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  Kai’s double meaning wasn’t lost on Jeff—everyone knew his family owned everything in town. He popped another clam in his mouth and slurped away just to annoy her.

  “Hey, I know a way we can make some money this summer,” said Jeff. “Wanna go abalone hunting tomorrow at sunset? The lady from the shell shop will buy them for five dollars each.”

  “Sure,” Kai and Lizzy chimed together.

  “If the tide is low enough, I know a good place behind the Tiki Lodge,” said Lizzy.

  Kai jabbed a marshmallow onto a fork and twirled it around in the fire; it crackled and puffed, turning golden-brown, then ignited into a glowing flambeau. She quickly blew it out, admiring its burnt, crispy shell.

  “You mean that big coconut building with a palm tree shooting out of it?”

  “That’s the one. I think Jeff’s grandpa owns that one.”

  “I bet the waitress will give us free milkshakes—HEY!”

  Jeff shot to his feet as a clump of sand came whizzing by and spattered all over Kai’s nicely roasted marshmallow.

  They all looked up to find Krista Bliss, a tall, slender, and very tan girl, standing over them. Next to her stood Chad, Tina, and Bart (who torpedoed them with a second ball of sand for good measure), her student council goons, all with snarky grimaces stretched across their faces.

  “If it isn’t little Miss Nerdbomb and her band-of-geeks.”

  “Krista, you need to teach your slaves better manners!” Kai spat, staring her down.

  Krista ignored Kai and went straight for her target.

  “What is that smell … is it butterscotch? I see you’ve been playing with food again, Lizzy,” she sneered.

  It wasn’t a secret. Everyone knew about her wacky lab experiments. Her classmates were so used to it, they never bothered to tell her anymore if something clung to her clothes or fell out of her book bag. And it wasn’t only food; it could be one of her pets hitching a ride out of its cage.

  “Uhh … well …” Lizzy stammered stupidly. She was intimidated by Krista, with her long bleach-blond hair and gleaming white teeth.

  Krista looked as if she had a very important secret that she was dying to tell. Her eyes twinkled, and her smile twisted into a candy-coated pucker, like those fat wax lips you get at the carnival.

  “What do you want, Krista, spit it out!” said Jeff, stepping in between them.

  Bart nudged his beefy torso in front of Jeff and flared his bull-like nostrils. He was easily the biggest and hairiest kid in school, if not the whole planet, and, as far as Jeff was concerned, a complete chowder-head.

  Krista gushed, “I heard you dweebs are going to volunteer at the aquarium this summer. So sorry you’ll be stuck there with all the other strange and smelly fish…. I’ll be thinking of you while touring Italy on my Vespa—ahem, and see what I got from my daddy for winning the elections as your new class president?” She lifted a diamond heart necklace up for everyone to see and pranced around like she was the queen of the beach.

  Kai was nauseated. Jeff was mesmerized. Lizzy was sure her tongue had transmuted into lead. And after a few moments of gloating, Krista pretended to feel sorry for them.

  “Awww, poor Lizzy. I can see you are speechless. Don’t you wish you could be exactly like me?” she said, flashing rows of gleaming white teeth. Her goons snickered loudly like three brainless rats.

  For a moment Lizzy sort of did, but realized what a snake Krista was. Her friend Ben ran against Krista for class president, and he was supremely more qualified than she could ever be. Then when he was close to winning, Krista bribed everyone with free pizza and bowling coupons from her parents’ business, and that swung the vote. But try as she may, she couldn’t resist envying prissy, blond Krista and feeling like a milk-dud in her presence. Lizzy stood there, awkward and tongue-tied, and she wasn’t proud of it.

  Kai lost it. She shoved her sandy, burnt marshmallow in Krista’s face and started to let her have it with, “What is your problem, you fake plastic doll—!” when something very glorious and unexpected happened. A rogue wave came ashore and crashed right down on Krista and her zombies-in-waiting. The force of it knocked them off their feet and pulled them several feet into the surf.

