“These are dangerous times, despite the talk of peaceful negotiations.” He stopped and turned to face her. “I may need your help, my daughter.”
“Me?” Kae heard her voice squeak with anxiety, and covered her mouth with her hand. She took a calming breath before asking, “What can I do?”
“Come with me now,” Lybio said as he began to swim. “King Koios would like to have a word with you about your new drylander friend.”
Kae’s body suddenly felt cold. “What does the King want to know about Shea?”
“Everything.” Lybio took his daughter by the hand, and led her into the Summer Palace of the Aequorean King.
Chapter Twelve
Six soda cans, three water bottles, a tangle of balloon strings with one lonely balloon still attached, a small gray sand shovel, four lids to Styrofoam coffee cups, an empty plastic container marked ‘fresh bait’ with black marker, and five wooden fishing lures in various hues.
Shea went over the list of the morning’s trash again in his head, squinting his eyes against the glare. The bright sunshine sparkled upon the river’s surface as the water rushed back from the ocean, the swift current creating streams of light out of the reflected brilliance.
“I love watching the tide come in,” Hailey said. The pair sat on the edge of the dock, their bare feet dangling inches above the rising surface. Fishing poles and sandals lay behind them as the pair sat mesmerized by the flowing water. “It’s as if the river has been out to play in the ocean and is now rushing home for lunch.”
He elbowed her side and laughed. “You think about food all of the time, you know that?”
She turned to grin at him. “I’m food deprived. Have I told you my mom can’t cook?”
“Only forty million times. And I’ve only known you about a week!” He paused, watching a seagull wheel overhead. “Finding all those wooden lures this morning really made me want to go fishing. You didn’t have to tag along.”
“I wanted to,” Hailey insisted, turning her face upward to watch the same gull. “Fishing is a good Cape Cod experience, and it gets me out of the house. Chip has been awful to live with lately.”
“He still doesn’t like it here?”
Hailey shook her head. She stood up on the dock and pulled her hot pink shirt over her head, revealing a plain, black one-piece Speedo underneath. “C’mon, Shea, let’s jump in and swim.” She shimmied out of her shorts, dropping the clothes in a heap on the wooden dock before cannonballing into the river.
He threw his arm across his face to block the splash, laughing. “That’s okay, I’ll sit here and watch you drown. I told you, I can’t swim.”
With an exaggerated pout pulling her mouth into a frown, Hailey swam back toward him. “It’s no fun alone. Help pull me back onto the dock.” He stood and bent to help her, but she gave his arm a hard tug and he toppled into the river beside her.
The blue-green coolness swirled around him as he tumbled down through the water, arms and legs flailing helplessly as he struggled to hold his breath. Somehow he managed to get his head over his feet, but still he descended into the murky depths.
Millions of air bubbles traced the path of his body, the precious oxygen escaping from his clothing and through his nose.
He hadn’t been kidding at all when he told Hailey he couldn’t swim. Suddenly, he realized he was inside one of his nightmares, but this time he was really drowning!
Eyes wide with panic, he clawed helplessly at the water as a huge school of minnows parted down the middle to swim around him, surrounding him like a wall on either side. Turning his face upward to the surface, he could still see Hailey’s legs kicking above him as he sank further and further under the water. He’d had no idea the river was this deep! How would he ever get back to the surface?
His throat and lungs burned from the effort of holding his breath. Darkness pressed hard against his eyes as
“Me?” Kae heard her voice squeak with anxiety, and covered her mouth with her hand. She took a calming breath before asking, “What can I do?”
“Come with me now,” Lybio said as he began to swim. “King Koios would like to have a word with you about your new drylander friend.”
Kae’s body suddenly felt cold. “What does the King want to know about Shea?”
“Everything.” Lybio took his daughter by the hand, and led her into the Summer Palace of the Aequorean King.
Chapter Twelve
Six soda cans, three water bottles, a tangle of balloon strings with one lonely balloon still attached, a small gray sand shovel, four lids to Styrofoam coffee cups, an empty plastic container marked ‘fresh bait’ with black marker, and five wooden fishing lures in various hues.
Shea went over the list of the morning’s trash again in his head, squinting his eyes against the glare. The bright sunshine sparkled upon the river’s surface as the water rushed back from the ocean, the swift current creating streams of light out of the reflected brilliance.
“I love watching the tide come in,” Hailey said. The pair sat on the edge of the dock, their bare feet dangling inches above the rising surface. Fishing poles and sandals lay behind them as the pair sat mesmerized by the flowing water. “It’s as if the river has been out to play in the ocean and is now rushing home for lunch.”
He elbowed her side and laughed. “You think about food all of the time, you know that?”
She turned to grin at him. “I’m food deprived. Have I told you my mom can’t cook?”
“Only forty million times. And I’ve only known you about a week!” He paused, watching a seagull wheel overhead. “Finding all those wooden lures this morning really made me want to go fishing. You didn’t have to tag along.”
“I wanted to,” Hailey insisted, turning her face upward to watch the same gull. “Fishing is a good Cape Cod experience, and it gets me out of the house. Chip has been awful to live with lately.”
“He still doesn’t like it here?”
Hailey shook her head. She stood up on the dock and pulled her hot pink shirt over her head, revealing a plain, black one-piece Speedo underneath. “C’mon, Shea, let’s jump in and swim.” She shimmied out of her shorts, dropping the clothes in a heap on the wooden dock before cannonballing into the river.
He threw his arm across his face to block the splash, laughing. “That’s okay, I’ll sit here and watch you drown. I told you, I can’t swim.”
With an exaggerated pout pulling her mouth into a frown, Hailey swam back toward him. “It’s no fun alone. Help pull me back onto the dock.” He stood and bent to help her, but she gave his arm a hard tug and he toppled into the river beside her.
The blue-green coolness swirled around him as he tumbled down through the water, arms and legs flailing helplessly as he struggled to hold his breath. Somehow he managed to get his head over his feet, but still he descended into the murky depths.
Millions of air bubbles traced the path of his body, the precious oxygen escaping from his clothing and through his nose.
He hadn’t been kidding at all when he told Hailey he couldn’t swim. Suddenly, he realized he was inside one of his nightmares, but this time he was really drowning!
Eyes wide with panic, he clawed helplessly at the water as a huge school of minnows parted down the middle to swim around him, surrounding him like a wall on either side. Turning his face upward to the surface, he could still see Hailey’s legs kicking above him as he sank further and further under the water. He’d had no idea the river was this deep! How would he ever get back to the surface?
His throat and lungs burned from the effort of holding his breath. Darkness pressed hard against his eyes as
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