Chapter Twenty-one

Her mom leapt up and sprinted towards the stairs, but then paused and seemed to change her mind. She swung around, returned to the table, and picked up her coffee. The mug shook and liquid splashed over the rim onto the table, but she didn’t seem to notice.

Footsteps echoed on the back walkway outside. There was a soft rap and then the squeak of the screen door opening. Her dad strode through the doorway into the kitchen and stopped abruptly. “Oh! Everyone’s up early.”

“Dad! What happened? You were supposed to stay here last night.”

Her mom didn’t even acknowledge him, just continued staring at the wall and drinking her coffee.

“I tried. But I got tied up in Digby and missed the last ferry. Just got in.”

“Nice try, Douglas. The ferry runs twenty-four hours a day.” Her mom’s voice sliced across the room.

Her dad’s smile disappeared and his voice got more serious. “That’s not what the guy at the gas station in Digby told me. Anyway, I’m here now.” Her father seemed to focus all his attention on Alex. “What did you want to do today, Munch?”

She shrugged, glancing between her dad and her mom. “There’s nothing much to do here unless you want to go whale watching.”

“So you can fall again? I don’t think so.” Her mother turned in her chair and pointed at Alex. “You’re staying on land, where it’s safe.”

“It’ll be all right,” Aunt Sophie chipped in. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”

“Sure, whatever you want,” her dad said. “Today is your day.”

“Of course you’d say that, Douglas—anything to disagree with me,” her mother said. “Well, I’m coming along to keep an eye on you, Alex.”

“Now what, Colleen? Is that your way of telling me I can’t take care of my own daughter?”

“Think what you want.”

Alex gritted her teeth. “If you’re going to fight I only want Aunt Sophie to come.”

Her father sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “We’re not fighting. Everything’s fine.”

Her mom glared at her dad, but didn’t say anything.

Saying it’s fine doesn’t make it fine, Alex thought. Does he think I’m dumb?

“Mom, if you come, you have to promise to be nice to Gus.” Alex thought again of the train wreck she had caused the night before, spilling Gus’s secret about his feelings for Eva. Maybe if her mom were nice, Alex wouldn’t feel so bad about that.

Her mom’s face flushed. “I may have overreacted a bit.”

“You really hurt his feelings. Anyway, we better get going so we’re not late,” Alex said. Seeing Daredevil was the only thing she could think of that would make the day bearable. She went upstairs to get her pack.

Marty was still curled up on her pillow. The sunlight flickering through the curtains made dancing patterns on her bed. A dragonfly hovered for a moment in the window frame. Alex was mesmerized by its green-blue, shimmering body. That must be where its name comes from. That’s what dragon skin would look like, she thought, before it zoomed out of sight. Alex stood there, reluctant to return to the kitchen and her bickering parents.

“All right there, kiddo?”

Alex whirled around. Aunt Sophie was standing in the doorway.

“Yeah, why?”

“A lot going on around here. Just wondering.”

“I’m fine.”

Aunt Sophie stared at Alex for a long moment. “I’m here if you want to talk.”

Alex didn’t answer, lowering her gaze and sifting through her pack until Aunt Sophie left. Her hand closed around something small and cool in the bottom. She pulled it out. Adam’s knife. Opening the blade, she ran her finger gently along the edge and then turned it over, fingering the etched initials. ACE—Adam Christopher Elliot.

She pushed her finger harder against the sharp edge and winced as it pierced her skin. Blood brother, blood sister, she thought as she sucked the blood from the cut. Wiping the blade clean on the side of her pack, she then tucked the knife into the front pocket of her jeans.

As she was about to leave the room, she noticed the bouquet of flowers sitting on the dresser. Aunt Sophie must have put them there. It was full of those yellow blooms her aunt had said were endangered—mountain something or other. No wonder Aunt Sophie had been ticked.

But it wasn’t any use being ticked now—they were cut, dead. She couldn’t stand to look at them and yanked them out of the vase, tossing them out the window. The wind caught the flowers as they flew through the air and scattered them across the grass.

The walk down the hill seemed much longer than when she and Aunt Sophie had done it alone. Her mother was walking way ahead of the rest of them and her dad had retreated behind his sunglasses. This was going to be fun. For a moment, Alex wished her parents weren’t there.

“So, how were your meetings yesterday, Douglas?” Aunt Sophie asked.

Her dad’s head whipped around. “What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing.”

“I told you, the guy said the ferry was closed,” her dad said through gritted teeth.

“Hey, relax. I’m just trying to make conversation.”

“The meetings were fine.” Her dad sighed and added softly, maybe so Alex’s mom wouldn’t hear, “Look, I just wasn’t up for more arguing last night, okay?”

Aunt Sophie bit her lip and nodded stiffly, falling back into silence. It felt like forever before they were in sight of the Evania Rose. When they passed the café, Alex peered in, but couldn’t see Eva. She might have been in the kitchen cooking, but no tempting smells drifted from the open window. Was everything okay? Maybe she was upset about the night before. Me and my big mouth! Alex thought.

Strolling along the wooden wharf, Alex couldn’t help but notice how much easier the walk was in her own sneakers. She couldn’t say the same for her parents. Her father’s muttered curses drifted back to her as he tripped over the popping planks. Her mom stumbled a couple of times too, her heeled sandals wobbling on the uneven surface.

Alex eyed the boat bobbing gently on the waves and felt her stomach flip. But it was only a little flip, not nearly as bad as last time. Maybe she was getting used to it. Or maybe it was because she wasn’t even a bit wobbly in her own shoes.

Suddenly a red blur was racing towards her. “I’m so happy you’re not dead!” the bundle cried, launching itself at Alex, who was then wrapped in a hug that sucked her breath away.

“Hi, Rachel.”

“I’m so, so, so sorry!” she sobbed into Alex’s shoulder. “It was all my fault, wasn’t it? Can you ever forgive me?”

Alex pulled Rachel’s arms from their death grip around her neck. “What are you talking about?”

Round eyes filled with tears blinked at her. “You know, ’cause I was talking too much, like I always do. Mom says, ‘Rachel, hold your breath for a second, think about what you want to say, then talk,’ but I never do,” she sniffed.

“It wasn’t that.”

“You mean you weren’t running away from me?”

“No.”

“I thought you were mad, you know, when I said you were poor because you were wearing boys’ shoes…hey, you got new sneakers!”

“No, I wasn’t mad.” Alex bit back the sudden urge to smile. Rachel was so sincere, it was hard to be upset with her.

“Stupendous!” Rachel beamed and wiped her tears away. Grabbing Alex’s hand, she tugged her towards the boat. “Come on, then.”

Alex let herself get dragged on board, hopping over the sliver of water between the dock and boat with barely a blink. Rachel was blathering non-stop, making Alex feel like she’d been sucked into a swirling, chattering tornado.