Fortune's Magic Farm (9 page)

Sage drank the last of his tea. “I can’t explain everything because there isn’t much time. Dawn will be here soon and we need to leave on the morning tide. But I’ll tell you what I can.”

As the fire flickered and the rain fell on the cabin’s roof, Sage spoke quickly. “As I told you, my name is Sage. I traveled down the mountains and across the ocean to find you. All I knew was that ten years ago a baby was left in this awful place but I didn’t know if the baby was a boy or a girl. So I sent Rolo to scout around. He learned that there were only three kids in Runny Cove who were ten years old. So I brought the three apples and Rolo, Eve, and Neptune helped me deliver them to the three kids. Then I waited to see which one of you was the tender.” He stopped, as if he had explained everything.

Isabelle wiped her mouth, more confused than ever. “Was the what?”

“The tender. Turned out to be you. You’re a tender.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. One day, you might be the last tender in the whole world.”

Nothing he had said made any sense. Maybe he was crazy like Mr. Morris, the man who sometimes danced naked in the rain.

“I’m sorry but you’ve gotten me mixed up with someone else. I’m just Isabelle. I’m a box labeler. I work at the umbrella factory.”

Sage shook his head, his expression somber. “There’s no mistake. The apple seed is living proof. Only a tender can make the apple seed grow. It’s an odd sort of apple.”

Isabelle leaned forward. “What do you mean?”

“It’s a Love Apple,” he said, stroking the cat’s back. “Only
someone with a pure heart can eat a Love Apple. That’s why it turned black when Mama Lu and Gertrude tried to eat one and when Mr. Hench tried to eat one. Love Apples know the difference.”

“They do?” Isabelle leaned farther.

“Sure. That’s their purpose. But the seed, well, that’s another story entirely. Only a tender can germinate a Love Apple’s seed. It has something to do with the fact that a tender’s hands are extra warm.”

Isabelle held out her hands and looked at them as if she had never seen them before.

Sage tucked the mug into his satchel. Then he stood and brushed sand off his cape. “Tenders grow things.”

Isabelle frowned, lowering her hands. How disappointing. He had the wrong person after all. “Well, that proves that I’m not a tender because I don’t grow things.”

He frowned. “Of course you grow things. Look at your room and your locker at work. And your body. You’ve got lichen growing in your hair and I bet you can grow mushrooms between your toes. Only a tender can do that.”

“But those things grow by themselves,” Isabelle explained, scratching a patch of mold at the back of her neck.

“Stop being so dense,” he said irritably. “You’re a tender.” And then he said the magic word. “Tenders are
special.
”

Isabelle had never known the sensation of standing beneath clouds at the very moment when they part and the sun breaks through—but that is how she felt. Her entire body tingled. “I’m
special
?” she whispered.

“Tenders are incredibly special. Only a few people get to be tenders. I wish I could be one.” He sighed. “But those are enough questions for now. Dawn’s almost here. We need to go.”

“Go?” Isabelle wanted to talk more about being special. “Are you going to Nowhere, too?”

“Nowhere?”

“That’s where I’m from. But I don’t think I should go with you. I don’t even know you.”

He folded his arms. “Actually, it’s not called Nowhere. And if you don’t know the correct name then how will you get there? You don’t have any supplies or anything. And which way will you go? The mountains that lie to the north will freeze you to death and the desert that lies to the south will cook you to death.” He smirked. “So? Which way will you go?”

Isabelle wrung her hands. Which way was north? Which way south? Dreaming about a journey was entirely different from actually taking that journey. Maybe she was the crazy one. No one but Mr. Supreme’s delivery truck drivers had ever left Runny Cove. What had she done? Going back meant work, work, work. No way did she want to spend another day standing beside that clunking conveyor belt. No way did she want to set foot in Mama Lu’s Boardinghouse again. Going back meant possible imprisonment for taking Mama Lu’s pickle jar. Going forward could mean freezing like an ice cube or sizzling like a piece of peat. Not much of a choice. She felt as stuck as a barnacle on a rock.

