The Selkie of San Francisco

by Todd Calgi Gallicano

  “I’d like to speak with Reginald Murphy. I understand he’s a patient here?”

  “Crazy Murphy?” he replied quizzically. “He’s probably in the rec room playing checkers with himself or talking to the goldfish. Come on. I’ll take you to him,” he offered.

  “Would you?” Pearl replied, smiling. “That would make you one of my brightest gems of all! I’ll have to post about this!” Francis was beside himself. Joy, the desk nurse, on the other hand, was not amused.

  “That is not our policy,” she reminded a now-beaming Francis, but he just waved her off and guided Pearl by the hand to the rec room.

  “Why do you want to see him?” Francis questioned. “I don’t think he’s ever had any visitors before….”

  “He’s—an old family friend,” she answered.

  “I hear he’s been here for years. He’s the youngest patient in the facility, but our average age is, like, eighty-five, so…” Francis shrugged, trailing off.

  “Do you know what’s wrong with him?” she inquired.

  “Not really, no,” Francis said. “I know he used to be a fisherman, but then he started having these hallucinations and now he’s deathly afraid of the ocean.”

  Pearl’s smile faltered ever so slightly as she considered that and stepped into the recreation area. It was a long, narrow room with tables and chairs, where residents played cards, read books, or did arts and crafts. Reginald Murphy was at a table all by himself, an untouched checkerboard in front of him. Pearl recognized him instantly but noticed he had aged since she’d last seen him, and he appeared sullen.

  “Hey, Mr. Murphy,” Francis said as they approached. “You have a very special visitor,” the nurse added in a singsongy voice, like an adult talking to a child. Murphy rolled his eyes in irritation, then peered upward to see his guest. Spotting Pearl, his expression transformed. His face brightened, his eyes widened, and his jaw dropped in disbelief.

  “Pearl!” he exclaimed. He stood quickly and pulled her into an embrace she wasn’t expecting. He must have thought he crossed a line, because he instantly let her go and apologized. “Sorry—I just—” he stammered.

  “It’s okay,” Pearl told him, touching his shoulder and putting him at ease. “Do you mind?” she said to Francis, indicating that she wanted to speak with Murphy alone.

  “Oh, yes. Of course,” Francis said, and quickly stepped away.

  An animated Murphy motioned to the chair opposite his, and Pearl sat down. Murphy took his seat, a warm smile on his face. “You’re just as beautiful as the last time I saw you,” he said. “But I guess that shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering.”

  “Considering what?” she asked.

  He eyed her a moment. “You still don’t remember, do you?” he said, realizing.

  Pearl shook her head. “The doctors say my memory loss is due to the trauma and the oxygen deprivation,” she explained. “Can you tell me about that day?”

  He leaned in and spoke quietly. “You’ll think I’m crazy. They all do. But I know the truth. I saw it with my own eyes.”

  “What truth? What did you see?” Pearl asked, confused. Murphy glanced around nervously. “Please—”

  “We weren’t supposed to be fishing out there that night,” he began. “It was illegal. I told Lief…but he didn’t care. He needed the money. He was living paycheck to paycheck back then. Can you imagine? And then you came along….I spotted you first….”

  “I was floating on a piece of my parents’ boat, right?” Pearl asked.

  Murphy eyed her and then shook his head.

  “Excuse me!” an agitated voice announced. An older man in a suit was barreling toward them, two large orderlies in tow. “You are not cleared to visit Mr. Murphy and must leave at once!”

  “But…we’re just talking,” Pearl told the man, flashing her smile. The man shook off the effect of her charm, then gestured for the orderlies to take Murphy away.

  “Mr. Murphy is a very disturbed individual, Ms. Eklund,” he huffed. “It is not safe for you to—”

  Murphy was fighting the orderlies as they dragged him from the rec room, but he caught Pearl’s eye and yelled, “A fin! You had a great big beautiful fin!” And then the orderlies yanked Reginald Murphy into another room and slammed the door. Pearl gasped.

