The Light of the Blue Pearl (7 page)

When she turned around she couldn’t see
Peter and started to feel a rising panic. She kicked herself for
being so stupid and straying from his side.

Something brushed across her leg and she
jumped out of fear. She had felt fairly comfortable with Peter
close by, but now that she was alone she no longer felt that sense
of calm.

She was starting to have trouble breathing
and decided to ditch the snorkel. Frankly, even if it had just been
a fish touching her leg she didn’t really want to know either way
and had no intention of looking beneath the surface.

Just then something grabbed her arm. She
turned quickly to see Peter swimming there next to her.

“You know you really shouldn’t go off on
your own yet,” he said, winking and smiling at her.

“I’m sorry,” she said, breathing heavily,
starting to feel the calm settle back in. “I saw something down
there and went to see what it was.”

“Well no harm done, let’s get back,” he
said, this time having her swim ahead of him.

Lily helped her back onto the boat and
immediately asked her how it was.

“It was beautiful,” Ethne replied. “This
whole place is beautiful.”

“See I told you it was worth it,” she said,
grinning at her and handing her a towel.

Ethne still had the pearl tightly gripped in
her hand, being very mindful not to drop it.

“I have some food for you if you’re hungry,”
Lily said.

Ethne was beyond starving, and gladly
accepted the offer. Peter did as well and sat down next to her.

“So did you like it?” he asked.

“Yes I did, that was amazing. I never knew
this place existed. I never knew a place like this could exist,”
she replied.

“You should see what it looks like farther
down; it is beyond amazing,” he said. “I could try to describe it,
but I wouldn’t do it justice; it’s unreal.”

“Oh, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do
that,” she said, looking away out at the place she had just
been.

“Well you would need some dive experience,
but it is well worth it, believe me,” Peter said.

She just nodded in agreement and ate another
piece of pineapple, not wanting to reveal that it wasn’t fear that
kept her from doing such a thing.

“So what was it you went back for?” he
asked.

Ethne thought for a second and then opened
her hand revealing the pearl, partially wanting for some reason to
keep her find to herself.

“Oh wow, that’s quite a find. I’ve never
found anything like that before and I’ve been here a million
times,” he said, almost sounding a bit jealous.

After they had finished their snack, Peter
said it was time to be getting to the next spot.

“Next spot?” Ethne asked. “You mean there’s
more?”

“Yep, we have a couple more places to visit
before we take you back,” he said, giving her yet another wink.

While she had enjoyed herself, she wasn’t
sure she was up for more. She was still really tired from her
traveling and hadn’t slept all that well. And now with the pearl in
her hand it felt like she had what she had come for. But she
supposed that it wasn’t really up for discussion, so she just sat
quietly as the boat made its way to the next spot, staring down at
the beautiful blue pearl in her hand.

The water had been calm so the trip wasn’t
an unpleasant one, and pretty soon they were coming to a stop.

“Where are we now?” she asked.

“This is Half Moon Caye,” Peter replied.

Having now gone on one snorkeling trip Ethne
thought she was better prepared for what was to come. She got
herself ready and found herself confidently getting into the water
after Peter.

When he gave her the signal she put her head
below the surface and was shocked by what she saw.

She felt like she had just entered a fantasy
world of colors. While the Blue Hole itself was a magnificent hue,
the colors that were contained in this water were
indescribable.

Colors from fish and corals all weaving
together a rainbow of creation she had no idea could exist.

In comparison to what she was seeing now,
the colors above the water’s surface could only be described as
stale. She was starting to feel even more comfortable in the water
and followed Peter around as he took her along the wall of coral,
pointing to the many creatures along the way to be sure she saw
them all.

As she was swimming she saw a turtle below
her in its own heaven, completely unaware of the world that existed
above it. Ethne envied the turtle for a moment, realizing that
perhaps life below the surface was a freedom not felt on land.

After a bit they returned to the boat once
again; Lily waiting for her with a smile.

She helped Ethne back onto the boat and
handed her a towel.

“Well?” she asked Ethne, obviously knowing
that this location was even more unbelievable than the last.

“It was amazing,” Ethne replied, a little
too stunned from the experience to say more than that.

While the waters of the Blue Hole had been
calming to her, this place had made her feel even more alive and
she found she was no longer tired, but abuzz from the excitement
and wonder at the beauty below. She was more than ready for their
final snorkel, hoping it would be at least as great a spot as this
was.

They spent some time having a picnic on a
beach at Half Moon Caye and talked about what they’d done so
far.

Peter told her the next location at the
Aquarium was also to be full of vibrant colors like this one and
that she would love it.

She did indeed and when they were swimming
around marveling at the colorful fish around them, she noticed
something waving in the water near one of the corals. She swam over
to it, this time mindful that Peter was still close by and saw that
it was a note.

She should have known that there was going
to be more notes hidden somewhere throughout this key excursion to
paradise, but had somehow forgotten the madness that had brought
her here. She had never imagined they would go to the lengths of
hiding something beneath the ocean’s surface for her to find.

The note was carefully attached to the
coral; she gently removed it and held it in her hand as she made
her way back out of the water.

She figured her guides were in on this
strange little scavenger hunt, but in case they weren’t, she
thought it would be pretty weird to have to explain what she had
just found so she decided to keep this little discovery to
herself.

Once back on the boat Ethne was exhausted.
This day truly had been one to never forget and it had taken
everything out of her. When she was sitting alone she pulled the
note out of her pocket, unfolded it and read what it said.

“This was test number two. Congratulations,
you passed. Enjoy the rest of your time here. When you get back
home someone will be waiting for you.”

