The Light of the Blue Pearl (6 page)

The comfort she had felt with Ian before had
for the most part washed away now that they didn’t have the
distraction of travel.

“No…thank you,” he said. “You’re doing me a
favor really, my friends aren’t going to be back anytime soon and
anyway, I enjoy your company.”

“Thank you,” she said, smiling at him before
looking back down at her hands.

“So, what plans do you have for tomorrow?
And don’t think I’m being presumptuous, I wouldn’t dare expect that
I could be lucky enough to get two meals out of you,” he said with
a very playful grin.

She laughed a little at that before
replying, “Apparently, I am off to go snorkeling,” she said, trying
her best to make a believable story out of her circumstances so he
wouldn’t think her completely insane. “A friend of mine thought it
would be quite hilarious to send me on a trip with no knowledge of
my plans.”

“Oh? A surprise vacation? What a fun idea.
You must have a great friend to have come up with that,” he said,
having no idea how far from the truth he was.

Not only was it not a friend, to her
knowledge, but she didn’t really have any friends to speak of;
certainly not one who would be so kind as to plan such a marvelous
trip for her. All she could do in reply to that was nod her head in
agreement.

“So snorkeling? Do you know where you are
headed? There are so many places to choose from around here for
that,” he said.

“I’m afraid I don’t, all I know is that I
leave bright and early in the morning,” she answered back, once
again looking out at the beautiful view they had.

The waitress came by just then with some
stunning drinks in hand and said the food would be out shortly.

Eager to finally eat something for the first
time in ages, they both thanked her before she was off again.

“Well, I’m sure your friend planned
something wonderful for you, you can’t really go wrong here,” he
said, gesturing out to the sea.

“No, I suppose not, it is very beautiful
here,” she replied suddenly realizing her nervousness had
dissipated and she was once again feeling very at ease, which in
itself was a strange feeling for her.

When the food finally arrived they sat in
silence for a bit while they enjoyed their sandwiches, only
stopping a few times to chat about some interesting details about
the island Ian knew of since he had been here before.

After they finished eating and were on their
way back to the hotel, she realized she was a little disappointed
that their visit might be over so soon.

Almost as if reading her thoughts, Ian
asked, “Do you have any plans for the rest of today?” He paused for
only a second before adding, “I’d be happy to show you around if ya
like?”

“I’d love that, if it isn’t too much
trouble. I wouldn’t want to keep you from your friends, they must
be expecting you by now?” she asked, hoping he wouldn’t agree with
her.

“Oh don’t worry about them, they won’t miss
me….much, and I promise I won’t keep you up late,” he said, smiling
at her with another one of his playful grins that just made her
smile back without her even realizing it.

“Okay then, what did you have in mind?” she
asked.

“Well we could go zip lining, or cave
tubing,” he said, grinning and looking over at her to see her
reaction. “But I have a feeling you’d like something a little less
adventurous for today?”

She laughed. “Yeah, I think tomorrow might
be quite a day for me, something a little more low key would be
nice.”

“Well, we could just walk around town a bit
and then spend some time at the hotel, you haven’t gotten to
explore it much; it has a really nice pool,” he said.

“That sounds good to me,” she replied,
although she wasn’t quite sure about the pool.

They started walking down one of the streets
in the general direction of where they were staying. There were
some people around, but not enough to make her feel crowded; it was
actually quite peaceful.

“Do you know when you’ll be back tomorrow?”
he asked.

“I think I’m supposed to be back around five
o’clock or so,” she said, looking down at her feet, not quite
wanting to make eye contact. She really hated having no idea what
she was doing there, it made having a conversation about it rather
difficult.

“Would you like to get dinner when you get
back?” he asked, looking a little shy for the first time since she
had met him.

“I’d love to,” she said, smiling up at him.
“Although, I might be completely exhausted so I can’t say how much
company I’m going to be.”

