Fortune's Magic Farm by Suzanne Selfors

just jealous because I’m a tender and you’re not.” She didn’t yet know the significance of this statement but from the stunned look on his face, she knew that she had hurt his feelings. “So there!”
    Isabelle turned her back to him, angered by his rudeness and ashamed of her own. She wiped her stuffy nose on her sleeve.
    “You’re not crying are you?” He sighed with exasperation. “Look, Isabelle, I didn’t mean to say it like that. Ugly’s not the right word. It’s just that you look so… unhealthy. And you don’t look anything like a tender. You’ll be surprised when you get to Fortune’s Farm.”
    “You mean my mother and father don’t look like me?”
    He scowled. “I told you I can’t answer any questions about your family. You’ll just have to wait.”
    An unfamiliar scent drifted up Isabelle’s nostrils. Sage crouched next to the fire and poked at the sizzling contents of the pan with a stick. Isabelle’s stomach growled loudly. “Come on. You’ll like this,” he said.
    She sat beside him and eagerly ate all that she was given—eight slices of bacon, a large chunk of smoked salmon, and a mug of peppermint tea—foods that she had never tasted before. The surface of the tea glistened with bacon grease but that didn’t bother her one bit. Eve the cat happily chewed on a mouse tail, growling when Rolo got too close. Sage tossed a piece of bacon rind to the raven. Isabelle didn’t say a word until she had finished the last bite of her meal. Feeling full was as unfamiliar to her as rainless silence. And it felt good. Really good.
    She drained her mug. “How far away is the Northern Shore?”
    “Hopefully we’ll land by dinner, if that good-for-nothing seal would hurry and finish hunting.” Sage scraped the pan clean, then stuffed it into his satchel.
    As much as she wanted to get to Fortune’s Farm, Isabelle wasn’t looking forward to riding Neptune again. All that rocking to and fro might upset her lovely breakfast. She stretched her legs and leaned back, spreading her fingers in the soft grass. The fog had lifted above the horizon, revealing scattered islands sprinkled with trees and edged with rugged cliffs. Back home, Isabelle had often gazed at the cove’s horizon, but never had there been anything to see.
Each of those islands is a different place,
she thought.
A different world I know nothing about.
    “Ouch!” She pulled her hand out of the grass. A droplet of blood dripped from her pinkie. “Something bit me.” She put her finger to her mouth.
    Sage pointed. “There’s the villain.”

I sabelle turned to find a pair of black eyes staring up at her. Attached to the black eyes was a body about the same size as Eve’s, only covered in brown fur, with a shorter, thicker tail. The “villain” sat on its hind legs, exposing a belly of yellow fur. The nails on its little paws were long and two big front teeth rested on its lower lip. It wiggled its black nose at her and blinked. Then it whistled and darted into the field, disappearing down a hole.
    “What was that?” Isabelle asked, still sucking on her finger.
    “A yellow-bellied marmot. You gotta watch out for them. They’re little devils. I don’t know what they’re doing out here on this island. They usually live inland. At the rate they reproduce, there soon won’t be enough food for all of them.”
    “Why’d it bite me?”
    “Just protecting its territory. If you get too close to its den, it’ll hit you right in the head with a rock. Believe me. I know.” He looked out over the inlet. “Neptune better not forget to come back. If he forgets me one more time, I’m getting myself a new seal.”
    Isabelle examined her finger. The bite wasn’t deep and it stopped bleeding right away. As Sage continued packing things into his satchel, she remembered something. “Do you think we should put my barnacle into some water?” she asked.
    “I already did. I found the perfect new home for it.” He motioned for