CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

WON’T GROW UP

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17

“This makes no sense,” Renée said.

Rain couldn’t agree more—though they clearly had different topics in mind. There were five of them on the Guerrero speedboat now: Rain, Charlie, Miranda, Ariel and Renée. From Rain’s point of view, the presence of her least favorite schoolmate—at this most crucial place and time—made no sense whatsoever.

Morning had broken on Wednesday, leaving Rain alone. ’Bastian’s spirit had returned to the zemi, and Cash had simply vanished. Not just Cash, either. The storm that had raged all night over every one of the Ghosts—except Sycorax—had dissipated almost instantaneously with the dawn. Looking out her bedroom window at the clear morning sky, with the rising sun rapidly evaporating the rainwater from the drenched street and sidewalks, Rain had a moment of clarity regarding Hurricane Julia: She’s dead.

Powerful as she was, Julia could no more stick around in daylight than’Bastian or Cash. Or why would she let up now? No, Rain was convinced Julia was some kind of ghost. That meant Rain would be free of her, safe from her, for a little over twelve hours. If she could get to Aycayia and the Kimlets before sunset, then Julia would return too late to intervene.

Not that getting to Aycayia was going to be easy either way. Though Rain was fairly certain the Manatee-Woman would return after dark to Punta Majagua with her Sisters and the Lost Kims, there was no telling where they’d be before then. It definitely raised a question: Why was Aycayia able to operate in daylight when every other mystic creature Rain had encountered could not? Why didn’t she vanish with the sun? Only one answer seemed to make any sense: Aycayia wasn’t dead. In both dreams, in both versions of the legend, Aycayia and the Six Sisters had been transformed by Guanayoa into sea creatures, but they had not died. On the contrary, they had—perhaps inadvertently—been made immortal.

No wonder Aycayia was so lonely. On the surface, living forever sounded pretty sweet, but beneath the waves, what would it be like for this young girl—this young mother who had lost her child—to live on endlessly in the body of a manatee? The manatee-monotony, even with your Sisters there to maintain your spirits and despite the ability to occasionally transform back into a human, would deaden the soul. Did she have—could she have—manatee calves? Would she want them? Or had there been, over the centuries, an endless succession of human children, stolen away and transformed? If so, then clearly Aycayia’s power to morph herself a brood didn’t include the ability to grant them their own immortality. Otherwise, there’d be hundreds of dolphins and pups by now, not just the original Six Aunties and the three Kimlets.

If these previous Lost Children all aged and died before Aycayia’s big brown eyes, the pain of losing her own child would return over and over and over again. The loneliness—even in the midst of caring for each latest “litter”—would be unbearable. And the desperate need to find replacements would continue throughout eternity.

Aycayia the Cursed. Talk about understatement.

Armed with this new understanding, Rain felt maybe she stood a chance of breaking the cycle, if only she could find them before nightfall.

Rain raced to get ready. (Today, she had no problem braiding her hair.) She gathered her things and snuck out of the Inn without seeing her parents or doing any of her morning chores. Ignoring the trouble she’d be in later, she merely left them a brief note claiming she had to get to school early.

Fifteen minutes later, with drums beating in her head, she was outside Charlie’s door and filling him in on all she had learned and intuited. They conceived a plan and set about executing it immediately.

There was no point in skipping school. Given that three children had already gone missing on the island, it would only raise significant red flags if they ditched—and besides, they couldn’t expect to find Her or the Kimlets until sunset approached. Plus they needed Miranda’s help.

So they were both there, waiting for young Miss Guerrero, when Ariel dropped Miranda off at the Columbia Yacht Club. In Ariel’s presence, Rain asked Miranda if they could once again go out after school to look for the Kimlets. Miranda turned to look at Ariel, who made a slight glance at the cloudless sky and nodded. Then Charlie asked if they could bring scuba gear. Miranda bit her lip and looked away, but she nodded, this time without bothering to get confirmation from the ever-silent Ms. Jones. Charlie and Rain exchanged shrugs; it seemed it was just understood that Ariel would pick them up after school with diving gear already aboard. They followed Miranda off the slip, and on the way to school, Rain filled Miranda in on the latest relevant weirdness—though not, of course, on anything ’Bastian- or zemi-related. By the time they reached campus, Miranda was up to speed on the plan—dreading it, but up to speed—and prepared to do her best.

But they were ambushed entering the junior high. Rain had gone in first with Charlie behind her, but when Miranda followed, Renée had practically pounced. “Hey, Sugar. Miss me?”

