by Lu Hersey
“The chant is something all sea people learn. It’s to honour the skin and protect it from harm.”
No wonder she sounded so sad. It’s going to be even more difficult to get Mum’s skin back now Crawford knows we’re looking for it. He’s bound to keep a more watchful eye on the house – or worse, he might try to destroy the skin. I can’t bear to think what would happen if he did. We walk on in silence for a short while. I’m about to say something when I hear the crows suddenly cawing an alarm.
“What’s up with them? It’s nearly dark – don’t crows sleep?”
Mamwyn looks at me, her eyes glittering in the darkness.
“He’s following us.”
“What are we going to do?” My pulse starts racing. My fear of Gabriel comes back tenfold.
Mamwyn stops dead.
“We should wait here.”
“Here? But we’re in the middle of the road.”
“Better than leading him to that place where we hid the skins.”
She’s right. That’s the last thing we want. I think fast.
“Let’s go to the car park. If we’re lucky he won’t see us. It has to be better than waiting here!”
Our eyes have grown accustomed to the gathering darkness. We start walking faster, heading for the car park. Behind us is only silence, but I sense that Crawford and Gabriel are coming. So does Mamwyn. I reach in the cagoule pocket for the wind charm. Feeling the lumpy outlines of the remaining knots is strangely reassuring.
We get to the deserted car park. I can see much better than I expected. The moon is nearly full, and has risen above the trees, casting a faint silver glow over everything. My heart sinks. Crawford will find us all too easily.
“Quick. Let’s get in that covered picnic area.” Without waiting for Mamwyn, I head for the thatched shelter in the car park. I know Gabriel will have no problem finding us, but Crawford won’t be able to see us so clearly in there. By the time Mamwyn catches up with me, I’ve already got the charm out of my pocket and I’m trying to stay calm as I pull at the knotted fabric. The night is so still, we soon hear the sound of Gabriel’s excited whining from further up the lane. I have to get this knot undone. Mamwyn watches me without saying a word.
I hear the whine again, closer this time. They’ve nearly reached the car park. If we’re lucky they’ll go to the beach first. I pray that Gabriel doesn’t catch our scent straight away. The knot is gradually loosening in my fingers. I don’t know what to expect when I finally manage to untie it. I straighten out the fabric where the knot was.
As we stare across the dark tarmac, Crawford and the dog suddenly come into view. They’re silhouetted against the entrance in the moonlight, only a few metres away. Gabriel is straining at his chain in our direction.
From out of nowhere comes a rumble of thunder. I see Crawford look up at the sky, surprised. A fast-moving cloud bank covers the moon and now everything is much darker. Lightning flashes across the sky overhead, illuminating the man and his dog again. Another crack of thunder, much closer. Rain starts to spit down onto the gravel, slow at first then pouring from the sky in torrents. I can no longer make out Crawford or the dog at all.
For a moment Mamwyn and I stand at the entrance of the shelter, staring out into the thunderstorm. There’s no sign of life.
We keep watching, waiting to see if Crawford finds us. Seconds tick by. Then minutes.
“I think they’ve gone.” The sound of the rain is so loud, I almost have to shout to make Mamwyn hear.
“Shhh!” she hisses.
We stay silent for a few more moments. The heavy rain is unceasing. Finally Mamwyn feels it’s safe to talk.
“Powerful charm you’ve got there. Did Robert give it to you?”
I nod.
“Thank him next time you see him. Let’s go and check if the lane is clear.”
We step out into the downpour. Within seconds we’re both soaked through. The thin nylon cagoule offers no protection against the weather and Mamwyn’s jumper dress must feel like she’s wearing a wet flannel. It’s freezing cold. We cross to the car park entrance and look back up the lane towards Crawford’s place. The road is empty. A newly formed river of rainwater washes down the slope.
“We’d better check the beach as well,” says Mamwyn.
I know she’s right. We need to make sure he’s not waiting for us there before collecting the skins. We walk down towards the beach as quickly as we can in our slippery wet flip-flops, and stand next to the holiday cottages. We scour the beach. As far as we can make out, it’s empty.
