Shifting (Swans Landing) by Shana Norris Page B

will be the center of my display. You know how tourists love things like this.”
    “Yes, cheap and tacky, they’ll love them,” Mara said.
    Lake shot her an annoyed glare. “You want food this summer, you better hope my cheap and tacky angels sell.”
    “Like you even know how to cook food in the first place,” Mara shot back with a mischievous smile.
    Any other time, I would have laughed and enjoyed seeing the two of them teasing each other. Mara and Lake’s relationship had been so strained since she arrived in Swans Landing, so it was nice that they were bonding. But I couldn’t get into the same light-hearted mood they had.
    “Did you hear the ferry didn’t come yesterday?” I asked, my gaze focused on one of the angels.
    Lake and Mara paused, looking at me.
    “What?” Lake asked.
    “Mr. Richter told me the ferry didn’t come to the island yesterday morning,” I said. “And when the guy at the dock called to find out why, the person there acted as though they’d never heard of Swans Landing before.”
    I looked up to see how they’d take this news. Mara looked confused, tilting her head to the side as she absorbed my words. Lake pressed his lips together.
    “What does that mean?” Mara asked.
    I shrugged. “I don’t know. That’s what Mr. Richter told me.”
    We looked at Lake, but he only shook his head. “Maybe it was someone new,” he said. “Maybe he was confused.”
    “Has the ferry ever not come?” Mara asked.
    A few seconds of silence ticked by before Lake answered, “No, except during hurricanes.”
    The day outside the window was dark and cloudy, but it didn’t feel like a hurricane. It didn’t feel like anything I’d ever experienced before.
    Mara shook her head. “I’m sure it was all a mistake. Mr. Richter must have heard wrong.” She walked across the room and picked up her camera. “I’m going over to see Miss Gale. Dylan, you want to come?”
    I followed Mara down the steps and then we walked side by side toward Miss Gale’s house only a couple streets over. I hoped Mara couldn’t smell the scent of Elizabeth’s perfume that still lingered on my clothes.
    In the distance, beyond the homes of our neighborhood, I could hear the ever present swish of the ocean as it lapped at the shore. Sometimes I could tune it out, but I always felt its presence deep inside me. Mr. Richter and the other humans on the island had no idea what it was like to be finfolk and to be connected to the island in the way we were. Leaving would be easy for them.
    “So what do you think?” I asked, breaking the silence between us.
    “About what?” Mara pulled her hair back from her face and tied it up in a messy bun.
    “About the ferry not coming.”
    “It’s probably like Lake said. Just a misunderstanding.”
    I kicked at a rock. “Mr. Richter said we’re being forgotten.”
    “What does he mean by that?”
    “The tourists haven’t come. Now the ferry didn’t come.” I kicked at a flattened soda can in the road. “What if Mr. Richter is right?”
    Mara gave me a look like I was being stupid. “Like what, the whole island is disappearing off the earth? Don’t be ridiculous, Dylan.”
    Ridiculous. A lot of things on this island are ridiculous, Mr. Richter had said. I grew scales and a fin whenever I was in salt water. Why couldn’t an entire island disappear if it wanted to?
    We knocked on Miss Gale’s door, but we didn’t expect an answer. I unlocked it and we stepped inside the cool house. The only light came from the skylights overhead, but it was so muted and gray that the crystal prisms didn’t cast any rainbows that day.
    “Miss Gale?” Mara called as I followed her down the hall to Miss Gale’s room.
    Miss Gale was sitting up in bed, the blanket pushed back off her legs. Her shoulders were stooped and her chest heaved as she panted, as if she had run a marathon.
    “Oh,” she said, seeing us in the doorway. “I was going to get something to drink.”
    “Lay