Magnus Fin and the Moonlight Mission (4 page)

Still following the sometimes scuttling, sometimes paddling crab, Magnus Fin dived deeper. Now he found himself swimming through a long valley. Just like on the land, so under the sea there were rocks, mountains, forests and valleys. On the sandy floor of this valley a forest of kelp swayed to and fro with the tide. Fin swam above it, brushing the seaweed tips with his feet. He felt how the current rocked him from side to side. It was no good trying to resist it. Quickly he learnt to move with the rhythm of the water, like the fish that were now staring at him, or darting past, or tickling his feet.

The crab that Fin had been following for a long time or a short time, he couldn’t tell which, stopped and crawled under a clam shell. Wherever Fin was being led, he had now arrived. With his heart thudding loudly he swept his bright eye-lights through the dark water. Tall craggy rocks, covered with barnacles, surrounded him. Great ancient faces, or so it seemed, stared at him. He was in an underwater world of cliffs, craters and canyons. Ahead of him loomed a huge circular rock. The crab had brought Fin to this place for a reason – but what was it? He didn’t know whether to swim on or tread water and wait for something to happen.

Booming, sighing and slapping sounds surrounded
him, echoing on and on. From somewhere a muffled banging noise like a bass drum thundered. Fin twisted his body round, looking behind and above as he did so, but where the sounds came from he couldn’t tell. He circled his arms and kicked his feet. Why did the crab have to leave him like that? The banging went on. It sent shivers through Fin’s whole body. Something was bound to happen soon.

I’ve come
, he called out in his selkie thoughts.
M F, that’s me. I’m here. I came
.

Still nothing.
At least the crab is close by
, Fin thought. That gave him some comfort, but when he scanned the valley floor the clam shell had vanished. He groaned and grasped his moon-stone. That helped to still his thudding heart. He circled his feet, glancing first at one rock face, than another, not noticing the brown liquid that stained the water and snaked around him.

Through the water Fin imagined he could see a face, like a great Native American chief, beckoning him from the huge round rock. Not knowing where else to go, Fin swam towards the stern face. Only then did he smell the stench. He twisted round. Some foul-smelling creature was nearby. He looked up, down. But nothing was there, nothing but rocks and water. Even the face had vanished. Fin stared at the rock. Thick brown droplets oozed into the sea.

Magnus Fin felt his eyes smart. He rubbed them and felt thick slime smear the back of his hands. He could see now that this brown sludge, whatever it was, dripped from a tiny crack in the rock. As it dripped it polluted the sea. And – Fin covered his mouth and nose – it stank! He swam forwards, wanting and not wanting to
explore, afraid of what he might find. Fin curled his fingers around his moon-stone.
Don’t turn back now
, he thought, spurring himself on.

Up close, he could see that this rock was weeping thick brown tears. What he had imagined as the eye of an American chief was a hole in the rock from which the tears were seeping.

Fin’s eyes were still smarting and for a second his torch-lights dimmed. He blinked and shook his head, struggling to keep his eyes open. Not only his eyes hurt but so did his ears. A dull repetitive banging hammered in his head, as though something or someone was pounding the sea with a battering ram.

Was the thudding noise coming from inside his head or behind this weeping rock? Fighting a splitting headache, Magnus Fin dug his fingers into the crevices and hoisted himself level with the hole in the rock. The banging noise ceased. He pressed his face up to the crack and forced himself to peer through.

A green eye peered back at him! It was the most menacing eye he had ever seen. A bolt of panic shot through him. He wanted to cry out. Fin kicked backwards away from the ghastly staring thing.

His courage drained away. In a panic he thrashed his arms and legs wildly through the water, wanting only to swim as far away as possible. His eyes stung. Half blindly he lashed out. Why had the mysterious little crab led him to such a place? And where was the crab now?

Fin thought of Tarkin, sitting waiting on the black rock. He wanted to be back on the land. This world was too frightening, full of strange creatures. And the smell was terrible!

