‘Thank you, Johnny.’ She smiled gratefully at him over her chocolate. ‘I feel so much better knowing that you are helping.’

It was a nice smile, thought Mann. But he didn’t know how long it would be there. He hated to make her life any worse right now but he had something to ask her—something that had been bugging him since this morning. He set his cup down and looked at her.

‘Magda, who is Daniel?’

She looked at him, shocked for a few seconds as her eyes searched his face in a panic. Then they softened and the pained, numb look returned as her face drained of all colour. She stared down at the hot chocolate.

‘Daniel was my eldest son.’

‘He was also my father’s?’

‘Yes.’

‘What happened to him?’

Magda kept her eyes on the table as she spoke.

‘Daniel was twenty-one when he decided to go off on his travels. He also wanted an adventure and he signed up for a volunteer programme at NAP. He spent three months moving around Thailand, working on various programmes until it was nearly time for him to come home. He had one week left. It was Christmas. Jake and I arranged to join him to spend it together. Alfie couldn’t come; he was working on a case. I didn’t mind, I thought it might be the last time my sons would want to holiday with me.’ She looked fleetingly up at Mann, as if seeking reassurance. He smiled at her and leant closer across the table so he could hear her voice, which had gone quiet.

‘Afterwards we were all going to come home together. Daniel was going to go to university later that year. I booked for us to stay in a place on the beach. Patong Beach in Phuket. I thought it would be a good place for all of us—not too quiet for the boys, a nice pool for me. It was a lovely Christmas. It had been a great evening—lots of carols on the beach, lots of hugs. So many things to look forward to, with Daniel going to university, Jake doing well in his exams, learning to drive, playing his sports; we were really happy. We talked of everything, about when they were boys, about their father. We even talked about finding you. Both of the boys wanted to.’

She looked up at Mann. ‘I am glad we had that time. The next morning we met up just before eight and went for a morning walk on the beach to get some appetite for breakfast. The minute we walked out there we looked at each other—everything looked strange. The beach was so big and bare. It looked like mud and there were so many fish left in pools. Children started playing in the new pools. Everyone on the beach was saying, “Isn’t it strange?” Then we heard some people shouting. Some locals were running and screaming and pointing to the horizon. When I looked up I saw that the horizon was not as it should be. It was tall, raised, a blue wall, coming so fast towards us. People started to scream and to run. We didn’t understand. Daniel said, “I think we should go quick, Mum, something isn’t right.” Suddenly our feet were submerged, the beach was covered in water up to our knees. We started running. It was so hard to run in the water which was rising so fast. Children were screaming, everything from the beach was lifting up, tables, chairs, all rushing forward. I didn’t dare look back, I knew something terrible was coming. I heard the noise of the water, it roared in my ears, and the sound of screaming. We climbed over our hotel wall. The water had already come over to fill the swimming pool. People were just pointing and screaming from the windows above us. Screaming to us to run, to get up, to hurry. I knew it was coming. The water was so loud. It was close behind me. Then I was picked up into the air. The wave picked me up like I was nothing and it carried me up and over the hotel pool. People were swallowed, furniture crashed into us. My boys were close to me. I could see Jake so frightened. I could hear Daniel shouting to him to try and grab on to something. And then the wave pushed us up onto a balcony on the first floor of the hotel. We managed to climb into a room. The water was in there up to our knees. There were other people in there, a family. We waited huddled together as we looked down, out onto the street where the restaurants and shops had been. We saw people drowning, desperately trying to hang on to anything. Dogs yelping, children and people screaming, crying for each other. People shouting. People screaming in pain. So many people were hurt, glass broken everywhere—people bleeding, people dead in the water, people desperately clinging to anything to stop from being washed away, the wave was so powerful. Then people started to shout: “It’s coming! The water’s coming again!”’ Magda jolted the cup in her fear as her hand shot out, reliving the memory. Her face was flushed, her eyes wide. She was breathing hard.

‘We knew we had to get out.’ She looked up at Mann, experiencing the terror all over again. ‘The water in the room was starting to rise. We were already waist deep in it. Daniel led us outside to the landing and there were the steps to the roof. We looked up—we could see that there were others there. One girl was crying below us. Her mother was trapped. We were running up the stairs. I looked at Daniel and I knew he was not going to come with us. I knew he was turning back, looking at the water rushing in at the base of the stairs, it surged so fast and strong and…I knew that he was going to go and help her and I knew that…’ She stopped and her voice broke as a sob caught her breath. She clasped her hand to her mouth to stop it from escaping and she squeezed her eyes shut to try and hold back the wrenching sorrow that was about to erupt from her throat. She took a few deep breaths and stared out at the passersby, the tourists and the backpackers, the pigeons and the children playing, and then she turned back, her eyes swimming with tears.

‘I would have given my life for his but I could not stop him. He said to me, “I love you, Mum”, and he was gone, swallowed by the water. We found his body four days later.’

She stared at Mann, stony pale now. ‘I had to identify him. He was lying in a row of hundreds of bodies. I saw him from the far end. I knew it was him right away. I recognised his big feet.’ Her face strained as she smiled. She caught her breath for a few seconds. ‘Ever since he was a baby he had very big feet.’ She looked at Mann, her eyes now blue icebergs swimming in an ocean of sorrow. ‘It’s been sixteen months and twenty-three days since your brother, Daniel, died.’ She turned back. ‘Please, I cannot lose both my sons.’

Mann looked at her and he felt something he never thought he would—loss for a brother he had never met. He felt the hollowness inside him fill. He knew Magda was right. He had to save Jake.

14

Burma

The next morning Saw had not returned and the five set off under the leadership of the three deputies. Toad was leading Anna by the neck. Thomas and Silke were near her at the back and Jake was just behind Lucas at the front.

‘This is it, Lucas. This is our chance.’ Jake spoke to Lucas’s back as they pulled themselves up the steep hill. Lucas didn’t answer; he seemed to be finding it tough going. Jake looked back at Anna. She fixed her eyes on his and he knew she agreed; this was the time. Silke looked at the same time and she moved closer to Anna.

Handsome came alongside and ordered Jake and Lucas to walk quicker. Jake pretended to have a burst of speed but Lucas couldn’t manage anything. He had been walking slowly all morning and he’d been quiet. Jake waited till Handsome passed before he spoke to Lucas.

‘Hey, Lucas…Wassup, dude? You all right?’ He seemed to be stumbling more than walking.

Lucas answered but he didn’t turn around.

‘Just so fucking tired. I’ll be all right.’