Joe winced. Too much, too fast. “You told me.”
Kaden frowned.
“Is that wood?” Joe blurted, pointing to a long dark strip of striated rock, part covered in sand. “It looks like bark.”
Kaden followed his gaze. “Yes. Good piece.” He took a photo. “Can’t take it home.” He glanced sideways. “So, I’ve talked about this with you?”
Joe nodded. It wouldn’t be good for Kaden to realise Joe hadallof his memories, but a few scattered remnants might trigger the ones he’d forgotten.
They walked on.
“You found your favourite fossil here when you were eleven,” Joe said carefully. “AStriatolamiashark tooth.”
Kaden stared at him again, then shook his head, laughing. “You’re terrifying. Have you remembered everything I told you?”
“Yes. I know all your secrets.” Joe tried to make it a joke and luckily, Kaden took it that way.
“I wish I could remember you,” Kaden said quietly. “It’s killing me that I can’t.”
Joe bent, scanning the stones. He wanted to please him, make him happy again. Could he still use enhanced scanning with his vision? He tried and it worked. That could be useful.
A little while later, something dark and triangular caught his eye. He picked it up and showed it Kaden.
“Oh my God!” Kaden gasped. “No way.”
“What is it?”
“A megalodon tooth.” Kaden looked like he might cry. “Do you know how rare…? Joe, it’s insane that you’d pick this up. All these years coming here and I’ve never found anything as fabulous as that. Wow.”
“Megalodon means big tooth,” Joe said.
Kaden laughed, a bright, disbelieving sound. He took a picture. “This came from the largest shark that ever lived. Possibly twenty-four metres long. That’s a great find. Take care of it.”
Joe shook his head. He took Kaden’s hand gently, turning his palm upward, and placed the tooth there.
“I want you to have it,” he said and took a risk. “Call it Joe.”
“That toy in my backpack that I didn’t remember. Didn’t I call that …?”
Joe froze but whatever thought Kaden was edging towards faded. He closed his fingers around it, then hugged Joe.
“Thank you,” he murmured.
The hug was brief, but in its wake, it left a promise neither of them was quite ready to name.
No other find came close to that, though they walked off the beach with pockets full of fossilised wood, small shark teeth and coprolite. Once Joe knew he was picking up dinosaur poop, he gave it all to Kaden. By the time they made it back to the car, both of them were buzzing with adrenaline.
Joe leaned against the door while Kaden dumped the boots and the finds in the back.
As they set off, Kaden asked, “What sort of job do you want to do once you’re able to work?”
“We talked about IT. But I don’t know if I’m good enough.” He might be too good.
“Whatareyou good at?”
“I’m not sure.”Looking after someone. Protecting them.But he couldn’t do that anymore, not in the way he once had. And there was only one person he wanted to look after.
“You said you were like a bodyguard.”
