A Stranger Came Ashore (6 page)

“Easy, now, easy!”

The arm holding him kept his head clear of the water. Robbie drew a great breath of blessed air, and realised that Finn Learson was swimming strongly with him to the boat still drifting a few yards away.

A hand came out over his head, reaching to grasp the boat’s gunwale, and Finn Learson prepared to swing him inboard. The arm holding him shifted position, and he realised something else. There was warmth like a furnace heat in the body pressed against his own, and the hand gripping him had fingertips that probed like steel into his flesh.

A quick heave sent him tumbling over the gunwale, and he landed in the bottom of the boat with a clear, sharp memory of the only other time he had ever been held in such a grip, or felt a body so warm. It was that same afternoon, when he had picked up the young selkie – yet how could that be? How could there be selkie warmth in a man’s body, and selkie strength in a man’s hands?

Robbie’s mind began to race, suddenly remembering his Old Da’s tales about selkies that took human shape and the Great Selkie that tempted golden-haired girls into his kingdom under the sea. In a flash then, he had the answer to both his questions, and the reason for everything that had ever puzzled him about
Finn Learson.

The “dream” of selkie music that had proved to be something he really
had
heard; the stare that had held Tam captive, the gold, the dancing, the magic escape from the Press Gang, the vision of Elspeth dead in bridal white – and above all, the smile, the secret little smile – he understood now the meaning of all these things. He knew now why Old Da had warned it was Elspeth who was in danger!

Finn Learson’s hand appeared over the gunwale of the boat. The fingers that looked human and felt as hard as a selkie’s nails, tightened their grip; and a terror as sharp as the terror of drowning shot through Robbie; for there was one thing more he could guess at, now that the meaning of all these other things had become clear.

Finn Learson had not rescued him out of kindness, any more than the saving of the sixareen’s crew had sprung from that reason. It was only a cunning desire to stand well with his parents that had prompted both actions – which meant he had only to give the slightest hint of his own thoughts now to find that his life would be worth less than an instant’s purchase!

Finn Learson heaved himself inboard. Then, with all the friendliness of recent weeks gone from his voice, he asked, “And what were you doi ng in this geo, anyway?”

“Counting selkie pups,” Robbie answered shakily. “The same as I used to do every year with Old Da.”

Finn Learson gave him a long, suspicious look. “You’re sure that was
all
you were doing?” he demanded; and for a moment, Robbie found himself feeling more puzzled than afraid.

“Of course I’m sure,” said he. “What other reason could I have for being here?”

Finn Learson did not answer this. He took up the single oar left in the boat, and began paddling with it to reach the other oar adrift in the geo; and as he reached out for it, Robbie decided on the sort
of remark he knew would be expected from him at that moment.

“I would have drowned if you had not been here,” he said awkwardly, “and I owe you thanks for that.”

“You were lucky,” Finn Learson told him. “I just happened to notice you heading for this geo and kept you in sight from the clifftop. I had the feeling you might get into trouble here, and that was why I was ready for it when you did.”

The drifting oar came within his grasp, and drawing it inboard, he added harshly, “And so keep out of this geo in future, do you hear? It’s high time you learned to leave deep waters to those who can swim in them.”

That could have been meant as advice, thought Robbie; but said in that harsh voice, it sounded more like a warning – or even a threat! Moreover, why had Finn Learson sounded so suspicious of his presence in the geo in the first place?

Crouched in the bottom of the boat, Robbie watched Finn Learson beginning to row, and the nearer the boat drew towards home, the more clearly he saw that he would have to tell
someone
the truth about him. Yet who was there to tell? Certainly not his own Mam and Da, for they would never believe it was the truth – not now that Finn Learson had put them even deeper in his debt with this latest rescue.

Which meant it would have to be Nicol Anderson, Robbie decided eventually. Nicol had everything to gain by believing the truth, after all, and nothing whatever to lose. It would be worthwhile at least trying to make Nicol believe him!

For two days after the rescue in the geo, Robbie waited for his chance to speak alone with Nicol Anderson.

“I need a word with you, Nicol,” said he, the moment he found this chance. “A private word about Finn Learson and Elspeth.”

“That’s none of your business,” Nicol told him sharply. “But if you must talk about it, talk to your Mam and Da. I don’t want to hear what you have to say.”

“But you’ve got to,” Robbie insisted. “My Mam and Da thought the world of him even before he saved me from drowning, and now that’s happened, they’ll not hear a word against him. I’m sure of that, and so what use is it to try talking to them?”

“Then try holding your tongue for a change,” Nicol retorted. “You should think shame, anyway, for even wanting to speak against a man who has just saved your life.”

