excuse to be out of the way – both of the crew, and Linus and Emil beside her, who were now deep in conversation. Or rather, Linus was machine-gunning Emil with question after question about the boat: ‘What’s a Code Zero spinnaker?’; ‘Can it tip over?’; ‘Has it tipped over?’; ‘Have any men gone overboard? Have any men been lost at sea?’; ‘Have any drowned?’; ‘Why aren’t you skipper?’
Bell was listening with one ear open, and heard Emil stall at that last one.
‘Can’t you sail any more?’ Linus pressed.
‘I can sail, of course, but a craft like this is technical and highly physical.’
‘So you’re not strong enough?’
There was another pause. ‘It’s not just a question of strength, Linus.’
‘What, then?’
‘. . . Well, obviously I could do it.’
She heard the sound of footsteps.
‘Your dad’s right, little man,’ said the Aussie voice. ‘I know it might look easy, but trust me, this isn’t for amateurs. This is an expensive boat. It can go four times faster than the wind. It’s best to leave it to professionals, and you guys just clip on and enjoy the ride.’
There was a small silence and then Emil spoke. ‘Well, I don’t have to do that, clearly.’
Bell heard the silence and turned her head, seeing Mats frozen in a crouch in front of Linus, holding out his bespoke, all-black Linea life jacket. ‘Well, no, I didn’t mean you . . .’ But his hesitation betrayed evident uncertainty.
‘Will you skipper us home, then?’ Linus asked him, green eyes shining with the wonderment that accompanied his new-found father’s every move.
Bell felt her stomach tighten. Linus wasn’t challenging his father; he was investing his hopes in him, which was worse. She sat up, her dread growing again.
Emil smiled tightly. ‘. . . Sure. Why not?’
Mats looked back at Bell for help – as though she had any influence over him! Several of the crew stopped what they were doing and looked up with sceptical expressions, low hisses as they whispered below their breath. But if Emil heard their doubts, it only served to make him more determined.
‘Yes, that’s a great idea, in fact,’ he said, warming to the idea. ‘Well done, Linus. Will you be my first mate?’
Linus gasped so deeply, Bell thought he was going to sneeze. ‘Oh, can—?’
‘No!’ she said, so quickly, she was sitting up and positioning herself between the two of them, her hands automatically outstretched onto his shoulders and holding him firmly. Emil’s gaze went to them as before, but this time she didn’t remove them. ‘No.’
A moment passed in which she thought he was going to berate her again, defy her in front of all these men, but then – either because he saw the madness of what he was suggesting, or he clocked the unwavering defiance in her eyes – he relented. ‘On second thoughts, you’re probably too light, bud; the wind’s got up.’
They all looked up at the darkening sky. The clouds were gathering quickly, and she’d sailed through enough storms to know they wouldn’t outpace this one. They had overstayed their time here. ‘You’d best stay clipped by the rails with Bell. I don’t know what your mother would do to me if I told her we’d lost you at sea. She’s pretty scary when she gets mad.’
He winked and Linus laughed, and Bell could see he seemed to revel in the familial intimacy implied in such a scenario. His father and mother, together in a story; together in real life? Was this the first time such a thought had occurred to him? Even with the excitement and novelty that Emil had brought to his life, Bell knew he had still only ever seen Max as his father. Until now.
‘Let’s go,’ Emil said, looking first at Mats and then casting pointed looks at the crew, who all nodded reluctantly at this management takeover.
The atmosphere was different on the way back: the dizzying joy that had accompanied their playful, boastful, ‘faster, faster’ sortie on the way out had become muted and tense. The crew seemed to be working twice as hard as they had on the outbound leg, and several times, Bell saw Emil shout an order that made them stop in their tracks and look at one another quizzically, before Mats would countermand it with either a tiny shake of his head or give another under his breath.
Emil didn’t seem to notice, his gaze pinned to the horizon. He had planted his legs in a wide-legged stance, but as the swell