"Really? That's all he told you?" Kaitlyn stared at me in surprise as she handed over a chocolate doughnut and coffee in a large takeaway cup.
"Yep. No direction on what to write, no leads, nothing." I said.
I'd planned to not say anything bad about the man I'd never met, but I was unsure what I was going to do and even wondering if I could do the job. I wasn't sure if he'd placed more trust in me than I had, or if he just didn't care because he'd left.
Kaitlyn was less covered in flour today and apparently had started later.
An older man walked out of the back room and looked at me. He wasn't as covered in flour as Kaitlyn, but he had clearly been baking.
"Morgan, this is my dad, Max, Dad, this is Morgan." She said.
I would have shaken his hand but they were covered in flour and I was holding my coffee. Instead I smiled at him, "It's nice to meet you. Your food looks delicious."
He was older than I'd expected Kaitlyn's father to be, with grey thinning hair, bright blue eyes and his resting face seemed to default to grumpy.
However when he smiled and spoke it was clear that was just his natural expression. I got the impression he was tough but seemed nice enough.
He grunted a thank you and nodded, "Nice to meet you Morgan. So you're the new scribe around here are you?"
I nodded, "Yeah. It looks that way. Perhaps I could do a feature on your bakery sometime?"
He shook his head, "Thank you, but the locals already know about this place and tourists always manage to find it."
I was surprised by his reaction and Kaitlyn gave me an apologetic look where he couldn't see. He wasn't rude, but he was more guarded than the other people I'd encountered in town. I got the impression he was a man of few words who just wanted to get on with his job.
"Well it was nice to meet you." I said as I turned to go with my doughnut in the paper bag.
I glanced back but was surprised to see he'd already disappeared out the back again.
Kaitlyn came from behind the counter, "Sorry. He's a good guy, he's just not really a people person." She whispered, looking apologetic.
I shook my head, "It's fine. No need to apologise."
"Want me to come and help you unpack this afternoon? I'll be finished around 3:30." Kaitlyn asked.
A part of me was happy for the company, but another part wanted time to explore my surroundings on my own. I didn't know when my first article needed to be published, but I knew I had to get on with it soon. At the same time, I liked Kaitlyn and I didn't want to discourage or offend her, so I nodded, "That would be great. Maybe message me when you're done and we'll meet up?"
We'd exchanged numbers the night before.
She nodded, "Sounds good. Only thing is there's not great phone reception on all parts of the island, so if I don't hear back I'll just head to your place and sit on the porch. Is that okay?"
"Yeah of course. Apricat will probably hang out with you." I said.
She smiled, "So you've decided to keep him?"
I shrugged, "I think it's his house more than mine; I can't kick him out of his home."
I made sure the kitty door was unlocked so he could come and go as he pleased while I was out of the house. I really did feel like the house belonged to him and didn't want to be rude to my new roommate.
The Pontiac Bakery is along the foreshore near the pub. It's a small building made from ugly red brick that could really do with some sprucing up, but it's neat, clean and judging by the amount of people walking into the shop as I was leaving, very popular.
I sat in my four wheel drive and watched people go past and occassionally stared at the ocean. It really was a beautiful place and the doughnut and coffee hit the spot perfectly. I was surprised by how many people appeared to be tourists; I'd thought the town was always quiet. I decided I really needed to speak to more locals and do some more research.
I pulled my phone out of my bag and Googled the island. All the usual tourists posts that I'd already seen came up, but further down the list there was a headline that intrigued me, 'Twenty Year Old Mystery Still Haunts Island.'
I opened the page and before I knew it I was immersed in the story. A group of tourists went out bushwalking. They left their personal belongings in their rooms, said goodbye to the person on reception and asked about dinner options for when they returned and they were never seen again. Police searched the whole island for days but never found anything.
Five years later a backpack was found believed to belong to one of the bushwalkers, but it gave nothing away. Some locals claimed they saw them walking along the main road in the national park but nothing had been proven and they hadn't registered to go in with the local ranger.
Some locals believed if you went along the road at night you could sometimes see four shadowy figures walking with their backpacks on.