As if reading her mind, Sage’s voice softened. “Look, Isabelle. Your only chance out of this town is to come with me.” The cat stretched and rubbed against Sage’s leg. “I’m here to take you to your real home, to the place you came from. You have family there, waiting to meet you. But I can’t force you to go. You have to decide on your own.”

“Family?” Isabelle swallowed hard. Could it be true? “Waiting for me?”

Someone yelled in the distance.

Sage ran to the doorway. “Lanterns,” he said. Isabelle followed and peered around his arm. Two yellow lights bobbed near the factory. “They’re looking for you along the road. They probably won’t check the beach right away. That will give us enough time.” He turned to her. “So? What’s your decision?”

Now was the time to find out if what she had always believed was true—that she had not been left on that doorstep because she was an unwanted piece of garbage. Finding Nowhere was what she craved with all her heart. Her grandmother’s spirit had left for a better place and Isabelle was ready to leave too.

“I’ll go with you.”

“Then we’d better hurry.” He slung his satchel over his back and headed outside. The cat and raven followed.

“How will we get there?” Isabelle called after him. “Which way will we go?”

“We’ll go by sea.”

The first rays of morning filtered through the clouds,
casting the beach in pale light. The rain had turned to mist, gently coating Isabelle’s face as she watched Sage disappear around the rocky bluff. She clutched the pickle jar and ran after him.

“By sea? But where’s your boat?” she asked.

Sage pointed to an enormous lump in the sand. “We travel by elephant seal.”

T
he elephant seal lay in the sand,
snoring—by far the loudest snoring Isabelle had ever heard, even louder than Mama Lu when she’d chugged too much cheese sauce.

“NEPTUNE! THE TIDE IS READY!” Sage shouted. The seal snorted but did not open his eyes. Sage reached into his satchel and pulled out a bright green shirt and matching pants. “Put these on,” he told Isabelle.

Isabelle leaned the aquarium against a log. The clothing felt oddly slick and almost slipped from her grasp. “What are these made of?”

“Kelp. They’re waterproof. Wear nothing underneath.”

“Nothing? Not even… ?” She stopped, hoping to avoid the word “underpants.”

“Nothing. The wetsuit must form a protective barrier against your skin.” He removed his robe. “See, I’m wearing the same thing.” He didn’t look so mysterious without the robe. The green pants gripped his long skinny legs. They looked like frog legs. “Go on. Hurry up,” he said, stuffing his robe into the satchel.

Isabelle wasn’t about to change in front of a stranger—especially not one who happened to be a
boy.
With no sign of any lanterns approaching, she ran back to the cabin, where she stripped off her rain slicker and flannel shirt. The fire had burned down to embers, its warmth escaping on the morning breeze. Shivering, Isabelle held up the kelp shirt. It
seemed way too small and she couldn’t find any buttons or zippers. The hood also looked small, as did the glove on the end of each sleeve. But as she pulled it over her head the weird rubbery fabric stretched to fit perfectly, as if the shirt had been made just for her.

She slid off her boots, socks, canvas pants, and underpants and stepped into the frog pants. They stretched easily. Each leg ended in a bootie that perfectly conformed to her bare feet. She took a few strides around the cabin. The suit was so comfortable that she felt naked. She collected her clothing and ran back to Sage.

“Put your clothes in my satchel. We might need them later.” The satchel didn’t seem large enough for all her stuff but it must have been made from kelp too, because it stretched to hold everything.

“I’ll get the saddle,” Sage announced. Then he dragged a contraption from a hiding place behind a log. A tall seat curved gracefully at the back of the saddle and two stirrups hung from the sides. “Now for the tricky part. NEPTUNE!” Sage shoved the seal with both hands but the seal didn’t move an inch. “COME ON, YOU FAT THING! I’VE GOT TO PUT THIS ON!” Sage pushed again but the seal only snorted.

Isabelle felt sorry for the seal. It was very rude to yell at someone, even if that someone was an animal. It was especially rude to call someone fat. Isabelle knew this because when Mama Lu and Gertrude got into a fight, they often called each other things like fat, and Mama Lu and Gertrude
were the Queens of Rude. But no one else in the boardinghouse dared do such a thing. When Mama Lu’s old bathrobe no longer fit, Mrs. Limewig had cleverly said, “It must have shrunk.” No one would have dared to say, “It’s because you eat too much cheese.”