“I think he’s gone home,” I say, my teeth chattering in the cold.
“Okay. But keep a careful look out. He might come back.”
We head for the derelict cottage behind the hedgerow. It’s so dark now, it takes me a while to find the entrance to it in the hedge.
“You go in,” says Mamwyn. “I’ll keep watch.”
I hesitate. Going into this creepy ruin at night is not something I want to do by myself. But she’s right. Crawford finding us here would be worse. I leave her outside and push through the foliage, scratching my arms on brambles and twigs on my way in. I stumble clumsily onto the uneven cottage floor. There’s some degree of shelter from the weather inside, even though there’s no roof. The stunted, overhanging ash trees keep some of the rain off, but the leaves constantly drip cold water down my back. It’s pitch dark. The dense ivy covering the wall feels like some brooding presence in here with me. I put my hands into the wet leaves, searching for the bag. I come out in a cold sweat as I struggle to find it.
Lightning flashes overhead. I take a few breaths and hear the rumble of thunder. The storm is moving away. I must hurry. I remember how earlier I could see the faint swirling light from the skins through the green plastic. I stop my frantic scrabbling and take a step back on the stone-littered floor of the ruin. I scan the ivy. Almost immediately I spot a faint, pulsing light near the top of the wall. It’s as if the skins are alive. As I pull down the bag, showering myself with even more freezing water in the process, I think about Mum’s sealskin, shut away in that lead-lined chest. The awful, dead feeling I got from the lead.
“What are you doing in there? Are you okay?” Mamwyn’s muffled voice makes me jump.
“Coming! Sorry, it took me a while to find them.” I bend down and scramble back out onto the lane, clutching the bag close to my heart.
“We’d better hurry. Not sure how long the rain will keep him away.”
She’s right. We both keep turning to look back up the lane as we head for the beach. I want to run, but I’m not sure Mamwyn could manage. We’re already walking as fast as we can.
We pass the holiday cottages, dark and empty. The beach still looks deserted, but I’m afraid to leave the houses and step into the open.
“Come on. No time to waste. We need to get down to the shoreline.”
Now we run. The rain is still bucketing down on the wet sand, which means we can’t see very far. I take some small comfort thinking that at least Crawford won’t be able to see much in this weather either. I try not to think about Gabriel.
On the shoreline, Mamwyn takes the carefully rolled skins out of the bag and gives me mine. I feel a surge of joy to have it back in my hands. We quickly take off our wet clothes and I hold my skin up against my body, shivering in the cold. I take the wind charm out of the cagoule pocket before handing my wet things to Mamwyn, and she shoves the clothes into the plastic bag as fast as she can.
“Push yourself into your skin.” Mamwyn sounds slightly panicky. Her tone gets me worried and I can’t concentrate.
“Let go of your thinking.” She sounds a little calmer, but maybe that’s just for my benefit. “If you want to keep that charm you’re holding, put it in your mouth and hold it with your teeth.”
I do as she says, then bury myself in the soft, swirling pattern of the fur. It doesn’t feel wet now it’s up close. It still has the familiar smell of earth and sea, but with an added hin
t of dank ivy. The lights come up to my eyes and spiral round. I feel the spasms of pain as the muscles pull and contract and the bones grow and change.
Toc!
I’m on my belly at the edge of the sea. Mamwyn is here too, dragging the plastic bag with her to get it off the beach. As we lumber forwards into the waves, I’m sure I can hear the sound of Gabriel barking somewhere behind us on the beach. Then we are underwater and swimming away from the shore as fast as we can.
We haven’t got very far before Mamwyn has to let go of the bag. She didn’t have time to knot the top, so it’s filled up with water and looks too heavy to manage. As the bag sinks down in the dark towards the seabed, a flip-flop escapes and bobs up on the surface. We keep swimming out to the open water.
The storm has brought a bigger swell to the ocean. I follow Mamwyn closely. Once we’re away from Porthenys, we slow down to an easier pace.
