First published 2024 © Twinkl Ltd of Wards Exchange,

197 Ecclesall Road, Sheffield S11 8HW

Copyright © Twinkl Ltd. 2022

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and

incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a
fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,
or actual events is purely coincidental.

Twinkl is a registered trademark of Twinkl Ltd.

Twinkl Educational Publishing
Contents
Chapter One............................................................. 1
Chapter Two........................................................... 14
Chapter Three....................................................... 31
Chapter Four......................................................... 44
Chapter Five......................................................... 55
Chapter Six........................................................... 68
Chapter Seven.................................................... 80
Chapter Eight...................................................... 92
Chapter Nine..................................................... 106
Chapter Ten..........................................................118
Chapter Eleven.................................................. 131
Chapter Twelve................................................. 149
Chapter Thirteen..............................................161
Epilogue................................................................... 176
Chapter One
Arlo Hook looked out across the vast, mirrored
surface of the water and breathed. Nearby, in a
shallow cove, wooden boats clacked against one
another as the tide gently rocked them in the
ocean. At this part of the beach, far away from
the town, they were hidden like a forgotten
memory. How long since they had been used?
Arlo did not know. They were relics of a time
long ago.

He filled his lungs with the salty air and let the
breath sit for a few quiet and still moments.
The air along the shore felt cleaner and more
alive than the air inland. It was here, where
two worlds met — land and the never-ending
sea — where Arlo felt most himself. He exhaled
with a drawn-out sigh.

1
Secrets the Sea Held

It was the height of summer so the early

mornings and sunlit nights were making sleep
hard to come by. Arlo thought, if he could, he
would find a spot by one of the sand dunes
later in the afternoon to escape from all the
things he needed to do. He would spend the time
observing the world around him. It was always
more enjoyable to take a bit of time out when
there was work to do and in Blueleaf Basin,
work was the name of the game. Everyone had
a role within the community and most worked
tirelessly to ensure that the town was as
harmonious and efficient as it could possibly be.
Sometimes, though, Arlo wished that the people
would stop and take the time to appreciate the
simple and natural beauty that surrounded
them: the gentle tide; the beautiful sun that rose
and set in a burst of oranges, pinks and yellows;
the magnificent mountains and forests…

“Hey!”

Arlo turned his head away from the ocean

water lapping at the sandy shore. The sun was
high in the sky so it shone fully on the person
scrambling the last few, unsteady steps over the
top of a dune. She took handfuls of ammophila,

2
Chapter One

the sharp, needle-like grass that helped support

the sand, and used them to pull herself up.
Whereas Arlo was at home near the tide, Marion
Tarn was a creature of the land.

He waved and watched as Marion skittered

down the dune in the same shaky way she
always did. Despite them both growing up near
the sand and the sea, Marion always looked like
she was skidding over ice the second her feet
left solid ground. Ephra, Marion’s guardian and
leader of the town council, liked to joke that
Marion would prefer roots to legs. Watching
Marion begin to tumble, Arlo steadied himself
and managed to catch her before she fell and
took a faceful of sand.

They were the same age but Marion was

much shorter than Arlo. He had grown tall
and thin over the last few months but Marion
hadn’t changed one bit, just like the rest of
Blueleaf Basin.

“Phew! Thanks,” she sputtered.

“It’s OK,” Arlo replied. He let go of his friend

and brushed away some of the sand she had

3
Secrets the Sea Held

accidentally left across his shirt. Arlo wore his

usual brown linen top with the three buttonholes
below the neck. He had just one button left,
though, as two had fallen off through time and
general life. His mother, Sara, was always on
at him to let her replace or trade the shirt but
Arlo said he didn’t have any other clothes that
fitted. This was true but mainly Arlo liked how
he could come home from a day rock-hopping,
dune-diving or exploring tide pools and his
mother wouldn’t notice any new stains or rips.

“Oops, sorry!” Marion said, noticing the sand

on Arlo and on herself. She was dressed in
thick-soled boots and the blue waterproof coat
she wore come rain or shine. Over her shoulder
hung the brown leather case containing her
binoculars. They were like a second pair of eyes
and she used them for spotting birds, bugs and
other creatures that were too skittish for her to
approach. Marion was an agricultural apprentice
and spent most of her days walking through the
orchards, investigating the mountain ponds and
lakes or studying some other form of flora or
fauna. If there was a plant in Blueleaf Basin, it
and Marion were probably on first-name terms.

4
Chapter One

“What’s up?” Arlo asked, his tone flat. He was

only half present: his mind was lost at sea.

“Don’t say it like that.”

Arlo raised his eyebrows. “There are only three

reasons you come out here.” He began to count
on his fingers. “Reason one: you need me to
do something. Reason two: I’m in trouble.
Or reason three: it’s a combination of both of
those things.”

Marion’s nose crinkled. “Maybe I want to come

and look for treasures in the tide pools. You are
always asking me. I don’t like you thinking I
only come here to nag.”

