Page 210 of Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt

My blood ran cold. How had the coastguard known myyacht was in the vicinity? I wondered whether I should simply cut the engines and jump overboard as Kreeg had done.

‘Calling theTitan. This is the motoryachtNeptune. Please come in.’

‘Neptune...’ I whispered to myself. ‘Who are you?’

I took out my binoculars and scanned my port, starboard and bow. I saw nothing, so I briefly left the bridge to observe the aft deck. Sure enough, there was a white speck behind me. Lifting my binoculars, I identified it as a small Sunseeker yacht, which appeared to be heading towards me at some speed.

Returning to the bridge, I pushed theTitan’s throttles to maximum, knowing the Benetti’s awesome power would be no match for the vessel that was following me. But who were they?

‘I say again,Titan, come in. TheNeptunehas precious cargo aboard!’

‘Precious cargo?’ I asked myself.

‘To confirm,’ the radio buzzed, ‘we have your daughter, Ally, on board. She wonders if you’d like to stop for tea?’

I nearly fell where I stood.Ally? What the hell is she doing here? No, no, no, no...Everything I had worked so hard to plan was coming apart at the seams. ‘Come on old girl,’ I whispered, encouraging theTitanto speed me away.

The radio buzzed once more. ‘Pa? It’s Ally! We can see you! Do you fancy an Aegean rendezvous? Over.’

Ally’s voice proved to be both a tonic and a poison. It gave me such comfort to hear her, but deep pain knowing that I could not reply.

My pocket vibrated, and I removed my mobile phone. The screen displayed an unknown number. Knowing that, in all probability, the call was from Ally aboard theNeptune, I ignored it. Sure enough, a few moments later, the phone rangagain, telling me that I had a voicemail. I hurriedly answered the call and heard my daughter’s voice once more.

‘Hey, Pa! it’s Ally here. Listen, you won’t believe this, but I’m right behind you. I’m just with a... friend... and I wondered if you fancied stopping. Maybe we could get together for lunch? Anyway, let me know what you think. I love you. Bye.’

‘I love you too, Ally,’ I whispered.

I ended the call, my eyes filled with tears. In truth, there was nothing I longed to do more than stop theTitan, give Ally the most enormous hug, and tell her everything. But I knew in my heart of hearts how foolish it would be. I had expected that I would die today, and Kreeg would live. Now the opposite was true. To protect my daughters, theyhadto believe I’d perished. If Zed ever got wind of my presence today... I shuddered to think what the consequences might be for my girls.

Having put the throttle to the metal for the best part of an hour, Ally’s Sunseeker was well out of sight. Reducing the Benetti’s throttle, I took my phone back out of my pocket, and rang the one man I was able to trust. Who I hadalwaysbeen able to trust – Georg Hoffman.

‘Atlas?!’ he answered breathlessly. ‘You’re alive?’

‘Yes, Georg. I am alive. And as you know, that is a huge problem.’

‘What is Kreeg’s status?’

‘Deceased. We need to move to plan B. Immediately.’

‘Understood, Atlas.’

My girls. This is where my story truly ends. With the help of Georg, Ma, Claudia, Hans Gaia and many of my ‘team’, theTitanwas returned to Nice. You were informed of my heart attack, my private funeral, and given your letters, alongside your coordinates on the armillary sphere.

No doubt, your burning question is, ‘But where did you go, Pa?’

I returned to the island of Delos, to live out my final days in peace amidst the beauty of the Grecian coast. With Georg’s assistance, I purchased a small, whitewashed house with magnificent views of the sea, and waited for my time to come. Know that, unquestionably, my final days were filled with happy memories of our lives together on the magical shores of Atlantis.

Now you know everything.

The story of Atlas.

The story of Pa Salt.

The story of you.

The greatest gifts of my extended time on earth have been the communications I have received from Georg, detailing your progress as you have each gone on your own adventure to learn about your birth families. Know this: I could not be prouder of you. Although none of you carry my own blood, I am humbled that you have inherited my passion for travel, my spirit of adventure, and above all, my deep love for humanity and a belief in its innate goodness. I am so very sorry that I have had to deceive you. Knowing the full circumstances of my situation, as you now do, I believe that you will grant me grace.

I hope, above all else, that Georg has managed to find the missing sister. I know he has worked tirelessly to track her down after I was able to provide him with the name of Argideen House, and a drawing of the ring I once gave to her mother.