  “AH! ERF! HELP! HUMPGH! BLAARRRGH!” was heard for several minutes as flailing arms and legs rolled down the shore. Coughs and gurgles rose up from somewhere in the shallow tide as Krista and company struggled to get back to their feet, but every time they tried, they were knocked down over and over again.

  In the faint light, four lumps finally rolled out of the gray surf and trudged back up the sand, looking like shocked cats drenched in bath water. Krista’s once pristine hairdo was now a ratty mess, and Lizzy could hardly envy her at that moment, but she couldn’t quite feel sorry for her either. The four clods scurried up the beach to the bonfire, spewing and coughing accusations back at them as they went.

  Jeff laughed at the whole spectacle.

  “That—was—AWESOME!”

  Lizzy looked curiously at the water, which had died down as fast as it had risen. “That was amazing, considering how low the tide is right now.”

  “Yeah, but this is even weirder,” said Kai, bending over something in the sand near their feet.

  Lizzy and Jeff went to their knees, straining to see.

  “Bizarre,” breathed Jeff.

  Etched in the damp sand, very clearly and very deeply, were the words:

  “How did that get there?” said Lizzy.

  Jeff shook his head, examining the shallow surf. “There’s no way a wave that big could’ve come this far up at this time of day.”

  “Oh, but I’m sure glad it came when it did!” said Kai, smiling.

  They all had a jolly laugh about it for the rest of the night. Lizzy couldn’t get the words etched in the sand out of her head, for she was sure she knew them, like a name she had heard long ago which had slipped from her memory.

  The bonfire went until midnight, and everyone agreed it was a huge success. The Kooky Bobblehead awards were given out for various categories voted on by each student class. Some were deserved honors and others were purely for fun. The Einstein award went to Dibley Drake for best science fair project. Lizzy was very happy for him. Cool Brains went to Cory Bickle for winning first place at the chess tournament. Drama Queen went to Krista, naturally, for her worst acting part in the play, but she thought it was an honor and gloated over all the attention.

  Sugar showed up with a tray of scrumptious cinnamon rolls for all to share, and Phil Pinkerton, Jeff’s grandfather, donated the contest prizes. Kai and Lizzy didn’t win any of them, but Jeff won a new clamming fork for digging up the most bivalve mollusks—a total of ten in only five minutes. His grandpa was beaming with pride.

  Captain Quinn stopped by to drop off some catch to roast over the fires. He briefly caught Lizzy’s eye and a pained glint crossed his face before quickly turning away. All the middle school teachers, including Mrs. Gates, joined in on the festivities, but the looks she gave Lizzy and Kai weren’t exactly on the friendly side. Lizzy wondered how they were going to survive seventh grade if they didn’t get on her good side.

  Mr. Sniggles better not swallow any more of her pens or I’m toast.

  Chapter 5

  THE WAVE GROWS FINGERS

  “It’s the Tiki Turd.”

  Kai slapped a hand to her face.

  “Jeff, really.”

  “What! It’s brown and round—”

  “Lovely.”

  They stood on the boardwalk that ran behind the lodge and peered inquisitively at the unusual building.

  “It’s supposed to look like a coconut,” said Lizzy, tilting her head from side to side.

  “Well, yeah, fail there,” chuckled Jeff.

  While the Tiki Lodge got that inglorious title around town for its odd shape, the rocky nook it sat next to had been named after some obscure local hero, but came to be known simply as Abalone Cove, due to the ample supply of shells that washed
up there.

  A long spiral staircase linked the boardwalk above to the beach below. They climbed halfway down the winding stairs and jumped over the rail, setting off along a sandy path that wove along the ice plant encrusted hillside, passing a sign that read CLIMBERS BEWARE! on the way down.

  “How do the abalone shells get plastered along this cliff, anyway?” Kai wondered aloud.

  “The otters,” said Jeff. “They hunt the juicy abalone meat that populate this ocean shelf and let go of the shells. When the tide comes in, and the surf pounds the cliff, the abalones get stuck there, free for the taking. The Shell Shack buys them for five buckaroos, and that’s good business.”

