Chapter 161: A Fishy Funeral

Samir slept late the next day. He and Neil had spent the night in the storage shed. The caretaker and his wife slept in one of the huts, the two teenagers in the other. The permanently dour electrician's assistant slept out in the open, by the fire. He had developed a cough that bothered the others. It didn't bother Samir. He hadn't gotten any rest the previous night, and he slept like a log.

When he woke up, Neil was already gone from the shed. Samir lay still for a while, listening to the sounds coming from outside. He could hear the crackle of burning wood and the bubbling of boiling water, and the soft hiss of the ocean. In spite of sleeping for so long, he didn't feel completely rested, and wasn't in the best of moods.

He would have liked to go straight back to sleep, but he needed to relieve himself. He got up and staggered to the shed's entrance on stiff legs and looked outside, squinting at the sunlight.