Magnus Fin and the Selkie Secret by Janis Mackay Page A

sorry – I’m fine.”
    Then he swung round to Tarkin who was chewing the end of his ponytail, a habit Mr Sargent deplored. “You’re very quiet this afternoon, Tarkin,” he remarked. “Why don’t you stand up and give us all a bit of Rabbie Burns, eh?”
    Reluctantly Tarkin rose to his feet, fumbling to find the right page. The book shook as he tried to make sense of the words. “When chapman – bill – um, sorry – billies – leave the street,” he read, painfully slowly, “and – dru… no, um – and drouthy – neigh – um, neebours, neebours meet…”
    Never had the clanging of the school bell sounded so sweet. Leaving Tam O’Shanter to stare at dancingwitches, Tarkin dashed out of the classroom, followed by Magnus Fin, followed by Aquella. They didn’t stop running till they reached the bridge over the river.
    “OK, Tarkin,” Fin gasped, dumping his rucksack on the grassy verge. “Meet me outside the house when the sun starts to set, and we’ll go down to the beach and dig up the treasure. Aquella – if you want to join us – you can be on lookout.”
    Aquella looked horrified while Tarkin, who had now forgotten all about Magnus Fin’s gross hand, looked delighted. “Man, I can’t wait. What a blast! Treasure! We are gonna be so rich.”
    “It’s not ours,” Fin said, picking up his rucksack and slinging it over his back. “It’s Neptune’s. The false king stole it. And we can’t open it because we haven’t got a key.” Not yet – he didn’t say. He didn’t want to think about trying to find the key.
    Tarkin nodded. Aquella shuddered. Any mention of the false king set her reeling. He had taken her prisoner, and destroyed her seal skin. Fin saw her frown.
    “Look, it’s OK, Aquella. Me and Tark – we’ll deal with this. We’ll dig it up at dusk. You don’t have to come along. We’ll be fine.”
    “Cool,” said Tarkin, “I like dusk. Dusk is when bats and owls come out. Good time for adventure. Ghosts too maybe.”
    “Dusk is when dog walkers stay indoors,” said Fin flatly, “I hope.”
    “And when the moon is full,” added Aquella, “dusk is when selkies haul out on good flat rocks, take off their seal skins and dance.”
    “Nice!” Tarkin whistled. “And what about mermaids?”
    “They come out of their sea caves to splash in the shallow water wearing pearl necklaces,” Fin said and laughed.
    Tarkin’s blue eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “Seriously?”
    “Joke.” He winked. “But you never know, Tark, it could be true.”

Chapter 16
    Dusk fell. Aquella said she felt tired so stayed indoors, while Magnus Fin and Tarkin hurried along the beach path, each carrying a garden spade and saying not a word. There was something about dusk that demanded silence. The land lay still. As Fin had hoped, no one was around. It was balmy that evening and the sea was flat. Fin wore his wetsuit. Even in early June, balmy or not, the sea would be cold.
    “You stay here, Tark. I’ll fetch the kelp.”
    And he did. He fetched up loads of it, tearing up thick fronds and wrapping it round his arms. He saw how fish moved heavily, as though dragging their silvery bodies through the sad sea. Magnus Fin plunged deep into the sea, parted thick swathes of kelp, then jolted back in shock.
    Good lad. I said to Miranda, “Magnus Fin will set it all to right.”
    Fin gaped at the tiny pink crab that clung to a twist of sea grass.
    With your mouth open like that, you resemble a dogfish. We have a little saying down here: if the tide turns you’ll stay like that! And you wouldn’t want that, Magnus Fin!
    Fin snapped his mouth shut. The crab hopped down to land on strands that grew closer to the seabed. Here, Magnus Fin. Take a few of these. They’re the best!
    With that, the tiny crab paddled off and vanished into the dark water. Fin felt a surge of energy at meeting his old friend. He couldn’t help liking the crab, even though he always seemed to volunteer him for the