Updated Mar 22, 2026 • ~6 min read
Chapter 7: Cal Finds Her
WILLA
She was reviewing the prey base data at the cottage table on Wednesday morning when someone knocked on the door.
She was expecting Finn, who had said he’d bring the catch data and check in before the Thursday boat access. The person at the door was not Finn.
He was maybe twenty-six, dark-haired like Finn but arranged differently — where Finn’s stillness was contained, this person’s energy was immediate and cheerful. He had a coffee thermos in each hand and the expression of someone who had entirely legitimate reasons for being here.
He said: “Hi. I’m Cal. Finn’s brother.” He held up a thermos. “I brought coffee.”
She said: “You did.”
He said: “Good coffee. The stuff in the cottage kitchen is the program’s standard issue, which is —” He made a face.
She said: “It is what it is.” She stepped back from the door. “Come in.”
He came in with the immediate ease of someone who had been in this kitchen before, looked at her data spread across the table, and had the grace not to read any of it.
She said: “What can I do for you?”
He said: “I came to offer to show you the south-facing cliffs. There’s a section Finn didn’t take you to.”
She said: “That’s interesting.”
He said: “He was probably going to get to it. Eventually.”
She looked at him.
He said, with the expression of someone being very carefully transparent: “There’s a south cliff path that connects the south bay overlook to the outer headland access track. It’s a good survey route. I’ve been up there a lot. And Finn didn’t mention it because —” He stopped. “I’m sure he had reasons.”
She said: “Did he ask you not to come here?”
Cal looked at the ceiling.
She said: “I’ll take that as yes.” She poured the coffee he’d brought, which was genuinely better than the cottage standard issue. “Tell me about the south cliff path.”
He lit up like someone who’d been given permission to do the thing he’d come to do.
He said: “It’s about two kilometres, mostly level, some exposure at the southern point. Good sightlines to the nest sites on the south face and the intermediate ledge section. You can see down into the south bay from three different angles.” He paused. “It also connects to the outer headland track that Finn’s taking you on Thursday via the boat route — you can meet the boat from the south side and get better approach angles for some of the outer positions.”
She wrote this down.
She said: “How well do you know the cliff geography?”
He said: “I grew up here.”
She thought: *that’s exactly what Finn said.*
She said: “What do you do?”
He said: “Help run the lighthouse, maintenance on the cliff path infrastructure, coastal monitoring work.” He paused. “Community work mostly. It’s a small community.”
She said: “Twelve adults.”
He said: “That’s right.”
She said: “How long has the community been here?”
He said: “Long time. My family’s been on this headland for —” He did the calculation. “My great-great-great-grandmother built the first house on the north side. So. Long time.”
She said: “The survey program documentation has the community established in the current form since the 1930s.”
He said: “That’s when the lighthouse was formally registered.”
She said: “But the community predates that.”
He said: “A bit.”
She looked at him.
He met her look with the cheerful transparency that was, she was becoming aware, a very specific kind of selective transparency.
She said: “What’s your opinion of the eagle population on the outer face?”
He said: “They’re remarkable birds.”
She said: “The stability figures in the federal database are statistically anomalous. You must know that.”
He said: “I know the eagles.”
She said: “Have you read the survey reports?”
He said: “Some of them.”
She said: “Dr. Petersen’s report noted the anomalously high density and recommended continued monitoring. Your brother’s been the liaison for ten years.” She looked at her notes. “How many researchers have actually asked about the stability figures directly.”
Cal said: “You’re the first one.”
She said: “In ten years.”
He said: “In ten years.”
She said: “Why.”
He looked at the table and then at her with the quality of someone choosing how much to say.
He said: “The previous researchers came with a hypothesis and collected data that fit it. The hypothesis was: this is exceptional habitat with a high-density population. All the data supports that hypothesis.”
She said: “The zero mortality data supports exceptional habitat.”
He said: “Yes.”
She said: “It’s also consistent with other explanations.”
He said: “Yes.”
She said: “What would your brother say if I listed those explanations.”
Cal looked at her.
He said: “He would say exceptional habitat is the most parsimonious explanation.”
She said: “And what would you say.”
He said, carefully: “I would say that the data is accurate. Every count, every condition assessment, every piece of data in the federal database is accurate.”
She said: “And complete.”
He was quiet for a moment.
He said: “I would say the data is accurate.”
She wrote: *Cal. Finn’s brother, 26. Came without permission. Cheerful, precise, knows the data is accurate but not complete. Offered the south cliff path and the outer headland track connection. Is interested in my opinion of his brother.*
She had not written that last part without noticing she was writing it.
She said: “Tell me about the south cliff path.”
He told her about the south cliff path. He was excellent on the technical geography — drainage patterns, the way the wind behaved in different sections, the specific microclimates that the south-facing rock created. He clearly spent a lot of time on these cliffs.
At the end of it she said: “How interested are you in my opinion of your brother.”
He said: “What makes you ask that.”
She said: “You’ve mentioned him five times in the past twenty minutes.”
He had the expression of someone caught doing the thing they came to do.
He said: “He’s been managing researcher visits for ten years and he’s never extended an afternoon to six-fifteen before.”
She said: “I appreciate that context. I’m not forming an opinion of your brother.”
He said: “Right.”
She said: “I’m here to study the eagle population.”
He said: “Of course.”
She said: “The south cliff path looks useful. I’ll tell Finn I spoke with you.”
He said: “You should. It’ll be a good conversation.” He stood. “Can I come again?”
She said: “If you’re going to tell me things about the cliff geography.”
He said: “I know a lot about the cliff geography.”
She said: “Then yes.”
He grinned — the full version of the almost-smile she’d been getting from Finn — and left.
She looked at her notes.
She wrote: *Cal offered the south cliff path without being asked. He said the data is accurate. He knows it’s not complete. He wants me to form an opinion of his brother.*
She wrote: *I’m not forming an opinion of his brother.*
She looked at the line.
She crossed it out.
She wrote: *Data first.*
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