Secrets of Selkie Bay (17 page)

Da placed Neevy in Mum's arms and then she truly cried, the large kind of tears a person cries when they've been holding on to them forever.

“I missed you girls so much.” She sobbed for a long time, then she pulled out of the hug and looked at us queerly. “But I would see you sometimes, in my dreams at night. I saw you out on the
Dreaming Lass
, just the three of you, and I knew it was a dream, for my girls would never do anything so foolish. And I saw you, surrounded by seals, small gray ones. And I saw you in a storm, a terrible storm, and I was worried.” She reached up and rubbed her shoulder, her left one, then went back to rocking Neevy in her arms. “I can't explain it because it sounds so strange, but I felt close to you … somehow…”

Her voice trailed off.

I could feel Da's gaze upon me and so I turned to face him. He was shaking his head. “I didn't tell her a thing,” he whispered to me. “Not a thing.”

And my tears came then, and the words too—finally, the words came.

“I love you, Mum.”

 

Things You Can Explain

M
UM CAME HOME A FEW WEEKS LATER,
just as Da was starting his new job as a scientist again, studying the return of the pixie seals to Selkie Bay. He was awarded something called a “nice fat grant” to continue the research he started thirteen years ago, but supposedly now it is even more remarkable. A species that somehow escaped from extinction can teach us all, Da said.

School would be starting soon, right after tourist season, and though Mum was far too weak to return to Maura's salon, Ione and I swept the hair from the floor to make a little extra spending money. Most was spent at Seal Biscuits, but I also went to Whale of a Tale and placed an order for a used copy of
A Child's Book of Selkies.
The bookseller told me it would be hard to find and that I might have to wait, but I didn't care. I thought it would be nice to have around.

Ione asked almost every day to go on the boat with Da so she could have a chance at spotting Henry or Betty, or the rest of them. And if Da said no, then she'd hit up Mr. Doyle. Da had given him the use of the
Dreaming Lass
for a while, as repayment for watching over us on the island. Of course, Mr. Doyle hadn't wanted to accept the help, coming from the Sullivans and all, and made lots of grumbling grunts about it. He was still prickly around Mum. But since Mum didn't want to owe Archibald Doyle anything, Da eventually convinced him of the fairness of it. Da liked paying his debts. And it turned out better than Mr. Doyle could have imagined. Lots of folks wanted to see the return of the pixie seals from a cute little boat with an environmentally friendly tiny outboard motor rather than from the bow of a big, nasty, old polluter.

The day my book came in, I raced to Whale of a Tale and back, resisting the lure of the familiar bench. When I got home, out of breath from the run, I sat on the floor next to Mum as she rocked Neevy, trying to get her to nap, although I think Mum was losing that battle. Neevy was no longer the napper she'd been before Mum left. Ione was lying on her stomach, building a book castle for the chess pieces again. Quietly, I thumbed through the old pages.

Somewhere between Fantasy and Reality,

between Myth and Legend

lies the Kingdom of the Selkies.

And I thought about how some things can be explained, like how an almost-extinct species of seals can find a way, on a secret island, to save themselves and come back stronger. And about how some things can't be explained, like how a mum battling a deadly illness can be in a hospital bed, miles away, but also on a mist-covered island, watching over her daughters through the eyes of a seal, at the exact same time.

“What are you reading, Cordie?” Mum asked. When I held up the book, a tear spilled out from Mum's eye, trailing perfect and silver down her cheek.

“So what do you think? Do you believe in creatures that can shed their sealskins and shift into people?” I asked her softly as she wiped her eyes.

“I believe in many things, Cordie. But most of all, I believe in you.”

 

Author's Note

The pixie seals of Selkie Bay are fictional—like Selkie Bay itself. I based them on a recent incident involving the discovery of a hidden monk seal habitat in the Mediterranean Sea, which allows monk seals to reproduce and repopulate unhindered by humankind. Currently, monk seals are the most endangered seal species in the world. A similar situation befell a population of gray seals of the British Isles, wherein secret breeding locations helped to sustain, and even increase, their dwindling numbers. Although rare in some places, the gray seal is now not officially on the endangered list. However, seals, like all marine animals, are at risk due to the mistreatment of the ocean and the disappearance of appropriate habitats in which seal mothers can give birth to their pups.

The comeback of the gray seal is not the only example of a species finding a way to save itself. In another instance, the Guadalupe seal was thought to have been hunted into extinction in 1892, only to be rediscovered in the 1950s, hiding out on a secret island.