Quick! Hold on to me
. It was Miranda.

Fin reached up and grabbed hold of her tail fins. Above him the water spun like a whirlpool and Fin was tossed up in the churning currents. In seconds the weeping rock was far behind. Fin, clutching on for dear life, was whisked away at great speed in and out of coves, caverns and past giant cliffs. A deep whooshing sound almost deafened him. The swaying kelp forests below blurred with the sheer speed of Miranda’s swimming.

Only when they reached the far end of the oceanic canyon, where the rock formations opened out into vast sandy plains, did Miranda slow down. She twisted her head now to look into her grandson’s eyes. He was flushed and shaking.

Why did you come here, Fin?
she asked, not unkindly but with concern in her voice.

Magnus Fin released his hold on Miranda’s tail fins and floated in the water beside her.
But, I – I thought you called me? I saw the writing on the rocks, and
…

I didn’t call you, Fin. Not now. Now is not a good time for you to be here
.

Magnus Fin looked quizzically at his grandmother, this great silvery seal with glittering green eyes. She was the strong mother of the selkies, known as the bright one.

But why? Miranda, what’s wrong?

She shook her head sadly.
It’s nothing, Fin. The sickness has come to us, that’s all. It’ll pass like all things pass. The crab should mind his own business. Now tell me, how is Aquella? And how is my son Ragnor? How is life up there on the land, Magnus Fin?
As she questioned him Miranda
nudged Fin forward and pushed him swiftly upwards through the water.

Aquella’s fine. She says to tell you she likes school. She’s in a girl’s band you know. Dad works on a farm. You’d never know he was a selkie now
.

Good, Fin, that’s good. And you? You have a best friend now?

On and upwards they travelled, Miranda gently nuzzling her grandson, until the rays of moonlight stretched down through the sea and the water felt lighter.

Yes, that’s Tarkin. He’s on the rock waiting for me. He’s from America. He brought toffee and a torch
.

And there it was, not a ray of moonlight but the beam of Tarkin’s torch, penetrating the water from the world above. His grandmother had led him back to the door in the black rock and opened it with a push of her flipper.
Go then, dear one, go back, don’t worry about us, and Neptune bless you
.

In a flash, Miranda flicked her tail and dived deep under the water. At the same moment Fin broke through the surface of the sea with a gasp.

Tarkin had dropped down on his belly with his arms dropping over the side of the rock. “Oh, boy, am I glad you’re here. Grab my hands, Fin. I left you some toffee. Come on. Welcome back, buddy.”

Soon Magnus Fin was huddled in the warm fleece blanket. With Tarkin’s towel wrapped around his damp head he stuffed two toffees into his mouth. The strange encounter under the sea faded for a moment as though it had never happened.

“So, Fin, what happened? You were gone all of two minutes. Like, I want to hear all about it.”

Fin stared at Tarkin then stared down at the sea. It was lapping around the rock. “Nothing much happened,” he said, chewing busily. “Nothing at all.”

“Nothing much? Come on, Fin, something must have happened!”

Fin looked over his shoulder and stared again out to sea. It was dark and cold. Fragments of memory, like a dream half-recalled, came to him. Goose bumps crawled across his flesh. He swallowed the toffees then murmured, “A green staring eye, creepy, and banging. I got scared. And Miranda came. Fast. You, I told her your name. Sickness Miranda said. It’s come, nothing to worry about.” Fin turned back to look at Tarkin and shrugged. “I think that’s what happened.”

“She’s trying to protect you, Fin.” Tarkin jumped up. “That horrible banging noise? Well, I heard it too. No joke! I was sitting here all alone. I was just tearing off a toffee wrapper when I heard it. I got the creepiest muckle feeling all over me. It was coming from under the water – I heard it, honest!”

Fin could tell it was true by the way Tarkin’s eyes blazed and his voice trembled. The torch was shining on him, lighting up his pale shocked face and his wide blue eyes.