  “Yeah, the Shack turns around and sells them for fifteen dollars to tourists,” said Lizzy, digging her toes in the cool sand. “That’s even better business.”

  Lizzy scanned the gently sloping hillside. It was a mere tilt for fifty feet before dropping sharply into the treacherous trench of swirling froth below. The locals called it the Dragon’s Mouth because of the way the water made a horrible sucking and sloshing sound: harrruuggmmph—harrruuggmmph—over and over again in perfect timing. The trail stayed parallel with the cliff for a bit, eventually climbing back up to the main road. But they needed to go below the path to reach the shells, which was tricky footwork, and one slip could mean getting caught in the swishing mouth of the dragon.

  Jeff knew all the best mining spots and led the way. “I can see about forty abalones just up ahead. Let’s do it.”

  They scurried down to a patch of shells and worked swiftly. The abalones dislodged from the hillside easily in some places, but in others the sand was packed like soft cement, and they had to dig around the shell with a trowel to loosen it. Working away for over an hour, they filled their sacks to the brim, the roar of the ocean growing much louder than when they first started.

  “We’d better get back in!” Kai shouted as she tugged on her last shell.

  The ocean frothed ferociously below them, a hungry wave splashed high and grazed Lizzy’s foot.

  “Okay!” she yelled back. “Just one more to go!”

  “It’s not worth it, the waves are too close!” Kai called back.

  Sea wind blew them off their feet in sudden gusts; hair whipped around faces, stinging eyes and confusing senses.

  “I can do it!” Lizzy climbed down a few more feet to reach the last shell. Only a few more inches …

  She had just pulled it from its sandy home when a wall of seawater came up and crashed heavily down on top of all three of them. Kai and Jeff were able to grab on to something and hold tight, Lizzy lunged for a vine and missed. It felt like the wave had grown fingers and wrapped around her arms and legs, prying her nimbly from the hillside.

  Falling, falling, falling for what seemed like an eternity, then swoooosh! The churning water swallowed her small body, propelling her forward into the salty deep.

  “HEEEELLLPPGURGLEARGH!” she cried out.

  Then the next second, complete noise obliteration.

  White bubbles surrounded her on all sides. The mighty wave pulled her backward and down, down, down for several seconds … several minutes …

  The ocean felt unusually warm.

  A soothing calm washed over her—like the feeling you get after having a warm blanket wrapped around you on a cold winter’s night. She decided to stop fighting and let the force pull her ever downward into the sloshing waters.

  Confusing words flowed in and out of her head. She tried to speak what she saw, only it wasn’t like using one’s mouth to form words, or the vocal chords to give them sound. They were more like thoughts with color that she could see, and Lizzy could visualize them very clearly coming from her own mind—

  “So quiet. I should be afraid, but I’m not,” she uttered in this new way.

  The evening twilight pierced through the green waters and shone as pillars of light. Lizzy suddenly felt strong arms wrap around her, tugging and cradling her. It caused her to spin around in circles, and she wondered if she might be tangled in some seaweed, yet looking around, saw nothing. She made one last effort to kick herself back up to the surface. It was no use. Finally reaching the seabed, she sat crossed-legged in utter silence, unable to move.

  Her lungs began to burn.

  “I can’t breathe,” she spoke into the hushed waters.

  At any moment, she would be forced to open up her mouth and breathe in seawater. She panicked and horrible thoughts filled her mind: What if she was to die and wash up on shore, or get caught in a fishing net, or worse, never seen again! This last thought struck terror in her heart. She thought about her lab, and all her pets and plants stored there. Who would take care of them? Certainly not Jade, she couldn’t keep a slug alive.

  Lizzy was close to accepting her sad end when a conch shell circled her shoulders and rested in her lap. “That’s odd—they’re too heavy to float like that,” she said to no one in particular.

  A few crabs scurried by. A sea snake slithered along her feet, and a pufferfish bumped into her back a few times, as if she were an annoying road block, and called her names she’d best not repeat.

  She could feel her lungs suffocating, and in her fear, she thrashed and wriggled violently.

  My lungs are on fire!

