Moonfin (2 page)

“Where do you get these ideas, Lizzy? Animals can't live on Pluto,” Brandon smirked.

“I dunno. Maybe you can't
see
them, but they're there.”

“Nerd,” escaped Jade's lips.

Lizzy wandered up to a giant decrepit catfish floating motionless behind yellowed glass. Pale whiskers sprouted from a bloated face—like a sumo wrestler with a mouth full of marbles. It looked blankly at her at first, but in a split second moved to the side, focusing a dilated pupil right on her. Wondering if it would flinch, she swiped her hand across the glass, close to the wide, black eye.

Then it happened in a sudden rush: an odd tingling washed over her. For a brief moment, she heard a distant sound in her mind. It was a pulse or a heartbeat, followed by a very strong feeling—like that of
weeping.

The scary sensation overwhelmed her at once, and she blurted out, “They are very sad!”

“I wasn't aware fish had feelings.” Her mother wrinkled her nose at the thought.

Jade burst out laughing.

“Honestly, Liz, no wonder everyone at school calls you a space-cadet!”

Lizzy didn't know
how
she knew. She just did.

“Well, maybe it's like how dogs and other pets have feelings. It's not so very odd, after all.” She moved on through the room, a little confused at these new whisperings in her heart, pondering the thin piece of glass that separated their water-world from her own.

The last room of the aquarium held the tide-pools, sculpted out of cement and filled with sea anemones and crabs. It was a favorite with all the little kids. There was this one little old lady volunteer who stood by and always warned, “Never stick your tongue into a sea anemone!” But of course some kid always did, and their tongue would swell up to the size of a grapefruit. “
Tourists
—serves them right!” the lady would cackle.

After finishing the exhibit, they stepped outside to the observation deck that skirted the great blue-green ocean. A loud roar arose from the cliff below. Lizzy climbed up the metal rail and tipped her head into the salty breeze. She loved the ocean for all its color and beauty and couldn't imagine living anywhere else; it was so much a part of her family's lifeblood. Her favorite memories were of the carefree days out on her dad's fishing boat, helping with a catch, or digging up clams from the sand during low tide. She could spend all day exploring its mysteries.

“Dad, I wanna take the Sundancer out for a few days,” Brandon announced unexpectedly.

“Where to?” Mr. Grape eyed his son warily. “Last time it ended up with a cracked hull.”

“Okay, I know, but that was the only time I came that close to shore,” he smiled sheepishly. “One of the trawlers came in late last night and Captain Malloy called … said they found something out near Otter Island. I want to go check it out. Besides, I have all summer before next college term starts, and the guys and I want to make some cash.”

“Brandon, can I go, huh? There isn't much going on at my school,” pleaded Lizzy, jumping up and down. “It's almost finished, anyway.”

“You always try to get out of school any chance you get,” snorted Jade.

“Good try,” he said, smiling at her, and then his expression changed. “Sorry, but not this time.” Lizzy thought she sensed some strain in his voice and something else. Was it
concern
?

“Just a bunch of ol' sea otters out there … what could possibly be worth looking at?” she grumbled at him for being left out.

“It's probably nothing—just something the Coast Guard reported on the radio last night,” he said distractedly. “Standard recon. Also heard there's a pod of fat lobsters out there, and Bubba is paying top dollar for 'em.”

Lizzy had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach that something wasn't right. The cold gray mist roiled off the ocean and engulfed her mind in puddles of dread.

The next morning at daybreak, Brandon Grape and a small crew set sail from Blowing Prawn harbor.

The sea was a glassy calm.

The blazing yellow sun rose.

The cool orange sun set.

Another day melted into the sea, and the Sundancer was never heard from again.

Chapter 2
A STRANGE CONVERSATION

L
izzy leaned on the cold glass shelf and stared absently at a large side of ham. She always knew the day, even when it wasn't marked on the calendar. She could feel it in her bones: Exactly four summers had passed since the day Brandon disappeared.

“Stop daydreaming and get going already, you'll be late for school again,” said Sugar in a hurry.

“Butwherefdagrapelly?” garbled Lizzy.

Sugar dumped a handful of leafy sprigs into a blender and pushed the purée button. “Try your last science experiment,” she hollered over the grinding hum of sloshing plants. “Food always ends up there, ya know!”

“Oh yeah—I forgot about that!” Lizzy yelled back.

She wedged her head between the eggs and cheese and sighed dolefully. Everyone tried to move on, to be happy, but she never could. She just felt “stuck” in a way, like the town of Blowing Prawn, which hadn't changed a stitch these last four years. The same old shops and people lined the wharf. And while the world moved on to cell phones, laptops, and digital mania, Blowing Prawn stayed in the Dark Ages. Mrs. Whipple still had a rotary phone in her shop. The library kept a card catalogue and books on cassette tape. Yep, the town and Lizzy's brain were stuck in a time warp together.

She exited the icy refrigerator, the grape jelly nowhere to be found, and pulled two slices of Sugar's homemade oatmeal bread from the cupboard. She slathered them with creamy peanut butter, licking the spoon for added delight.

“It will just have to be peanut butter again today,” she mumbled while stuffing chips and juice into her backpack. “Better to have a great chemistry explosion all purple and glorious than a plain ol' sandwich, anyway.”

