“I think so.” Nerves fluttered in Keira’s stomach and she reminded herself that Seren and Noah had been doing this for their whole lives. Looking to Noah for reassurance, she found him staring at Seren. He called out to her as she was about to get into the water.
“Don’t go far,” he said firmly.
She rolled her eyes and swung her legs over the boat, dropping gracefully into the water.
“Are you okay?” he asked Keira.
“Yeah. I think so. There’s nothing to worry about, right?”
“They’re really friendly. Give them space and they’ll come to you. Don’t panic if they knock into you – they’re only playing.”
“Okay.” She swung her legs over the side of the boat, letting her feet dangle in the water.
Noah pulled her mask on for her, then offered her his hand and lowered her into the chilly water.
“Don’t go far from the boat,” he said, leaning over the side. “Look up every so often to check where you are. With your face underwater you’ll drift without noticing and you won’t hear me if I call out to you.”
“I’ll stay nearby,” she promised, then squeezed his hand before releasing him and putting her face underwater. The water was perfectly clear, but her view was hindered by fields of seaweed nearby. Seren waved to her before a dark shape shot out through the seaweed and circled around them. It dove deeper and did a pirouette as though wanting to put on a show for them.
A gentle nudge at Keira’s shoulder made her turn, expecting to see Noah reaching down to get her attention. Instead she found a large grey seal. He swam away, then came back to her. For a moment she forgot to breathe, then realised she needed to concentrate on breathing evenly through the snorkel if she wanted to stay under the water.
She swam a few strokes, then stopped as three seals circled her. Blood rushed in her ears as her heart beat furiously. The sound of her breath in and out of the snorkel was loud too, which reminded her of what Noah had said about not hearing him if he called to her. Poking her head out of the water, it took her a moment to spot the boat. She’d expected it to still be right beside her, but either she or it had drifted.
After swimming a little closer to it and giving Noah a wave, she submerged herself again and was amazed to see seals still swimming around her. One was right beside her and headbutted her bum, startling her. Taking steady breaths, she reminded herself what Seren and Noah had said about them being harmless. The playful seal looked right at her before swimming quickly away.
Coming up to the surface again, she swam towards the boat and held onto the side as she pulled the snorkel from her mouth and pushed the mask to the top of her head.
“It’s incredible!” she told Noah. “They came right up to me. One headbutted my bum.”
“Seals are like kids,” he replied. “They like to play.”
“I can’t believe they come so close. I feel like I’m in the middle of a nature documentary.”
“I can give you the camera.” He moved to a waterproof bag and pulled out an underwater camera, then gave her a quick demo of how to take videos and stills.
She was about to go back under when Noah stopped her and pointed at a seal close by with its head above the water.
“He’s waiting for you to play,” Noah said, giving her a proper smile for the first time that day. He took a photo of her and the seal with his phone before she put her head under the water again.
Two of the energetic seals darted around her while she took a video. She attempted to take a selfie of one that kept coming up beside her, but she suspected that wouldn’t come out well. After a while, Seren swam near her and gave her a thumbs up before swimming away again.
She lost track of time and was surprised when she checked in with Noah and he said she’d been in the water for almost an hour.
“We should get going soon,” he told her. “You must be getting cold.”
“Yeah.” She hung onto the edge of the boat. The wetsuit had been doing a good job, but the cold was creeping in nonetheless. After tossing her snorkel and mask into the boat Noah helped her back onboard. “That was so amazing,” she said, grinning from ear to ear. “I’ve never done anything like that before.”
“I’m really glad you enjoyed it.” Perched beside her on the bench in the middle of the boat, the look he gave her was intense and made her self-conscious.
“Have I got red marks on my face from the mask?” she asked.
“Only a bit,” he said, rubbing gently at the side of her face.
“You were staring at me.”
“I was just thinking that I’m really glad you’re here.”
After suspecting he felt the opposite, it was a relief to hear. The gentle kiss he gave her was reassuring too. Maybe she’d been paranoid in thinking he’d gone cold on her.