Arlo furrowed his brow. “I want you to come

and help me find out what the treasures are. I
found some sharp metal scraps the other day.
One looked like it had part of a word on it. I
think they’re from somewhere on the other side
of the island. I think they come from—”

“Arlo, don’t say it,” Marion interrupted, her

eyes wide.

5
Secrets the Sea Held

“— the Haunted Place,” Arlo finished his

sentence.

“I told you not to say that! It probably doesn’t

even exist any more.”

The pair began to walk along the shore. “It

does exist. One of the farmers told me about it.
It’s a ruin — all broken metal and overgrown
trees. Apparently, people used to live there. I
think they still do. And maybe not just people as
well. He told me about a strange creature that’s
there. I mean, how else does this stuff wash up
on our beach?”

“I don’t know, Arlo. It’s the ocean. Maybe it’s

the tide. Who knows? Who even cares?”

“I care,” Arlo replied in a barely audible whisper.

Marion continued, “No matter how hard you

look or how much time you waste wondering,
it’s never going to be anything more than it is.
It’s not like there’s anything living in it! It’s
just full of salty water; I can’t even use that for
crops. Any creature foolish enough to end up in
the ocean would drown.”

6
Chapter One

Arlo turned back towards the water and

stretched his hand out towards the horizon.
“Just take a look out there. How can you see
all that and not spend your days just staring,
thinking, just… wondering about it all?” He
knelt and placed one hand onto the sand, letting
the water rise up over his knuckles before it fell
back away. “I wish we could go in it. Maybe,
one day, I’ll go for a swim.”

“Arlo!” Marion exclaimed. “Don’t even joke about

that. You know we aren’t allowed in there. No
one is.”

Arlo felt a pang of regret in his stomach. He had

meant his words as a joke. He hadn’t meant to
remind Marion of what had happened all those
years ago. For him, the deep, limitless ocean
offered endless possibilities and a feeling of
home. How different it must be for Marion.

A few quiet moments passed between them.

From behind him, Arlo thought he could feel
the tension emanating from Marion begin to
disappear. She took a huge breath. “Now, some
people have jobs, you know. We can’t all be a
beach bum like you.”

7
Secrets the Sea Held

He laughed softly. “Beach bum?”

Marion smiled, seemingly against her better

judgement. “Yes, that’s what your mum calls
you. I think it’s fairly accurate. Now, come
on. Let’s get back to town. Bracken’s on
the warpath.”

Marion led Arlo back over the dunes, across

the wide, open grasslands between the sea and
the town and through a thick patch of forest
to the orchards. She knew every blade of grass
in Blueleaf Basin and was an expert navigator
because of it. Their home town was a sprawling
network of houses, shops and community
buildings. They were set on the shores of the
sea, beside a lake, vast fields and orchards, with
the Three Trees Mountain towering above it all.

As they walked, Arlo briefly pictured the

most outspoken member of the town council:
his long, greying hair tied back in a ponytail
and his weather-beaten face looking more like
cracked leather than skin. Arlo had known
Bracken his whole life and the town looked up

8
Chapter One

9
Secrets the Sea Held

to him as the man in charge of Blueleaf Basin’s

agriculture. Although he was as miserable as
a cold November morning, Arlo admired this
strong and sour man for doing his job with
energy and dedication and for always having
the best for the people of Blueleaf Basin in his
mind. The same could not be said for the person
who followed in his wake. Ryptide, Bracken’s
son, was fourteen, two years older than Arlo
and he never let him forget it. Ryptide was
brash, arrogant and rotten to his core. If Arlo
could get through a day without having to face
the storm cloud that was Ryptide, it was a day
well spent.

“Just through here,” Marion called. She always

seemed to be about two turns ahead of Arlo.
She moved through the trees and grasses with
ease but, because of his extra height, Arlo had
to bow and duck under every stray branch. In
one clearing, he took a short break to gather
a handful of blueberries from a nearby shrub.
The juicy berries made delicious pies and
jam but Arlo liked them best straight from
the bush.

As he raised his hand to his mouth, however, he

10
Chapter One

noticed the small, purple berries were covered

in black spots. He looked more closely at the
blueberry bush and the berries clinging to its
branches. There was a black tinge to both the
leaves and the sweet fruit. Wrinkling his nose,
he dropped them onto the ground.

“Hey! Come on.” Marion had paused ahead of

him. Arlo thought she must have some kind of
psychic power that alerted her whenever he
stopped doing what he was told.

Marion continued to lead Arlo through the trees

until they emerged into one of the town’s wide,
sun-filled orchards. Row upon row of fruit trees
filled the green area. Facing towards the south,
this orchard had sun all day and was used for
the apples that were a staple part of the town’s
diet. To their left, the Three Trees Mountain stood
tall and proud, as always. To their right, small
mounds of earth topped the town’s buildings.

