Blackfin Sky (34 page)

Sky shook her head. ‘Not me. Now that Gage is off searching for you, there’s really no reason for me to use the pathways any more.’
Except when I’m running late for school. Or want to sneak into Sean’s room.

Severin looked at her in disbelief.

‘What?’

‘Oh, nothing,
chère
. I mean, through some magnificent cosmic hiccup, we are able to navigate the pathways which are barred to every other human being – but I suppose you have chess club and hockey practice and such to be getting on with.’

Sky kicked the leg dangling next to hers. Not hard, but he still made a show of wincing.

‘I get your point, old man, but … but it’s weird. And scary.’

Severin laughed his musical laugh, the smoke of his cheroot billowing from him in little bursts. ‘
Life
is weird and scary,
chère
. And yes, so is pathfinding. But both are gifts to be explored, and we each have our safety net.’ He gestured to the gothic-looking walking cane leaning against the guardrail, on top of which gleamed the amber skull. Sky shuddered.

‘And what if we lose our anchors? Didn’t you say we’d be left drifting through the pathways, not able to find our way back to our real lives again?’

‘Ah, but there’s a way to make sure that never happens, little daughter.’

‘What’s that?’

Severin rose from the boardwalk, twirling the cane in his hand. ‘Why, you carry your anchor with you, of course. Took me a while to figure it out, but it’s possible,
chère
. Pretty much anything’s possible, if you want it enough.’

The challenge had been laid down, and Severin laughed at the determined look on his daughter’s face. Sky was already considering all the places she could go.

All the places
we
could go.

Because wherever Sky went, she would have Sean there to anchor her.

From his perch high up on the roof of the school, Silas watched the pair talking on the rickety pier. The two were so magnetic – doubly so when they were both in the same spot – that he had little choice
but
to watch them.

She almost unravelled the whole town,
Silas thought. He would have frowned down at her if he’d had the brows for it.
At least now things can get back to normal.

As normal as things could be in a town like Blackfin.

MY THANKS

Because they were the first
Blackfin Sky
readers, I thank them first: Jani Grey and Erin Fletcher, who ask all the right questions.

The writing friends who have made me a better writer (and my journey far more fun): Bridget Shepherd, Cait Greer, Misty Provencher, Summer Heacock, and Ian Hiatt.

Those who suffered through my early writing attempts, and urged me to keep going: my sister Alex, my mother Julie, my best sounding-board and aunt, Gabrielle. Also my dad and stepdad, who have encouraged and supported my every writerly adventure.

Molly Ker Hawn, my brilliant agent, who believes in my writing and makes others believe in it, and who helped me shape
Blackfin Sky
into something weird enough to be wonderful.

Penny Thomas and Janet Thomas at Firefly Press and Lisa Cheng at Running Press Teen, who held my words up to the light and polished each one to a gleam.

And thank you, always, to Ian. I wasn’t a writer when he married me, and he came along for the ride anyway.

First published in 2014

by Firefly Press

25 Gabalfa Road, Llandaff North, Cardiff, CF14 2JJ

www.fireflypress.co.uk

Text © Kat Ellis 2014

The author and illustrator assert their moral right to be identified

as author and illustrator in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act, 1988.

All rights reserved.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form, binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library.

Print ISBN 9781910080009

epub ISBN 9781910080016

This book has been published with the support of the
Welsh Books Council.

cover image: Shane Rebenschied, www.blot.com

cover design: www.theundercard.co.uk

Contents

1. About the author
   
2. Title Page
   
3. Dedication
   
4. 1
   
5. 2
   
6. 3
   
7. 4
   
8. 5
   
9. 6
   
10. 7
    
11. 8
    
12. 9
    
13. 10
    
14. 11
    
15. 12
    
16. 13
    
17. 14
    
18. 15
    
19. 16
    
20. 17
    
21. 18
    
22. 19
    
23. 20
    
24. 21
    
25. 22
    
26. 23
    
27. 24
    
28. 25
    
29. 26
    
30. 27
    
31. 28
    
32. 29
    
33. Epilogue
    
34. My Thanks
    
35. Copyright