  Just when she was going to open her mouth and inhale a gallon of seawater, the conch shell floated to her face and pressed firmly over her mouth and nose.

  “Breathe,” she heard someone say.

  There wasn’t any choice in the matter—she did and her lungs filled with wonderful oxygen.

  “Ahhh, thank you. Wait. How is that possible?”

  “Mhmhmhm, you are welcome,” said the voice. “Breathe deeply, Lizzy, and remember the Way of the Deep.”

  There it was again.

  “How am I supposed to know the way to anywhere under here?” she said dizzily. She had no idea what this person, or Iddo, meant by this Way of the Deep business, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to.

  “You have only forgotten what you once knew.”

  Lizzy took deep draughts of air and felt rested for a moment. The voice was soothing as it spoke, and when Lizzy formed words in her head, they were mysteriously understood, just like if she said them out loud.

  “I can’t see you.”

  “In time.”

  She sat still on the ocean floor, not moving from her spot, not understanding how she was able to stay down with lungs full of air. It wasn’t terribly deep, as she could still see the waning light above. Time went by … minutes, maybe an hour, she couldn’t tell. Being under the sea was very disorienting. When her lungs began to ache, she would breathe deeply into the conch and be fine for several more minutes. Before long she was able to go for longer and longer spans of time between intakes of breaths. Sounds faded in and out. Some of the sounds even carried a tune.

  “Is that music I hear?”

  “That is conversation, as you would call it.”

  “I’ve never heard it before.”

  “You have never listened. Most do not. The music comes from all the sea creatures near and far. They have many sounds and communicate in many ways. To you, it will always sound like music. To them, it is as simple as saying, ‘Good day to you.’”

  Bubbles swirled around her.

  “And if they suffer, it will not sound like music at all, but other sounds you do not want to hear. That is how it is for some at present.”

  “Who are you?”

  Silence.

  Lizzy tried again—“May I ask … what you are?”

  “Did not Iddo speak to you? He was supposed to explain things to you by now.”

  “I met Iddo at the aquarium. He spoke to me a little about the sea music and also showed me something in my mind—some sort of animal.” She was starting to get used to talking like this now.

  “Lizzy, I cannot keep you under for much longer. Your friends are looking for you even now, so you must listen carefully.”

  Lizzy couldn’t
be sure, but specks of light danced around and through a clump of bubbles, and little by little, she was able to make out some form of a person. From the voice, Lizzy guessed it was female. She reached out her hand and tried to touch the flakes of light whirling about her.

  The water-lady continued, “It is imperative that you free Iddo from the aquarium as soon as possible.”

  That was a jarring thought.

  “Um—y-you want me to steal a grown octopus from its tank?” It’s not like she could plop Iddo on her head, like a hat, and walk past security. He didn’t look anything like the foam squid hats in the gift shop.

  “Dr. Krell is going to change Iddo soon, and you must free him before it is too late.”

  “Dr. Krell … the aquarium director? Why would he bother with Iddo?”

  “There is much to explain, but all I can say to you now is he keeps secrets in one of the rooms beneath the aquarium labs. If you find the room, the answers you seek are there.”

  The water-lady became more fervent.

  “You must stop him from doing to Iddo what he has done to other poor creatures.”

  “I don’t understand—what poor creatures?”

  Lizzy had no idea what she was talking about. Why would Dr. Krell want to hurt the sea animals? It’s his job to protect the aquarium life, after all. She began to float gently upward and took one last breath from the conch. Many hands seemed to be lifting her from the seafloor. She broke the surface where gentle waves carried her toward shore.

  She heard a whisper in her ear …

  “Do not forget.”

  “B-but—can you at least tell me your name?”

  A wave lifted her above the sea and laid her lightly on the soft sand. One last ripple of water washed over her and she heard these words, “My name is Xilinx. My friends call me Xili.”

  “Xili,” said Lizzy, using her voice for the first time since falling into the ocean.

  She rested on the shore with her eyes closed, the sun warming her damp skin. It was such a nice feeling to have lingered there on the ocean floor, and she wanted the feeling to last. It was so familiar.