Ahead, Arlo could hear the hoarse whisper of

Bracken’s voice. It was when he lowered his
tone and pitch that Arlo knew he was really
angry. As he and Marion approached, they
caught sight of Bracken and Ephra standing

11
Secrets the Sea Held

face to face, the final scraps of an argument

filling the space between them.

“— is something wrong with the yield. It must

be in the water.” Bracken’s harsh whisper spoke
with all the power of a shout. Ahead of him,
Ephra, leader of the town council, leant heavily
on her walking stick. She was younger than
Bracken, who had the physical presence of a
bear, but had damaged her right foot many
years ago and now, every step caused her pain.

“I’m aware of the problems, Bracken. I do not

require you to point out the obvious,” Ephra
replied coolly.

“I think you do. It must be this new species of

algae that’s been appearing. It’s poisoning the
water. If it gets any worse, our crops will rot.
First, the blueberries and apples. Next, it could
be the potatoes or corn. Come harvest time,
we could be in serious trouble. We need to do
something about it now!”

“You’ll find a solution; you always do. That is

your job, after all.”

12
Chapter One

Bracken did not break eye contact. He merely

ground his teeth.

Ephra allowed the seconds of silence to pass

between them before turning away. At that
moment, she noticed both Arlo and Marion.
Her face lightened. “Children! What a pleasant
surprise.” She closed the distance between them
with three heavy steps, placing an arm on
Marion’s shoulder, and smiled down at them. “I
am so pleased to see you. Let’s go home. It looks
as if there is a storm on the horizon.”

Arlo knew Ephra was right. A thick patch of

cloud had swept across the sky and blotted out
the sun. The air had turned from bright and
clean to thick and heavy. Behind Ephra, Arlo
watched as Bracken took an apple from the tree
and crushed it in his fist. It oozed black juice
over his gloved hand.

Yes, Ephra was right — there was surely a storm

on the horizon.

13
Chapter Two
The storm had grown and hit the island rapidly.
Arlo and Marion had barely managed to make it
to their homes before the rain turned from a thin
mist to a thunderous downpour. It seemed as if
an entire year’s worth of rain had fallen upon
Blueleaf Basin over the course of a single night.
Living on an island meant sudden changes in
the weather were common and Arlo had grown
up with the sounds of rain, thunder and fierce
gales as his lullaby.

Arlo’s mother, Sara, had not been home when

Ephra and Marion walked him back. Arlo knew
his mother trusted him to come and go around
the town as long as he was careful. Ephra, on
the other hand, couldn’t seem to handle not
knowing where Marion was at all times. Marion

14
Chapter Two

rarely talked about her relationship with her

guardian or how she had lost her parents years
ago. What was important was that Ephra took
good care of Marion.

Arlo and his mother came and went as the

day required. When there was someone in
need of medical care in town or if there was a
particularly beautiful sunset, Sara Hook would
take herself off. Now, with the storm lashing,
Arlo knew his mother would be outside, feeling
every raindrop on her skin.

As the evening drew on, the storm showed no

sign of letting up. Arlo found some cooked rice
and chopped up the last remnants of fresh herbs
to run through it. As he ate, he could feel sleep
creeping closer. With a full belly and the patter
of the rain lulling him, he made for his bedroom.
Falling onto the bed, he closed his eyes and
imagined a world far away from his own. He
dreamed of adventure.

The next morning, Arlo woke earlier than he

usually would. The dawn blinked away the final

15
Secrets the Sea Held

grey smudges of early-morning cloud. Swinging

his legs off the side of the bed, he yawned loudly
and rubbed the last traces of sleep from his
eyes. He took in the sight of his bedroom. His
single bed, sunk into a wooden frame, rested
against the left-hand wall. The linen bedcovers
always seemed to keep him cool in the summer
and warm in the winter. Bed was his second
favourite place to sleep after the wild, looking
up at the clear night sky. Ahead of him, his
bedroom was lined with three square windows
that looked down onto the town. His house lay
in the foothills of the Three Trees Mountain and
had a view of the whole of Blueleaf Basin.

Arlo’s room was lit — and heated — by a

device in the ceiling. It poured natural light
and warmth into the room and, as it was
solar-powered, mirrored the actual light and
heat from the sun that day. Arlo could turn it up
or down if he got too cold or hot but, somehow,
the gadget seemed to be able to read his mind
and his need for warmth. He marvelled at the
invention and at the minds that had created
it. In Blueleaf Basin, everyone was an expert
at something.

16
Chapter Two

Arlo felt a chill from the patchwork stone floor

when he walked barefoot across the room so
grabbed his poncho and slipped on a pair of
cork-soled sandals. He swept the thin door back
into the frame and walked through into the
heart of the house.

“Morning, Mum,” Arlo yawned.

From the far side of the room, Sara Hook turned

round and smiled. “Good morning to you too.
You’re up early.” She nodded in the direction of
the window at the first light of the sun peeking
up over the horizon.