  “Do you see what I mean? He’s delusional. He is not the kind of person you should be speaking with,” the man who Pearl assumed was the home’s manager said. He added, “I think it would be best if you went on home now.”

  “Of course….Sorry,” she said as she headed for the exit.

  Pearl emerged from the facility and walked to her waiting limo. She was still trembling from the jarring experience when she noticed that her chauffeur hadn’t arrived to open her door. Glancing around for him, her eye caught something on the driver’s side of the vehicle. It was a single black shoe. She stepped around the back of the car to get a closer look and found her chauffeur lying in a lump on the street. She rushed over and leaned down to check on him. Fortunately, he was still breathing, and she quickly pulled out her phone to call for help. A familiar voice cut in from behind her.

  “Princess,” it said firmly.

  Pearl stood and slowly turned to find the man from San Francisco—from her dreams—staring back at her. He reached out to touch Pearl, and she recoiled.

  “Do not be afraid. I am here to rescue you,” he said.

  Pearl’s heart skipped several beats, her breath left her body, and she promptly fainted.

  * * *

  —

  Lief Eklund stepped out of the elevator and into the lobby with a group of business associates. As he walked his guests to the exit, he spotted Sam, Tashi, and Vance near the aquarium. He said his goodbyes and walked over.

  “I got the message you were waiting down here,” he said. “I’m a little surprised to see you all so soon. What brings you to Miami?”

  “Tashi is very persistent and did not want to go home until she had a chance to speak with your daughter,” Sam explained. “But it looks like we missed her again.”

  “What do you mean ‘missed her’? She’s upstairs resting, on doctor’s orders,” Lief informed them. Sam realized that Pearl must have left without her father’s knowledge, and that gave him an idea.

  “No, she isn’t,” Sam corrected him. “She left.”

  “When?” Lief asked immediately.

  “A little while ago. She walked right past us. We tried to speak to her, but she said she was in a hurry to see someone named Murphy.”

  “Murphy?” Lief replied, concerned. “Thanks for the information,” he added, before scrambling off. He grabbed a few of his security people, and they disappeared into the elevator.

  “Why did you lie and tell him we saw Pearl?” Tashi asked.

  “Because our only lead was the name Murphy, and we had no way of tracking him down, but Lief will lead us right to her.”

  “Clever,” the doctor noted. “Let’s go.”

  * * *

  * * *

  Dr. Vantana trailed a few cars behind Lief’s black SUV all the way to the Shady Gardens Retirement Home. The SUV pulled into the rear entrance, while Vance discreetly parked across the street from the front of the facility. It turned out to be the better choice, as Sam spotted Pearl’s limo immediately. He also watched in horror as the selkie placed Pearl’s limp body in the backseat. Sam leapt out of the car without a second thought and sprinted toward them. He quickly realized this action would upset Tashi no end, but he had to act fast if he was going to catch them. The selkie spotted Sam heading his way and slammed the back door, then raced to get into the driver’s seat. After climbing inside, he started up the limo and attempted to make a break for it, but Sam was faster. He got to the limo a second earlier and opened the back door to find an unconscious Pearl slumped on the seat. As the
limo began to pull away, Sam had no choice but to jump inside.

  “Sam!” he heard Tashi call out through the still-open door. The Guardian was only a few yards behind him and was running after the limo. Sam reached his hand out to help Tashi get inside, but the car picked up speed. Tashi kept pace until she tripped on her blue butterfly pants and tumbled to the ground.

  “Vile pants!” the Guardian exclaimed in frustration.

  The limo was now hurtling down the street, and just as he had in San Francisco, the selkie ignored all traffic laws. He swerved around other cars, careened into oncoming traffic, and even drove onto sidewalks. Sam was tossed around like a rag doll, and Pearl rolled off the seat, finally coming to.

  “Ms. Eklund,” Sam said, trying to steady himself and noticing that her eyes had opened. “Are you okay?”

  “I think so,” she replied groggily. “Who are you?”

  “My name’s Sam London and I’m here to help,” Sam assured her, gripping the seat belts like anchors.

