Moonfin Read online

  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 …

  “Hurry up!” Kai’s voice had that high-pitched sound it got when she was nervous. “You’ll get in more trouble than I will.”

  “I know. Ever since she thought I was the one who fed her fancy pen to the class snake,” Lizzy grumbled.

  “It wasn’t you, was it?” Kai pulled Lizzy along the eel tank.

  “Nope. Somebody else was using it to torture poor Sniggles when it fell into his water dish,” she said, grinning. “We never saw it again. I’m pretty sure Mr. Sniggles swallowed it. He couldn’t bend very well after that incident. But, yikes, Mrs. Gates held us hostage into the lunch hour trying to get me to confess. Oh, look at this eel …”

  “Come on,” Kai urged.

  Lizzy let out an aggravated moan and followed Kai toward the doorway where they heard Mrs. Gates talking to their class.

  “I hate tours and want to spend more time looking at the exhibits on my own—”

  “Shhh! She’s talking—we can slip in now.”

  Lizzy let Kai pull her into the cephalopod room. Unfortunately, the newly waxed floor made for a slick skating rink, and they both went careening into the jellies tank.

  Mrs. Gates glared at them with beady eyes behind glittery cat-eye glasses. She had been standing in front of the Pacific Octopus, finishing up her lecture—a small, perfectly round pink ball, just peaking at four feet and ten inches tall, with little sausage-like arms and legs. A globular tuft of gray curls sat in the middle of her forehead, and a tight hair-bun pulled severely behind her head gave the appearance of a natural face-lift.

  “The remarkable thing about the octopus is that it does not have any bones …”

  She stopped for a thrilling pause.

  “… and this specimen catches its prey with hundreds of suckers, each of which exerts four hundred pounds of pressure.” Mrs. Gates watched to see if the enlightened spark of education had set their minds ablaze. Nothing. Just Lizzy and Kai fumbling in the back, as usual.

  “Watch out!” Lizzy barked at Kai, who tried to regain her balance by stepping on Lizzy’s ankle, sending a piercing jab through her leg.

  Mrs. Gates stopped and shot them both nasty looks before continuing—

  “Most people think the baggy sack at the top of the octopus is the brain, but it’s actually where the organs are located.” She pointed to the large orange subject of their lesson; it had attached itself to the upper left corner of the tank, looking utterly bored.

  “That was a smooth entrance. Why did you have to pull me along like that?” Lizzy hissed under her breath.

  “Because you walk so slow and are always dreaming when you come here!”

  “Lizzy and Kai,” snarled Mrs. Gates, flashing her pearly whites in one scary grimace. “Did you know that the octopus can travel on land?”

  Her beady eyes bore into them like fiery laser beams.

  “Oh no, here it comes,” Kai groaned. Octopi are Lizzy’s favorite subject.

  “Oh yes!” Lizzy said excitedly, almost rapturously. “Once it was reported a privately owned enteroctopus dofleini escaped from its tank and was found in the library reading books! They are highly intelligent creatures, and I think they could tell us stories if they could speak.”

  The class laughed.

  Mrs. Gates bristled.

  “Well, that is amazing,” she said dryly, and turning on her heels, shuffled them all toward the nautili exhibit mumbling something about “busy-bodies” and “smarty-pants.”

  Lizzy stayed behind, caught in a brief reverie over the wonders of undersea life until Kai gave her arm a sharp pinch.

  “Ouch!”

  “You’re hopeless,” she said and followed after their class.

  Lizzy took one last glance at the octopus. It had unlatched from the roof and slid down next to her, floating near the glass, emanating beautiful shades of red.

  She smiled at the sight.

  “I can see you are happy,” she said aloud, as if the octopus could hear. Its speckled eyelids fluttered slightly.

  She turned toward the door to leave, but halted, having the odd sensation of being watched. She looked up and noticed both its eyes were staring at her. Then, within the darkness of the tank, the eyes began to glow a ghostly white. Lizzy started
to back away, and the octopus did a strange thing—it placed one of its arms against the glass directly in front of her and gave it a firm, sound thump!

  She wavered a moment, unsure what to do.

  “D-do y-you want me to come closer to you?—because you’re acting weird for an octopus.” Not that she knew very many to compare it to.

  As she said this, the octopus thumped once more on the glass.

  “Um—maybe you’re upset or something?” He did just have a roomful of kids goggling at him only moments ago.