I jumped a mile when someone banged on my window. I dropped my phone, spilled my hot coffee down my front and swore more than I should have.
I glared up angrily at the person who'd knocked on my window and interrupted my thoughts. I was surprised to see the dark haired man from the ferry.
I opened the door, almost hitting him in the face with the frame in the process and jumped out, trying to get any remnants of hot coffee off my skin. It wasn't hot enough to do any real damage, but it still wasn't comfortable.
He winced, "Ooo. Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you. You okay?"
I was hot, wet and furious, but I was okay. The day was warmer than I'd expected and I'd overdressed anyway, but that wasn't the point, "Yeah. But you can't just do that. What are you doing? Trying to give me a heart attack?"
I paused when I realised he was wearing a police uniform; that didn't stop my annoyance for long though. He looked less scruffy and he was nicer looking than I remembered; the uniform wasn't doing his image any damage either.
"I am sorry. I just needed to let you know we're closing the road in a minute and I need you to move your car." He said calmly.
"Closing the road? What for?"
"We have a big transportable house coming through from the mainland. The road isn't wide enough for anything else. You can leave your car here if you want, but I can't guarantee how much of it will be left." He grinned at his own joke but I didn't smile back.
"Okay fine." I said as I hopped back in my car. I'd cooled down a little, "Thanks. See you around."
He nodded and smiled as I put my window up and started to drive away. His badge on his chest caught the light and drew my attention to it; Jack Foster.
~
"Yeah, Jack's a nice guy." Kaitlyn said as we sat drinking cups of tea and looking out at the town and ocean.
I'd received a text from her just as I headed back into town. I'd gone for a drive to visit the honey farm but when I'd pulled up there had been a bus load of tourists and I'd decided to try again another day.
I was still getting a feel for the place, but I was definitely liking it; most of it anyway.
"He might be nice, but he has to learn not to sneak up on people." I said with a sigh.
Kaitlyn smiled, "Sounds to me like a series of unfortunate events."
"Something like that." I looked down at my phone when it beeped and saw a message from my mum, 'hope everything is going well. Miss you. Can't wait to read your award winning articles.'
I felt a pang of homesickness when I read her message but tried to ignore it. I'd been busy since I arrived on Wild Winds Island, but I'd never lived away from home before and I was feeling a little nervous.
"Boyfriend?" Kaitlyn asked.
I was surprised by her question, "What? No. Mum."
"Do you have one?"
"What? A boyfriend? No. We broke up a while back. How about you?" I asked.
She nodded, "Yeah Nathan and I have been together since high school; he's a deep sea fisherman so they're sometimes out on the boat for days at a time. He's out now actually."
"That sounds like an interesting job, but not something I'd ever want to do." I said.
Kaitlyn nodded, "I understand. It's not something I'd want to do either. I don't get seasick or anything, I just don't like fish."
"I'm with you on the fish part; unfortunately seasickness and I are well acquainted." I said as Apricat jumped onto my lap and started to pur. It was getting cold and I knew I needed to start dinner, but I was happy just sitting.
It had been a good couple of days and I wondered what the next day would bring.
Something occurred to me as we sat in silence, "Dumb question, but is your last name Pontiac?"
I'd noticed the name on the bakery and realised I didn't know that much about Kaitlyn.
She nodded, "Yep. My uncle Bill is a Pontiac too. Ironically they're the only cars he doesn't like." She said with a laugh.
"How many of you are there on the island?" I asked.
"Um... well let's see. There's me, Mum, Dad, Uncle Bill and Aunty Maggie..." She continued on with a list but I couldn't keep track of all the names and in the end concluded she had a large family and most of them lived on the island.
Even an inexperienced journalist knows leads and inside scoops are important; I wondered if Kaitlyn's family could be helpful in the future.
Kaitlyn sighed, "Well I'd better get heading home. If I don't start dinner now we'll be eating at midnight."
She stood to go.
"We?" I asked, confused since she'd said her boyfriend was away.
"Sure. My dog Baskerville and me. He has to eat too you know."
She smiled as she waved goodbye and got into her beat up old car.