Blake helps Sarah up the muddy bank.
Sarah
I’m good now.
Thoughtfully, Blake nods.
Sarah
(CONT’D)
What is it, Blake?
Blake
Ever heard of Kutji?
Sarah
Danny mentioned something.
Blake
I’ll tell you what I know the moment we get back to the lighthouse. Come on.
As they climb the last rise, the sun dips below the horizon.
Light glows from the lighthouse dome.
Danny races through the entrance, holds his mother.
Danny
Mum! You’re okay. But you look like you’ve been roughed up.
Sarah
(bending to kiss his forehead, ruffle his hair)
I’m good, Danny.
Danny
(standing back seriously, trying to sound manly)
Are you okay, Blake?
Sarah
(smiling)
Blake, is it? We have come a long way.
Danny
I saw you through the telescope. The crocodile… everything. And I saw some weird stuff. The aliens have taken Juba!
Sarah rolls her eyes.
Once inside the dome, Blake diverts Danny to get some food organised.
He takes Sarah by the hand, looks into her eyes.
Blake
We may see some things that are a bit hard to take in.
Sarah
(tilting her head)
You mean the weird stuff Danny mentioned?
Blake
Yeah. Supernatural things. Things we would normally scoff at. And that’s only the start of it. There has to be more to this.
Sarah
We’ll just have to wait and see.
Danny
(waltzing in carrying three metal plates)
Beans.
Blake looks about for a place to sit, notices the box taken from under the wooden bench. It’s open, with a sprung lid in two halves.
He places his plate on the bench, moves the oil lamp to see inside.
He picks up the envelope, turns it in his hands. In faded black ink, it has his name written on it.
Blake sits in the leather chair.
Sarah tends to her ankle while Danny peers through the telescope at the calming waters below.
Sarah
(wincing as she adjusts her foot)
So much for a quiet place to ride out the storm.
Blake
(looking around the dome)
This place… it’s not random that we’re here.
Danny
(turning from telescope)
What do you mean?
Blake reaches for the wooden trunk Danny had opened earlier. He picks up the envelope with his name on it.
Blake
Danny found this.
Sarah
(curious)
How’s that possible? We’ve never been here before.
Blake carefully opens the envelope, unfolds a letter written in his father’s handwriting.
Blake
(reading)
“Son, if you’re reading this, you’ve found your way home.”
He looks up at them, then continues reading.
Blake
(CONT’D)
“This lighthouse isn’t just a building — it’s a promise. A promise that lost souls can always find their way back to where they belong.”
Danny
Your dad wrote that?
Blake
(nodding, emotional)
Twenty-three years ago. Before he died.
Blake sets the letter aside, shows them the photographs from the trunk — his parents at the lighthouse construction site.
Blake
(CONT’D)
My father built this place. Left it to me. I only found out a while back. It’s why I left the army.
Sarah
(softly)
And that’s why you came north.
Blake
I thought it would just be… I don’t know. A weekend trip. See what the old man left behind.
He looks around the dome, touches the glass panels.
Blake
(CONT’D)
Turns out he left me exactly what I needed. A place to settle.
Danny moves closer, studying the photos. He picks up another photo — his parents holding hands at the lighthouse base.
Blake
(CONT’D)
Dad was a carpenter. Mum a teacher. Nothing special, just… good people who believed in building things that last.
Danny
Like this place. With an alien thrown in.
Blake looks out at the delta where they’d nearly lost each other.
Blake
All those years, I thought they’d abandoned me. Left me with nothing.
Danny
But they didn’t.
Blake
No. And somehow… it guided me to you two.
Thunder RUMBLES in the distance. Blake stands, moves to the window.
Blake
(CONT’D)
Storm’s not over yet. We’ll ride it out.
Sarah
Together?
Blake
(turning back to them)
If you’ll have me.
Danny grins, holds up the ancient spear Juba gave him.
Danny
Think your dad would’ve liked Juba?
Blake
(looking at the lighthouse around them)
I think he built this place for people exactly like us. The ones who don’t give up.
The lighthouse beam mechanism creaks softly above them, as if responding to Blake’s words.
Then, a distant THUMPING sound — something approaching.
Danny
What’s that?
Blake
I’ll be buggered. NASA.
Danny
(pointing)
It’s landing on the delta!
Blake rushes down the stairs.
End of Chapter Twenty-Four