“You weren’t here when I got back,” Arlo

remarked.

Over her shoulder, Sara replied, “I took my

imagination for a walk. The storm made me feel
a way I couldn’t quite express.”

Arlo caught sight of a canvas with slashes

of wet paint across its surface. He studied
his mother’s work. It had strokes of blue and
dots of black. There were dappled ripples of grey
and white and it looked like she had taken a

17
Secrets the Sea Held

cutting from the storm and frozen it in time.

Sara Hook was a well-respected member of the

Blueleaf Basin community but had chosen to
move herself and her son into this house on the
edge of the town after Arlo’s dad had passed
away. She went into town sometimes to help
Ephra and other islanders with their medical
needs but that was about it.

Like Marion, Arlo’s mother understood the

natural world and the remedies it could provide.
She was an expert in the medicines of the wild.
Arlo had memories of being small and their old
home in town being abuzz with the charged
conversations of medical apprentices about how
to give help to those who needed it, pungent
aromas from new medicines filling the air. All
this changed, however, when his father fell ill.

It had been quick, which meant his mother

never had the chance to help. It had been quick,
which meant they never really had the chance
to say goodbye. When Arlo looked at his mother,
he sometimes thought the air around her felt
thicker than the rest of the world.

18
Chapter Two

Sara continued, “Anyway, nice to see you up

and about. I’ve got some good news.”

“Oh?”

“First thing, I need you to drop a poultice over

to Marion’s. It’s for Ephra’s leg.”

“I thought you said there was some good

news,” Arlo replied, walking over to his mother
and swiping a freshly baked bread roll from a
basket. Sara playfully swatted his hands away
from the rest of the platter of meats, cheese
and vegetables that she was preparing. “That’s
not for you! I’m preparing this for the council
meeting later.”

“Council meeting? Here? Why?”

“I had word from Ephra this morning. Last

night’s storm caused some damage to the
chamber roof and they can’t hold the meeting
there. Ephra asked; I said yes.”

“But you’re not on the council any more,” Arlo

responded, the confusion telling in his voice.

19
Secrets the Sea Held

“Ephra is not just the leader of the council, Arlo.

More importantly, she is my friend and you
must always help your friends. Why don’t you
grab an apple on your way through town to the
beach?”

Arlo’s ears pricked up. “Beach?”

“Yes, my little beach bum, the good news is that

you’re going to the beach. The council needs
someone to check the shoreline for damage
caused by the storm. I suggested you as I know
how much you like it down there. Although,

20
Chapter Two

goodness knows why. There’s nothing much

there apart from sand and an empty sea.”

“Thanks, Mum!” He gave her a quick peck on the

cheek. Then, before his mother had a chance to
speak again, Arlo snaffled a wedge of cheese off
the table and made for the door.

“Remember the poultice!” she called after him.

Arlo grabbed the small, pungent hessian bag

from the side by the door. He let the door close
heavily behind him as he made his way to
Marion’s. The quicker he could drop off the bag,
the quicker he could get down to the beach and
do some work he actually wanted to do.

Blueleaf Basin was arranged like a spider’s web

with the council chambers, the centre of thought
and decision-making, at its heart. From there,
rows of buildings branched out neatly until
they hit the orchards, waterways and, finally,
the beach and the sea.

The council building was domed, with windows

21
Secrets the Sea Held

on all sides. The door was always open and, often,

the sounds of the council members debating an
issue could be heard drifting out into the street.
There were six council members voted by the
citizens every five years. They each represented
a different part of Blueleaf Basin: Ephra was
the overseer and the council leader; Bracken
represented the farmers and agriculture. Others
spoke for art and culture, education, innovation
and healthcare — that used to be Sara Hook.

Arlo walked past the council chambers on his

way into town and noticed the section of roof
that had fallen in during the storm the previous
night. He smiled to himself as he thought that
no matter who you were, what your position
was or how well designed your buildings were,
Mother Nature would always find a way to
make herself known.

Some way down the street, Arlo stood outside

Marion’s house. It was centrally located in town,
just off the main thoroughfare. It needed to be
close enough for Ephra to walk to the council
chambers. Since her accident, she found moving
around the town hard so the other citizens did
as much as they could to support her. Ephra’s

22
Chapter Two

house had originally belonged to Tyri, a town

architect, but he had happily agreed to move.

Just like all the houses in Blueleaf Basin, it was

of the same size and design. Built into and a
part of the earth, the houses were warmed by
sunshine and kept alive by the people within. It
didn’t matter whether you swept the streets or
were the leader of the town council, everyone
was treated equally.

Arlo opened the door and nearly collided with

Marion as she was walking out.

“Oh! You’ve brought the poultice. Thanks.”

She took the small hessian bag. It was neatly
stitched across one seam and emitted a powerful
smell of all the herbs, flowers and spices inside:
turmeric, ginger, garlic, eucalyptus and more.