  “That man!” she exclaimed, suddenly getting her bearings.

  “He’s driving,” Sam said, gesturing with his chin toward the front seat of the limo. “Did he hurt you?”

  Pearl shook her head slowly. “I think I fainted….Who is he? What does he want with me?” she asked with desperation in her voice.

  “Just try to hold on. I’ll find out what this is all about,” Sam told her before letting go of his seat belt and crawling his way up to the front of the compartment. “Excuse me,” Sam said through the half-open divider. “It’s Maris, right?” The selkie didn’t answer. “I’m with the Department of Mythical Wildlife, and you’re in—”

  “Violation of the gryphon. Except the law does not apply to me or to her,” Maris said, gesturing his head backward. “You best get out of this machine before we reach our destination. I am not responsible for your life.”

  “Destination? Where are you taking us?” Sam asked, instantly unnerved by the implication that his life might be in danger.

  “I am not taking you anywhere,” Maris replied haughtily. “I am returning Princess Iaira to where she belongs.”

  “Iaira? Her name is Pearl,” Sam answered. Maris scoffed at this. “Okay, whatever. Where are you taking Iaira, then?” Sam amended.

  “Home,” Maris said as he pointed sharply ahead. Sam followed the gesture to see the end of the road approaching rapidly and the ocean just beyond it. Sam’s heart raced into overdrive and his mind shifted into fight-or-flight mode. Problem was, he couldn’t fly or fight at the moment, so his muscles just seized up and he desperately tried to talk his way out of the situation.

  “Listen, Maris, I can help you,” Sam pleaded. “If you do this, if you expose yourself again to humans, it would be a major violation. I know you don’t think it matters, but it does. The gryphon, Phylassos, would be forced to step in and fix things—did you hear about what happened in Hérault?” Sam asked, hoping to instill some fear in the selkie.

  “I heard rumors,” the selkie responded flatly.

  “Well, I can confirm them. I was there. It happened,” Sam told him with all the seriousness he could convey. “He will punish all of your people, you and Pearl, and—”

  “Iaira,” Maris corrected him.

  “Iaira,” Sam repeated. “You’re putting Iaira and others in danger.”

  “The danger is already upon us,” Maris said. “Only she can stop it now.” With that, the selkie wrenched the car off the roadway and into a field of overgrown grass. The limo bounded over the uneven terrain, heading toward a short coastal cliff.

  “Hold on!” Sam directed Pearl, who had strapped herself in and shut her eyes. Heeding his own advice, he gripped the seat and side console with all his might as the limo launched off the cliff and plummeted into the ocean. Despite his grip, Sam was thrown against the divider. Slam! The car gave a lurch and began to sink quickly. Pearl was screaming, desperately trying to loosen herself from the seat belt, but her hands were trembling in fear and she couldn’t calm them enough to unfasten the latch, which only added to her terror. Her screams rose in volume once the ocean water started to seep into the limo’s rear compartment.

  “Help!” Pearl cried. “Please, help!”

  Dazed by the hit against the divider, Sam slowly pulled himself toward Pearl and unfastened her seat belt. She scrambled out of the restraint, and Sam quickly turned to the door. He tried the handle, but the pressure of the water was just too much for him to overcome.

  “We have to stay high—where the air is,” Sam instructed her as more water filled the compartment. She nodded amid tears, and they both pushed their faces against the roof of the vehicle. The water level was inching higher and higher with each passing moment, and Sam tried in vain to kick a window out, but the strength of those kicks faded as his legs became fully submerged, dashing any hope of escape. Pearl clutched on to him for dear life as they bobbed at the top of the car. There was nothing Sam London could do to save them.

  After one last gulp of breath each, water covered their faces and Pearl’s eyes went wide with terror. Maybe it was the lack of oxygen that caused Sam’s thoughts to wander at this imperiled moment, but he couldn’t help noticing how angelic Pearl looked underwater. It was a comforting observation, considering that her face might be the last Sam would ever see.

