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After a while Roland overtook him, and once more Max had to push himself in order not to be left behind.
‘Are you all right there?’ Roland asked Alicia.
Alicia nodded and watched as the house by the beach disappeared into the distance.
*
The southern beach, on the other side of the town, was shaped like a vast crescent moon. Beyond the strip of white sand the shoreline was covered with shiny pebbles smoothed by the sea. Behind the beach, rising almost vertically, loomed a wall of craggy cliffs, on top of which stood the lighthouse, dark and solitary.
‘That’s my grandfather’s lighthouse,’ said Roland, pointing to it as they left their bicycles by one of the paths leading down through the rocks to the beach.
‘Do you both live there?’ asked Alicia.
‘More or less,’ Roland answered. ‘Over time I’ve built myself a hut down on the beach. I’d almost say it’s my home now.’
‘Your own beach hut?’ Alicia asked, trying to spot it.
‘You won’t see it from here,’ Roland explained. ‘It was an old fisherman’s hut that had been abandoned. I fixed it up and now it’s not too bad. You’ll be able to see it in a minute.’
Roland led them onto the beach, where he removed his sandals. The sun was already quite high and the sea shone like liquid silver. The beach was deserted and a salty breeze blew in from the water. Roland pointed towards the shoreline and the larger stones glowing beneath the surf.
‘Mind these stones. I’m used to them, but it’s easy to trip if you’re not.’
Alicia and her brother followed Roland along the beach to his hut. It was a small wooden cabin painted blue and red with a narrow porch. Max noticed a rusty lamp hanging from a chain.
‘That’s from the ship,’ Roland explained. ‘I’ve brought up a whole pile of stuff from down there. What do you think of it?’
‘It’s fantastic,’ exclaimed Alicia. ‘Do you sleep here?’
‘Mostly in the summer. In winter it gets too cold, and anyway I don’t like leaving my grandfather alone up there.’
Roland opened the door and let Alicia and Max go in first.
‘Welcome to my palace.’
The inside of the hut was like some old bazaar filled with nautical antiques. The booty Roland had pulled out of the ocean over the years shone in the dark like a mysterious hoard of treasure.
‘It’s mostly cheap nonsense,’ said Roland, ‘but I like to collect it. Maybe we’ll find something today.’
The hut also contained an old cupboard, a table, a few chairs and a rickety bed. Above the bed were shelves, with a few books and an oil lamp.
‘I’d love to have a house like this,’ said Max.
Roland smiled sceptically.
‘I’m open to offers,’ he joked, clearly proud of the impression the hut had made on his friends. ‘Right, let’s go.’
They followed Roland to the water’s edge and he began to untie the bundle containing his diving gear.
‘The ship lies about twenty-five or thirty metres off the shore. The water gets deep very quickly; three metres in and you can’t touch the bottom. The hull is about ten metres down,’ Roland explained.
Max and Alicia exchanged a look.
‘Yes,’ said Roland, noticing. ‘It’s not a good idea to try to reach the bottom the first ti
me you dive. Sometimes, when there’s a heavy swell, the currents can be dangerous. Once I nearly scared myself to death.’
Roland handed Max a mask and a pair of flippers.
