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The wash-house door creaked and Myna turned to see Ebba peering in.
‘Have you finished your chores?’
Ebba nodded. ‘I’ve cleaned the house and returned Alfred’s nets. And Father had me deliver some fruit to Colleen.’
Myna nodded. ‘Thank you. There’s nothing more I need right now. You can have some time to yourself.’
Ebba nodded, but stayed in the doorway.
‘What is it?’
‘I want to talk about last night.’
‘There’s nothing to talk about.’ Myna turned back to her task, pulling a shirt out of the tub to scrub it against the washboard. ‘It was a dream.’
‘I mentioned it to Colleen.’
‘What would Colleen know?’
‘She said you had another child. A baby that died. She said the midwife took it. She said you used to down to the shore, and gaze out to sea. She thinks the midwife must’ve given the baby a sea burial.’
Myna froze, her heart pounding, as Ebba continued.
‘She said maybe you were still grieving.’
Myna forced herself to return to her task as Ebba moved closed behind her to put a hand on her shoulder.
‘I...’ What to say? Yes, there’d been a child, and she’d been declared dead but actually was very much alive and lived with the seals?
‘I don’t know what she’s talking about.’ Myna cringed at her thoughtless words.
‘What?’
‘I...I mean...’
‘You know Colleen isn’t the only one who’s talked of such things. I’ve heard the stories.’
‘What stories?’
‘A child whose sudden appearance scared away all the fish, and then when a woman grown the sudden loss of her own child saw them return.’
‘Where did you hear this?’
‘It’s a bedtime story a friend was told as a child. It was presented all rather mysteriously, I might add. I’d never have suspected it was connected to us, except her mother was horrified it was being told in front of me, and later, my friend explained why.’
‘Oh, Eb.’ Myna moved to put an arm around her daughter, but Ebba pushed her away.
‘Don’t comfort me about their lies while hiding your own. Don’t make me believe I’m going mad. I was awake when I followed you to the beach. I know what I saw.’
Myna stared at her daughter, mute.
‘You’re not going to say anything, are you? You’d rather try and convince me I was sleep-walking or something, as if I often leave my bed in the dead of the night.’
Ebba slammed the door as she stormed off, and Myna’s face flushed.
How had this happened? How was it possible she’d put one daughter offside just as she’d reconnected with the other? And how could she tell the truth without losing Ebba completely?
She leaned against the wall and slid down it till she was sitting on the floor. Myna wasn’t exactly sure at what point they’d decided to keep this secret from Ebba, or why they’d thought it was a good idea at the time, but something in her felt compelled to keep it that way.
How is hiding a child’s heritage beneficial to her?
Myna sank her face in her hands. She’d not known the truth of her own past for so long, and she’d almost lost her oldest child completely because of it. But the knowledge was of no use to Ebba, born without a skin. Ebba could never take seal form, even if she wanted to. Surely telling her she was descended from selkies was pointless?
But she had to tell Ebba the truth about the previous night. To continue to pretend otherwise was just going to hurt her daughter more. So how could she admit what happened, without alerting Ebba to the truth?
––––––––
‘You’re a selkie?’ Ebba’s mouth dropped open.
Myna’s eyes widened. This was not how this conversation was supposed to go, though really, what other assumption was Ebba meant to make when she learned her sister was a seal. Myna raised her hands. ‘I don’t— that’s not—’
Ebba raised an eyebrow. ‘My sister is a selkie. You’re a selkie.’ She paused. ‘So... does that mean Grandma was a selkie too? Did Grandpa steal her skin and hide it? Maybe we can find it, and use it?’
Myna choked on a laugh. ‘Grandma wasn’t a selkie, Eb.’
‘Grandpa?’
‘No.’ Myna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. ‘I never thought I’d have to share this story with you. I just sort of, locked it away.’
Ebba reached out a hand to touch her mother’s shoulder. ‘You can tell me. I’m old enough to hear anything you’ve got to say.’
Myna wished she shared the same cocky confidence as her sixteen-year-old daughter. She opened her eyes and met her daughter’s gaze. ‘I was stolen.’
Ebba’s eyes widened and Myna’s heart constricted. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, she focused her gaze on her cup of tea.
‘I’ve never...I’ve never said those words aloud before.’
‘Who...how...?’
‘Dyllis, your grandmother... she couldn’t have any children of her own. One day she saw a selkie on the beach, with her newborn baby. She took the baby. The selkie wasn’t used to running so she couldn’t catch up. You’ve heard the stories of how the fish disappeared from the bay for all those years. How the village almost died except for the few who chose to stay on. The selkies scared all the fish away, because of me. Because Dyllis stole me.’
‘Do you know this for sure?’
Myna shrugged. ‘I know I was blamed for it.’
‘And the fish came back when my sister was taken back to the waves?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe enough time had passed. Maybe they gave up.’
‘The selkies?’
Myna sighed. ‘I don’t know. I don’t know any of it. But the old folks always used to say that the Sea bestows blessings and curses as She will. I can only assume that when Dyllis took me from one of Her creatures that the Sea chose to curse. I don’t know why the Sea has now returned her blessings, and I don’t think it wise to question it.’
Ebba rolled her eyes. ‘So, my sister. She was raised by the seals then? Does she know your parents? Have you met your parents?’
‘No.’ Myna shook her head, a weight growing in her chest. ‘I never thought to ask about them.’
‘How could you not have thought about that? You have to ask about them. She’ll have to know.’
Myna nodded, a sinking feeling in her chest. Why couldn’t people just leave the past to rest? What was the benefit of delving into it?
None Myna could see. The past held nothing but hurt, and pain, and she couldn’t see how bringing it to the surface would help anyone.
