Free MIRACLE ON KAIMOTU ISLAND/ALWAYS THE HERO by Marion Lennox Page A

rejecting friendship, too?’
    There was a long silence while they both sat and stared out over the moonlit sea. He kept his hand where it was, gently on her shoulder, and he felt her make a huge—vast—effort to relax.
    What had those guys done to her—her father and her husband? He thought back to the laughing, carefree girl who’d been his friend and he felt...
    Yeah, well, there was no use going down that road. He couldn’t slug dead people.
    He wanted to pull her closer. It took an almost superhuman effort to keep it light, hold the illusion that this was friendship, nothing more.
    ‘I’ll come out eventually,’ Ginny said at last. ‘I can’t stay in my shell for ever and Button will haul me out faster.’
    ‘You’ll go back to the mainland?’
    ‘No!’ It was a fierce exclamation.
    ‘This island’s not for hiding, Ginny,’ he said softly. ‘Life happens here as well.’
    ‘Yes, but I can take Button tadpoling here.’
    ‘She’ll love it.’ He hesitated but the urge was too great. ‘Let me in a little,’ he said. ‘We used to be friends. I’m the second-best tadpoler on the island. We could...share.’
    She stiffened again. ‘Ben, I don’t... I can’t...’
    ‘Share?’
    ‘That’s the one.’ She rose, brushing away his touch. Her face was pale in the moonlight and he wondered again what those guys had done to her. Unbidden he felt his hands clench into fists. His beautiful Ginny...
    ‘It’s okay,’ he made himself say, forcing the anger from his voice. ‘Treat the island as a shell, then. You have Button in there with you, though, and I have a feeling she’ll tug you out. And you came out tonight. Henry’s alive because you came out, and you can’t imagine how grateful I am.’
    ‘It’s me who should be grateful,’ she said. ‘Henry was my friend.’
    ‘Henry is your friend.’ And then, as she didn’t reply, he pushed a little bit further.
    ‘Ginny, no one on this island judged you because of who your parents were. You stayed here for ten summers and there are lots of islanders who’d call you their friend. My family almost considered you one of us. We’re all still here, Ginny, waiting for you to emerge and be our friend again.’
    ‘I can’t.’
    ‘No,’ he said, and because he couldn’t stop himself he touched her cheek, a feather touch, because the need to touch her was irresistible and she was so beautiful and fearful and needful.
    So Ginny.
    ‘You can’t,’ he said. ‘But tonight you did.’ And then, before he knew what he was going to do, before she could possibly know for he hadn’t even realised he was about to do it himself, he stooped and kissed her, lightly, on the lips.
    It had been a feather touch. He’d backed away before she’d even realised he’d done it, appalled with himself, putting space between them, moving away before she could react with the fear he knew was in her.
    But he had to say it.
    ‘We’re all here, waiting,’ he said into the darkness. ‘We’ll wait for as long as it takes. This island is as old as time itself and it has all the patience in the world.’
    And as if on cue the world trembled.
    It was the faintest of earth tremors, exactly the same as the tremors that had shaken this island since time immemorial.
    A tiny grumble of discord from within.
    Nothing to worry about? Surely not.
    ‘Or maybe it’s saying hurry up,’ Ben said, and grinned, and Ginny managed a shaky smile.
    ‘It’ll have to wait.’
    ‘Maybe the island’s giving you a nudge. Like we gave you a nudge. You saved Henry tonight, Ginny, so there’s a start. No pressure, love, but when you come out of your shell, we’re all waiting.’
    No pressure.
    He watched as she put her fingers to the lips he’d just kissed. He watched as she watched him, as something fought within her.
    What had her father and husband done to her?
    ‘I...I need to go,’ she faltered, and he didn’t move towards her and God only knew the effort it cost him not