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The remainder of Robin’s shift passed without event. Robin tidied the history section of the library, replacing books, helping students with their references of visitors find their items. A delivery of a couple of books on local history arrived that Robin had to stop herself from sneering at as she labelled and shelved them; another maritime historian claiming that the smuggler’s caves on the island were a hoax. Her phone kept buzzing in her dress pocket, thought and congratulations coming in from the various friends she’d told her updated evening plans.
Robin had had a crush on Nami for several weeks now, heading to the All Blue Café on her Sundays off, sitting at the table by the window to let her watch Nami flit from table to table, handing out coffees and flirting with the girls. But when she approached Robin, Robin had clammed up and buried her nose in her book.
And then at lunchtime today, Nami had brought her favourite sandwich to the library, just to see her and exchange phone numbers. She’d revealed she’d been trying to find an excuse to talk to Robin for as long as Robin had been visiting the café and hadn’t even known her name to ask after her. In her presence-of-a-pretty-girl shyness, Robin hadn’t even introduced herself to her weekly comrades, despite already knowing some of the regulars. In the absence of a name, Nami had dubbed her “Miss All Sunday”, which Robin found rather charming.
Robin turned off the lights as she passed them, the keys in her hands. Nami was waiting for her outside, perched on her scratched-up moped, a purple helmet in her hands.
The doors locked and checked, Robin dropped the keys into her handbag and turned to greet Nami.
“Good to see you, Miss All Sunday,” Nami beat her to it.
“Hi!” Robin smiled.
Nami held the helmet out to her. “For you.”
“Thank you,” Robin took the helmet, “Busy day?”
“Not really. Just hanging around.”
“Hanging around Waver Mopeds?”
“How did you know?”
“You left the tag in,” Robin pulled the tag out of the helmet.
“Ah,” Nami’s face fell, “You caught me. I had to go buy you a helmet; I couldn’t let it clash with your cute dress.”
Robin looked down herself, at the dress with it square collar and light lace on the cuffs and hem. It was a comfortable dress, one she often received compliments on from a range of people in her life, and she had to admit the helmet did match.
“I appreciate it,” Robin said.
Nami beamed and fastened her own navy-blue helmet under her chin. “C’mon, I’ve got something I wanna show you before we go to the bar.”
Robin swung her leg over the back of the moped. Nami helped her to get settled, her legs tucked in, her arms wrapped around Nami.
Nami set off, the moped purring under them. Robin held on to her as the buildings and cars and streets rolled past them. Nami weaved past traffic and peeled away, leaving the main road for a country lane that headed uphill.
“Nami?” Robin called, aware they hadn’t seen another person in several minutes, “Where are we going?”
“Just hold on!” was the unhelpful answer.
The moped was slowing under them, struggling on the incline, just over halfway up the hill. Just as Robin thought it was about to stall and give out, Nami turned.
They rounded the hill towards the cliff, until Robin could look out over the ocean. She gasped at the vast blue, and the ocean air pulled the air from her lings like it was gasping to gaze at her too.
“Tuck your legs in!” Nami called.
Robin squeezed her legs in as much as she could as the ground grew steep again, descending towards the ocean. They drove straight into a patch of thorns, a path cut in, the thorns scratching at the moped’s paintwork.
Nami navigated carefully, the moped bumping on roots. They moved at a snail’s pace, Robin unable to tear her eyes away from the ocean.
The thorns spat them out into a small clearing. To one side sat a cave in the cliff. Ahead of them was a sheer drop to certain death. Behind them was the tangle of thorns they’d come through, Robin not even able to see the path they’d taken to get there.
To their other side was the open sea, reaching out to the open horizon, gazing up at the open sky. Every shade of blue, green and silver melted and shifted together as far was the eye could see. Robin gazed into the endless blue, and the endless blue gazed back. It tugged her heartstrings into her throat, it twirled her hair to whisper in her ears, it dug its salty claws under her eyelashes to make her well up tears.
“Hey,” Nami said, and took Robin by the arm, “This way.”
Robin stumbled a little to follow her, and the ocean claimed the small stones that her steps had shaken loose.
Nami pulled a small flashlight from her pocket as she led Robin into the narrow cave, tunnelling back into the hillside. Inside was dark but dry, thick poles of wood holding the ceiling up; the cave had been man-made. Robin’s brain took in and picked apart everything she saw. There were stalactites hanging above them, so the cave was old, but no stalagmites on the floor, suggesting an attempt at drainage, suggesting intelligent design and plans for long-term use of the caves. Moss on the walls, which was unavoidable. Chalk on the floor, squiggles and arrows in a child’s wide font.
Robin’s breath caught in her chest. “This is a smuggler’s cave.”
Nami stopped. “Huh?”
“It was dug by smugglers. Or pirates. They’d hide their treasure in hidden caves – how did you find this place?”
“I mapped this whole hill when I was eight. Found this cave and mapped it too.”
“And you didn’t tell anyone?”
“I told my mom.”
“And your mom didn’t tell anyone?!”
Nami shrugged. “I guess not.”
“Nami, this is incredible! I’ve been arguing with maritime historians about the existence of the smuggler’s caves for years, and you mapped them! When you were eight!”
“What are you talking about, arguing?”
“Yes! Pirates would mention these caves in their logbooks, but because the caves were never found, some historians thought it was made up to bring in tourists! This is genuinely incredible, Nami – I wrote my thesis on theories around what happened to these caves!”
“You did?”
“And you…” Robin gestured around them, “They were right here!”
“I… yeah, they were…”
Robin seized Nami by the face and kissed her hard on the mouth. Nami stood frozen for all of a second before she relaxed into the kiss, her hands coming up to cup Robin’s jaw.
The cave was eerily quiet around them. Robin pulled back, warm with embarrassment.
“Sorry,” she said, “I got emotional.”
“You’re so cute,” Nami said.
“Oh, stop.”
“No. I didn’t realise these caves were so important.”
“This isn’t what you wanted to show me?”
Nami took Robin’s hand and led her deeper into the tunnel. “I guess it makes sense that pirates would use this place for treasure. I once found a necklace in a crack, right there,” she shone the flashlight at the wall, showing the crack, “It was diamond, with a sapphire the size of my hand. That was when I told my mom and gave her the necklace. She sold it and finished paying the mortgage on the house. We were about to be foreclosed on. She didn’t tell me that at the time, and I got really mad because I gave her the necklace to wear.”
“That’s incredible,” Robin said. She felt like a broken record, but her brain was so deep in overdrive she couldn’t think of any other words.
Nami stopped in a cavern. Towering over them, a flower had been carved into the stone, its petals chipped smooth as they circled out. The flashlight cast shadows around the tips of each petal, elongating them until the flower was larger than life. Some of the bottommost petals had been coloured over in pink and yellow chalk, probably by Nami in her youth.
“Oh my god,” Robin said.
“I know, right?” Nami said.
“This… it’s beautiful, oh my god.”
Nami smiled. The light bounced off the rock to make Robin’s face glow as she gazed up at the sculpture, her jaw dropped and eyes wide in awe.
“Thank you,” Robin said, “For showing me this.”
“Did the pirates write down anything about this?” Nami asked.
“Not that I can think of. But I can find out. Nami, this is incredible.”
Nami let the flashlight drop from the flower. “Let’s come back tomorrow, maybe bring a camera. We don’t want to be late to the show.”
Robin took Nami’s hand as she led the way out, and Nami’s stomach bubbled with joy. The taste of Robin’s coffee still clung to her lips, and her hand fit warm and comfortable in hers, and the sea air danced around them as they headed back out into the light.