Is That a Boat?

*Isla*

It’s the middle of the night when we arrive at the docks. Earlier in the day, Antony had abandoned the car, thinking we were being followed, and we’d all gotten on a train to Port Westerly. It hadn’t seemed like a good idea to me because in a car we could change courses. A train was kind of stuck in one path, no matter what.

But like most things on this trip, I’d left it up to my cousin to decide what he thought was best.

Now, we were making what he described as a short walk to the dock from the train station.

Two hours after we’d left the station, I finally saw water and smelled the breeze coming off of the sea.

Yeah… short walk.

“It’s dark,” Poppy points out, as if we were not aware. “Aren’t we going to have to find a place to sleep for the night and catch a boat out in the morning?”

Antony scoffs. “Yeah, sure if you’re going away on holiday or to visit family in a regular port of call. That’s not how things work when you’re going to Maatua, dummy.”

“Dummy?” Poppy is ready to