“You look like you heard a ghost,” Fin said. He pulled on his trainers and managed a weak smile. “Look, we’d better get home. Don’t worry, it’s just some illness. Miranda said it’ll pass and everything will be fine.” Fin stood up and shone the torch down onto the foot ledges.

“So what about that creepy eye then?” Tarkin scooped up the flask and blanket.

“Maybe I was imagining it. Come on, forget it. I want to go home.”

“Well, what about all this writing? Something’s up and you know it.” Tarkin shone his torch down onto the hundreds of Ms and Fs. “You’re needed, and your grandmother’s trying to protect you. You can’t deny that, Fin. If it was me I’d go back.”

Magnus Fin jumped off the rock. “But you’re not me, Tarkin,” he shouted. “You’re not half selkie. You didn’t come eye to eye with that scary wild thing down there. You don’t know what it’s like.” With hot tears stinging his eyes, Fin leapt over the rocks in the moonlight and ran home.

Early next morning, Magnus Fin sloshed cold water on his face and stared at himself in the mirror. One green eye and one brown eye stared back and a blank face that didn’t seem to have any answers. “It’ll come to you in your dreams,” that’s what Tarkin had said the night before when he’d finally caught up with Fin on the beach path.

Fin sighed. Nothing was coming to him. Sometimes the thing he longed for was to be normal. He’d confided that to Tarkin, who of course, all fired up for adventure, had talked him out of that. “Normal? Man oh man! Do you know what you’re saying? Life is way too exciting to veg out and bleat. Normal? I can’t imagine anything worse. Get real, Fin. Get unique! And anyway – you’re needed.”

“Am I?” Fin asked his reflection, running his fingers through his hair.

“Breakfast’s ready, children,” his mother Barbara shouted up the stairs. Magnus Fin dried his face. He could smell the toast. He could hear his cousin Aquella clattering about in her little attic room. He didn’t know getting dressed still felt strange to her. He didn’t know at that same moment she was staring at her reflection in her mirror, and running a plump finger over the cotton
of her school uniform, then over her white soft skin, thinking how this face, these clothes, this arm, weren’t her real self. Magnus Fin guessed at none of that. He glanced at his face in the mirror, managed a half-smile then went down to the kitchen.

For the first time in ages Magnus Fin didn’t run off to the beach. He sat down at the table for breakfast.

“Not off beachcombing?” Barbara asked, sliding the jar of raspberry jam towards him and giving him a quizzical look. “I mean, it’s really nice to have your company, but I thought you always went beachcombing before school?”

“No, I think I’ve got enough stuff.”

Barbara and Aquella stopped chewing and stared at him.

“But, Fin,” Aquella said gently, “today might be the day you get a bell from the
Titanic
.”

“Or a coin from the Spanish Armada,” his mother added, studying him for signs of illness.

Fin let his toast fall onto his plate. He looked up at them both then blurted out, “Well, you go then! Why don’t you? Both of you! You go!” His eyes welled up with tears. He pushed the chair back, grabbed his rucksack and ran out of the house.

He sped down the track, his heart pounding. He heard his mother shouting, “Fin, Magnus Fin, what’s wrong? I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m sorry, Fin. Come back!” But he didn’t turn round. He kept going till he couldn’t hear her any more. Then when he reached the bridge he didn’t turn left towards school but ran up through the field.

He couldn’t stand it any more. Life had been so good. He had a best friend. And he had Aquella. And his
parents were happy. And now something was up under the sea. Seals were dying, he didn’t know what to do about it, and anyway it seemed he wasn’t wanted. So what about the M Fs? And that horrid green eye? He thought all this as he ran up through the barley fields towards the farm where his dad worked. His dad would know what to do. Fin would tell him everything. On he ran. He could smell the dung now and see the
long-horned
Highland cows. Still a thousand thoughts raced through his head. He didn’t want to worry Aquella. He knew that if the seals were in trouble she’d want to go down there and help – but without a seal skin she couldn’t. Only he, Magnus Fin, it seemed, could do that.