  She stepped closer.

  THUMP! THUMP!

  An irresistible urge filled her and she lifted her hand to the glass, and when she did so, a peculiar feeling washed over her. One she’d had before …

  A flood of sounds and dream-like images suddenly filled her mind—it was the roar of the ocean and rushing water. In a flash, a vision formed and she saw a humongous animal—a whale—wait, no, some kind of prehistoric monster … nothing she had ever seen before. It was larger than a common whale and contained more curves through its body and long tail. She saw flippers and flower-like hands at the end of them—the flowers rolled back and four great claws appeared. A reptilian face lunged forth in her mind … it was attached to the end of a serpent-like neck and lined with massive jaws and shark’s teeth. Small diamond-shaped scales covered its entire body, tightly fitting together, like armor. The picture in her mind flooded her with terror and made her heart beat out of her chest!

  As quickly as the vision came, it faded. The octopus began to move back and forth, wavering hypnotically. The swells in the tank grew larger and sloshed above the rim.

  New sounds came forth.

  Then a whisper …

  “I am Iddo.”

  The words felt like lightning down Lizzy’s spine.

  “H-how—um—I–I can hear you,” she stammered. There wasn’t a mouth or anything moving, yet his voice came like ripples and bubbles forming meaningful thoughts.

  “We communicate differently in the sea. Humans cannot hear us, but if they could, the sea would sound like a great musical symphony.”

  She wasn’t sure what to say. “Um—you mean like the whale songs?”

  “Yes. But not all at once! You have to listen carefully. You have to learn to separate the notes. Otherwise, the sea would be too noisy for you to enter,” he said, streaming his thoughts gently into her mind.

  “What do you mean by noisy? The ocean is the quietest place I know.” He was right—it was different. The words were on her lips, but she could feel her mind speaking to his mind, wherever that was in his billowing body.

  “You have to find their melodies. Even now, I can hear the calls of the others in this room, and also the ones out in the harbor. We speak in different ways to each other and often at different pitches. That is why you can hear me in your mind,” Iddo explained.

  “Okay—I don’t know how you’re doing this—there must be a speaker hidden around here somewhere.” Lizzy stepped away from the glass, breathless, heart pounding. She examined the floor and walls closely but couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. Then she had an idea to test him.

  “Hmmm, I wonder …”

  Looking over at the jellyfish tank, she placed a hand back up to the glass. “Tell me what they are saying right now.”

  Iddo took the challenge.

  “It’s a chant actually. It goes, ‘Swish-pull-swish-pull-up-down-up-down-swish-pull …’ and that is all. Jellyfish are such simple creatures,” he said, waving his arms. “But watch this. I will suggest to one that it should turn three somersaults. They do whatever they’re told!”

  Iddo said something with the words “Swishy-whorl” in it and the jelly did, in fact, flip three somersaults before her eyes.

  Lizzy hesitated. This could be an elaborate trick by one of the clods from school, but she couldn’t see how. Her mouth curved into a smile, and Iddo danced and swirled around his tank in response. Suddenly the sinewy paper-thin skin of the octopus gathered together and plastered itself against the wall of the tank like a huge wad of chewed gum. One of his glassy eyes inflated to the size of a soccer ball and peered down at Lizzy.

  “I heard what you said about the stories of the Deep, Lizzy. I have many to tell you.”

  Lizzy gasped. “H-how do you know my name?”

  “You were born with the Way to the Deep. That is why we can speak to each other.” He planted his rather large eyeball next to hers.

  “You aren’t making any sense. I was born at Blowing Prawn Hospital. And could you … deflate that enormous eye? You’re creeping me out!”

  She was seriously scared now.

  The octopus swiftly turned bright yellow and darted into his cave. “Remember who you are, Lizzy,” he echoed, swooshing his squishy body into hiding.

  Lizzy heard flip-flops clap down the hall.

  “You are so busted!” Kai snapped, poking a puckered face through the doorway. “Mrs. Gates has been looking all over for you, and here you are staring at a blob of tentacles!”

  “I don’t hear him.”

  “What are you talking about, hear who?”

  Her hand fell from the cold glass as Iddo pulled deeper into his retreat.

  “Iddo.”

  “Who-do?” Kai twisted her head around the empty room. “No one here but pulpy invertebrates.”