“It’s for Ephra’s knee,” Marion explained.

“Something about the wet weather makes it
worse. I’ll make sure she gets it.”

Arlo nodded. He looked idly around Marion’s

house. It was like a neater, more precise version
of his own. “Anyway, see you later.”

23
Secrets the Sea Held

“Don’t tell me you’re going to the learning hub

today? It’s early enough for you to make the
first lesson.”

“Nah, not today.”

“You’ve been saying that for the last few

months,” Marion replied with a laugh.

There were classes and opportunities to learn at

the hub every day but the children of Blueleaf
Basin didn’t have to go. Often, children were
trained on the job in a particular field, like
Marion who was an agricultural apprentice. It
was important to find your role early within
the community and then hone your craft with
the adults. Arlo, however, didn’t feel such a need
to find his place. With the summer weather
making the whole of Blueleaf Basin bloom, he
had decided he would go back to the hub when
the weather turned. Arlo learnt in bursts and
would change his mindset and his interest to
focus on something different when he couldn’t
roam any more. Maybe he would ask to learn
about the farm machinery from Mrs Luard.
Then again, maybe he wouldn’t.

24
Chapter Two

He turned towards the door and began to leave.

“Woah, woah! Hold on there.” Marion grabbed

hold of Arlo’s arm.

“I’ve got work to do.” Arlo took another step

towards the door but Marion ducked under his
arm and blocked the way.

“In that case,” his friend replied, “I’m sure you

won’t mind me coming with you. Just think of
me as your boss.”

Arlo and Marion walked side by side along the

sandy dirt track away from town and down
towards the beach.

“Funny,” Marion said, an air of knowing all

around her. “Today’s ‘work’ seems to be a lot
like yesterday’s ‘work’.”

“I’m sorry if my work is a little too complicated

for you, Marion. We can’t all spend our days
eating apples and talking to caterpillars.”

Marion scoffed as Arlo observed the sand and

the dunes for any sign of damage after the

25
Secrets the Sea Held

storm. He noted pools of water in the rippled

sand along the path. A wicker chair had been
taken by the wind and now lay upturned in the
shallows. When Arlo grabbed it to pull it free of
the pooled water, he felt something sticky cling
to his hand.

“Gross!” he exclaimed, wiping his palm on the

ground.

“That must be the algae Bracken was

talking about,” Marion suggested. She had
crouched a slight distance away and was
observing it with the furrowed brow of
someone who knew what they were doing.
“Interesting. I’ve not seen anything like
this before.”

“It looks…” Arlo didn’t quite have the words.

The algae was thick and slippery; it was shiny
but jet black. Even after wiping his hand in
the dirt, he could still smell the putrid, rotten
stench of it.

Marion talked, mainly to herself. She spoke

aloud to get her thoughts in the right order.
“Algae absorbs carbon dioxide. It helps

26
Chapter Two

the environment. This stuff looks, well, it

just looks—”

“Wrong,” Arlo stated matter-of-factly.

The two observed the algae for a few moments

more in the still pool of water. With the chair
now removed, the algae regrouped and filled
the gap on the water’s surface.

“Let’s have a look at the tide pools. There might

be more of this stuff,” Arlo said.

Marion nodded and the two began to run down

the path, around the dunes and down to the
section of the beach where the tide pools were.
The flat layers of rock jutting out along the shore
hid countless dips, cracks and gullies where
water collected from the sky and the sea. Arlo
and his father used to wander along the shore
looking for treasures. Storms and ferocious tides
would sometimes leave strange objects in the
still pools. Arlo had a small collection under his
bed: odd sheet-like fabrics, rust-stained metals
as well as cracked and chipped materials — like
pottery but harder. They were remnants of a
time or place long since forgotten.

27
Secrets the Sea Held

Arlo leapt onto the lip of one of the pools. He

had done this since he first learnt to walk and
he almost never slipped. Marion stepped more
carefully on and made sure she yelled at Arlo
to slow down whenever he got too far away. He
finally stopped on the edge of the largest pool in
this section of the rocks.

“You see any damage?” Marion asked. “Any

more algae?”

Arlo inspected the water. The colours and shape

of the pool were the same but the sand all
around was pockmarked and blown in strange
clumps due to the high water from the night
before. Inside the water of the pool, there was
no sign of the algae but he thought he saw a
small glimmer of light.

“Hang on. Wait. I think I see something!” It

had been so long since Arlo had found a real
treasure. He reached in to grab it so quickly that
he didn’t even pull up his sleeve. He managed to
wrap his hand around the shimmering object
that felt oddly spongy and pulled it from the
water. The treasure was unlike anything he had
ever found before.

28
Chapter Two

It was slimy.

It wriggled.

It was alive.

29
Secrets the Sea Held

30
Chapter Three
As soon as Arlo took the treasure out of the
water, it wiggled and thrashed and slipped
out of his fingers. He let the strange creature
fall back into the pool. It splashed through the
water’s surface, where its glimmering light
reflected the sun. In a flash, it darted into a
shadowed corner under a rocky lip of the pool.

