Read Online The Sound of Whales by Kerr Thomson - Free Book Online

and ploughed into the ocean after him. The water was icy cold and it snatched away his breath. He struggled to keep upright in the surf. Dunny was in up to his waist when Fraser reached him. He grabbed his arm and hauled him towards the shore.
    â€˜You can’t swim with orcas,’ he shouted, panting. ‘They’re carnivores, they could attack.’
    Dunny shook his head and tried to tug free. Fraser pulled again but his brother resisted; he was stronger than he looked.
    â€˜Dunny!’ he shouted again and he heard Hayley yell from the beach. A wave rolled over them and its crest slapped him on the face giving him a mouthful of salty water. When he looked the whales were closer, he could almost have reached out and touched a fin. He tightened his grip around Dunny’s arm and heaved. The boy’s legs gave out from under him, he floated for a moment and Fraser pulled hard. Slowly they splashed back towards the shore. Hayley and Jonah helped them on to the dry sand.
    Fraser stood on the beach and dripped water and held on to his brother’s arm. He could feel Dunny pull against him, as if he wasn’t done yet with the whales. The orcas were further out now, dark fins silhouetted against the dim horizon, cutting through the water with barely a ripple.
    â€˜We can’t swim with them,’ Fraser said, taking deep breaths. They stood and gazed for a few moments. ‘A pod of orcas, can you believe it? I almost don’t mind getting wet.’
    Dunny sat on the sand and Fraser sat down beside him. He shivered in his wet clothes as they watched the whales and Fraser realized they were alone. He could see the figure of Hayley making her way towards town, and Jonah must have gone back to his cave.
    â€˜This isn’t so bad.’
    He looked at his brother and saw him gently smile.
    â€˜We haven’t done this kind of thing for ages.’ He laughed in amazement. ‘Well, we’ve never done this exactly. There’s never been killer whales before.’
    And in turn each whale blew, a deep whoosh that echoed across the waves, sending up a spray of water that glimmered in the moonbeams.

CHAPTER 8
    H ayley returned to the harbour alone, leaving the Dunbar boys captivated by the whales. It had been fascinating to start with, especially when Dunny had tried to get eaten, but there were only so many circling silhouettes she could enjoy. And it was time to head back – it had been two hours since dinner and her mom would be panicking.
    As she climbed on to the end of the jetty she heard laughter and voices and one of them was her mom’s. She didn’t sound frantic with worry. Hayley listened some more and made out a man’s voice with a Scottish accent. Ben McCaig! What was going on here?
    Her first impulse was to march over, full of indignation, but then she thought she should listen for a bit. Get some evidence to back up her outrage. She dropped back down on to the beach and crept along until she was level with Ben’s boat on the other side of the stone wall. Her mother was on top of the jetty talking to Ben.
    â€˜Well, if you see her, you can tell her to get home.’
    Hayley thought again, This is not my home .
    â€˜They’ll be by the harbour somewhere. Nowhere else to go.’
    â€˜It is a lovely little harbour. Is yours the only boat that moors here?’
    â€˜There’s a marina along the coast. Most of the boats berth there now.’
    â€˜Are there many?’
    â€˜A few. There used to be a fishing fleet, before my time, but the fish have gone now, if not the old fishermen. A few still work, a few still have their boats.’
    So her mom was researching and flirting at the same time.
    â€˜You’re all alone here, then?’
    â€˜Aye, the harbour’s too wee for most of the boats. An occasional yacht will tie up in the summer and there’s the ferry, although it doesn’t always come, not if the seas are rough. That