By this time he had reached the farm. In the distance he could see the noisy tractor with its long forked pick-up with a bale of hay on the end, and driving the tractor was his dad.

Fin waved and jumped up and down. “Dad! Hey, Dad! It’s me. It’s Fin! I’ve come to give you a hand with your work!”

But the tractor was huge and the radio was blaring and Fin, by comparison, was very small. The big red tractor drove right past him into a shed where mounds of hay bales were stacked up. Fin ran after it then watched as the huge fork dumped the hay bale. Ragnor didn’t get out but reversed the tractor and headed back to the field. Fin couldn’t believe it. Was he that small? His own father hadn’t seen him!

He slumped down on a pallet and leant back against the hay to get his breath back. From the shed he watched the tractor heave up another bale of hay. It all
had to be stored before the winter. A thought suddenly occurred to Magnus Fin.
Thought transmission!
His father, though he’d been on the land for many years now, was, deep down, a selkie, wasn’t he? Fin had never tried it before but it just might work. Fin closed his eyes and thought hard. He concentrated on his dad and imagined his thoughts swimming towards him. Here goes, he thought, and said inside:

Something’s not good under the sea. But Miranda says not to worry. What do you think, Dad?

Jings! Fin! I thought that was the radio. I almost fell out of the tractor
.

Sorry
.

That’s OK. I’m a bit rusty at this kind of thing. Well, son, with me for a dad life was never going to be straightforward.

Dad, she says the sickness has come to them. I can’t think about anything else.

The sickness!
There was silence, as though a phone had been dropped.

Dad?

I’m here. Son, if Miranda says to stay away that’s what you should do. She knows best.

But Ragnor didn’t sound so sure. Magnus Fin was silent for a while.

But Dad, I feel I should go. Tarkin thinks she’s just saying that to protect me.

It might pass to you, son. These sicknesses can be fatal.

Just then Ragnor drove his tractor into the shed with a huge bale of hay jabbed onto the prongs of the pick-up.

Hey, Dad, I’m right in front of you!

Ragnor tooted the horn and waved to his son. Then
he leant out of the tractor and shouted, “Want to drive a tractor?”

Magnus Fin nodded, clambered up and sat next to his father. In no time Fin was busy pushing levers, changing gear, and later on, holding the steering wheel.

“You should be at school, you know, son,” Ragnor said, though Fin could tell by the way he said it that he wasn’t about to march him back to school. Not today. It was as though Ragnor was glad for his son’s company, glad perhaps for the chance to tell him more about his selkie ancestors. “But now you’re here, well, you might as well stay.”

Magnus Fin grinned and was just about to break open a bag of crisps when a shadow passed over his father’s face and he spoke, his voice so low it was hard to hear him over the rumble of the engine. “The sickness,” Ragnor said, “has been before.” Ragnor manoeuvred the tractor along a rutted track as he spoke. “And no doubt it will come again. Why don’t you just forget it, Fin? Enjoy your life. You’ve already saved our selkie family once, and you’ve got yourself a good pal. Next year you’ll be going up to the high school. You’ve got a whole life ahead of you. Don’t spoil it now.”

Magnus Fin stared at his father, with his jet-black hair and shining dark eyes, the strong man from the sea who came ashore and married Fin’s mother. Ragnor the selkie was telling Magnus Fin to forget it!

“But I
want
to go back to the sea,” Fin blurted out, realising in that moment that he really did, scary green eye or not. “They need me to help them, Dad, and I want to go. I’m
Sliochan Nan Ronnie
. Aquella said I was.”

Ragnor shook his head and laughed. “
Ron
, son.
Sliochan Nan Ron
.” He stared at his son, his handsome rugged face a blend of sadness and admiration. “Aye, she’s right. You are. But, Fin – first hear my story. It’s not for nothing Miranda is afraid.”