I can see surprisingly well, far better than I’d normally be able to in the dark underwater, but I can’t help feeling scared of what might be out there. What creatures come out at night? We stay close to the surface, keeping as much distance as we can between us and the currents that suck round the Pig Stacks.
I hear a sudden whisper of movement. A shoal of fish, turning as one away from us in the dark. Mackerel. I can smell them. I wonder if they ever sleep. Maybe they’re sleeping now? I hope that means it’s safe out here.
A flash of bubbles, followed closely by another. I’m paralysed by fear as a couple of large shapes dart past us. It’s terrifying in the darkness. What were they? Sharks? Mamwyn stops and circles round me. Then the shapes are back again, almost touching us as they swim past. I hear the reassuring clicks and whirrs. Porpoises. They seem to be curious. Maybe we look different from other seals? My heart lifts as they swim right up to us, chattering and clicking in the dark as they approach. Mamwyn swims with them and they circle round together. I’m not sure whether to join them or not, but before I can decide, the porpoises swim off into the black ocean as fast as they came, and are gone.
Mamwyn and I journey on, keeping close to the shoreline. I see things in the water from time to time. Cuttlefish with saucer eyes pulsate to each other on the sandy seabed. I try to stop being afraid of everything. This is part of my world now, and in time I’ll come to know it better.
As we get close to the beach by the cave, I think I glimpse something moving through a bed of kelp way below me. The dark outline of something big. Stupidly I open my mouth. I’m so busy trying to see what it is, that it’s a few seconds before I notice Robert’s charm floating down towards it in the depths. I dive down to retrieve it immediately, still feeling unnerved by what I thought I saw.
As I reach the kelp, I’m fully aware how easy it would be for any number of creatures to hide in there, especially in the dark. It’s like a forest. The seaweed grows several metres tall from the seabed. My heart’s racing.
Suddenly I completely lose sight of Robert’s charm. Scanning desperately in the dark, I spot it again floating down through the topmost fronds. I race to grab it, heart pounding against my ribcage. I can’t bear to lose it after all we’ve been through tonight, but at the same time I’m certain there’s something else down here.
As I snatch the charm back with my teeth, I get the prickling sensation that I’m being watched. I look down. A face peers up at me, and I freeze in terror. Beams of moonlight filter down from above, and all at once I can make out what it is. A bull seal, the patterns in his pelt swirling silver in the light. So close. He’s massive. We stare at each other for a second, then he starts to glide up through the kelp towards me.
He’s probably just curious, but I’m so scared I nearly drop the charm again. I turn away, swimming as fast as I can to try to catch up with Mamwyn. I surface for air. The sky has cleared and moonlight silvers the water. I see no trace of the bull seal, but the adrenalin coursing through my body has made me really tense. I can’t see Mamwyn either. For a moment I panic.
I dive under and swim fast towards the shore. Suddenly I catch a glimpse of Mamwyn again. She’s some way ahead of me, close to the beach. I speed through the water to catch her up, not daring to look back. She sees me and circles round, the familiar patterns on her pelt faintly shimmering, reassuring me I’m safe.
As I pull myself out onto the rocks by our cave, I stare up at the moon shining bright on the water. Then the stars spiral together and the pain starts.
A few minutes later, I spit the sea-soaked wind charm out of my mouth onto the sand and pick it up. My jaws still ache slightly with the tension of holding it in my mouth all that way.
Mamwyn and I pick our way as quickly as we can across the rocky beach, holding our sealskins against our bodies to keep warm, and head back to the total darkness and safety of the cave. I glance back at the water. It looks so calm out there now. As far as I can see, there’s no sign of the bull seal. I breathe a sigh of relief.
We climb back up the steep stone steps into the kitchen. The warmth is really comforting after struggling back along the cold tunnel wearing only Mamwyn’s old dressing gown. I reckon she can’t be any warmer in that stupid housecoat either.
Mamwyn pulls the stone back into place in the floor, and places the mat over it before bustling round and preparing food. I’m amazed at her energy, especially as I know she’s done the difficult journey to Porthenys twice today.
