"Come over here." They pull you aside, still within sight of your pack but out of earshot. At a gesture from Roe another man walks over. He's got silver hair, a heavyset build, and hazel eyes, framed with wrinkles.
He looks nervous. Really nervous, like he's about to audition for a talent competition. One of those really big ones with deafening audiences, roaming TV cameras, and mean celebrity judges... and he's looking at you like you're one of those judges.
"Um... what's going on?" you ask.
The man offers you his hand. "Hello, Gideon Mercer. My name's Jay."
You shake it awkwardly. "Hi Jay..."
"I was up all night last night trying to figure out how to say this."
"Say what?"
Next
The man — Jay —hesitates for a few more seconds before digging into his back pocket and pulling out a folded piece of paper. He passes it to you.
"What's this?"
"Just unfold it. You'll see."
You unfurl the paper. It's a photo, old, worn, and hard to make out. In it you see two people. A man and a woman. They're young, smiling, and sitting in a small inflatable fishing boat. You recognise Jay by the broad shape of his shoulders and the hazel of his eyes. The woman...
Your heart plunges. "Oh fuck."
That's your mum. Your mum. Younger, skinnier, and happier than you remember, but definitely her. Your eyes track across her familiar curly dark blonde hair and black skin. You see the gap between her teeth you remember so well, and that weird sea shell necklace she always wore.
That's your mum... beside a man in a fishing boat. Beside Jay in a fishing boat.
You're suddenly keenly aware of Jay and Roe watching you, the silence thick and overwhelming in the air.
"You're telling me," you say. "You... knew my mum?"
"So she is your mum?" Jay asks. "I wasn't sure. You look just like her but—"
"Yes. That's my mum."
"Is she...?" Jay trails off.
"What?" you snap. And you didn't mean to snap. You don't feel quite in control of yourself at this moment.
"...with your pack?" he finishes.
"She's dead," you tell him.
For a moment his face contorts in a flicker of pain. "How?"