  Sam London didn’t want the responsibility that was foisted upon him the day he nearly drowned off the coast of Florida. He was certainly not prepared for how it would set in motion a series of events that would transform his entire world. In the biographies of Sam London that had yet to be written, this would be referred to as a turning point, one of the many defining moments in the landscape or seascape of Sam’s life.

  Trapped in a limousine submerged underwater with Miami “it” girl Pearl Eklund, Sam wasn’t aware of the significance of his predicament. He was simply trying to survive…and he wasn’t doing a very good job of it. Based on the events of late, Sam had grown convinced that Pearl was some sort of mer-creature. This belief instilled in him a hope that she would transform at any moment and rescue him. But as the seconds ticked by, Sam became increasingly aware that it was likely he and Pearl were going to die.

  Sam furiously fought the urge to take a breath, and watched helplessly as Pearl thrashed about, gulping down seawater as her body desperately sought oxygen. It wouldn’t be long now, he thought, before they both drowned, and his mind raced back to the very first time he had knocked on death’s door. His initial brush with mortality happened in the grip of a gargoyle high above the California desert. At the time, he’d wondered if Nuks would continue to masquerade as him to avoid breaking Ettie’s heart.

  During Sam’s time at home, he had received assurances from Nuks that he would continue the ruse for as long as necessary, should anything happen to Sam. The raccoon-dog would have to revert to his animal form now and again as his body demanded, but he could do so during brief periods when Ettie wasn’t around or during the night. She might even be happier with Nuks as her son, Sam imagined. After all, the raccoon-dog was affectionate, attentive, and industrious. It was a soothing thought as Sam faced his end in the limousine.

  With his vision going spotty, Sam barely glimpsed the selkie pulling the door from the limo as if he were peeling an onion. Next thing Sam knew, Maris was dragging him and Pearl to the surface. When Sam’s lips kissed the air, he took the biggest, deepest breath of his life. Pearl was coughing up seawater and clutching the car door, which was now floating in between them. The selkie remained with Sam, an annoyed look on his face.

  “She has been surface too long,” Maris said, irritated. “I do not know what you humans have done to her, but she has forgotten her natural form.”

  “Help!” Pearl screamed faintly as she attempted to climb onto the door and use it as a raft. Maris watched her, shaking his head.

  “You almost killed us!”
Sam exclaimed.

  “I warned you,” Maris responded. “And I’m not here to kill humans. Not yet, anyway.”

  Sam was considering that semicomforting notion as he frantically treaded water, barely keeping his head above the surface. His legs soon settled into a calm rhythm, and then his eyes settled on something extraordinary: Maris didn’t have legs. He possessed a bifurcated fin like that of a seal. Sam swallowed his surprise and met the selkie’s gaze.

  “Are you sure you’re not mistaken about Pearl? Maybe she just looks like this Princess Iaira,” Sam suggested.

  “I know my future bride,” Maris responded with confidence.

  “Bride? You mean you and she—”

  “Our families and our kinds were to be united, until she disappeared,” the selkie informed him. “But she cannot return to the sea if she is unable to transform.”

  Sam spotted two U.S. Coast Guard response boats speeding toward the scene. Pearl waved her arms wildly for them to rescue her.

  “Over here!” she shouted repeatedly amid the choppy waves.

  “Those humans can’t be allowed to see you,” Sam warned the selkie. “It’d be a disaster.”

  “Ah yes. The egos of men would be irreparably harmed,” Maris said mockingly.

  “Please!” Sam pleaded.

  “Have no fear, human child. I will continue the gryphon’s ruse—”

  “Great!” Sam exclaimed with relief.

  “But it won’t matter when our worlds inevitably collide,” the selkie added ominously.

  “What do you mean?” Sam asked anxiously.

  “The return of the princess is the only way to prevent war. And my failure is your doom.”

  “War? With who?” Sam inquired. This was sounding worse by the moment.

  “A civil war between the mer-creatures and the selkie. Such a conflict will send ripples throughout our oceans…and then your lands,” Maris informed him. The sound of the Coast Guard boats grew louder, and Sam’s stomach churned at the thought that the selkie could be exposed in mere seconds.