• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

There was a catch in his voice. My heart went out to him.

“I’ll do everything in my power to return her to you. But you must leave the loch now. Go out to sea. When I have Eark’s skin I’ll bring her to you.”

“How will you know where to find us?”

“Name a place,” I said, “on the coast. I’ll bring her there, I promise.”

Sadly he shook his head. “Your place names aren’t the same as ours.”

Scarlett put in, “The selkie language is so different from ours, they’d never know where you meant. Eark would be lost to them.”

Harq had another idea. “The other selkies can leave the loch. I’ll stay here until you find Eark’s skin.”

“Okay,” I said. “But make sure you stay with Scarlett. No going back in the loch.”

Scarlett said, “I think you should go now.” As she walked me to the door, she murmured, “When you find Eark’s skin, I’ll loose Harq.”

“You might not—”

She cut me off. “He’ll go with the pod.” She added, “The sad thing is he’s ruined me for any man. His mouth even tastes different.”

Remembering the heavenly taste of Casper’s mouth, I asked, “Does Harq’s mouth taste sweet?”

She shook her head. “It tastes like fine seafood. Crab, lobster. Delicious.” Her voice broke. “I’ll miss him.”

There was a noise in the hall. Harq was close enough to have heard everything we’d said.

He looked at Scarlett. “I’ll come back to you. I promise.”

My heart fluttered. It was all I could do not to sigh out loud. I can only imagine how Scarlett felt. Actually I didn’t have to. She ran into his arms.

As Harq held her, he said to me, “Tell Eark I miss her.”

I got the feeling he was hinting I should leave. I took the hint. The last thing I saw before I crept out of the house was Scarlett fastening her lips on his.

Creeping out of houses while their occupants were locked in passionate embraces was becoming a habit. First Mrs. Ferguson and Dr. Williamson, then Scarlett and Harq. For a moment I envied them all. Then I told myself to get over it and get on with my job.

As I drove back to Furness I wondered how I was going to reunite Eark and Harq without causing an environmental disaster. Although the selkies would escape Sir Alastair’s wrath, the other marine life would suffer terribly.

I was trying to work out a way of saving the loch when Casper appeared in the passenger seat beside me. He gave me such a shock I nearly ran off the road.

I snapped at him. “Maybe next time you could give me some warning.”

“What do you suggest?” he asked easily.

His nonchalance annoyed me. “Maybe you could whistle just before you appear. Especially if I’m driving.”

“What would you like me to whistle?” he asked accommodatingly.

I rolled my eyes. “Forget it.”

“I don’t think I know that one.”

“Ha. Ha.”

He was silent for a moment. “Maybe I shouldn’t have appeared while you were driving.”

“You’ve got that right.”

“No, I mean I don’t feel so good. I’ll never get used to cars. Give me a good horse any day.”

“There’s no point flying the rest of the way,” I said. “We’ll be at Mac’s in a few minutes.”

There were no parking spots outside the pub so I turned into a side street. As soon as I stopped, Casper scrambled out. Once he was on the sidewalk he looked better.

“I’ll walk you back to Mac’s,” he offered.

“Are you in need of more exercise?” I glanced skeptically at his perfect body. “Or am I in danger?”

“I don’t think there’s any danger around, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Hmm. Was he keeping something from me? There was no way to be sure, so I decided not to worry. Putting all the many problems of this case on hold—hey, I deserved a brief respite—I asked, “How many Guardian Angels live with you on Cloud 9?”

“We all live there.”

“It must be a big place.”

“Well we’re not all there at the same time,” he said. “It’s kind of like a police station. Largely empty because most of us are out on the beat, so to speak.”

I glanced at him curiously. “What do you know about police stations?”

He hesitated, which made me even more determined to find out.

“Go on. Tell me.”

He said reluctantly, “The last person I guarded, before