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  ‘Oh no,’ said Ever, her head sinking into her hands as she heard the jet-ski driver they had been waiting on climb into the plane. Unperturbed, Kitty kept on reading.

  ‘Ploughing down the path carved before her by greats like Layne Beachley, Ever has become synonymous with big-wave surfing in a way few women before her have. Unafraid to take on some of the gnarliest breaks, she has racked up the bucks among the big boys with solid entries in the Billabong XXL Big Wave Awards the past three years. The quietest of the group, don’t be fooled by her reserved demeanor as this tough cookie is just as likely to take on a fifty-foot bomb at Jaws as she is to burn your house down if you look at her the wrong way. Yup, you guessed it: meet Left-Eye.’

  Kitty slapped the magazine down with a defeated air while Ever gripped her scalp with frustration.

  ‘Eeeeeerrrrggggghhh,’ she groaned.

  ‘You may be tough, but you ain’t no cookie,’ Kitty quoted to her, patting her gently on the shoulder.

  ‘Errrrrgggghhh.’

  ‘Ever, this is Prentice’s replacement guy—’ started her brother, before he was cut off by another groan.

  ‘Errrggggghhh.’

  ‘Ev?’

  ‘Ergh, what?!’ she snapped, her head jerking up with annoyance. Jake blinked as he copped the full brunt of her harsh reaction, his hand gently resting on the shoulders of their new guest. Ever froze in place, a thin whisp of air escaping her lips as she gave her new jet-ski driver a startled once-over. Tension hung thick in the air as Kitty and Ardelia shared a confused glance. Finally, the new arrival broke the silence.

  ‘Ariel?’ he asked, looking directly at Ever.

  Kitty’s face contorted with confusion, while Ardelia’s dawned with comprehension, a smirk slowly forming on her face as her head swivelled between her friend and the dishevelled but unmistakably handsome guy standing before her.

  ‘You went with “The Little Mermaid”, Ever? Really?’ Ardelia asked, trying to contain an abrupt burst of laughter as it danced behind her words.

  Ever looked at her, panic-stricken and not pleased with the sheer joy illuminating Ardelia’s features.

  ‘Whose Ariel? What’s “The Little Mermaid” beef about?’ asked Kitty, still a few paces behind.

  ‘I . . . uh.’ Ever was having trouble forming a proper sentence.

  ‘Do you guys know each other?’ asked Jake.

  ‘Oh, they know each other,’ muttered Ardelia, as Ever lightly slapped her shoulder.

  ‘Nain, this is my sister, Ever; Ever this is Prentice’s replacement jet-ski driver for you, Nain,’ Jake said, introducing the already acquainted pair.

  ‘We met,’ said Ever, standing up as a courtesy and giving him a nod. ‘Last night, actually.’

  ‘Oh,’ said Jake, before full understanding dawned. ‘Oh.’

  He disappeared from the awkward scenario so quickly he could have been a poltergeist, leaving Ever and Nain to their own devices. A weathered backpack was dangling from Nain’s shoulders, and he adjusted it simply so he’d have something to do rather than just stand there, surprised.

  ‘So,’ he began, ‘I guess your name’s not Ariel after all?’

  ‘Nope.’

  ‘And you’re probably not an accountant either?’

  ‘Definitely not.’

  ‘Well,’ he said with a knowing smirk, ‘this saves me having to track down your number.’

  Ever blushed momentarily about her subtle exit, but didn’t apologise. She wasn’t the ‘sorry’ type.

  ‘All right guys,’ shouted Jake. ‘We’re cleared for take-off. Everyone strap in and safety blah blah blah. Next stop: Hobart.’

  Nain and Ever shared a fleeting look before moving their separate ways: he taking the only spare seat across the aisle and she returning to the comfort of her two closest friends. She spared a sideways glance at him as he pushed his backpack underneath the seat and couldn’t help but feel a sense of annoyance. This was her space, her safe zone, her people. And now her one-night-stand had followed her into her world on potentially one of the most important days of her life. She did not like it.

