“Yes! Look, there’s more.” Max leans forward, clutching the side of the boat as we catch up with them. The dolphins are extremely fast swimmers, effortlessly keeping up with the boat as it cuts through thewater.
“They’re so close, I can almost touch them,” I say, leaning over the side of the boat. Just beneath the surface I can see four dolphins swimming side by side. One is in the centre, the other three surrounding it. “Do you see that,Max?”
He places his hand over mine. “I see it,” he says in awe. The dolphin in the centre breaks free from the others and swims to the surface, leaping out in a spray of sparkling water. I can practically touchit.
“Oh my God, Max,” I exclaim. He laughs delightedly as the dolphin dives back into the sea. The other three break the surface, following after her. I have no idea whether it is a female or not, but I’m going with that. We watch them as they swim away, curving off towards deeper water as we head into theshallows.
“Well, that’s another experience to cross off my bucket list,” I say. I can’t stop smiling. “That has to be one of the best things I’ve everwitnessed.”
“Me too, Icy, me too,” Max says, his grin wide and carefree. He pulls me into his arms, and we sit in stunned silence, digesting what we’ve justwitnessed.
A couple of minutes later, we are pulling up to Railay beach. The golden sand runs along the length of the shore and is flanked by huge rocks. Set amongst the lush green trees are huts selling food and drink. There are people milling around, some are sunbathing, lots are swimming in the ocean. I can hear laughter and happiness over the wash of the waves against the shore. It’sparadise.
“Tell me that isn’t Bryce and Hudson,” I say, pointing to a couple of figures climbing up the rockface.
“Could well be. Let’s go see, shall we.” Max pays the driver generously and asks him to wait for us before jumping into the sea and holding his hand out to me. He’s up to his thighs in the water and I can see tiny silver fish swimming around hislegs.
“No falling over this time,” helaughs.
“Hey, I’m not that clumsy.” I take his hand and jump down into the water, just as a small wave lifts the boat forward. Of course I manage to fall forwards. Even under the surface of the water I can hear Max’s laughter. Firm hands wrap around my waist and pull me upwards whilst I cough out a mouthful of seawater.
“Don’t say a word,” Iwarn.
Max clamps his mouth shut, biting down on the laugh I can see he’s desperate to let out. I smooth my wet hair back, and with as much dignity as I can muster, stride out of the water and onto thebeach.
“Hey, wait up,” Max calls, running after me. He wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me to hisside.
“You have to admit, it was funny.” A laugh bubbles up his throat and he places his hand over his mouth to stop it fromescaping.
“Don’t give yourself an aneurysm. Just let it out,” I sigh. He does, and after a while I can’t help but join in. We’re laughing so hard that we end up drawing attention from holidaymakers sunbathing on the beach. Eventually, we both calm down enough to have aconversation.
“So, now we’ve got that out of our system, is that really Hudson and Bryce I see climbing up there?” I ask, pointing towards two men who look suspiciously like them. We are closer now to the rock face and I’m almost certain from their physiques it’sthem.
“Yup, pretty sure it’sthem.”
“That’s really high, Max.” A sudden thread of worry creeps up my spine. “I hope it’ssafe.”
“They’ve been climbing before. See those two guys there at the bottom,” Max says, pointing to two men holding the rope. “They’re called the belayers, they pull the rope in as Bryce and Hudson climb up, keeping the rope taut. In the rock face are bolts that Bryce and Max will clip onto as they climb. So even if they fall before reaching the next protection point, they will only fall back to the last point. They’re perfectlysafe.”
Now that we are closer, I can see them both more clearly. It’s definitely them. Bryce is slightly lower down than Hudson, who is about twelve feet abovehim.
“Shouldn’t they be wearing helmets or something?” I ask, noticing they are decidedlyhelmetless.
Max laughs. “You’re kidding? Those two put helmets on? It’s like asking me to wear a helmet when I ski. That’s never going tohappen.”
“Well, that’s just bloody stupid. If they fall they could crack their heads against the rock. They’re idiots for not wearing them just because they don’t look cool.” I cross my arms in indignation. “You wait until I get to speak withthem.”
“Don’t worry about it, Louisa. They’ll be…” Max’s voice trails off, the sentence cut short as his eyes widen in shock. I follow his gaze and time seems to slow down as I see Hudson’s foot miss the next spot, just as his hand pulls free some loose rocks above his head. He doesn’t have enough purchase and he slips backwards. I watch in horror as he falls. The scream that leaves my mouth doesn’t register until a few seconds after my consciousness has caught up. Hudson’s body slams against the rock face lower down. The belayer on the ground pulls the rope taut but not quick enough to prevent Hudson’s head from smashing against a ledge sticking out of the stone. I swear I can hear the sound of his skullcracking.
“Hudson!!” Bryce shouts, now directly to the right of him. He moves across the wall, making dangerous moves to get to him. I stand in utter shock as Hudson hangs like a limp rag halfway up the rock face, saved only by the protector bolt eight feet below where he lost his foothold. Max sprints off ahead of me, and as the sound of people shouting and men running out from a hut on the beach comes into focus, the full impact of what has happened hitshome.
“Hudson,” I scream, running after Max across thebeach.