Spirit’s Key by Edith Cohn Page A

“We have to turn ourselves in.”
    â€œWhat? Why?”
    â€œWe touched that baldie on the beach.” She rubs her hands on her pink shorts like that’ll get the germs off.
    I stare from her to her brothers. “So?”
    â€œSo we should tell Dr. Wade,” Gomez says as if I’m stupid. He picks up his bike.
    â€œBut we’re not sick,” I argue.
    â€œWe should probably tell,” Nector agrees. “My mom says they’ve taken your dad and Mr. Selnick to the old whale station.”
    The whale station is an abandoned carcass of a building on a nearby barrier island called Whales’ Cove. It sits alone with a bunch of old oil drums and giant bones.
    â€œThey’ve locked them up,” Nector continues. “No one’s allowed in or out. They’re asking anyone who touched a baldie to come forward.”
    â€œThey can’t do that,” I say, even though I have no idea who they is and if they can or not. “My dad shouldn’t be there. This isn’t why he’s sick.”
    â€œIt reeks of seagull poop and whale guts in there,” Gomez says. He moves his foot off his bike pedal and puts it back on the ground like maybe he isn’t in such a hurry to be locked up in the whale station after all.
    â€œNot to mention it’s haunted,” Yasmine adds.
    Yasmine and Gomez share a scared look.
    I squeeze the dog tag in my palm, thinking hard. Sky thumps his tail, like he’s thinking, too. “I don’t feel sick. And I refuse to believe baldies make people sick until I have proof.” I have a terrible feeling about all this. Like I’m holding the key to all our futures and things are going to turn out bad if I don’t do something. But what? I think for a minute, then I decide. “I’m not going to volunteer to be shut away in the smelly whale station, and none of you should either.”
    â€œWhat if we’re contagious and we make other people sick?” Yasmine looks worried.
    â€œThe first sign of sickness, we’ll tell someone,” I say. “Until then, we have to stick together or we’re all going to end up there.” I look at Nector.
    He nods. Gomez and Yasmine do, too.
    My handle comes across our walkie-talkies. “Repair Wizard calling Zookeeper. Got your ears on?” Repair Wizard—that’s Mr. Hatterask.
    â€œZookeeper here,” I answer.
    â€œZookeeper, report to Repair Wizard’s house tonight. Copy that?”
    Yasmine steps forward. “Since your dad’s sick. You’re going to stay with us, okay?”
    Nector nods, but Gomez looks like he’s going to object. His sister elbows him in the side.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” I ask Mr. Hatterask over the walkie-talkie.
    â€œDr. Wade is taking care of your dad. He doesn’t want you or anyone else to be infected. And you can’t stay by yourself.”
    I have questions, so I start firing them off. “How does Dr. Wade know the baldies are to blame? How can it be their fault?”
    â€œI know it must be frightening. I’m sorry,” Mr. Hatterask says. “All of you kids come on home, and we’ll talk about it over dinner. Repair Wizard over and out.”
    â€œZookeeper over and out,” I say.
    But I can’t imagine Dad would rather be recovering in the old whale station. “No matter how sick, my dad would never leave me like this. He’d want me to be with him.”
    The Hatterask kids watch me with nervous eyes.
    â€œIf he’s sick, I should be there to help take care of him. You’d do the same for your dad, wouldn’t you?” I ask them.
    Nector looks toward the woods behind my house.
    If I go through the woods, I can take a raft to get to the cove, because the ocean distance is shortest there. Otherwise, I’ll need a bigger boat. But it’s a long trek through those trees.
    â€œYou can’t go,” Nector insists. “Dad said