The ferry captain said we had to leave the grocery cart in Lincoln.

We stuck Huxley in a safe spot on the starboard deck and celebrated our victory with a heap of candy and sodas from the galley. Ethan opened a pack of gummy bears and plopped on the bench with his feet on his supply bag. Izzy and I stood on either side of Huxley. The ferry pointed toward faraway mountains before it turned the horizon into possibilities.

“That was actually kind of fun.” I grinned.

“We should have grabbed that dodo on the way out,” Ethan said. “It’s got to be worth something, right?” We laughed, but I don’t think he was joking. “I can’t believe we don’t get any more wishes,” he said. “You didn’t even get to wish.” He frowned at the water.

“I’m right where I want to be.” I waited for him to look up and nodded. “And I wished today.”

“Why didn’t you wish the first time I told you? Or as soon as you believed?” A couple gave us a strange look, so I waited until they passed.

“I think deep down I knew that whatever I wanted right then was only going to make part of me happy. I was waiting…until I wanted something for the whole me.” Nobody said anything. We drank our sodas, ate gummies, and watched the wake stretch back to where we’d already been.

“I almost wished the other day, before it got stolen,” Izzy said. “But I wanted to try something else first.” A red jellyfish floated by like a lost umbrella from the storm. Izzy played with the zipper on her sweatshirt.

“I didn’t know what to wish for before, because there was so much I wanted,” I said. “But you having a safe home was bigger than any of my stuff. I wished that you would get to go back to Lincoln and be happy and safe.” Izzy stared at me. She could have said, “That’s wonderful. Thank you so much for using your wish on me. That’s amazing. Thank you.”

“You wasted your wish, dummy,” she said. “You should have wished for world peace or something.”

Ethan glared at me, but I looked at the deck. “I didn’t know if that would work. But I wished for things to be better for you, and that’s what’s happening, right?” I gave Huxley a squeeze when they looked away, even though he wasn’t responsible.

“That’s not even what I want,” she said. “I mean, I want to be happy and safe, but I want to stay on the island. That’s what I would have wished for. If my mom can get a job on the island, we’ll stay.”

“Are you kidding? That’s even better!”

“Newt, listen,” she said. “Don’t get mad.”

“Why would I get mad?”

“I’ve got something else to tell you. I should’ve said something already. I think Huxley was my great-great-grandma Gertrude’s. I didn’t recognize it at first, but I checked some photos at the house. I think it’s the same bear.”

“What?”

“She was a magician, so I guess maybe it could be magic? I don’t know. She had that bear act, so maybe someone made it for her. It was on her back deck by the beach my whole life, and now it’s not. I should have told you earlier, but I wasn’t sure. And then it was making you happy, and I didn’t want to take that away.”

“Oh! Do you want him back now?” I held my breath.

“Nah, I think he wanted to be out in the world,” she said. I almost wished we didn’t know where Huxley came from. Either way, he was back now.

“If Huxley was really magic, you could have blown everything and sent me back to Lincoln!” Izzy shrugged. She was totally right. A wish can’t change what has already happened.

“You should have told us,” Ethan said. “Then maybe Newt would’ve gotten to wish for something else.” Izzy rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t waste my wish,” I said.

“What are we going to do for the rest of the summer?” Ethan asked. “And what are you going to do with the money?” We had so many possibilities. We rode in peaceful silence, listening to the gulls and the sounds of happy people in the galley.

“You guys. What was in those dice?” Ethan asked.

We looked at each other, but nobody answered. The ferry pushed us farther away from the mainland through invisible currents around the bend, until I could make out the old Murphy Ferris wheel on the horizon. Multicolored houses with mossy roofs lined the harbor and coves like flotsam and jetsam. The clear ringing of the whale bell carried over the water. I scanned the ripples and waves in the ocean around us. It’s hard to imagine anything below the surface. It feels flat and unbreakable, like the world ends where the light stops. But it’s the top of a cosmos full of fish and alien ocean plants and whales like giants. You can go years on boats without seeing a whale. Other times, if you have perfect luck and your timing is just right, you can catch a back or tail, if not the whole thing. I held my breath and waited.

We all saw it.