His face was beaming with a smile in reply
to her. “Oh don’t worry about that, I’m having quite a day tomorrow
too so I can’t guarantee my company either.”

She giggled at that as they continued slowly
making their way back to the hotel.

T
he rest of the
afternoon with Ian had been very pleasant. They spent a little time
at the bar talking and went for a short walk on the beach before
Ethne decided she had better retire for the night. He had wanted to
go swimming too, but she had still been a little too nervous to don
the swimsuit that was in her bag.

After saying their goodnights, Ethne found
herself in her room alone listening to the sound of the ocean
outside her window. She was utterly exhausted but her nerves for
the next day to come weren’t terribly conducive to falling asleep.
She spent most of the night tossing and turning in anticipation of
the early morning that came far too quickly for her tired body.

When the alarm went off at 4:30 she reached
over with a heavy arm and turned it off. Slowly slipping out of bed
she got ready for the supposed adventure she was to have that
day.

After showering, getting dressed and having
a small bite to eat – it was way too early for breakfast – she made
her way downstairs to the lobby.

In the lobby there was a man leaning against
the wall, almost seeming to need it to support his own tired legs.
When he saw her his face lit up into a beaming smile that made her
do the same. He was tall and skinny and looked like he was quite
accustomed to island life, his wavy brown hair matching his relaxed
appearance.

“Good morning! You must be Ethne?” the man
said.

“I am,” she answered, shaking his hand.

“I’m Peter, I’m to be your guide for the
day,” he said, offering with a gesture to take her bag from
her.

“And where exactly will you be guiding me?”
she asked, hoping to finally know where it was they were
heading.

He chuckled. “Oh, I can’t tell you that I’m
afraid.”

Her shoulders slumped a bit and he could
tell that this was not the answer she had hoped for. Feeling her
frustrations he added: “But don’t worry I assure you we will be
there soon and I can almost guarantee that you’re going to love
it.”

“Okay,” she sighed. “I guess I’m just going
to have to let you lead the way then,” she smiled as they both
turned toward the door.

Outside the air was warm even though it was
still a bit dark, the sun not yet making an appearance. Ethne
always had a problem with being up before the sun; it just didn’t
seem natural, but for today she was actually quite accepting of
being up first, as she was going to be a witness to something she
normally didn’t get to see.

As they made their way to the end of the
pier she could see a boat waiting for them. There was only one
other person on it. The young blonde haired woman stepped off the
boat and made her way over to them.

“Hi,” she said, smiling and taking Ethne’s
hand. “I’m Lily.”

“Ethne,” she said, shaking Lily’s hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Ethne. Are you ready
to get going?” she asked.

“Yes I am.” Feeling hopeful she might get an
answer out of Lily she dared to ask again. “And where are we going
exactly?”

Lily looked over at Peter and smiled. “I’m
afraid I can’t say, but you’ll know in a couple of hours.”

“A couple of hours?!” Ethne gasped. “On the
boat? The whole time?”

“Yeah, but don’t worry the trip is worth
it,” she replied.

“If you say so,” Ethne said, reluctantly
taking Peter’s hand and stepping onto the boat.

She found a place to sit and waited while
Peter and Lily finished preparing the boat for their departure.
Before long they were pulling away from the pier and she was seeing
her beautiful hotel disappearing into the distance.

Ethne had never really been on a boat; not
specifically that she could recall anyway. She had no idea what to
expect and was definitely more than nervous. Lily came over and
took a seat next to her, obviously well aware of her anxiety.

“Are you enjoying your stay so far?” she
asked.

“Yeah, although I really haven’t been here
long enough to do much,” Ethne replied.

“Well, after today you won’t be able to say
that,” Lily said with a mischievous grin on her face.

“Oh?” Ethne asked, hoping this time she
might get more of a clue.

“Like I said,” Lily replied. “Today’s
destination will be unlike anything you’ve ever seen I assure
you.”