“What happened?” Marion cried.

“It… it’s alive!”

Marion looked frantically from Arlo to the water.

“Get it out! Get it out! It’s going to drown.”

Arlo got down on his hands and knees and tried

to find the creature. What was it? Maybe it was

31
Secrets the Sea Held

a bird that had been knocked off course by the

storm. Or a small mammal that had taken a fall.
Whatever it was, Arlo needed to get it out before
it was too late. He spotted the creature floating
under the surface. Arlo plunged his hand into
the water but, again, it slipped through his
fingers and got away.

“I can’t get it! It keeps making for the edges.”

Arlo drove his hand in once more but the creature
continued to move, to flop and to flounder in
the water. “Marion, help!”

Arlo’s words snapped Marion into action.

She shook her head and grabbed the leather
binocular case from over her shoulder. She
pulled the clasps free, took out the binoculars
and handed the case to Arlo. For a moment, he
looked at her quizzically.

“Use this,” Marion ordered.

Arlo thrust the case into the water and pushed

through the immediate resistance caused by the
surface. The movement caused the creature to
panic even more as it darted to and fro. With his
other hand, Arlo swished through the water and

32
Chapter Three

tried to guide it inside the makeshift bucket. The

first time, he missed. The second, he trapped the
creature in a corner of the pool and the third
time, he did it.

“I got it!”

Carefully, Marion inched closer. “Well, drain the

water out quickly. It needs to breathe.”

Arlo placed his fingers over the open case and

gently tipped it. The water began to trickle and
then pour before the creature fell against his
fingers. It felt cold and slimy. It flapped around
from head to tail as it tried to suck in air.

Arlo tipped the case back slowly so as not

to hurt it. Then, together, he and Marion
looked inside.

“What do you think it is?”

Marion pulled the case from Arlo’s grasp. She

turned to the direction of the sun so that light
shone on their discovery. “It’s strange. I’ve never
seen anything like it. It’s the same size as some
of the reptiles inland but doesn’t have any legs.

33
Secrets the Sea Held

It’s covered in, hmm…” She peered in farther.

“They appear to be scales, like a snake.”

“Look — it’s trying to make a noise!” Arlo

pointed at the creature whose mouth opened
and closed quickly at first and then less and
less with each passing second.

“Arlo…” Marion said, her eyebrows creased with

concern, “something doesn’t feel right here.”

Arlo looked from the creature to Marion and

then back at the creature. He watched it for a
few seconds as its mouth opened and closed,
opened and closed, each movement taking
slightly longer than the one before it. As the
sun pelted down onto its scales, the strange
movements became fewer and fewer.

“I… I think… I don’t know.” Arlo found it hard

to summon the words to describe what he
was seeing. Thoughts ran through his mind
like a stampeding herd. Each one was an
uncontrollable blur that passed by almost as
soon as it appeared. As he looked at the creature,
an idea began to form that was at once sensible
and, at the same time, impossible.

34
Chapter Three

“I think it needs to go back in the water.”

Marion tipped the lip of her binocular case into

the pool of water. She let it fill slowly at first. As
soon as the water began to envelop the creature,
it reacted almost instantly. It flapped and
splashed the water about as much as it could in
the small space. Once the case was so full that
the water began to splash out of the sides, it
moved with the same energy it had inside the
rock pool. Arlo and Marion just stared.

“It’s in the water,” Arlo stated.

“It is,” Marion responded.

“It’s alive.”

“It appears so.”

“But… it’s in the water?” Arlo’s statement turned

into a question.

Marion held the case in her hands and didn’t

take her eyes away from the creature floating
happily in the water. She simply replied, “Yes.”

35
Secrets the Sea Held

It was all either of them could do to just stare

at what they had found. Some thing, some
living thing, had found its way into water and
was perfectly content there. It didn’t drown. It
didn’t try to get out. It lived in the water.

“This is incredible!” Arlo exclaimed suddenly. “I

mean — this can’t be real, can it? There’s no
life in the ocean. I thought there was no way
anything could breathe under water.”

Marion shook her head in disbelief. “I’ve never

seen anything like it. I’ve never even heard of
anything like it. I… I don’t know what this
thing is.”

“I’ll tell you what it is!” Arlo cried out again.“This

is the best thing to ever happen. There is life in
the ocean, Marion. Life!” He called the last word
at the top of his voice. “Let’s get back to town.
We need to show everyone what we’ve found.”

Marion nodded in agreement. They turned to

walk off the rocks but Marion handed Arlo
the creature and the case before they did. The
weather-beaten rocks were slippery on a good
day. Now, after a night’s heavy rain, and with

36
Chapter Three

the sun in their eyes, they would be hazardous to

anyone but the most experienced beachtrawler.

