Page 92 of Everything That Kills Me
Several minutes later, Zeph went back to the rock where Jack was sitting and dropped down next to him.
“No luck?”
“No…oh! Bloody hell.” He picked up an ammonite from by Jack’s foot. “Wow.” Then he frowned. “Did you find that and put it there?”
“No.”
“Is thatnomeaning yes?”
Jack laughed. “Can we go back now?”
Zeph nodded and pocketed the ammonite. He’d only taken a few steps when he saw a shark’s tooth. He put his hand out to stop Jack stepping on it.
“What?” Jack asked,
“A tooth.” He picked it up and held it out on his palm. It was a fossilised shark’s tooth but… “The rest of the pliosaur should be buried right here. Find me a shovel.”
“Leave the poor thing alone in its grave.”
As they headed back, they passed a collection of land yachts. There were a few in use on the sand closer to the sea.
“Have you ever tried that?” Jack asked.
Zeph shook his head.
“Want to?”
“Okay.”
Though by the time Zeph had been kitted out in safety gear—helmet, knee and elbow pads—and he’d heard there were no brakes, he was a little freaked out. Jack was clearly excited so Zeph pretended he was too. Jack repeated in English what the instructor had said. The movement of the feet determined direction. The arms controlled the sail to regulate the speed. Zeph thought that was it.
The most important one was turn into the wind to stop.
Or maybe it was the “Don’t go too fast” that Jack shouted as Zeph zoomed off down the beach.
Once Zeph got the hang of it, he loved it. Jack quickly pulled ahead, but Zeph was happy following. It was exhilarating and sometimes terrifying when the yacht tipped and Zeph thought it was going to go all the way over before it righted itself. Jack whooped when it happened to him. They spent an hour going up and down the sand and finally returned the vehicles to the start.
Jack slung his arm over Zeph’s shoulder as they walked away. “That was fun.”
“It was.”
“The sun’s caught you.”
I think you did that.
Twenty-Three
Zeph rattled on about the sand yachting as they walked up the hill. Jack was glad Zeph had enjoyed it.
“I wish I’d had a chance to take a picture of you when you nearly tipped over,” Zeph said.
“I don’t really want close up pictures of me on any device. Even your phone. Sorry.”
“Right. Sorry. I forgot. Have you sand yachted before? You went so fast!”
“No, it was my first time.”
Zeph whined. “I should have known you’d be one of those guys who’s annoyingly good at absolutely everything. Is there anything you can’t do? Scuba dive? Ski? Skydive?”
