Page 16 of Dauntless
“I leave again on Wednesday.”
“You might as well stay until then,” he said.He cleared his throat.“It’s better than a tent.And...it’s safer.”
A jolt of fear ran through me, followed by a flood of warm gratitude.The idea of replaying last night’s horror movie scenario had been an uneasy clench in my gut all day.I’d tried to ignore it, but it kept reminding me it was there.I couldn’t think of anything better than to spend another night in Joe’s little cottage, and not just because I liked him.I trusted him, and I needed that more than I’d guessed right now.“It really is.Thanks, Joe.That’d be great.”
We headed up the hill toward the lighthouse with Hiccup bounding ahead of us.
Chapter 5
RED JOE
Back at the cottage, we ate a lunch of roast beef and pickle sandwiches.
“Still want a tour of the lighthouse?”I asked over the washing up.
Eddie fumbled with a plate, almost dropping it back into the sink.“Hell yes!”
I grabbed my coat off the hook on the back of the kitchen door, and we headed outside into the sharp wind.
“I do tours in the summer sometimes,” I said as we crossed the yard to the lighthouse.“It’s a job requirement.I might be a little bit rusty though.”
I unlatched the door at the base of the lighthouse and pushed it open.I rarely kept the lighthouse locked during the day, especially not in winter when there were no tourists wandering around.Well, except for the one with me now.
“So,” I said as we stepped inside.I reached around and flicked the lights on.“This is it.”
The lighthouse was a narrow tower with a staircase that wound around the inside wall like a helix.There were two rooms off the entry hallway.The stairs were iron, painted white, with a sturdy handrail following them the whole way up.These days the stairs were covered in marine-grade non-slip tread, but they must have been a hazardous climb in wet weather in the old days.
Eddie moved over to the middle of the room and reached out to touch the massive central mast—also painted white—that extended up through the heart of the lighthouse.He tipped his head back as he looked up, his long fingers splayed against the glossy white paint.
“The lighthouse was built in 1892,” I said, falling into my awkward tour patter.It was somehow both easier and more difficult to do around Eddie.Easier, because even though I wasn’t much of a talker, the words flowed better when it was Eddie I was talking to.And harder, because every time I met his gaze I felt a spark of interest flickering between us like electricity.It made it hard to remember my spiel.“The tower is twenty-seven metres high, and there are ninety-six steps to the top.”
Eddie blinked.“Holy shit.You must have thighs like the Hulk!”
That threw me even more.My tourists usually didn’t say anything like that.
“Um,” I said, looking down at my boots briefly as though they might hold the answer.They didn’t.“Anyway.On the left here is the report room, later the radio room, where the keepers filled out their records and reports.The radio is fully operational, but I mostly use the one over in the cottage kitchen.And on the right is the generator and electrical control room.”
Eddie looked at the padlocked door of the control room with no real interest.
Of course not.Everyone always wanted to go up.
I nodded to the stairs.“Let’s go.”
Eddie put his hand on the rail at the bottom of the steps and began to climb.He tilted his head back to look up and tightened his grip on the rail.“Do you ever get claustrophobic?”
“There are windows along the way,” I said.“Stop if you need to.”
That feeling of the walls closing in wasn’t entirely imaginary.The tower got narrower and the stairs got steeper the higher we got.
We paused on the second floor.
“This is the flag locker room,” I said, pointing at the wooden lockers hugging the edge of the wall.“We’ve got over forty flags that were used to communicate between the lighthouse and passing ships, in the days before radio.They’re kept for backup, in case we lose radio contact, but I’ve never had to use them in my time here.”
Eddie ran his fingers over the surface of one of the lockers, his touch almost reverent.
“You can open it.”
Eddie opened the locker.