“Renée! Hi. I mean … yes. I mean, I saw you yesterday.”

“I know. But it’s been like forever since we last hung out. What are you doing after school? I’m off today.”

Renée’s work schedule at Koko’s Caribbean Fries had kept her at bay—and out of Rain’s braided hair—during the current Kimlet crisis. But Renée didn’t work Wednesdays, and Miranda was not an adept liar. So before Rain or Charlie could stop her, Miranda said, “Um, well, you see, we’re going out on my father’s boat to help search for Wendy, John and Michael Kim.”

Renée’s eyes squinted in confusion, then widened briefly. Truthfully, she had put the missing tourist children out of her mind, and it took her a second to figure out what Miranda was talking about and then another second to get her head around the notion that any of them cared. During second three, she began to see this as an opportunity. She grabbed hold of Miranda’s arms. “Oh, I’ll come along. Anything I can do to help.” Renée glanced over Miranda’s shoulder, taking pleasure in Charlie’s helpless horror and Rain’s grim frustration.

Miranda turned back in time to catch Rain and Charlie’s looks—while missing Renée’s resulting smirk. It didn’t take much effort to read Rain’s mind. It was going to be hard enough hunting for dolphinized children with Ariel around. But at least she’d be tied to the boat. How are we supposed to do what needs doing without revealing the truth to Renée?

Miranda’s own pleading expression spoke a few volumes of its own. Maybe … maybe we don’t need to hide the truth from Renée. One more set of eyes, one more diver, might help … but even Miranda, who liked Renée, wasn’t truly buying that. If they told her everything, it wouldn’t change one inescapable fact: Renée hadn’t seen the manatee transform. Without that one supernatural sight to anchor all the rest, there was no way she’d believe. Frankly, Miranda wouldn’t have believed it either. So right then and there, Miranda steeled her mind to do what needed doing. She’d try to be as kind as possible, but one way or another she’d exclude Renée from their endeavor; she’d ditch her if necessary.

She turned back to face Miss Jackson.

So, approximately seven hours later, Renée was on the boat with the others, loudly mystified by their course and heading. “Those kids were lost near Windward. Why are we looking here?”

Rain’s biggest concern was that Renée’s appeal to logic might trigger some degree of, well, common sense in Ariel, who, as the sole adult, had the power to turn the boat around, but Ariel didn’t give the slightest indication she had even heard Renée. Relieved, Rain said, “The Ghost Patrol and everyone are already searching near Windward. We’re helping out by searching less likely spots.”

“Less likely?” Renée asked as the speedboat curved around the lower side of Sycorax en route to Back Bay. “Try impossible. How would three little kids have gotten from the east side of San Próspero to the west side of Sycorax?”

Charlie shrugged. “Current?”

Renée stared at him. She opened her mouth to speak but was too exasperated to form any words.

Suddenly, Miranda grabbed Rain’s left arm, squeezing her biceps just below the armband. In fact, Miranda’s thumb grazed the snake charm. It drew Miranda’s eyes to it, and Rain watched her friend confirm the zemi’s presence. If Rain had to give it up to ’Bastian again tonight, there’d be no convincing Miranda it had been left at home. Rain mentally shrugged. Worry about that if and when …

Miranda tore her eyes away from the charm and looked over the bow of the boat. Rain turned and followed Miranda’s gaze. The Aunties were heralding the boat’s arrival, leaping and cavorting along. One even had Alonso’s camera.

This time, Miranda said, “Follow those dolphins!” It was a needless statement, as Ariel was already headed that way.

Renée blanched again. “What?!” She started to say more but held her tongue to keep on Miranda’s good side.

Charlie offered, “Dolphins are known to rescue people lost at sea?”

Now Renée couldn’t help herself. “Seriously? That’s the story you’re going with?”

By this time, the boat was curving around the southwest lip of Sycorax, heading into Back Bay. Rain could see Punta Majagua—Witch’s Finger—to the north. What she couldn’t see was the Bootstrap. Callahan’s boat was gone. It pleased her at first—and then made her nervous. Rather know where he is than risk him jumping out at us. Truthfully, though, it didn’t change anything. “Okay, suit up.”

“Suit what?” Renée asked as Rain and Charlie began stripping down to the bathing suits they were wearing beneath their clothes.

