“Already? Really?”
She rarely talked to Methuselah like this, and he didn’t seem to quite know what to make of it. His ears pulled up high on his head. Poor thing was a mismatch of styles and texture. Part beagle. Part schnauzer. Part who knew what else. Those ears looked like they could spin and lift him off the ground.
But Methuselah didn’t even bark. Rarely did. “Why am I talking to you?”
Eager for conversation? Is that what has nipped at me all day? She looked back toward Amanda and the kids. Her heart giddyupped as she anticipated the discussion that might happen between her and the two shell seekers.
She picked up one of her shell bags to take with her in case she ran across any more treasures while she was out, then grabbed a smaller one she’d made a long time ago. Too small for what she was looking for, but perfect for someone else. She walked along the dune line, then down to the water.
She watched Hailey and Jesse lift shells in the air, squealing all the way back up to where Amanda had settled. Sand kicked from the back of Hailey’s feet. Jesse was more like a bulldozer trudging through, instead of on top of, the sand.
Maeve stopped at the tide line, where a moment ago those two had made their discoveries. A small pile of shells lay there like a pyramid. The discards. She ran her big toe across the pile, then leaned over and picked one out of the rubble, a special one they’d missed. She rescued the giant tun. It wasn’t perfect, but even so, it was pretty rare. She couldn’t wait to give it to them.
Maeve looked up from the shell.
Amanda was waving her arm high in the air. “Hello!” she called out as she got to her feet. She started toward her with Hailey and Jesse at her side.
“We were just talking about you,” Amanda said.
“Were your ears itching?” Hailey asked. “That happens when people talk about you.”
“Nope. But they were tickling. Were you saying nice things? I think nice things just tickle.”
Hailey’s mouth dropped open. “That must’ve been us, then.”
Jesse lifted his bucket at Maeve’s side. “Look!”
“My. You have found some really good stuff.”
“Mm-hmm.” His cheeks pouched with pride.
“I found this one in the pile here.” She handed the giant tun to him. “This is a pretty cool shell.”
“I like this.” His head bobbled in appreciation. “Thank you.”
“We’re doing your hobby,” Hailey announced.
Although for her it wasn’t a hobby. More of a way of life. She’d become a bit of a hoarder of shells. A shell collector gone cuckoo. But that wasn’t a point of contention. Instead of commenting, she stooped down to see how they’d done.
They took turns showing her their favorites.
“It so happens that I brought something for you, Miss Hailey.”
“For me?”
Maeve nodded. “For you and your brother. Just different things.”
She pulled the smaller version of her shoulder bag out from under her own and handed it to Hailey. “It’s a bag. Like mine. Only Hailey-sized.”
Hailey grinned. She slipped it over her neck and shoulder like Maeve had hers. “I’m Hailey-sized.”
“Yes, you most certainly are.”
“Help me put my shells in here.” Hailey glanced over at her mom and then rephrased the demand. “I meant to say, Can you please help me put my shells in this bag?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” Maeve said, winking at Amanda. “You are such a kind and polite young lady. That makes you fun to be around.”
“You’re fun too.”
“Thank you.”
“How did you know I wanted one of these?” Her eyes were wide and clear.
Maeve delighted in the little girl’s energy and excitement. “Just a lucky guess. So, what are you going to do with all those shells?”
Hailey finally looked up and grinned as though she’d found the winning answer. “We’ll look at them.”
“Of course.”
“But before we go home, we try to pick out three to take back with us.”
Maeve tapped her finger against her lips. “That’s hard.”
“It is.” The little girl nodded slowly, the words lingering.
Jesse splashed through the water in front of Maeve.
“I brought something for you too, sir.”
He froze in place, his eyes widening with interest as he straightened. “A present for Jesse?”
“Sort of.” She dug down into her shell bag and pulled out a length of leather that held a single shark’s tooth. The tooth wasn’t sharp, as the tide had worn the edges smooth, but it was impressive nonetheless. “Look. This big tooth used to be in a shark’s mouth.”
Jesse put his hand above his head like a shark. “Shark. Shark.”
“That was so thoughtful, Maeve,” Amanda said. “What do you say, Jesse?”
“Thank you. Please.”
He took the necklace and tried to put it over his head. Amanda stepped in to help. Jesse took a victory lap with the shark tooth around his neck. “I like this,” he said.
“I’m glad.” Maeve walked over to where Hailey busied herself with a mound of sand. “Can I help?” she asked.
“Sure. You can help Jesse make a wall.” Hailey scooped more sand together. “I want it to be a big castle.”
Jesse and Maeve worked together to form a wall in the time that it took Hailey to patty-cake one tiny mound. Amanda finally joined them, behind their sandcastle hedge of protection.
“Nothing’s going to get past that wall to ruin my castle,” Hailey said. “We’re totally protected.”
“As you should be.” Maeve lifted a handful of wet sand and let it slip through her fingers, building up the height of the wall drip by drip. Jesse tried to mimic the move. “Would be nice if it were this easy to protect ourselves from anything that could go wrong, wouldn’t it?”
She looked at the two happy children and then into Amanda’s eyes. They seemed to be smiling, but inside there was something troubling her. A sadness hung behind an invisible veil.
What is your story, Amanda? Can I help? Just give me
