when their mother told them that the city’s human and animal inhabitants lived under Christ’s protection. Ægir didn’t know for sure whether his daughters believed in God, but he assumed so. Despite counting themselves as Christian, neither he nor Lára were practising or ever discussed religion at home, but his parents were churchgoers and he trusted them to talk over such matters with the girls in a tactful manner. ‘Why don’t we have a Jesus to protect Reykjavík?’ Arna tugged at her father’s sleeve. ‘Isn’t that silly?’
    ‘Yes, probably,’ Ægir replied distractedly, scanning the square in search of the café the captain had suggested for their meeting.
    Once inside the small establishment his eyes took a moment to adjust to the gloom. The captain, who was sitting alone at a table, rose as they approached. He introduced himself as Thráinn. Ægir noticed how calloused the man’s hand was, though the captain kept the handshake as brief as possible without seeming positively rude. Perhaps he was ashamed of his workman’s fist.
    While Lára was at the bar buying soft drinks for the girls, Thráinn asked: ‘Is the paperwork sorted?’ His voice was as brusque as his handshake. ‘I’d like to sail this evening if possible. The sooner we leave port, the sooner we’ll be home.’
    ‘I see no reason to hang about. I’ve got all the documents that were stipulated. If it turns out something’s missing, we’ll just have to chance it.’ Ægir drew his chair closer to the table. One of the steel legs had lost its rubber guard and it screeched across the tiled floor.
    ‘Can you be on board by six?’ The captain had yet to meet Ægir’s eye. ‘It’s as good a time as any and I’d like to leave while it’s still light. It gets dark between seven and eight.’
    ‘Fine by me.’ Ægir tried smiling at the man. This was going to be easier than he’d expected. If Thráinn had been intending to renew his objections, he had evidently changed his mind; perhaps he couldn’t bring himself to refuse them passage in the girls’ presence.