They made their way to the bottom of the dunes

and carried on up along the worn path leading
to the edge of Blueleaf Basin. Together, they
passed by the small pool containing the strange
algae. It had settled and the black surface now
reflected the brightness of the sun.

Arlo looked between the rot in the water and

the inexplicable new life form in his hands.
He marvelled at the world and its constant
surprises. He could live for a thousand years
and never hope to understand it.

Farther up the track, Arlo turned to Marion.

“Let’s tell Ms Braithwaite. She’ll be so excited.”

“She might know what to do, at least. Maybe

she’s seen something like it on her travels,”
Marion agreed.

Ms Braithwaite was part of the town’s Society

of Teachers and specialised in meditation. She
was also a member of the town’s council. Arlo
always enjoyed their nature walks, where they

37
Secrets the Sea Held

would stop and listen to the waves, learn bird

calls and let the perfume from the flowers fill
their senses. Those were the kind of lessons he
always made time for.

Side by side, Arlo and Marion walked into

town. Ahead, people were bustling from one
building to the next. Groups were engaged in
conversation, some laughing, some with faces
narrowed in fierce debate. In the distance,
wooden wagons were pulled into town by pairs
of horses. The wagons would usually be piled
high with hessian sacks bursting with fresh
produce but today, the sacks were far fewer and
looked much less full.

Arlo looked at Marion. He wanted to speak

but was still full of disbelief at what they
had found. A wash of excitement flushed
through his stomach. Nothing had changed
in Blueleaf Basin for the twelve years he had
been alive. Everything and everyone had a
place and purpose. This discovery was going to
change everything.

The pair took a slightly hidden path to the left

of town. It led them behind the rows of houses.

38
Chapter Three

Arlo could hear the fading sounds of the hustle

and bustle of the morning. They rounded a
patch of trees and came to a fallen boulder. As
they did, something emerged from the dark,
shadowy space behind it and stepped into
their path.

It moved slowly and purposefully as if it had

been lying in wait. The sun was behind it,
covering its features in darkness. When it spoke,
it did so with a rattling tone.

“Arlo,” the shadow said.

A cloud passed overhead, casting a net of

blackness across the world. For the first time,
Arlo could see it was a figure standing in front
of him. It was Bracken’s son, Ryptide. His hair
fell back across his head in loose strands. The
main bulk was lashed together with a cord
but the older boy would push the remaining
strands behind his ears almost on impulse. His
clothes were padded and heavy, made to resist
the long hours and labour in the fields. Until
recently, Ryptide had stood head and shoulders
above Arlo. Although Arlo had recently grown
upwards, he was still thin and knew that a

39
Secrets the Sea Held

strong shove would send him tumbling to the

ground. Ryptide was now only slightly taller
than Arlo but was broad from working with
his father, Bracken, in the fields and orchards
around town. Worst of all, he had a nasty habit
of turning up to torment Arlo at the worst
possible times.

“And you, Martha?” Ryptide said, turning

towards Marion.

Where Arlo could not speak, Marion had no

problem. “It’s Marion, actually,” she responded,
lifting up her chin and puffing out her chest.
“You’ll do well to remember that when I’m
leader of the council.”

Ryptide scoffed and turned back to face Arlo.

“What’s that?” he growled, tilting his head
down towards the binocular case.

“Oh, uh, it’s nothing,” Arlo mumbled, his words

slightly stunted. He moved the case so that it
was behind his back, splashing some more of
the water onto the ground.

Ryptide moved closer towards Arlo, who

40
Chapter Three

remained still. “Give it here and I’ll decide

whether it’s nothing or not.”

Arlo felt his throat begin to tighten as Ryptide

got closer. There was something about Ryptide
that had terrified Arlo since he was little.

“It’s none of your business!” Marion snapped.

Without a word, Ryptide lashed out and pushed

Marion to the ground. She landed on her backside
with a thump, falling in a small patch of mud
that was still damp from the night’s rain.

“Hey!” Arlo cried automatically. He went to

Marion, placing the binocular case on the floor.
He offered to help her up and she took his hand
gladly. When they were both back on their feet,
Marion picked up the case but not before Ryptide
had taken a good, long look inside.

“What is that?” he said incredulously. He stood

in their path, next to the boulder. If they were
to get to Ms Braithwaite, they would have to
find a way past him.

“Like I said, it’s none—”

41
Secrets the Sea Held

42
Chapter Three

Ryptide reached for the case but Marion managed

to swerve to the side. He threw an arm towards
her but she dodged his first strike and then his
second. Arlo felt something instinctive switch
on inside him. Without thinking about what
he was doing, he charged at Ryptide, knocking
him off balance and into the boulder. In the few
seconds it took for Ryptide to regather himself,
Arlo and Marion dodged round him and headed
back up the valley. As Arlo dared to look back,
he was relieved to see that Ryptide was not in
pursuit. Instead, he saw him wipe something
dark and red off his eyebrow, turn back towards
the path and run off in the direction of the
orchards.