  ‘I still have no idea what just happened,’ remarked Kitty, before Ardelia leaned forward and filled her in with a flurry of whispers and one unnecessary hand gesture. Ever kept her eyes focused on the luggage locker above her head as the plane took off and the pressure of the ascent pushed her head comfortably back in the cushion of her seat. When the seatbelt sign gently pinged to signal that it was okay to move around the cabin, Ardelia got to her feet and grabbed the copy of Surf International off Kitty’s lap. Ever realised what she was doing too late, and she watched with abject horror as Ardelia patted her on the shoulder and said: ‘Thank me later.’

  She strolled over to Nain, who glanced up as she arrived and handed him the magazine.

  ‘Here,’ she smiled. ‘Page twenty-two. There’s some interesting in-flight reading for you.’

  Ever felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment as she jerked her head back to look at Kitty, who was doing her best to keep a straight face.

  ‘I’m going to burn her house down,’ Ever whispered through gritted teeth, while Kitty burst out into a fit of throaty laughter.

  ***

  Ever closed her eyes as she hit the tarmac, sucking in a big gulp of the cold Tasmanian air. She found relief in the solid ground beneath her feet, and she steeled herself as a gentle breeze blew her hair around her face. Blocking out the sounds of everyone else disembarking in the background, she concentrated on the thud of her heartbeat. She opened her eyes, looking out at the hills illuminated by the rising sun as dawn crept ever closer. The crisp temperature made her tug her woollen beanie further down on her head. She turned, sensing a presence at her back, and watched as Nain stretched his impressive frame to its full capacity. He stifled a yawn and shook his head slightly as he came to stand beside her.

  ‘Well,’ he said.

  ‘Well?’

  ‘I still woke up next to you after all.’

  She laughed in spite of herself, and he looked down at her with a smirk.

  ‘I had this grand scheme on how I was going to make you breakfast,’ Nain started.

  ‘Is that so?’

  ‘Yeah. I was pretty sure I mentioned I was a really good cook.’

  ‘It may have come up,’ she smiled, a comfortable silence settling as they stared at the Hobart landscape.

  ‘Ariel, huh?’

  ‘Listen—’ she started to explain.

  ‘I thought you’d leave your number at the very least.’

  She tilted her head in confusion. ‘Why? Do you usually call your one-night-stands?’

  ‘There’s nothing usual about you.’

  Ever sighed as she felt heat flush her cheeks with annoyance. ‘I don’t wanna do this right now.’

  ‘We need to talk about it sometime.’

  ‘What’s there to talk about?’ she snapped. ‘I had a good time, you had a good time, now it’s back to real life.’

  ‘Is that all it was to you? A good time?’

  ‘Argh,’ she said, spinning around to face him. ‘Do you know what I’m about to try and do?’

  He stared at her, blinking. There was knowledge behind his eyes, but he had paused in his reply, sensing whatever he was about to say was wrong. She utilised his silence.

  ‘In a few hours I’m about to surf Shipstern Bluff.’

  ‘That’s what you do, though, right? I read the article Ardelia gave me. Big waves are your specialty.’

  She shook her head. ‘There are big waves and then there’s Shipstern Bluff. Not only is it one of the heaviest waves in the world, it’s one of the most dangerous. You could drop down the face of a ten-footer only to have it triple-up on you mid-descent and close out on your spine. It breaks in front of a cliff face with not a clear exit in sight and jagged rocks and the reef below you. If you survive that without a scratch, great. If not? You’re dripping blood in Great White-infested waters three hours from the nearest
hospital.’

  ‘I know it’s deadly, Ever,’ Nain replied, his voice full of understanding.

  ‘No, you don’t. I could count the number of women who have surfed Shipstern on one hand. Not only am I about to do it with a camera crew at my tail and the financial backing of surfing’s answer to Zeus, I’m about to do it on the largest southwest winter swell this place has seen in years and I need to do it before the low-pressure system we’re counting on gets hit by a northwesterly or makes landfall and becomes a cyclone. To add to that, the man who has kept me alive during some of the most ridiculous situations I’ve put myself in isn’t here. Yeah, I have a lot riding on this: money and my career and my rep. But I also don’t want to die getting smashed between a rock and a hard place while my brother, two best friends and half the world watch on. So, Nain, I need you to check your emotions and get your head in the game, because I do not wanna die today.’

