Moonfin by L. L. Mintie

saucers.
    â€œHide what?”
    He shrugged and said, “Couldn’t tell ya. Brandon had been doing some work for Krell to earn a little money for college, and after he had disappeared, we set out one night to investigate … thought maybe we’d find some clues that might lead to his whereabouts, but we didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. We never said anything ’cuz there was no way to prove any wrongdoing. That cliff’s a fortress and a dangerous one at that.”
    â€œWell now, that would be worth exploring,” said Lizzy, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.
    Captain Quinn stirred the chunky clams and vegetables around in his bowl while memories of his friend stirred in his mind. It seemed so long ago. They always suspected something wasn’t right, but one thing was for sure, Robert Grape wouldn’t want his daughter near Dr. Krell—he never trusted him after Brandon disappeared.
    â€œYou kids get going and let me eat my dinner in peace now,” he said, suddenly agitated.
    The three children piled back into their booth and ate their meal, all the while making secret plans about where they should start their exploration and how to go about it in the night ahead. Lizzy said they should run home and put on their swimsuits—that it was going to be plenty wet where they were going. Jeff said to grab snorkel gear (“Got some new underwater gadgets to try out!”).
    Bill mulled around the candy machines, whispering mysteries to the gumballs and gesticulating to a stack of plates sitting on a nearby counter. Captain Quinn watched him with interest and compassion, wondering if he had said too much about Krell and that fateful day the Sundancer was lost. He ate his soup in silence, not enjoying a single bite.

Chapter 8

THE DISAPPEARING FACE
    N o one spoke for a long time. Shadowy spears of rock cascaded into the sea like giant fossilized dinosaur tails frozen in place. Lizzy, Jeff, and Kai tread carefully around the rocks, as if fearing the spiky tails might rouse and swipe them off their feet. The hot, orange sun hung large and heavy in the evening sky.
    Kai broke the silence with one of her intrepid surf stories, which started with a sea lion knocking her from her board and inevitably ending with: “This looks familiar! I’ve beached up in these coves several times …” yet again.
    Lizzy started to give Kai the third degree on surfing out here so close to the rocks but thought better of it. Telling Kai not to surf would be like telling her not to breathe. It was impossible . She took another strategy.
    â€œBut have you ever noticed anything strange when you risked your life surfing here?” she needled.
    â€œNope. Just that rascally sea lion,” Kai tittered, ignoring Lizzy’s meaning.
    Jeff was anxious to get moving before nightfall. “Let’s climb toward the first inlet and see if we can find anything—and be careful, these rocks look painful.”
    â€œYes they are,” said Kai knowingly.
    They climbed and clambered their way through the spears of stone, getting nowhere, and with every cove bringing loads more rock strata into view. The tide was going out a bit and it helped them to manage the crags better, but the going was slow and blisters were starting to form on their tired feet.
    â€œWe could be here all night,” Lizzy said glumly. The endless stacks of gray were bleak and depressing, and on top of that, her big toe started to bleed with all the slips and falls.
    â€œMaybe we should hike up the cliff to the lab and find a way in from there,” said Jeff, looking upward. “These rocks are giving me a pounding headache anyway.”
    â€œNo, Lizzy’s dad seemed convinced of a way in from down here, not up top,” said Kai. “Then how about water recon? We could swim out to the Thumb and take a look from there—it
    will give us the best vantage point,” said