by Naomi Clark
“How?” Nessa cried, lifting her head to stare at Charley, grief and fury twisting her features. “He took off, he had that machine…”
“A moped,” Charley said. “We’ll find him, Nessa, we will. It’s a small town – someone will know him.”
The dog barked his agreement and headbutted Charley’s ribs. The gesture reminded her that she and Nessa were completely naked on a public beach. Her earlier joke about indecent exposure was suddenly much less funny.
She pulled Nessa to her feet, wrapping her arms around her. “We’ll find him. I promise,” she said, all but dragging Nessa back toward the cave. There was nobody in sight now, but as the day wore on, the beach would fill with dog walkers, fishermen, kayakers… Nessa didn’t care about being naked, but Charley was very particular about who saw her bare arse.
Nessa let Charley drag her along, limp and lifeless in her arms. All her energy seemed to have died. Perhaps she was going into shock, Charley thought. A selkie’s skin was her soul, Nessa always told her. Without it, they were half-creatures, cut off from their true home, their true nature. The idea of Nessa being trapped on land horrified Charley. Her beautiful, wild girl, landlocked. No, she couldn’t let it happen.
They would find the boy. They had to.
Chapter Three
Nessa was like a broken doll. She stood shivering and silent on the ledge in the caves, letting Charley dress her. The lack of awareness in her eyes scared Charley, and so she chatted uselessly as she forced Nessa’s numb limbs into her over-sized cardigan.
“Can’t be many kids round here with their own mopeds. The dog might be his too. We’ll check his collar, see if that helps. He probably won’t keep the skin anyway. He won’t know what it is, really, and seal skins aren’t valuable—”
“It’s valuable to me!” Nessa cried, yanking away from Charley.
Charley bit her lip and said nothing, stroking Nessa’s hair as the selkie buttoned up the cardigan. She was short enough, and it was long enough that it served as a rough dress, just skimming the tops of her thighs. It wasn’t ideal, but it would do until Charley could get them back to her house.
The dog was waiting for them outside the cave and Charley ruffled his head while she checked his collar. His name turned out to be Murdock, but there was no address on his tag. Still, there was nobody combing the beach for a lost dog as Charley and Nessa headed back to the village, so Charley figured there was good chance Murdock belonged to the boy. The dog trotted happily after them, darting in to sniff Nessa’s bare legs every now and then. Nessa flinched, burrowing against Charley every time.
“He won’t hurt you,” Charley said.
“You don’t know that.”
“He’s basically the land equivalent of a sea otter,” Charley said, stopping to pat Murdock, hoping it would reassure Nessa. “You wouldn’t be frightened of a sea otter, would you?” Murdock licked her hand obligingly.
Nessa eyed him warily. “No, but they’re not generally this big.”
“It’s fine. He’s safe.” Charley put the same gentle emphasis in her voice she used when working with kids. It felt wrong, using that tone with Nessa, but it worked.
Nessa gingerly touched Murdock’s head, fingers barely brushing his black fur. But the light touch was enough to send him bouncing happily around Nessa, tongue lolling in a goofy canine smile. Nessa managed a weak smile back.
Satisfied they’d reached a truce, Charley moved on. Nessa clung to her hand, eyeing the approaching village with distrust. She’d never been off the beach, Charley knew. Her heart stuttered at the thought of Nessa seeing cars and crowds of people. Not that Ailbhe Cove was a hive of activity, but any number of people would be more than Nessa was used to.
Although selkies did live in colonies, Charley reminded herself. And often amongst pods of actual seals, Nessa had told her. Charley had seen plenty of pods on boat trips round the coast, great noisy harems of bulls and cows, chattering, honking, and roaring as they flopped around in the sand. If you could live happily amidst that kind of chaos, Ailbhe Cove was nothing.
And truth be told, it was still early in the day. The village was no more awake than it had been when Charley left the house. Nessa stared at the houses with a mix of wonder and fear. “It’s all so closed in,” she said. “Don’t you feel trapped?”
“You live under the sea,” Charley said. “That’s pretty closed in too.”
“But we don’t have to go far to get in the open air.”