I’m so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open, but when I look at the clock, it’s only eight. I can’t believe it. I feel as though we’ve been gone much longer.
“I’d better call Dad and tell him I’m staying.”
“Okay. I’ll have this ready in about twenty minutes.”
I go upstairs and change back into my own clothes. Then I find my phone and go outside. There’s hardly any signal inside Mamwyn’s cottage.
“Dad?”
“Danni, you left the bike lights behind!”
“I know. Sorry. I’ll stay here and come back first thing in the morning.”
“Do you want me to come and pick you up now? I can fit the bike in the back of the car if you like.”
“No, Mamwyn’s just started cooking for me. I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”
“Well if you’re sure.” Dad sounds quite relieved he doesn’t have to come out.
“The weather’s a bit unpredictable tonight anyway, Dad. You don’t want to get caught in a storm.”
“What do you mean? It’s a lovely night. Nice moon and hardly a breeze.”
“Yes, it’s okay now, but earlier – didn’t it rain there?”
“No, not a drop. And it rained in Ancrows? How strange. The weather round here is so localized, it amazes me sometimes.”
I think about the cracking thunder and lightning in Porthenys. It’s not that far away. Was it really only in that one place?
I’m so glad I made the effort to bring the charm back with me. Mamwyn’s right. I must thank Robert next time I see him.
chapter 28
Next morning, I open my eyes and gaze at the wooden trunk next to Mum’s old bed. I can hear Mamwyn up already, clattering plates in the kitchen. I must have slept heavily.
I blink blearily in the light filtering through the curtains and my eyes focus on the ugly jagged hole in the front of the trunk. Someone must have been desperate to open it if they were that clumsy with their tools.
Suddenly I picture my grandfather’s gold chain on the table downstairs in the kitchen. There’s a rusty old key on the chain alongside the crucifix. Could it be the missing key?
Mamwyn was so cagey when I asked how much Joseph knew about the changing, I had a feeling there was something she wasn’t telling me. I dress quickly and run downstairs.
“Thought I heard you getting up. Fancy a cooked breakfast?” Mamwyn picks up a box of eggs.
“Yes, thanks, that’d be lovely.” I’m starving after yesterday and the thought of bacon and eggs is making my mouth water. But I can’t wait to ask. “Mamwyn, you know the trunk in Mum’s
old room?”
“What about it?” She sounds wary.
“The key on the chain. Is that the key to the chest upstairs?”
“Maybe. Too late to fix it now though.”
“How come it’s on the chain? What happened?”
Mamwyn turns her back to me and pulls a frying pan down onto one of the rings on the old range. She doesn’t reply.
I think back to when I asked her how much my grandfather knew about sea people. I can’t let it go.
“So what was in the chest?”
She turns to look at me. “My sealskin,” she says, her voice dropping to a whisper.
I stare at her. “You mean, my grandfather found the cave?”
“Yes. But it was all Crawford’s doing. When Joseph became one of the Chosen, Crawford told him to find out all he could about sea people. Said he could help to save us.” Mamwyn’s voice cracks with emotion. “Like we needed saving!”
“So Joseph searched the cave and found the sealskin?” I’m still trying to understand how my grandfather could possibly have sided with someone as horrible as Crawford.
She nods sadly. “I was out in the village at the time. Joseph was asleep when I went out – or at least I thought he was. By the time I came back, he’d brought the skin up and locked it in the trunk. I think he meant to give it to Crawford when he next saw him – and to stop me getting it back, he put the key on the chain with his crucifix.”
“Was that the same day he…” I try to think how to ask without upsetting Mamwyn even more. “…went fishing?”
“It was the day he drowned, yes. He went out in a storm. He was trying to prove a point – that he didn’t need me to keep him safe out there.”
She didn’t save him.
Mum’s words come back to me and suddenly I realize – Mum can’t have known.
“Why didn’t you tell Mum? You know she blamed you for not saving him!”
Mamwyn puts a little oil in the pan to heat. Then she turns round to look at me.