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

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.”

Neptune had the strangest nose Isabelle had ever seen and certainly the largest, so she wouldn’t be lying. How was it possible that a creature from the sea could understand human language? All those times she had talked to her barnacle about her boring factory job, had it actually been listening?

“Come on, we haven’t got all day.” Sage gave Isabelle a shove and she stumbled forward.

What a bully! She took a deep breath. “YOU HAVE A LOVELY NOSE!” She wasn’t used to yelling and it sent her into a coughing fit.

The elephant seal opened an eye and scrunched his face into a frown.

“No, no,” Sage said. “Lovely is a word for girl seals. You must compliment the size of the nose.”

Isabelle cleared her throat. “YOU HAVE THE MOST ENORMOUS NOSE I HAVE EVER SEEN!” Sage motioned for her to continue. “DID I SAY ENORMOUS? I MEANT GARGANTUAN!”

This time, the seal smiled.

Rolo the Raven circled overhead. “Caw, caw.”

“Are you certain?” Sage asked the bird. He ran up the beach, so light on his feet that he barely disturbed the sand. He pointed around the rocky outcropping, toward the cove. “Here they come,” he said. “Looks like that Mr. Hench has a few men with him. We’d better get going.” He whistled. Eve the cat crawled out from under a log and jumped into the satchel. Rolo continued to caw frantically.

Sage ran back to Neptune. “WE’D BE VERY GRATEFUL IF YOU’D HAUL YOUR FAT BUTT INTO THE WATER!”

Neptune roared, then raised himself onto his flippers and waddled into the shallows.

“Telling an elephant seal that he has a fat butt is actually a compliment,” Sage explained, gathering the satchel. After following Neptune into the water, he grabbed the saddle’s horn and pulled himself up. “Come on,” he urged.

Isabelle grabbed the pickle jar and waded in. Her legs didn’t feel a bit wet or cold. The suit really worked. If all the people of Runny Cove owned kelp suits they’d never feel damp again.

“We can’t take that,” Sage said, pointing to the aquarium. “It’s too big.”

“But there’s no one here to take care of it,” Isabelle pointed out.

“Just drop the barnacle into the water.”

She looked down at her boots. The shallows were sandy. “But there aren’t any other barnacles here. I don’t want it to be all alone.”

“Fine.” Sage reached in and grabbed the rock upon which the barnacle had attached itself. Then he stuffed the rock into the satchel’s side pocket. “The barnacle can live without water for a few days. No problem.”

Yellow light flooded the beach. “Thief!” Mr. Hench rounded the rocky corner, swinging his lantern. Two of Mr. Supreme’s assistants followed, their long white coats billowing in the morning wind. “You’re under arrest!”

Sage held out his hand but Isabelle didn’t need his help, not with Mr. Hench closing in. She tossed the pickle jar onto the beach, then leapt behind Sage, swinging her leg over the saddle with the grace of a seasoned jockey.

“Put this around your middle to keep you safe,” Sage ordered, handing her a rope. Then he knotted the ends around his own middle. Was she tied to him for safety or had she become his captive? At that moment she didn’t care. She just had to get out of there!

“Stop, thief!” Mr. Hench yelled, reaching the water’s edge.

“I’m not a thief,” Isabelle cried. “Take the stupid pickle jar. I don’t want it.”

“Hey, where do you think you’re going? You’ve got extra hours to work,” one of the assistants called.

“Mr. Supreme will be plenty mad about this,” Mr. Hench hollered. “You get back here.” He raised his lantern. The light blinded Isabelle. She wrapped her arms around Sage’s waist and pressed her face against his back.

“SWIM!” Sage yelled, kicking the seal’s sides. “SWIM, YOU BIG-NOSED BRUTE!”

Neptune pushed forward. As soon as he reached deep water, his flabby, rotund body moved as gracefully as a bird in flight. “THAT’S MY SEAL!” Sage yelled as Neptune cut sleekly through the surf.

Isabelle looked over her shoulder. Mr. Hench, who was jumping up and down in a temper tantrum, grew smaller and smaller until he looked as small as a slug on a trampoline.

Rolo the Raven landed on Sage’s shoulder. Eve growled unhappily from the satchel, for it is well known that cats do not enjoy sea travel.

“Hold on,” Sage said. “Here we go.”

Terrified, Isabelle tightened her arms around Sage’s waist as