Ethne had no idea how to respond to that, it
was pretty clear they weren’t going to tell her anything of
detail.

She looked out at the ocean and did her best
to put her mind at ease while they headed further out to sea.

Peter and Lily had been very kind during the
trip trying to keep her company, and the time actually passed
pretty quickly. It was exciting to be out and the ocean was
absolutely beautiful.

Pretty soon Peter slowed the boat a bit and
she could see why. Before her eyes was the most stunning lagoon;
shaped into a perfect circle, located in the middle of nowhere,
with coral surrounding water with the deepest color of blue she had
ever seen. For some reason seeing the sight before her made her
gasp; there was something about the color of this place that gave
her goose bumps and her heart started to pound.

The boat made its way inside the circle and
came to a stop, docking next to something to keep them from
drifting.

“So? What do you think?” Lily asked.

“It’s beautiful,” Ethne replied, still
looking out at the turquoise water that surrounded the deep
blue.

“Where are we?” Ethne asked, seeming a bit
distant.

“This is the Great Blue Hole,” Peter said.
“Isn’t it amazing?”

“Yeah…it is,” she replied, before following
up with another question she was suddenly afraid of getting an
answer to. “So…I’m supposed to snorkel here?” Ethne asked, feeling
a lump form in her throat.

“Yup,” Lily replied, smiling and pulling out
their gear.

Ethne, having absolutely no experience in
anything having to do with water that wasn’t contained inside a
swimming pool, looked out again at the large expanse before
her.

“Is it safe?” she asked. “It looks so….deep.
Are there any sharks or anything?” she asked weakly, feeling her
knees start to shake a bit.

“Oh don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe, people
come here to dive all the time,” Peter replied.

“Die?!” she said. “People come here to
die?!”

He laughed. “No, no…dive. With a ‘v’.”

“Oh,” she said, not feeling that much better
even given the correction.

Having come prepared for a snorkeling trip,
as the note had instructed her to do, she reluctantly started
taking off her clothes revealing the swimsuit that had been packed
for her.

“Have you ever gone snorkeling or diving
before?” Peter asked.

“No…I haven’t,” she replied.

“Okay, not a problem. I will walk you
through everything and I will be right next to you the whole time,”
Peter said with a reassuring wink.

After a few minutes of instruction and help
getting the mask on she was ready to get in the water.

She couldn’t believe she was doing this.
True, the place was beautiful, breathtaking really. But still, she
was in the middle of nowhere, in a swimsuit, jumping into what she
could only imagine was a bottomless pit.

The water was deep in color. She knew the
color was only a hint of its true depth, and was afraid to ask how
far down it actually went.

Peter got into the water first and motioned
for her to do the same.

As she eased herself into the crystal blue
water, she felt it envelop her heart and soul. Though her head was
kept above water, the warmth beneath the surface surrounded her and
made her feel…safe. That was the best way she could describe
it.

While the expanse had made her nervous and
the thought of how deep this lagoon was, she was somehow
surprisingly comforted being in it.

With her mask on she saw Peter motion for
her to put her head in. She nodded an okay and opened her eyes
beneath the water to reveal everything she couldn’t see before.

While there weren’t many fish to see, the
colors of the corals as well as the light coming from above were a
brilliance she hadn’t expected.

But there was something more to this spot
than just the beautiful colors. She didn’t know why, but even with
all of her initial anxiety she suddenly felt no anxiety at all and
was perfectly at ease in her surroundings.

After guiding her around a while and seeing
what marine life they could, he motioned for her to return to the
boat.

But, just as she turned to follow him, Ethne
saw something shimmering on one of the shelves of the coral reef.
Peter was already making his way back and she should have followed,
but the light was drawing her to it.

As she got closer she saw that it was a
perfectly round blue pearl. Peculiar that it was just sitting there
on its own, but quite a find she felt as she picked it up and held
it tightly in her hand and turned to make her way back to where
Peter was.