“Neither do we.” Charley squeezed her hand. “Come on, my home isn’t far.” Despite Nessa’s nerves, despite the dire situation, Charley couldn’t help a burst of excitement at showing her girlfriend her home. With Murdock in tow, she led the way.
The cottage Charley had grown up in was a gray stone building, ancient-looking but well cared-for, the wooden doors and window frames weather-beaten and sun-faded. It always smelt of fresh herbs and the ocean, and was filled with furniture that looked just as ancient as the building itself. The living room was full of ocean art and ornaments. Clusters of seashells and sea glass lined the fireplace’s mantel, watercolors of seals and mermaids hung on the walls. The colors were all beachy too: a creamy yellow carpet and blue-gray walls. Charley loved it in here in the evenings, curled up with a book in one of the old armchairs, or sprawled out in front of a roaring fire. The room was peaceful, full of happy childhood memories.
Murdock made himself at home in front of the empty fireplace immediately, curling up with his nose tucked under his paws. Nessa stood with her mouth open, gaping at the beams in the low ceiling. “It’s lovely. It feels like … like you.” She offered Charley a sad smile and hugged herself.
Charley had lost count of how many times she’d seen Nessa wrap her seal skin around herself like a comfort blanket. So many times that to see her hug herself without the skin was starkly unnatural. Her excitement at bringing Nessa here died abruptly.
“Well, there’ll be plenty of time for you to look around after we get your skin back,” she said. She took Nessa’s hand and led her upstairs. Having Nessa in her bedroom felt wickedly daring, but she pushed the feeling down and rummaged through her wardrobe.
Nessa sat carefully on the unmade bed, stroking the duvet as if it were a living thing. It was another small, thoughtless gesture she’d made untold times with her skin. “Charley, what if we don’t find him?”
“You can’t think like that, Ness.” Charley pulled out a sky blue maxi dress and tossed it to her. “We will find him.”
“But what if we’re too late? What if he burns it or—”
“Nessa.” Charley knelt at her feet, taking Nessa’s trembling hands in her own. “Remember that summer we went skinny dipping and the undertow caught me? I was dragged out to sea and I was half-drowned by the time you got to me. But you did, you saved me and you brought me back to shore alive.”
Nessa’s eyes shone with tears. “I remember.”
“Well that’s what I’m doing now, for you. I’ll bring you home, alright? I’ll find your skin.” She lifted Nessa’s hands and kissed her knuckles. “We’ll find it together, okay? Before the day is over, you’ll be back in the ocean.”
Nessa smiled even as her tears started falling. “I hope so.”
****
They started with Murdock. Someone had to be looking for the dog, and as sweet-natured as he seemed, Charley was willing to bet he was well-known if he was local. Ailbhe Cove’s dog-owners were practically a cult, close-knit and bound by traditions and rituals as mysterious as the tides. Someone in the village would know Murdock. Hopefully the dog belonged to the boy. If he didn’t…Well, Charley hadn’t thought that far ahead. She hoped Nessa hadn’t either.
Murdock was napping in the kitchen, but he jerked awake when the girls came in and fixed Charley with the kind of expectant look she couldn’t help but smile at. “Walkies?” she asked him, and he leapt up, barking his enthusiasm.
Nessa hid behind Charley, clearly rattled. “He’s not going to bi
te, is he?”
“I don’t think so.” Charley ruffled the dog’s ears, then pulled open a kitchen drawer, looking for the ball of twine her mother kept “because you never know.” She fashioned a rough lead out of the twine, looping it through Murdock’s collar. “He seems pretty even-tempered.”
Nessa seemed happier with Murdock on the end of the lead, even daring to stroke him. He licked her hand and she managed a weak smile. “As wet as a sea otter.”
“Come on,” Charley said, taking her hand. “Let’s get going.”
It struck Charley as they left the house how normal this was. A couple walking a dog on a sunny spring morning. Maybe a lesbian couple was a bit much for Ailbhe Cove, but still … Charley had never done this before. Never been able to. She squeezed Nessa’s hand as if she could pass on her excitement about it, then immediately felt guilty. Nessa had lost her skin, her soul. Selkies weren’t supposed to be inland. Even here, where the whispers of the sea filled the air and the salt was an ever-present perfume, Nessa was too far from the ocean. Charley could see it in the set of her shoulders and the gleam of fear in her eyes.