  Nain’s lips had formed a crisp line as she spoke, and Ever stormed off towards one of the two waiting four-wheel-drives being loaded by the team. Her walk had purpose and drive to it, and she tried to capture how she felt in that moment as a way to continue to motivate herself. Push past the fear. Her brother opened up the door for her and she jumped in the backseat without a word. Ardelia was already sitting in the passenger side and — having watched Nain and Ever talking away from the group — raised an eyebrow at her friend as she slammed the door.

  ‘I’m fine,’ Ever mumbled. ‘It’s fine.’

  ‘What did you guys, uh, talk about?’

  ‘It was nonversation,’ she replied, shrugging it off. ‘Men are just very . . . complicated. Sometimes.’

  ‘Hey,’ said Kitty, popping up from under a sleeping bag in the boot of the car and making both Ardelia and Ever start. ‘It’s a change from you masturdating for a while.’

  ‘What?’ asked Ardelia, laughing while confused.

  ‘You know, going out to restaurants and movies alone all the time.’

  Ever leaned over the seat and playfully shoved Kitty’s head back into the sleeping bag. ‘I like my own company, thank you.’

  Kitty attempted to reply, but her words were muffled through the thick material. Jake jumped behind the steering wheel and started the engine, pausing to look at the other vehicle.

  ‘We should get Nain in here,’ he said.

  Ever watched him strap a surfboard to the roof of the car as the photographer laughed at something he said.

  ‘You guys have never ridden together before,’ Jake said.

  ‘Well . . .’ Ardelia muttered.

  He grinned at her briefly before twisting around in his seat. ‘No, seriously. It’s a specialist surf break. He needs to learn everything he can from you before we get there.’

  Ever nodded. She knew her brother was right. ‘Get him in here.’

  After a quick exchange with Jake, Nain was jogging casually over to the car with his backpack on one shoulder.

  ‘Ladies,’ he said, nodding at Kitty and Ardelia as he ducked his head into the car and shuffled over until he was sitting next to Ever in the backseat. Ardelia handed her laptop over, and Ever began bringing up on-screen everything she needed.

  ‘Right, boss,’ he said, smiling shyly at Ever, ‘what do I need to know?’

  ‘You should watch these first,’ she said, shoving the laptop towards him. ‘These are two clips from when Shipstern was surfed in conditions we think will be pretty similar to this. Jake said you’ve done tow-ins before?’

  ‘Yeah, at Pipe,’ Nain replied absentmindedly as he watched the footage.

  ‘Good,’ Ever said, ‘Good. This isn’t dissimilar, it’s just more—’

  ‘Unforgiving,’ Nain cut in, recoiling as he watched a particularly brutal wipeout.

  Ever met her brother’s pleased expression in the rearview mirror. ‘Exactly.’

  She waited until he had made it through the footage before she continued. ‘This could be just as dangerous for you if you drop your guard for even a split second.’

  ‘Mmm-hmmm,’ he nodded. ‘I saw Krusty nearly get caught in that lip.’

  ‘It’s not far to the channel, but that doesn’t mean it’s calm waters. Shipstern Bluff is unpredictable.’

  ‘I get that.’

  ‘But you need to keep your eyes on me, too, because if I wipe out and you’re a second too late for the pick-up I could go down and not come up. I’m not an idiot, Nain. I won’t pull into something I don’t think I can survive, but Shipstern can play tricks on you.’

  There was a long moment as they looked at each other, something thick in the air between them before Nain jerked his head back to the computer screen. Encouraged, Ever pushed on.

  ‘I’ll be wearing a hot-pink wetsuit, so I’ll be easier to spot when I surface. Jake will be riding with Kitty on another jet-ski as an extra pair of eyes, and you will all be hooked up with the waterproof walkie talkies, including Ardelia who’ll be watching from the boat. And you need to be careful of the backwash from the cliff face. If you get stuck in the break zone it’s a clusterfuck.’

  ‘Ever,’ he said, turning to her with a serious expression, ‘you’ve ridden bigger than this, right?’

  ‘Fifty-four foot at Jaws is her personal best,’ said Jake.

  Ever took a moment before she replied. ‘It’s not about the size of the wave; it’s about the size of the wave you think you can ride.’

