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The officers did the sensible thing and a few of them stationed themselves between my family and Ben’s.
“You touch one of ours again, and there’ll be hell to pay!” Keith shouted between two officers’ shoulders at Margaret.
“Don’t threaten my mother!” Adrian had appeared at Margaret’s side. “And Ben’s the one who’s injured. How did that happen?”
Mallory joined the throng and held her hands up in the air, but nobody from either family paid her any mind.
“She saved my life!” Ben shouted above all the squabbling.
Suddenly, the jabbering stopped, and only the lapping of the waves shattered the silence.
“What are you talking about?” Margaret asked, twisting the rings on her fingers.
“I fell off that cliff trying to stop Morty from getting away.” Ben pointed up at the cliff. “If Maeve hadn’t jumped in after me, I would have drowned.”
“She’s a stronger swimmer than she looks,” he added.
I shot him a coy smile. Bless him, trying to cover my tracks for me.
“That’s what I like to hear.” Mallory snapped her head back and forth to look at both families. “You could all learn a thing or two from your youngsters.”
Dad wrapped an arm around my shoulders and squeezed. I enjoyed a small swell of pride in my chest.
“What happened to Morty?” Mallory asked, taking advantage of the silence.
“He hit the rocks,” I said. “He’s dead.”
Mallory pointed two fingers at three of her officers. “Look for him. Retrieve him only if you can safely.”
“Yes, Chief.” The three officers hurried off across the sand.
I clutched the sleeves of Ben’s shirt tighter around my waist. Something told me I’d be the one to retrieve that body, too.
“As for you two.” Mallory pointed at me and Ben. “You’re lucky I don’t lock you both up for defying me at every turn.”
Wow, she changed her tune quickly.
“You shan’t press charges.” Margaret clung to Ben’s arm, her head barely coming up to his shoulder.
“I can hardly do that.” Mallory placed her hands on her hips. “Given that they corrected such a big mistake on my part by declaring Tyler Bakewell’s death an accident.”
I wanted to tell her it wasn’t exactly her fault. There had been nothing in the autopsy to suggest foul play, and the only witnesses had kept the information to themselves.
“Right, let’s clear the beach. Ben, go to the hospital and get yourself healed. Everyone else, go back to your homes,” Mallory ordered.
There was a brief hesitation from both families. Usually in this kind of proximity, calmly walking away wasn’t the done thing.
But after a moment, Dad steered me away down the beach, with the rest of the family in tow.
I stole a look over my shoulder at Ben being led away by his own family. In a final shared gaze, we looked longingly at each other for the briefest of moments before our families escorted us away.
I had never wanted a bath so badly.
I soaked for at least an hour in the tub, switching between tail and legs at my leisure. Changing form had become easier the past few days.
Just like the night I couldn’t sleep, the water helped ease the day’s stress.
When I could bring myself to get out, I put on some pyjamas and flumped down on my bed. But my mind still raced with the events of the day. Sleep wouldn’t come to me soon. Unless maybe I slept in the pool again.