This had been Plan B. When Miranda had failed to dissuade Renée from joining them and had wimped out on just saying no, Rain had the brainstorm to not warn their classmate about the dive. She managed to pull Miranda aside en route from the gym to the cafeteria and suggest that when the time came, Renée would be without a swimsuit and wouldn’t be able to join them. A grateful Miranda had seized on the opportunity to suggest she stay aboard the boat with Ariel and Renée to keep them occupied and distracted. Rain could pretty much tell this was because Miranda was even less comfortable scubaing than snorkeling, but it made sense. Their new friend would only hold Rain and Charlie back, and the less Ariel and Renée saw the better.

“We’re going swimming?” Renée asked incredulously.

“Diving,” Rain said as she opened the benches that held and hid the scuba equipment.

“Why?”

Charlie offered, “Part of the search?”

“What are you searching for down there? Kids or corpses?” Everyone went silent, and even Renée seemed to feel she had crossed a line. She looked around the boat, exhaled loudly, and said, “Fine,” pulling her blouse right over the top of her head.

As she unbuttoned and took off her shorts, Charlie stammered, “W-what are you doing?”

“Well, no one warned me to bring a suit, so I guess I’m diving in bra and panties.” She seemed pleased by the lone boy’s discomfort.

“That doesn’t seem appropriate,” Rain said stiffly.

“Oh, grow up,” Renée responded as she chose a pair of flippers. “How’s this any different from a bikini? Besides, we’re doing this for the children. Right, Sugar?”

Rain’s face turned copper red. Charlie stood there, slack-jawed, desperately trying not to look Renée’s way. Ariel piloted the boat, seemingly unaware of the conversation entirely. And Miranda looked stricken. She had gotten it into her head that she wouldn’t have to dive, that her job would be to stay behind on the boat with Renée and Ariel. So now what do I do? She hadn’t asked Ariel to bring her a bathing suit, and she definitely didn’t feel comfortable swimming in her underwear, especially not with Charlie around.

On cue, Ariel reached over and opened another small compartment in the dash. Miranda stared, at first not realizing what the colorful bits of fabric were. Then she took a step closer and knew: Inside the glove box was a collection of rolled-up tankinis and one-piece suits from Miranda’s dresser drawer at home.

Miranda sighed a thank you, though even she wasn’t sure if the sigh signified gratitude for the swimwear or despair over losing her last excuse not to dive. She offered Renée a choice of suits and grabbed a black one-piece for herself. Renée chose a shiny green tankini, as there were no bikinis available to prove her earlier point.

Charlie was assiduously staring at his flippers until Renée suggested he turn around and not peek. Very, very flustered, Charlie flipper-slapped to the front of the boat to watch the Aunties frolic, mumbling, “I wasn’t peeking,” while Miranda and Renée changed rapidly. To be honest, it took all his willpower not to sneak a look.

Rain also looked away.

Ariel killed the engine. By this time, they were just a couple of football fields away from Witch’s Finger. The dolphins stopped too, halfway between the speedboat and the shore. Ariel checked everyone’s gear, pausing only briefly to give Miranda a questioning look. They both knew Miranda was trained to dive—and they both knew she had never really taken to it.

“I’ll be fine,” Miranda whispered with more confidence than she felt.

Rain had a last-minute idea and—while Ariel occupied Renée’s attention, checking her tank—leaned toward Miranda and whispered, “Plan hasn’t changed. Soon as we get close to anything, pretend you’re having trouble. Keep Renée busy.” Rain could see Miranda’s relief through her diving mask. Pretending she wasn’t great at diving was something she could definitely manage.

She said to Renée, “Could you stick close to me down there? I’m not really very good at this.”

Renée stared at her, still at a complete loss as to what they hoped to accomplish with this dive—and half convinced they were planning some kind of humiliation for her in advance of what she didn’t yet have planned for them. Nevertheless, she said, “Of course, Sugar. Whatever you need.”

Then Rain and Charlie sat on the edge of the boat and allowed themselves to fall backward into the water. Renée and Miranda took their places and did the same.

It had been a hot and humid day, and the water in Back Bay was swimming-pool warm and refreshing. Rain swam down, swam up and checked her breathing. All seemed well. Charlie moved into position beside her. She looked around to get her bearings. Miranda and Renée were right behind them. The dolphin pod was presumably in front, but even in the clear Caribbean blue, they were too far ahead to be visible. She and Charlie exchanged a look and a nod and swam forward toward the Aunties’ last known position. She knew that in the time it took the four teens to get to where the dolphins had last been sighted, the pod could easily vanish, but Rain took the fact that they still taunted her with her father’s camera as a promising sign. They knew she was there; they knew she couldn’t catch them; they wouldn’t run. They want to play.

