Fortune's Magic Farm by Suzanne Selfors (i read book .TXT) 📗

The 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