Awake

Chapter Seven - Midnight Operations

Nigs crouched in the shadows, the damp wall pressed up against his back, squinting out to sea. The night was black as panther fur, the moon blotted out by the heavy clouds. The waves roiled and crashed against the rocks outside. Midnight was approaching.

   From within his cave, Nigs could see the ocean. He knew every rock of this shore, every step, every pitfall. He was perhaps the only person in the world who could have guided a ship into this little cove unaided without splitting her down the middle and spilling her cargo into the waves to dash against the rocks and drown.

   Nigs closed his eyes and breathed in the salt spray. His toes were numb inside his boots, his fingertips icy. Already the water was soaking him from head to toe. Much as he would complain about it by day, Nigs loved these nights. This was his reason for existing.

  From out in the blackness of the ocean a single light flashed once. Nigs waited. It flashed again. A third time. And a fourth. He smiled and stepped out from his hiding place, pulling his waterproof bag out with him. It was time to set the night in motion.

  Surefooted, Nigs clambered out onto the rocks that littered the cave entrance and climbed to his position. From his bag, he found a small shuttered lantern. Cradling a match in his hands to shelter it from the wind, Nigs lit it and slammed the door quickly closed.

   Only three more to go. Nigs leapt over the rocks without a thought for his own safety. He had grown up here and night-climbing had been nothing new even when he began this operation. Now, several years of it under his belt, he no longer even had to feel for the carved notches to know where to set his lanterns.

   With all three glowing their merry orange lights, Nigs retreated out of the bracing wind and back into the comparative shelter of the cave, crouching down out of sight again. The steady glow of the lanterns made his heart beat faster with excitement. Even now, he found this little adventure a joy.

  It had been Nigs's brother who had first come up with the idea of the lanterns, though Nigs had suggested the operation as a whole. They had spent nights in a little boat trying to figure out exactly where to place them. It had taken time to get perfect but now if you set the three lamps in a straight line, one above the other, anyone could sail clean through the rocks.

  Nigs's brother was overseas now, controlling the other half of their scheme. Nigs remained behind, setting the lanterns, dealing with the results. The Martini boys were respected, and feared, amongst all their employees, though few knew who they really were.

   Nigs could hear it now, the groan and creak of the ship coming closer. It would anchor further out, beyond the cove. It he listened hard, he would hear the splash of the oars as they rowed the cargo over to him, braving the rocks.

    Perhaps twenty minutes left to wait. That was all now.

There was a crunch as the little boat beached itself on the tiny inlet of sand between the jagged spikes of rock. Nigs listened to the cursing as the occupants jumped out, mooring her to a convenient outcrop. He remained hidden for the time being.