Read Online The Wolf Witch (The Keys Trilogy Book 1) by Anna Roberts - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Anna Roberts
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isn’t it?”
He grinned, his teeth bright white in the sunshine. “Relax. I’ll be holding your hand the whole way. In through the tube, out through the nose. Keep your feet up, your body parallel and enjoy the show, okay?”
She took a deep breath and realized that the next one she took would be underwater. His hand was there – extended towards her, and she took it. He smiled briefly, his face lumpy and distorted by the mask and snorkel, and then they fell backwards together into the water.
The first thing she saw was bubbles and she was immediately conscious of her feet – get them up, get them away from the coral – but then she lost Gabe’s hand. For a second she almost panicked but then somehow she got turned around and the sight that greeted her was so beautiful that even if she had needed to breathe right away, she might have forgotten how.
His hand was in hers again. She tentatively sucked air in through the snorkel and was amazed to find it worked. In through the tube, out through the nose. Got it.
She hadn’t known what to expect, but it wasn’t this. She had imagined some murky dive in empty waters, interesting only to aficionados, but instead it was like she had fallen backwards into a giant tropical fish tank.
Jewel bright fish darted in and out of the coral – blue and yellow, black and red. Beneath her was a large greenish coral, all complicated creases like the surface of a brain. Swaying fronds of red and green seaweed and then a shimmering shoal of tiny fish, flashing out so fast that they made her breath come out in a series of surprised bubbles. Gabe gently tugged her hand and pointed, and there – just a little way away, shot through with the sunlight beaming through the crystal blue water - was a jellyfish. A big, wide-brimmed, pink-trimmed cellophane crinoline of a thing, fragile and beautiful as the reef itself, long stinging tendrils floating out beneath it.
It was so overwhelming that she almost wanted to go back up; she only had one pair of eyes and there was just so much to look at; disc shaped black fish with white, disdainful lips, electric blue tail fins beating through the waves, so many shapes and shades of coral that she thought her mind would burst with trying to absorb it all. Then, when she thought she had seen it all, there was a turtle, spotted flippers rowing over the reef with stately antique grace.
When they came back up she was amazed she had ever been afraid to go under.
“Cool, huh?” said Gabe, when she was clumsily flopping back into the boat, a sad comedown from floating beneath the waves.
Blue pulled back her mask, scrunching her eyes against the sunlight. “Cool? Slight understatement.”
He laughed. “Knew you’d get a kick out of it,” he said, slipping off his fins.
“I had no idea. I didn’t expect to see so much on the first go.”
“That’s reefs for you. Ecologists don’t yell about them so much just because they’re pretty; they’re heaving with all kinds of life. There’s stuff down there that hasn’t even been discovered yet.”
“Seriously?”
He shook the water out of his hair. “Oh yeah. I know it seems like we’ve been everywhere – both poles, top of Mount Everest. Even the moon. But when you look at an ecosystem like that you just know there’s stuff we haven’t found; Mother Nature still has plenty of tricks up her sleeve.”
“It’s incredible,” she said, still dizzy with everything she’d seen. “I don’t know how to thank you for this.”
Gabe grinned and pulled out a cooler from under the seat. “Oh, that’s easy,” he said, opening the lid to reveal a handful of beers bobbing in half melted ice. “I figured I was going to ask you out for a drink at some point, but now’s as good a time as any, I guess.”
She laughed. “Do you always take girls out on the reefs before asking them out for drinks?”
He handed her a Peroni, the label almost peeled off in the wet. “Only the ones I want to see
He grinned, his teeth bright white in the sunshine. “Relax. I’ll be holding your hand the whole way. In through the tube, out through the nose. Keep your feet up, your body parallel and enjoy the show, okay?”
She took a deep breath and realized that the next one she took would be underwater. His hand was there – extended towards her, and she took it. He smiled briefly, his face lumpy and distorted by the mask and snorkel, and then they fell backwards together into the water.
The first thing she saw was bubbles and she was immediately conscious of her feet – get them up, get them away from the coral – but then she lost Gabe’s hand. For a second she almost panicked but then somehow she got turned around and the sight that greeted her was so beautiful that even if she had needed to breathe right away, she might have forgotten how.
His hand was in hers again. She tentatively sucked air in through the snorkel and was amazed to find it worked. In through the tube, out through the nose. Got it.
She hadn’t known what to expect, but it wasn’t this. She had imagined some murky dive in empty waters, interesting only to aficionados, but instead it was like she had fallen backwards into a giant tropical fish tank.
Jewel bright fish darted in and out of the coral – blue and yellow, black and red. Beneath her was a large greenish coral, all complicated creases like the surface of a brain. Swaying fronds of red and green seaweed and then a shimmering shoal of tiny fish, flashing out so fast that they made her breath come out in a series of surprised bubbles. Gabe gently tugged her hand and pointed, and there – just a little way away, shot through with the sunlight beaming through the crystal blue water - was a jellyfish. A big, wide-brimmed, pink-trimmed cellophane crinoline of a thing, fragile and beautiful as the reef itself, long stinging tendrils floating out beneath it.
It was so overwhelming that she almost wanted to go back up; she only had one pair of eyes and there was just so much to look at; disc shaped black fish with white, disdainful lips, electric blue tail fins beating through the waves, so many shapes and shades of coral that she thought her mind would burst with trying to absorb it all. Then, when she thought she had seen it all, there was a turtle, spotted flippers rowing over the reef with stately antique grace.
When they came back up she was amazed she had ever been afraid to go under.
“Cool, huh?” said Gabe, when she was clumsily flopping back into the boat, a sad comedown from floating beneath the waves.
Blue pulled back her mask, scrunching her eyes against the sunlight. “Cool? Slight understatement.”
He laughed. “Knew you’d get a kick out of it,” he said, slipping off his fins.
“I had no idea. I didn’t expect to see so much on the first go.”
“That’s reefs for you. Ecologists don’t yell about them so much just because they’re pretty; they’re heaving with all kinds of life. There’s stuff down there that hasn’t even been discovered yet.”
“Seriously?”
He shook the water out of his hair. “Oh yeah. I know it seems like we’ve been everywhere – both poles, top of Mount Everest. Even the moon. But when you look at an ecosystem like that you just know there’s stuff we haven’t found; Mother Nature still has plenty of tricks up her sleeve.”
“It’s incredible,” she said, still dizzy with everything she’d seen. “I don’t know how to thank you for this.”
Gabe grinned and pulled out a cooler from under the seat. “Oh, that’s easy,” he said, opening the lid to reveal a handful of beers bobbing in half melted ice. “I figured I was going to ask you out for a drink at some point, but now’s as good a time as any, I guess.”
She laughed. “Do you always take girls out on the reefs before asking them out for drinks?”
He handed her a Peroni, the label almost peeled off in the wet. “Only the ones I want to see
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