She read that line over and over a few
times… “someone will be waiting for you” and wondered what that
could possibly mean.

She would have thought about it more but
frankly she was exhausted and with the day that she had just had
didn’t really feel like worrying about it.

She put the note back in her pocket and drew
out her new prize, the flawless blue pearl. She would have never
forgotten this trip for as long as she lived anyway, but now she
had this magnificent jewel to represent the wonder of how she felt
the first time she had seen the mystical Blue Hole.

As they made their way back to the island
she simply lay down in the boat in a completely tired but happy
daze.

When they pulled up to the pier another boat
was arriving back from obviously a similar excursion. The sun was
in its early stages of setting so there was still enough light to
see.

Peter helped her off the boat and handed her
her belongings. She thanked him and Lily for a wonderful day and
started making her way back to the hotel.

As she started walking back the people from
the other boat were disembarking and she saw someone waving at her.
She could see that it was Ian; once again smiling at her and once
again making her do the same.

Ethne waved back, although extremely
exhausted, her exhilaration from the trip was keeping her from
collapsing.

“Hi!” Ian said to her, looking a bit more
rested than she did, she figured.

“Hi!” she said back, trying to have the same
enthusiasm, but fearing her exhaustion made that impossible.

“How was your day out?” he asked.

“It was amazing,” she replied. “How about
yours?”

“Mine was amazing too,” he said, putting his
backpack over his shoulder and joining her on the walk back to the
hotel.

“What did you end up doing?” he asked.

“I went snorkeling at the Blue Hole and a
couple of other places,” she answered. “What about you?”

“Oh wow! The Blue Hole?” he asked. “I hear
that place is amazing, I’m dying to dive there, but need some more
training first. I haven’t been yet. What was it like?”

“It was…unbelievable,” she answered.

“That’s so cool. I’m afraid I’m a bit
jealous now,” he said, looking over at her with a small but cute
grin.

It was then she realized the sun was
setting. She stopped to enjoy it; he did the same.

They stood in silence watching it descend
before completely disappearing into the night. After it had gone
down he offered to take her bag for her and she gladly
accepted.

W
hen they continued
their walk back to the hotel he asked her if she was up for a bite
to eat. The truth was that she really wasn’t. She was shattered and
more ready for her bed than an intern on a 48 hour shift. But her
stay was going to be brief and honestly she had missed Ian a little
and was looking forward to spending a little more time with
him.

“Sure,” she answered, smiling at him.
“Though I am a bit exhausted so I might not be much company.” A
fair warning that the conversation might lag a bit.

“Oh I am too, but you must be hungry?” he
asked.

“Absolutely famished.”

They decided to go back to the restaurant
they had eaten at before; it was a great spot and neither of them
had enough energy to figure out somewhere new.

While eating they exchanged stories from the
day and she laughed at his descriptions of his friends and their
less than professional diving techniques. She hadn’t told him
anything about finding the note obviously, but near the end of the
meal she had decided to show him the pearl.

“I found this at the first location, the
Blue Hole,” she said, holding her hand out to show the small but
perfect pearl.

“Are you serious?” he asked, looking at it
closely before asking if he could hold it.

She reluctantly handed it to him and watched
as he inspected it.

“That’s very rare; such a find is surely
once in a million, if that.”

She grinned quite sure he was right. He
handed it back to her and she protectively put it back in the small
box Peter had given her to keep it from getting lost.

After paying they made their way back
outside, feeling only slightly more energetic than they had on
their way in. The food had helped revive her a little, but she was
still utterly exhausted.

She could tell he was too and that the
evening would be an early one, but still she was glad she had
gotten to share her day with him and hear about his as well.

They slowly made their way back to the
hotel, talking some but sometimes just enjoying the peaceful night.
He was a gentleman and carried her bag again, which made her feel
silly as he had his own stuff to carry. But he had offered and had
taken it from her before she had even accepted.

When she got back to her room he handed it
back to her, their hands touching briefly with the exchange which
made her heart skip. He leaned against the wall near her door,
obviously not quite wanting to call it a night despite their
exhaustion.

“Can’t say I’m looking forward to going back
to my room this early, my friends are surely going to be up a while
and I’m beat,” he said, looking out at the shadows of trees and the
ocean in the distance. “But I’m sure you are probably even more
tired than I am.”

“I am pretty tired,” she said, staring down
at the ground still recovering from the brief touch which obviously
hadn’t affected him the same way. “But I might have a walk on the
beach in me,” she said, looking up and seeing him smiling at
her.

“Let me just put this inside. Do you want me
to put yours in here too for now?” she asked before even thinking,
hoping that it didn’t imply anything to him for later, but afraid
that it had.

“Sure,” he said, trying to hide his smile
but failing miserably.

She unlocked the door and they both put
their bags in before heading out to the warm beach.

As she stepped onto the sand she couldn’t
help but remember the dream that had haunted her when she was on
the plane.

Obviously this setting wasn’t the same, it
was night instead of day, and she was with Ian rather than waving
at an unknown stranger. But for some reason the dream came to mind
and she couldn’t help but wonder if Ian had been the stranger she
had seen on the beach in her dream.

She was forgetting herself. Forgetting the
reason she stayed away from people when she was home. But there was
something about this place, something about Ian that made her not
even care.

In the end she figured this trip would be
over soon and Ian would be a distant memory, someone kind she had
briefly enjoyed an island paradise with. She ultimately had no
intention of it being anything more than pleasant company with an
unexpectedly kind and admittedly attractive man.

“How long are you staying here?” he asked
her, almost as if he had read her mind.