Seals and humans share a troubled past. I wish I could report that the brutality of seal clubbing is ancient history, but there are still countries in the world that condone this outdated and cruel practice. Culling refers to the act of decreasing one population in order to increase another. Some governments allow the seal population to be culled in order to increase fish populations. More fish equals more profit. And in some places seals, like the lovely baby harp seals called “white coats,” are still hunted for their pelts.

As for the legend of the selkie, the mythology surrounding creatures that can change shape from seal to human has been around for many centuries. I am only adding one more humble tale to a larger collection of things you can explain, and things you can't.

 

A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to Jo Volpe and Wesley Adams for nurturing this tiny seed of an idea into a full-grown book. For that's all it was at first—just Cordie and her missing mum and the legends of the selkies, and not much else. Jo always believed the story would eventually bloom and Wes gave it the space to grow. For that I will always be grateful.

And big shout-outs to everyone who kept my ship from sinking as I sailed my boat into that mist between legend and truth. My greatest thanks to you all:

Nancy Villalobos and Chris Kopp

The students and staff of Jefferson Elementary School

Holly Pence and Kathy Duddy

Danielle Barthel and Jaida Temperly

The whole FSG TEAM (you rock!)

Gilbert Ford (for the lovely cover!)

John III, Tammi, John IV, Hope, and Jacob Moore

Susan, Jim, Elora, and Mia Daniels

My parents, John and Nancy Moore

And my amazing husband, Sean

Of course, there would be no book without my daughters, whose lives I raided. I have always wanted to write about sisters. My girls, you are the reason there are words on the page. You are the reason there are stories to write.

 

About the Author

Shelley Moore Thomas
is the author of the Good Knight series of picture books and easy readers, including
Good Night, Good Knight.
In addition to writing books, she works as an elementary teacher and as a professional storyteller.
The Seven Tales of Trinket
is her first middle-grade novel. Ms. Thomas lives in Oceanside, California. You can sign up for email updates
here
.

 

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Contents

Title Page

Copyright Notice

Dedication

Numb

Letter in a Book

Da

Isle of Dreams

The Mermaid's Tresses

The Streets of Selkie Bay

The Scientist

Nightmare

How Mum Met Da

Seven Tears to the Sea

Fever

Daughter of the Selkie

Alone

The Empty Hanger

Mr. Doyle's Tale

The Seal

Coincidence

The Buried Treasure of the Pirate Queen

Into the Sea

Follow the Leader

Ione's Tale

The Fog

Castle on the Sea

Reunion

Cousins of the Sea

Wounded

A Daughter's Tale

The End of the Camp

The Puffer Fish Arrives

Better Than Treasure

Porridge Is Boring

A Tale Not About Selkies

In the Wee Hours

The
Pinniped

The Tale I Wanted to Tell Da

Over the Edge

Words

Things You Can Explain

Author's Note

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Copyright

 

Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers

175 Fifth Avenue, New York 10010

Copyright © 2015 by Shelley Moore Thomas

All rights reserved

First hardcover edition, 2015

eBook edition, July 2015

mackids.com

eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Thomas, Shelley Moore, author.

    Secrets of Selkie Bay / Shelley Moore Thomas. — First edition.

       pages cm

    Summary: Selkie Bay is a place where the old legends seem very near, and eleven-year-old Cordelia believes that her secretive mother is a selkie who has returned to the sea—a belief that offers some hope as she struggles to care for her two younger sisters and help her scientist father make ends meet in their home by the sea.

    ISBN 978-0-374-36749-7 (hardcover)

    ISBN 978-0-374-36750-3 (e-book)

    1.  Selkies—Juvenile fiction.   2.  Families—Ireland—Juvenile fiction.   3.  Missing persons—Juvenile fiction.   4.  Mothers and daughters—Juvenile fiction.   5.  Fathers and daughters—Juvenile fiction.   6.  Seals (Animals)—Juvenile fiction. [1. Selkies—Fiction.   2.  Family life—Ireland—Fiction.   3.  Missing persons—Fiction.   4.  Mothers and daughters—Fiction.   5.  Fathers and daughters—Fiction.   6.  Seals (Animals)—Fiction.   7.  Ireland—Fiction.]   I.  Title.

PZ7.T369453Sd 2015

813.54—dc23

[Fic]

2014040357

eISBN 9780374367503