“If he had guessed what I was thinking about him,” said Robbie miserably, “he would have tipped me back into the water and left me to drown in good earnest. That’s something else I know for sure.”

“Robbie Henderson!” Nicol exclaimed. “That’s a terrible thing to say about anybody!”

“I know it is,” Robbie admitted, “but I’ve got a good reason for saying it about Finn Learson. It came to me suddenly when he was shoving me back into the boat, and I’m certain I know the truth now.”

“The truth about what?” Nicol demanded. “You’re talking in riddles, boy.”

“Then I’ll begin at the beginning,” Robbie told him. “Do you remember the night he came ashore, Nicol – the night of the storm that wrecked the
Bergen
?”

“Of course,” Nicol nodded. “But what’s that got to do with it?”

“Just this,” Robbie answered. “He came ashore looking like a survivor of that wreck, and so everybody took it for granted that he was. But
he
never claimed to be a survivor. He never spoke about the
Bergen
as
my
ship. Whenever he mentioned it, he called it ‘the’ ship.”

“And what’s that but a slip of the tongue?” Nicol asked. “He’s a Norwegian, isn’t he? At least, the ship was Norwegian, and you can tell from the way he speaks that he’s some sort of foreigner. And anyway, if he didn’t come from the ship, where could he have come from?”

“I’ll get to that in a minute,” said Robbie. “But have you noticed, Nicol, that little smile he sometimes gives – as if he was enjoying some secret sort of joke?”

“Well – now you mention it, I suppose I have,” Nicol admitted. “But, Robbie –”

“Wait!” Robbie interrupted. “Let me tell you about his first night in our house, Nicol. We had trouble with Tam barking and growling then; but late that night he stared into Tam’s eyes, and the creature was frightened of him. It was after we were all in bed that this happened, but
I
saw it because I was awakened by Finn Learson playing on my Da’s fiddle.”

“Playing what?” Nicol asked curiously. “And why would he do that?’

“I can’t tell you why,” Robbie admitted, “but I do know
what
he played. It was selkie music – the kind of singing sound that selkies make in the geos at this time of the year – and it was all so strange that I thought afterwards it must have been a dream. Then, just before I fell overboard a couple of days ago, I heard the selkies making the same music and I knew that it hadn’t been a dream at
all.”

Nicol stared at this. Then he glanced around to make sure there was no one else within earshot, but it was down at the voe that this conversation took place and there was no one but himself and Robbie there.

“You’re talking very strangely now,” he remarked. “And I’m not sure I should let you say any more –”

“Yes you must,” Robbie interrupted again. “There’s the gold coin he gave us, Nicol. Old Da backed me up when I said it must have come from a sunken treasure ship, and Finn Learson never denied that was the case. He just said it was something he had picked up on his travels.”

“And so it would be,” Nicol argued. “That’s what your Da thought it was, anyway – he told me so himself.”

“Aye, but Finn Learson never said when or where he had picked it up,” Robbie pointed out, “and I think I know the answer to that now. A selkie could dive deep enough to reach a sunken treasure ship, and when Finn Learson pulled me out of the geo, he
felt
like a selkie.”

Nicol stared again, then he smiled and said, “Oh aye, Robbie. And what other clues do you have to the ‘truth’ about Finn Learson?”

“Things my Old Da told me, just before he died,” said Robbie, trying hard not to notice Nicol’s smile. “He didn’t trust Finn Learson, and he told
me
not to trust him. He said it had all happened before – that there was another man who had come ashore like Finn Learson. And he said that Elspeth was the one in danger.”

Nicol’s smile vanished at these words. “She’s in danger of marrying him, if that’s what you mean,” said he sourly. “I don’t need
you
to tell me that.”

“But that
is
the danger!” Robbie cried. “I know it is, from – well, from other things my Old Da told me.”

“What do you mean by ‘other things?’” Nicol demanded. “What sort of things?”

“Well,” said Robbie carefully, “it was when I was only a wee boy and he told me about the Great Selkie that rules in the deepest ocean. He has a palace of crystal there, Old Da said, and this palace is roofed with the hair of girls he has tempted into his kingdom and drowned there when they want to go back to their own kind – girls with golden hair, like Elspeth’s.”

Nicol heaved a great sigh of impatience at this point. “But that’s only a story,” he pointed out. “I heard it myself when I was a wee boy, but even then I didn’t believe it was true.”