Sugar turned off the blender and poured a frothy green liquid into a tall glass. She leaned in to give it a strong whiff; wisps of magenta-dyed hair fell down around her shoulders and glistened in the morning sun.

“You'll have to start calling them ‘PBs' from now on or make do without your jelly bombs—certainly be cleaner around here, for sure.” She arched her well-lined brows at Lizzy in pretend rebuke.

“No, I don't think so,” said Lizzy, arching her brows back for dramatic effect. “We all know how that goes. Once I give in to being clean and tidy, it will always be expected of me. Where's the fun in that? Mad scientists and cleanliness just don't go together, and that is that.”

Sugar slid the gleaming glass of green stuff over to Lizzy, who pinched her nose at it.

“Drink.”

“Does it have ice cream in it?”

“No, alfalfa and seaweed.”

“Then no
, thanks
.”

“Mhmhm—you sassy girl! You're gonna run me ragged! Now listen, your momma has a meeting at work and will be back early this evening, and your sister is staying late for volleyball club tonight.”

“What about my dad?”

“Traveling.”

“Sheesh—
again
? Where's he this time?” Lizzy hated it when her dad was gone so much for his job. Being a marine biologist who worked for the government, he reported on weather and ocean health and stuff like that.

“The Bering Sea for a few weeks—National Fisheries Service needs him to ride out with the fleets to check on the crab populations, so be home for dinner at a decent time for once.” Sugar wagged her head: it was pointless to remind Lizzy to be on time for
anything
. Even if she owned a watch, she'd just ignore it.

“Awww, Sugar,” Lizzy pouted, “but it's field trip day.”

Her eyebrows shot up again. They were getting a good workout today, thought Lizzy.

“
Oh, no
—here we go. Don't you and Kai go climbing into any exhibits pretending to be arctic Mongols this time around!”

“Those were good times,” said Lizzy dreamily. “We only got caught because Kai sneezed and Krista saw us, the snitch. We paid her back, though, and hid a crawdad in her desk later that day. Boy, the look on her face when she pulled out her geography book … best moment
ever
.”

“You two are just
awful
!” Sugar tried not to smile.

Lizzy sighed again, more deeply. She couldn't imagine life without Sugar nor did she want to. When she came to help them after her brother disappeared four years ago, their lives were pretty messy
.
Before Sugar, Lizzy spent many days running around like a chimpanzee with cereal stuck in her hair, covered in dirt. Good thing she came along when she did, or Lizzy might be living in a tree by now.

“You get going and behave yourself.” Sugar shooed her out onto the dirt road that ran by the Grape's yellow beach house. There she lingered quietly by the door, watching as Lizzy gazed out toward Otter Island. The fog had lifted, and Lizzy could clearly see the island that sat twenty-five miles off the mainland.

“Today's the day, Sugar.”

“I know, baby,” she said quietly.

“Third day of June.”

“Yes.”

Lizzy straddled her cruiser and sped off down Old Ranch, the back road that wound through the strawberry patches to Discovery Bay Aquarium. If she was lucky, a sweet breakfast of fresh berries would be waiting along the edge, left behind for her by the field pickers.

Her mind raced in tandem to the furious pedaling of her feet. It was the end of sixth grade and the start of summer. After a few more tests and this field trip, she'd be home-free with snorkeling, s'mores, and summer fun ahead.

She pulled over to the side of the road next to a rickety white fruit stand and looked over the ripe patches. “Looks like Stella left me a bundle today,” she said gleefully, picking enough to fill her basket and belly before continuing up the crooked dirt road toward the aquarium. Beyond the last turn, a great blue and brown building towered on the cliffs above Blowing Prawn.

One thing that
had
changed in this town was Discovery Bay Aquarium. It was built only three years ago next to the marine lab where Lizzy's mother worked as a researcher and became an overnight sensation, putting Blowing Prawn on the map—the most popular tourist spot around. Scientists came from all over to see its vast collection of sea life and work with Dr. Krell, director of the aquarium and dean of oceanic research at the college. It was also one of the few places around that had internet. All of this, of course, made C.A.G.E. very unhappy.

Lizzy spotted Kai at the bike racks and skidded to a stop.

“Okay, I know I'm late,” she said out of breath.

“Again.”

Lizzy rolled her eyes.

“Keeping score?”

“Did you stop and go wading in tide pools this time?”

“Making fun of me?”

Kai shut one eye and waggled her fingers like a greedy pirate. “Aaarrrggghhh! Did you find a secret treasure there?”

Lizzy caught on.

“Aye, matey, they're big, red, round and,” she pulled out a fat strawberry and dangled it in front of her, “delicious!”

“You're such a fuzzlelump sometimes,” said Kai, taking the sweet treat from Lizzy.

“Not sure what that is, but you're welcome.”

“Wow—Stella must love you to leave you so many.”

“Sugar swaps zucchini with her—they have a deal when it comes to the gardens.”

“We better hurry and catch up with our class.”

Lizzy locked the front wheel of her bike to the rack and stepped quickly. “Yeah, or we'll have some explaining to do to Mrs. Gates.”

They ran up the steps and entered through the double glass doors, skipping the ticket lines, and headed past the gift shop directly to the tank exhibits.

“Do you think she'll notice us coming in late?” wondered Kai.

“Definitely,” said Lizzy, “she notices everything. Besides, she watches
me
like a hawk.” Lizzy ran her hand along the tank filled with clownfish.
If I could only stay and watch them a while …