  Lizzy took a deep breath. “It’s nothing—I only thought I heard someone.” Did I actually just talk to an octopus?

  “Liz, are you okay? You look like you’re going to puke.”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” She forced a smile. “Let’s catch up with the others.”

  Kai led her through the door toward the shark exhibit.

  “By the way, while you were here daydreaming I talked to your mom. She said we could meet with her tomorrow about our summer jobs. Wish they were paying jobs—don’t know how I feel about hanging out with all these dudes this summer.”

  Lizzy glanced back at the octopus tank. The blob continued to glow beneath its rock.

  “Yeah, me neither,” she whispered under her breath.

  Chapter 3

  WAKING GIANTS

  It wasn’t the worst day. Yet.

  Captain Quinn Malloy and his crew sailed the Windstar smoothly along the rugged coastline, flanking the north end for a catch. Theirs was the only boat around for miles; none of the other fishing vessels would even touch these grounds. The crew, as brave and crusty fishermen as there ever were, trembled a little in their slickers at the thought of letting their nets down in these waters. Mumblings and whisperings carried across the deck all day—“Otter Island is cursed.”

  Captain Quinn leaned over the rail and watched as the hull of the Windstar cut through the teal water. Neither fish nor fowl was seen for the last ten miles.

  “The sea has fallen asleep,” he muttered darkly.

  “This is where we let down, Captain,” said Max the deck boss. “We’d be wise to pull her around and head back to the mainland. This here place is as exciting as a graveyard.”

  Max never had a problem speaking his mind about Otter Island, and the crew was mighty glad of it. He also never worried about his Captain’s sanity except one day a year—and this was that day. Every year for the last four years they’d come out to this desolate island, throw out their nets, and pull in nothing—or next to nothing. Captain Quinn became a fixed statue on deck, binoculars in hand, and would stare out at the cliffs the whole miserable day. It was a complete waste of time. But it wasn’t for him to question his Captain’s comings and goings, he just did what he was told. Besides, this was personal—a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do.

  Jimmy, a thick, hairy greenhorn, passed around a thermos of coffee. He was close to propping his eyes open with toothpicks to keep from falling asleep from sheer boredom.

  “Yeah—years ago this place teemed with sharks ’cuz of them otters being their favorite food,” he droned, taking a swig of the steaming black brew. “Now they’re getti
ng fat and not a shark to be seen … and no fish around these parts either (he liked to pretend he knew what he was talking about).”

  “Are you complainin’?” Captain Quinn said testily. The last thing he needed was a rookie deckhand spouting his mouth off and upsetting the rest of the crew. He knew this was an unusual fishing spot for any of the trawlers and nerves were jumpy.

  “Nope!” he croaked. “It’s a paying job—b’sides, the less competition for the fish the better.” Jimmy guzzled down his coffee and scurried away. For whatever reason, they were parked off this island, and he would have to wait it out.

  The Captain set his steely-blue eyes toward the north end of the island at Cutter’s Point, his scraggly hair blowing wildly in the wind.

  “Dang ordinances,” he grumbled to himself. He’d like nothing more than to beach a dinghy up on that sand and look around, but the law prohibited fishing boats within a one mile perimeter of the island to protect the sea otters.

  Max called for a full stop and ordered the troughs and tackle readied for a haul-in.

  “Eeerrrmm—what do you want to do, sir?” he said briskly, tapping the jib-boom impatiently.

  Quinn let the binoculars fall around his neck and breathed out a defeated sigh. “Let’s pull in the last load and see if there’s anything worth filling the tanks with,” he growled.

  “Haul it in!” shouted Max.

  The deck became a flurry of activity as motors churned and hooks were thrown into the sea to pull the line in. The last net was heaved over the rail and steadied inches above the deck trough. Seawater gushed onto the aged wood. Flopping fins and tails strained to squeeze out of their tight rope-prison.

  Captain Quinn turned his back on the crew and continued to look out over the water. He didn’t give one rat’s whisker about the catch. They could be hauling in a pack of diamonds for all he cared.

  Four years, my friend, and I have failed you again.

  “Hey Cap’n, take a look at this!” called Max. “I ain’t ever seen anything like it.” He stood peering at a wide oval-shaped fin jutting out from the dangling net.

  “Not now, I’m busy,” he growled.

  “I think you might want to take a look at this, Quinn.”