What would they do if they didn’t find the boy? Charley couldn’t bear the thought. Pain welled in her chest and she walked faster, heading into the heart of the village where they were more likely to run into people.
Ailbhe Cove was built in a spiral, streets fanning out from a cobble-stone square where a daily market sold fresh fish, home-baked bread, and vegetables pulled from the fields surround the village. Nessa perked up visibly as they reached the market.
“What are those smells?”
Charley smiled sadly. There it was again, that flash of excitement, that pang of longing for this. Showing her girlfriend round her home. Introducing her to new sights and experiences. It wasn’t right that it was happening this way.
“This is the market. Remember that ginger and lemon cake I brought you last time I was home? That was from here.” Keeping a tight hold on Murdock’s makeshift lead, she guided Nessa into the rows of stalls. People thronged about them like a school of fish, gliding up and down the aisles with no real purpose. The crowd didn’t seem to bother Nessa as much as Charley had feared – she was clearly entranced by the tables full of warm bread, fat cheeses, and spiced cakes.
And she wasn’t the only one. Murdock whined, tugging at his lead as they passed a table loaded with potatoes and leeks. Charley almost lost her grip on him as he hauled her over, yipping frantically.
“Murdock!” Charley cried, forced to let go of Nessa to keep hold of him. He ignored her, placing his front paws on the table and picking up a potato with surprising gentleness. “Drop it! Down! I’m sorry…” She started to apologize to the stall holder, then realized the grizzled old man was laughing.
“Murdock, where’d you find these pretty lasses?” He reached across the table and eased the stolen potato from the dog’s jaws. “Where’s young Adrian today?”
“You know Murdock?” Charley asked. Nessa clutched her shoulder, almost too hard, nails sinking into Charley’s skin.
“Sure, he’s my niece’s dog.” The old man tapped the dog playfully on the nose, earning himself a slobbery licking. He wiped his hand on his mud-stained apron and grinned ruefully at Charley. “She usually has Adrian walk him – is he ill today or something?”
Hope soared in Charley. “He must—”
“Where is he? Where does he live?” Nessa jumped in, panic and eagerness warring on her face. “We have to find him!”
The old man flinched. “Well, now…” Uncertainty colored his tone.
Charley wrapped her arm round Nessa’s waist, pulling her back a little. “We found Murdock loose on the beach. Maybe you could tell us where to find Adrian and we can check he’s okay?” It sounded feeble, but it was close enough to the truth that she knew she’d say it without blushing. She was a terrible liar.
The old man rubbed his chin, frowning. “Not like Adrian to be careless with the old boy.” He nodded at Murdock. “I don’t know his address, but he’s on the same street as my Marie and that’s Kilduff Lane, near the church.”
“I know it,” Charley said, gratitude swelling in her. Kilduff Lane was a tiny street. Even if they had to go door-to-door, it wouldn’t take long to find this Adrian, surely. Impulsively, she grabbed a handful of leeks and carrots. “I’ll take these, too.”
Both Nessa and the old man shot her quizzical looks, but he took her money and bagged the vegetables, then wished them both a good day. Charley handed Nessa the bag and guided them through the marketplace, heading for Kilduff Lane.
“You must have heard the church bells ringing sometimes,” she said to Nessa as she explained where they were heading.
“Some mornings, when I’m in the caves. When I was a pup, my ma told me it was angels singing, but she didn’t really know what an angel was. She made them sound like some kind of big bird.” She shrugged and rubbed her arms. She’d kept the cardigan on over the maxi dress, wrapping it tightly around herself. Little gestures like that, and the arm-rubbing spoke volumes about how vulnerable she felt. She cast her gaze around as they walked, shying away from cars and bikes, eyeing people with suspicion.
“Why did you buy the vegetables?” she asked Charley.
“To say thank you, I suppose.” Charley felt stupid for it now. It wasn’t as if she had money to waste. But the old man had been kind, much kinder than he knew, and it was Charley’s policy to always be kind back. She gave a little tug on Murdock’s lead and the dog picked up his pace obligingly. “Come on. Let’s find this Adrian.”
Nessa’s face took on a steely cast. “Let’s find my skin,” she corrected.