“Is that the same sea monster who sneezed the apple onto my lap?” Isabelle asked.

“Yes, but he’s not a sea monster. He’s an elephant seal. You need to get that straight. And he’s a total pain because he’s hard of hearing.” Sage leaned close to the seal’s face and yelled, “ROLL OVER, WILL YOU? WE CAN’T GO ANYWHERE UNTIL YOU PUT THIS ON!”

The seal blinked a few times, then opened his mouth in a gaping drawn-out yawn. When he exhaled, fishy breath blew through Isabelle’s hair.

“Watch out,” Sage warned as Neptune shifted his weight. “Get out of the way or he’ll squish you.” Isabelle jumped aside as the seal rolled upright. Sage heaved the saddle onto Neptune’s back and fiddled, twisted, cursed, and pulled until he seemed satisfied. He tugged a strap. “Nice and tight, this time. I don’t want to fall off again.”

“Fall off?” Isabelle shifted nervously. “You mean, into the water?”

“Yep. Neptune didn’t hear me calling for help. I had to tread water until Rolo got his attention by pecking him on the head.”

“Tread water?”

Sage furrowed his brow. “Why are you looking at me like
that? You mean you don’t know how to tread water? Don’t tell me you don’t know how to swim either.”

“No, I don’t know how to swim. Why would I know how to swim?” No one in Runny Cove swam. They were wet enough without participating in water sports.

“Oh, that’s just great.” He folded his arms and frowned. “Did you hear that, Rolo? Not only have I been stuck in this depressing stinkhole of a town for an entire week, but now I’ve got a passenger who can’t swim.”

Isabelle didn’t like the way he was talking about her, as if she wasn’t standing right there. In fact, she was beginning not to like
him.
He was bossy and grumpy, just like Mama Lu and Mr. Supreme—the kind of people she wanted to get away from. “This wasn’t my idea,” she said curtly. “I didn’t ask you to come here and you’re being really mean. So what if I don’t know how to swim? I bet you don’t know how to make an umbrella.” Her voice grew shaky. “I bet you don’t know how to take care of potato bugs. I bet you don’t know…”

… what it feels like to have your grandmother die.
She pressed her trembling lips together.

Sage pushed his knotted hair from his face. “Calm down,” he said. “It’s just that there’s a lot at stake. You have no idea.”

“I know there’s a lot at stake,” Isabelle snapped. “I’m in big trouble. I told Mr. Supreme I couldn’t work extra hours, and I took Mama Lu’s stupid pickle jar. And I don’t have a place to live. So don’t act like I don’t know there’s a lot at
stake.” She turned away and stared across the gray water. Outside the shallows, the waves formed white peaks. “I don’t know why you’re so grumpy with me, anyway. I didn’t make you come here.”

“I’m grumpy. It’s just the way I am.”

Was that supposed to be an apology?

Sage brushed sand off his hands. “Let’s just get out of here. NEPTUNE!” The seal had begun to snore again. “NEPTUNE, WAKE UP!”

Isabelle thought that being yelled at was the worst way to be woken up. So she reached out, intending to pet the elephant seal’s head.

“STOP!” Sage yelled, pulling her hand away. “You must never touch an elephant seal’s nose. Ever. They are very proud of their noses. The bigger the nose, the more powerful the seal. He would be very angry if you touched it.”

“I’m… I’m sorry,” Isabelle said, shaken by the serious look on Sage’s face.

“And never insult the nose or make fun of it, either. I made that mistake once. Made a joke about it looking like a dolphin’s and Neptune sat on me. I couldn’t walk for a week. So no insults. Got it?”

Isabelle nodded. “Be nice to the nose.”

Sage moved closer to her. Gold flecks sparkled in his brown eyes. “Before you ride on an elephant seal, you must first pay the seal a compliment. So, instead of saying
Good morning,
or
Hello,
say something like,
That’s the biggest nose I’ve ever seen.
Or,
Thank you for allowing me to be in the presence of such a
massive nose.
Go on. Give it a try. Remember to yell or Neptune won’t hear you.”