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Ebba stood on the beach, a light breeze tickling the loose hairs around her face. In the west a faint band of blue showed where the sun had been, and above her the first stars twinkled.
The wash of the waves on sand blocked out most sounds, but still Ebba heard the slap of feet against sand. She turned.
‘Hello, Wayanna.’
Wayanna tilted her head to one side. ‘You came back.’
Ebba nodded. ‘I wanted to meet you. Properly, I mean. Last time...’ She shrugged. ‘Well, last time was a bit of a shock, and I think I offended you.’ She glanced up to catch her elder sister’s gaze. ‘I didn’t mean to, you know. I just didn’t think. It never occurred to me to come before. I don’t know.’ Ebba looked out to sea, frustrated she couldn’t say what she wanted to. She shook her head. ‘But you’re my sister, so we should make an effort to get to know one another, shouldn’t we?’
Wayanna nodded. ‘I’ve been hoping for that ever since I learned of your existence.’
‘And how long has that been?’ Ebba raised an eyebrow.
‘Hmm...’ Wayanna pursed her lips. ‘I think you were three?’
‘Three?’ Ebba’s eyes widened. ‘But that’s thirteen years ago!’
Wayanna nodded again. ‘Mother didn’t want to leave because of you. That’s what she told me, she wanted one of her daughters to grow up knowing their mother.’
‘Ha!’ Ebba scoffed. ‘She doesn’t want to leave because she’s afraid. She’s still using that excuse: ‘What about seeing my grandchildren?’’ Ebba put on her mother’s voice.
Wayanna cringed.
‘Shame she doesn’t worry about her other grandchildren.’ It was muttered, but Ebba heard it.
‘You have children?’ she asked.
Wayanna nodded.
‘Mother never told me that.’
‘She doesn’t know. She’s never asked.’
‘Oh.’ Ebba peered at her sister. The moon had risen now, full and round above the horizon, bringing Wayanna’s eyes starkly into contrast. Her hair glistened wet in the moonlight as she shrugged.
‘It doesn’t matter. It’s different for seals.’
‘Different? How?’
‘We aren’t family oriented, like humans. No. That’s not right. We are. But the whole colony is one big family. And our children grow up fast.’
‘How many children do you have?’
‘I’ve birthed ten. The oldest have their own pups now.’
‘Mother is a great-grandmother.’
Wayanna shrugged. ‘In human terms, I guess. But Mother never asks about my life.’ Wayanna’s mouth was set in a line.
‘What do you talk about?’
‘You, Father. Whenever I start talking about my life she cuts me off, suddenly has to leave.’
Ebba took a step closer. ‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ she said. ‘I’d like to hear more about your life. What’s it like living in a seal colony?’
A faint smile turned up the corners of Wayanna’s mouth.
‘It’s chaotic,’ she said. ‘There’s hundreds of us, sleeping on the islands just off the coast. We have a leader, of sorts. Caelan, his name is. There’s a seal who follows him around, Maggie. Some say she used to be a human, and he rescued her from a miserable life, but I don’t know. She’s definitely not like the other seals though. They’re both from further south, but when the colonies diminished we all joined together. Safety in numbers, you see. When all the bulls fought for leadership Caelan turned out to be the strongest. He’s getting on a bit, but he’s kept us safe all this time, so we still look to him, even though some of the younger bulls are stronger now. There’s not much else to our life. We sleep up on the sandy beaches, all huddled in together for warmth. But during the day we’re all out at sea, hunting and fishing. Or just playing really. Once you’ve had your fill for the day there’s no other work to do.’
Ebba’s eyes widened. ‘No school or chores?’
Wayanna laughed. ‘What seal needs school? We teach our young how to catch fish when they’re first weaned. They don’t need to know anything else.’
‘That would be nice,’ Ebba mused, gazing out to sea. She glanced back at Wayanna. ‘So, I’m an aunt? How old are your children?’
‘Well. It’s not quite the same out there, in the sea. Oulde explained to me how families work here, but my oldest children are already adult seals. If we don’t change often, we take on more seal traits. Taking human form slows our development.’
‘But your youngest then? Is it still a baby?’
Wayanna smiled. ‘She is. Just a few months old.’
‘Why don’t you bring her with you?’
Wayanna’s face clouded again. ‘I can’t. Humans haven’t treated seal-folk well. It started before Mother was stolen, killing seals for their skin and oil. But the theft of a baby was the last straw for our colony. I’ve seen the sorrow Oulde suffers. I don’t want to risk experiencing that myself. We don’t come here now; we avoid anywhere inhabited by humans. ‘
‘Except you and Oulde.’
‘Yeah, well...’ Wayanna shrugged. ‘I had to find Mother. Being taken myself seemed like such a small risk, and I figured it would help me find her anyway, if it happened.’
‘Do you think it was worth it?’ Ebba asked. ‘Finding Mother, I mean.’
Wayanna looked up at the moon. ‘It has been good knowing her over all these years. Interesting to learn of the lives of humans, and Mother’s fears and joys.’
‘She shares that with you?’
Wayanna laughed. ‘Not exactly. Over the years I’ve learned to read her expressions. I can hear when she’s defensive about something, I know when she’s angry, though she tries to hide those emotions. But emotions belong to the watery realm, and I am a creature of that realm, so I can read them easily.’ Wayanna glanced at her sister. ‘Our mother is quite determined to keep her distance.’
Ebba gave a wry smile. ‘Our mother is terrified of everything she doesn’t know. If she gets close to you she’ll have another reason to return to the sea, and she doesn’t want to have any reasons to do that.’ Ebba paused. ‘If she knew about your children she’d have a very big reason to request her skin back and return to the ocean.’
‘Request her skin back? What do you mean?’
Ebba sighed. ‘She asked Father to hide it for her.’
Wayanna frowned. ‘He took her skin? I thought he was different—’
‘He didn’t take it, she gave it to him. It was too much of a temptation, having it near, so she asked him to hide it for her.’
‘She didn’t want it?’
Ebba shrugged. ‘Father showed it to me. It isn’t even mine and I could feel how alive it is. If that’s only half what Mother feels...’ Ebba shivered. ‘I can’t imagine how she resists it at all.’
She looked up to see Wayanna looking at her strangely. ‘What?’
‘If you felt that, you can wear it.’
‘What?’ Ebba repeated.
‘If you feel a connection to the skin, you can use it, too.’ The light in Wayanna’s eyes brightened. ‘You could come with me. Meet the colony. See how we live.’
Ebba’s breath caught in her throat. ‘Mother’s skin would work? For me?’
Wayanna shrugged, a smile stretching across her face. ‘Only one way to find out.’