  ***

  The cool, Antarctic winds were blowing in from the southwest, and the chill bit Ever’s nose until she couldn’t feel it anymore. She and the crew were standing on a sparse cliff top as they looked down at the waves crashing seventy metres below them. Kitty sighed as she pulled a pair of binoculars away from her face and shook her head.

  ‘It’s a mess,’ she said, disappointment etched into her features.

  ‘It’s out of control,’ Jake agreed.

  Ever wasn’t so sure. She had been watching the enormous waves roll in for two hours now, just after they’d arrived at ten that morning. As she had watched patiently, counting the waves in each set and measuring out the time between breaks in her head, she had begun to notice something. She turned behind her to look at Ardelia, who was sitting in the warm four-wheel-drive and scanning the internet. When she spun back around, it was Nain who interested her. His head was tilted to the side as if he was thinking deeply about something. She hoped it was the same thing she was. As if sensing her eyes on him, he slowly turned to face her and she saw a smirk of optimism there. She couldn’t help but return his grin with her toothiest smile.

  ‘What?’ asked Jake, looking between the two of them.

  ‘It’s calming down,’ said Ever.

  ‘How do you figure that? It’s a washing machine out there.’

  ‘She’s right,’ added Nain. ‘Since we’ve been standing here it has dropped off four footone-and-a-half metres at least, maybe more. It’s just very difficult to tell.’

  Kitty frowned and returned the binoculars to her eyes. ‘So that’s what? Two foot an hour? You’re going to need another five hours at least before it’s rideable.’

  ‘Ardelia, what time is sunset?’ Ever called out.

  ‘Huh? Oh, just before five-thirty.’

  Ever smiled triumphantly. ‘We’d have to wait until we almost lost the light.’

  ‘It would have to clean up a lot, too,’ mused Jake.

  ‘It is,’ said Nain. ‘See how it’s breaking on the shoulder? In a few more hours it will be a clean ride.’

  ‘I’d never use the word “clean” to describe Shippies,’ said Kitty. ‘It’s as heavy as Teahupoo. You’ve gotta respect the beast man.’

  They fell silent at her words and watched the sea in turmoil beneath them, the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks their only companion.

  ‘Let’s do it,’ said Ever, not looking away from the water.

  ‘You sure?’ asked Jake. ‘We’ve got some great footage of you from Fiji and Bells, so this wouldn’t be a complete waste of time
.’

  ‘I’m sure,’ she replied without hesitation.

  ‘All right then,’ Kitty noted.

  Ever swung into action, throwing her arms loosely in front of her and clapping. ‘Let’s take a few hours, eat and stretch it out before getting on the boats so we’re in the perfect position for this to work.’

  She pretended not to notice as her brother mumbled ‘Let’s hope it does.’

  ***

  Ever was shaking her limbs as hard as she could. She tossed her leg and wiggled it. Taking a deep breath, she moved her hands like she was trying to recreate spirit fingers and hopped up and down on the spot. This was it. This was the moment of truth. The surf had done as she predicted, with the waves settling down enough that it now resembled something surfable. Vaguely. Ever was all too aware that if she pulled this off, it would be the biggest day surfed in the history of Shipstern Bluff. And Shippies had seen some big days. She was trying to keep her body — and her nerves — loose as she shook everything out. Seemingly, she was oblivious to the temperature as she stood there with her wetsuit folded down to her hips, the top half of her toned body and bare skin exposed to the elements in just a bikini top. She barely noticed the goosebumps on her skin. She had been left alone at the rear of the boat where the three jet-skis had been tied up while the party waited in the safety of a deep channel. The low, almost primal growl of the waves as they hollowed out and crashed against the water and the rock beneath them with bone-crushing force was her soundtrack.

  She sensed someone at her back, but she didn’t turn to see who it was. She knew it was Nain. Ever had pretended not to notice how his tall, lean body looked clad head-to-toe in his own skintight navy-blue wetsuit. He’d joked that he wasn’t comfortable using his usual black one because he didn’t want the Great Whites to mistake him for a seal. She touched her long, black hair nervously to make sure it was all pulled back into the one tight braid Ardelia had done for her.

  ‘We all clear on what needs to be done?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes, boss.’ His tone made her turn around and face his smirk.