Page 2 of Crown of Tides and Fury

“Ten!”

She took her small, soft hands from my face as she stood, then squealed and pointed.

I thought she might be pointing to a rock that resembled a castle tower. It stood twenty feet in the air at the far end of the alcove, like nature’s own lighthouse. But no, she was pointing at the water where a black figure rose and struggled to be free from the waves, buffeted with each step. A snorkel. A wet suit. A buxom woman finally fought her way to shore and pulled her finned feet free of the water. In one hand, she held the pole of a large net full of fish and at least one crab waving its claws. With her other hand, she pulled the gear off her head, along with the black covering, and a mass of short pale curls bounced free.

She raised her chin to the cliff and grinned at the child, who waved so enthusiastically I thought she might fall off the ledge, so I held onto the back of her dress just in case.

“Is that your mom?”

Fallon rolled her eyes again, then leaned until her nose was close to mine. “That’s mygraaany,” she said, as if she thought I was the silliest person in the world.

I noticed the diver’s hair was more gray than blond. But I also realized she’d have to be nuts to go out into those ferocious waves that were intent on destruction. Only someone who knew the area well would risk such a thing for a free breakfast.Maybe someone with a little magic for protection?

My body tingled from the mixture of warm sun, wet breeze, and the possibility that I might be looking at the very woman we’d been searching for.

While we watched, Fallon’s grandmother picked her way along a sandy, rocky path with bare feet. The little girl bounced and paced impatiently all the while. Finally, the woman made it to the ledge and held up a finger while she caught her breath.

“Mornin’,” she said, still panting.

“Morning.”

“Renters?”

“I am,” I said, then gestured to Fallon. “We’re not together.”

She looked around, never considering the girl. “We who?”

I laughed. “Isn’t this your granddaughter?”

Fallon put her hands on her hips and kept a smile on her face.

“Granddaughter?” The woman’s eyes widened. “You don’t mean you can see her too?”

My chest squeezed around my heart at the idea of such a joyful child not being real. After all I’d been through that spring, I was amazed that something unworldly could shock the breath out of me. Still.

When the woman’s searching gaze reached Fallon’s toes, she looked up with a start and grinned. “There she is!” She set the net on the ground and opened her arms. Fallon lunged at her, nearly knocked the woman backwards, and wrapped her arms around those wet-suited hips. Then the pair laughed themselves silly. “Forgive us our wee game. We dinnae get many chances to play it.”

Game. It was just a game. The child is real.

I pasted a smile on my face and waited for the girl’s attention. “You, Miss Fallon, are very very good at games.”

She beamed, then noticed the net and stepped out of her grandmother’s embrace. “And what is my prize? Has to be treasure. Today, it has to be treasure!” She bent over the limp net and used two tiny fingers to move the crawling crab out of her way.

“Not there, ye wee beastie.” The woman pulled open a pocket on her belt and dug inside. “O’ course it’s treasure. If all the bloody island kens it’s yer birthday, sure but she’ll ken it too.”

Fallon clasped her hands and barely breathed while she waited for those fingers to stop fishing around in the pocket. And when they produced a bright green piece of polished glass, the girl gasped, then spoke so softly, I barely heard her.

“Oh, gran. Thank her for me. Tell her…tell her it’s the most beautiful treasure yet.”

Water puddled in the woman’s eyes when she placed the glass into the small, cupped hands, but she blinked it away and nodded to me. “Come up to the Sea Witch. We owe ye breakfast for givin’ ye such a start.”

“That’s not necessary, but I will join you.” I wasn’t about to letourpossible treasure get away.

With her attention on the glass in her hand, Fallon headed up the path without missing a step. Her grandmother used the net to scoop the wayward crab back inside, then followed. I joined the little parade, and at the top of the cliff, I asked the woman who Fallon wanted her to thank.

“The North Sea. Who else?”

Because the sea and grandmother are on speaking terms?

---