Minutes later, Rain spotted her first dolphin and pointed it out to the others. They kicked their flippers harder to catch up. There they all were: six Aunties, three pups, a manatee and one stolen camera, which was juggled between one dolphin or another—even the Kimlets participated in the game of keep away.

In fact, the smallest dolphin—Michael Kim Dolphin—let it fall from his mouth. It floated there, just barely out of Rain’s reach. She probably could have gotten to it before Michael but made the split-second decision not to lose track of why she was there. Rain needed kids, dolphins and manatee to trust her. Taking their stuff—even if it was really Rain’s stuff (or in any case, Rain’s father’s stuff)—was not going to help. She let it float. Michael swam back for it but was beaten to the camera by the biggest of the pups, presumably Wendy Kim Dolphin, who tossed it to John Kim Dolphin as Michael followed along behind.

One of the Aunties took the camera from John, freeing the Kimlets to play without concern. They swam close to each of the teens, lingering particularly around their favorite, Miranda, who gently stroked each in turn. Even Renée, forgetting why they had theoretically come—let alone why she had chosen to tag along—was enchanted. She also reached out to stroke the pups. Michael shied away from her, but Wendy and John clearly enjoyed Renée’s attentions.

And all three pups clearly enjoyed teasing Rain. They’d glide in close to her and then quickly back away, snickering. (Obviously, they still hadn’t forgiven her for interfering with their first chance to join Aycayia’s family.) As with the camera, Rain resisted the urge to reach out and wrap her arms around a Lost Kim and hold on tight. She knew she’d never be able to maintain her grip on one, let alone all three, and she certainly couldn’t transform them back—though she did wonder what her healing snake might accomplish and made an effort to rub the zemi against one pup or another every chance she got. But neither the charm nor the Kimlets responded to the contact in any way.

Aycayia, meanwhile, was gradually leading the Lost Boys and Girl toward the Punta shore. Rain and Charlie, and to a lesser extent Miranda and Renée, were following. Then three of the Aunties slid into place between Rain and the Kimlets, creating a sea-mammal screen to run interference for Her. There were bubbles everywhere, coming from the teens’ regulators and from the movement of the dolphins, and Rain’s vision became obscured. But she didn’t need a clear view to know where she needed to be. She had a plan and stuck to it: She’d follow Aycayia and the Kims to land—hopefully before sunset—and make her appeal to all four of them. The dolphins crowded around her, bumping her occasionally, pushing her back. Charlie set his own screens when he could, though, and Rain was able to make slow but steady progress.

The Aunties tried another tack. One of them grabbed the camera and glided within reach of Rain, hoping to lure her off. Rain didn’t take the bait and continued forward with deliberate determination.

Now the smiles of the Six Sisters seemed to turn sinister. They became more aggressive, slapping at Rain and Charlie with their tails, bumping them harder. Not for a moment, however, did she think these six loving Aunties would truly risk hurting four thirteen-year-olds. When they pushed, she pushed gently back, calling their bluff. So the Sisters tried something more desperate.

One of the dolphins—First Sister, Rain was sure—swam right up to her. As Rain moved to swim around the creature, the Auntie slid her beak behind Rain’s air tube and abruptly yanked to the right. The regulator popped right out of Rain’s mouth. The Auntie swam away, but Rain kept her cool and calmly returned the regulator to her lips. A noise caused her to glance back over her shoulder.

Three other Sisters had perpetrated the same trick on Charlie, Renée and Miranda. The latter was panicking. At first Rain thought—or at least hoped—it was merely an act: Miranda’s attempt to feign distress to distract Renée. It soon became clear Miranda wasn’t faking anything. She thrashed about, unable to breathe, unable to either grab her regulator or even surface. Renée was doing better and had returned her regulator to her mouth, but she was also a bit freaked and too distracted to notice Miranda’s distraction.

Leave it to Charlie to save the day. Having recovered his own regulator, he swam up to Miranda and grasped her shoulders. She struggled, but he slid his hands down to her arms and held tight, until she steadied. He grabbed up her regulator and slowly placed it back in her mouth. Then, with a glance back at Rain—who nodded—he swam up to the surface, still holding Miranda’s arm. Renée followed them.

Rain continued on alone.