Chapter Four
Kilduff Lane was a quiet row of crooked cottages and colorful gardens in the shadow of the village church. Here, the all-encompassing scent and sound of the ocean was muted, giving way to birdsong and the perfume of huge cabbage roses and beds of lavender. It was the kind of street you saw in TV murder mysteries, Charley thought. Neat little houses like these, all pretty and quaint, they had to be hiding something sinister. Murder, conspiracy, blackmail… It was something about the roses, she decided. They just looked too perfect for real life.
Murdock tugged on his lead, hauling Charley off the pavement and into the road. She tried to pull him back, but he was much stronger than she’d realized and he jerked hard on the twine, forcing her to keep up or risk dislocating her shoulder. She trotted after him, letting him have his head.
Nessa hurried alongside her, eyeing the dog with suspicion again. “What’s he doing?” she asked.
“He knows where he is,” Charley said. Murdock was making a beeline for a house tucked away behind a thick hedge, panting in excitement. Either this was his own home – and hopefully someone inside could tell them where Adrian lived – or it was Adrian’s home. Hopefully. For all Charley knew, he could smell chicken bones in the bin and be after a free meal.
Nessa ran ahead, keeping pace with Murdock. Her cry of triumph made Charley run too, and when she reached the end of the drive and saw past the shielding hedge, she understood. The moped lay in the sun, sand-caked and gleaming. She was sure it was the same one and she grabbed Nessa’s hand, relief and worry colliding inside her. Was it this easy?
Nessa ran to the door and hammered on the wood with both fists. “Open up! I know you’re in there!”
Alarmed, Charley caught up to her, letting Murdock go. The dog followed her, barking manically and leaping around Nessa. “Ness!” Charley cried. “We can’t—”
The door opened a crack, and a narrow-faced boy with enormous brown eyes peered out. “What’s the fucking problem?”
Nessa shoved the door hard, forcing it open, and stormed past him. “Where is it? Where is it?”
Murdock followed her, almost knocking the boy flying in his excitement. He skidded down the hall and disappeared. That left Charley facing the boy – man, almost, she realized. He had to be in his late teens. Broad-shouldered and red-faced, he wa
s several inches taller than Charley and she found herself uneasy in the face of his obvious anger.
“What the fuck?” he asked again.
“We saw you on the beach!” Charley decided an attack was the best defense. “We know you’ve got it – where is it?”
He turned scarlet and whipped round to yell at Nessa. “Out! Get out! You’ve got no right to be in here!”
It was as good as a confession. Nessa stood in the hallway, arms folded defiantly. “Where’s my skin?”
Charley quietly shut the front door, trapping the boy – Adrian – between herself and Nessa. The hallway was low and narrow, the floors polished wood. She had a feeling he’d soon be on his arse if either of them gave him a good shove. That would take away the height advantage if nothing else.
Adrian ran his hands through his sun-kissed brown hair, frustration burning in his eyes. “You can’t have it.”
“It’s mine!” Nessa balled her hands into fists, the same frustration echoed on her face. “You can’t use it. You probably don’t even know what it is.”
“I know exactly what it is and what you are,” Adrian fired back. “Why d’you think I took the damn skin?”
“Then you know it’s useless to you,” Charley said, making them both jump. They’d forgotten her in their anger. “You stole it, Adrian. You’ve got no moral high ground here, so just give it back.”
Desperation filled his voice. “I need it. It’s not for me.”
Some of the fire went out of Nessa and she gave him a more calculating look. “Who then?”
For a second, Adrian’s eyes gleamed and Charley thought he was going to cry. Then he struck an aggressive pose, shedding the boyish agony. Shoulders squared, feet planted firm, ready to fight. “I won’t give it back. I can’t.”
Nessa shoved him with a furious cry. “You bastard!”
Adrian caught her fists and pushed her back. She slipped on the floorboards, losing her balance and crashing to the floor. Charley rushed to her side, putting herself between the two of them. She held one hand up, warding off Adrian, and pulled Nessa to her side with her free hand. “Don’t,” she said to Adrian, not really sure what she was asking for. He looked like he might strike, that was all, and Nessa was biting her lip in pain. Charley couldn’t stand the thought of Nessa hurting.