“Neither did I at the time,” Robbie admitted. “At least, I wasn’t sure about it. But there was something else Old Da told me. He said that selkies love to dance – and you know how true that is of Finn Learson! Moreover, they come ashore to dance, Old Da said; and when that happens, they cast off their skins and take the shape of men. Then he sang to me about the Great Selkie – a bit of an old song that said, “
I am a man upon the land, a selkie in the sea
…” And that’s what Finn Learson is Nicol. That’s why Old Da warned me against him – because he had guessed that
Finn Learson is the Great Selkie
!”

“Oh, rubbish!” shouted Nicol, his patience breaking at last, and Robbie backed away in dismay at the anger in his voice.

“But I told you,” he protested. “Finn Learson
felt
like a selkie. I know, because I picked up a young selkie that same day, and held it close. And there’s another thing, Nicol. The omens on the day of Old Da’s funeral – the footprint and the raven.
They
said Elspeth would die, but Finn Learson told her, ‘
You will live to wed the man of your choice, and you will be rich when you wed
.’ That didn’t make sense at the time –”

“It still doesn’t,” Nicol interrupted, but Robbie cried, “It does, it does! Finn Learson is rich – he must be, if he is the Great Selkie, for he can get gold any time he wants. But if Elspeth agrees to wed him,
he will carry her off to his kingdom under the sea. And then, to us at least, she
will
be dead!”

Nicol said nothing for a few moments. He just looked at Robbie as if he were really seeing him for the first time and didn’t quite know what to make of him. Robbie took his silence for an encouraging sign however, and so he added, “There’s just one last thing, Nicol. Selkies are the sea wanderers of the world – you know that! And just think of all the travelling Finn Learson has done. Think of the way he took the chance of going to the
haaf
, so that he could be out there in the deep water again. Doesn’t that help to prove I’m right?”

Nicol shook his head, “I could point you a dozen men on this island as far travelled as Finn Learson,” he remarked; and in desperation then, Robbie cried, “But you’ve got to believe me, all the same, Nicol. You’ve got to see how everything fits – the way Finn Learson fooled us all into taking it for granted he had come from the wreck, the gold, the dancing, the selkie warmth I felt from him, the way he is courting Elspeth now – they all add up to the same thing. He’s not a man at all – that’s the trick he’s played on us, and that’s the secret behind his smile. He’s the Great Selkie come ashore in the shape of a man!”

“If you believe that,” Nicol declared, “you’ll believe
anything
! That’s my opinion, Robbie; my honest opinion. And it’s my opinion, too, that it’s high time you stopped making up such fanciful tales.”

“And what abut the selkie music I heard in the geo?” Robbie asked. “I didn’t make that up, and it
was
the music Finn Learson played on his first night here. Then there’s the dancing and the magical way he seemed to get Tam into his power. I didn’t make them up either.”

“Och, be reasonable,” Nicol protested. “You said yourself you had dreamed the bit about Finn Learson playing the selkie music and getting some sort of hold over Tam.”

“But I didn’t dream it after all!” Robbie exclaimed. “I said that too, Nicol, and that’s the whole point. Besides, the power he put out on Tam wasn’t his only piece of magic. It was magic he used too, to save everyone from the Press Gang. I know, because I saw it; and there was no ordinary man could have drawn them on the way he did.”

“Oh, wasn’t there?” Nicol snapped. “And how do you know what any of us could have done if we’d been given the chance?”

With great dismay then, Robbie saw how he had blundered, and quickly tried to get free of his own trap.

“I didn’t mean to insult
you
, Nicol,” he began, but Nicol was too annoyed now to let him continue.

“I told you at the beginning that this was none of your business,” he said curtly, “and I should have had the sense to stick to that, instead of standing here listening to all this nonsense about the Great Selkie. And now I’ll tell
you
one last thing, Robbie. It’s a case of ‘may the best man win’ between Finn Learson and myself, and I’ll have the whole island laughing at me if I let a boy of your age bring such nonsense into it. And so don’t you dare to say a word to Elspeth of all this, or I’ll give you a hiding that will make you wish you had never been born!”

He meant that too, thought Robbie, looking up at Nicol’s flushed and furious face; and was all the more impressed by it because Nicol was usually so easy-going, and so friendly with him.

“All right, I won’t tell her,” he promised, but he looked so forlorn as he said this, that Nicol relented a bit.

“Och, come on,” said he. “I’ve been a bit rough with you, I know; but it’s for your own good, Robbie. And later on, maybe, you’ll thank me for not letting you make a fool of yourself, as well as of me!”

Robbie looked him straight in the eye. “I’m not the fool around here,” he retorted; and turned away, feeling miserable enough at the way things had turned out, but still determined not to let it be the end of the matter.