Something inside Arlo told him this was not

over. It was only just beginning.

43
Chapter Four
Deciding they couldn’t risk Ryptide cutting them
off or surprising them again — not with such
an important treasure in their possession — the
pair ran the short distance back to Arlo’s home
on the edge of town.

As they walked through the door with the

strange creature in its makeshift home, they
found Arlo’s mother standing over a pot full of
boiling herbs and roots. There was a pungent,
earthy smell that was somewhere between
grass, dirt and the thick air after a storm. A fire
was burning in the hearth and all around the
room, easels and half-finished paintings stood
as proud monuments to their creator. Ceramic
pots lined the shelves in the circular space;
hand-stitched sheets and clothes hung from

44
Chapter Four

the drying rack above the sink.

When they entered, Arlo’s mother didn’t

seem to notice they were there. It was only
Marion closing the door that broke her
concentration.

“Oh!” Sara Hook said with a tone of pleasant

surprise. “You gave me a shock. And hello to
you, Marion. Nice of you to pay us a visit.”

“Hi, Sara,” Marion replied, smiling. She gripped

the leather case containing the creature to
her chest.

“What have you got there?” Sara asked. Arlo’s

mother was loyal and kind. Ephra always
said she couldn’t want for a better friend than
Sara Hook.

“We found something. I… we don’t know what

it is but it’s amazing.” Arlo moved to the large
kitchen table near the hearth in the centre of
the room. He gestured to Marion to join him and
she did, placing the case onto the time-worn
wooden top. On the far side of the kitchen, Sara
wiped her hands on a cloth.

45
Secrets the Sea Held

“Something from the storm? I hope the damage

wasn’t too—” When she peered into the case,
her words stopped dead.

“Where did you find this?” his mother inquired.

Her voice had changed as if with the flick of a
switch. The friendly and welcoming tones had,
almost instantly, been replaced by a gravelly,
choked whisper. It sent a rush of icy water
through Arlo’s veins.

“It was in a tide pool,” he responded softly.

Seconds of cold silence passed and Arlo felt
aware that Marion was not speaking. He could
almost feel her shrink away, eclipsed by the
heavy atmosphere in the room.

Sara raised her hand and touched it to the

surface of the water. She did so with tenderness.
The only sounds in the room were the low
rolling boil of the herbs and the thumping of
Arlo’s own heart.

“Arlo, I need you to forget all about this,” Sara

suddenly announced as she carefully picked
up the leather case and moved away from
the table.

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Chapter Four

Arlo felt stunned. Something was wrong.

He turned to Marion.“Maybe you should go. I’ll

catch up with you later.”

Marion nodded, turned and quickly left through

the front door.

“Mum! Mum! What are you doing?” Arlo followed

her out of the kitchen and into the hallway with
the bedrooms, larder and workshop coming off
it. She held the leather case with the creature
in one hand and used the other to open and
close doors. She was looking for something but
almost as if she had no idea what it was.

“This isn’t something you need to know about,

Arlo. Please trust me when I say it will be better
if you forget you ever saw this.” Then, all of a
sudden, she stopped and turned. “Marion. I need
you to talk to Marion. She cannot tell Ephra. The
council is due here for a meeting very shortly.
We have to make sure none of this gets out. Did
you hear me, Arlo? Talk to Marion.”

“She’s gone, Mum.”

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Secrets the Sea Held

His mother ran her fingers through her hair.

“Arlo!” Her voice was stressed and high-pitched.

Arlo wanted to protest. He replayed the last few

minutes in his mind and could not work out
how everything had gone so horribly wrong.
He wanted answers but now his mother was
frantic and it felt like the greatest thing to
happen in Blueleaf Basin for years was being
literally torn out of his grasp. From behind him,
a loud thumping echoed through the halls. It
was fast, heavy and frenzied.

Sara looked him in the eyes. “Arlo. Tell me no

one saw you.”

The heavy front door flew open, crashing against

its frame.

“Sara!” Bracken called. His voice gnarled like

sawing through metal.

Sara Hook quickly opened Arlo’s bedroom door

and placed the leather case containing the
creature inside. Then, she moved with purpose
back towards the kitchen. Arlo hovered behind
her, his eyes flickering between the object in his

48
Chapter Four

bedroom and the figure standing in the kitchen.

Bracken looked as angry as he had the previous
day when he had been arguing with Ephra.

“What is the meaning of this, Bracken?” his

mother demanded.

The kitchen of Arlo’s house was circular with a

large, domed ceiling. It was the biggest room
in the house and had areas for cooking, eating,
for his mother’s painting and space left over
for Arlo to read or sort through any treasures
he found on the beach. The hearth in its centre
produced enough heat to warm them both all
day. Now, the sweat creeping down his back
made Arlo feel cold to his bones.

Bracken didn’t break stride as he marched

towards Arlo’s mother. His eyes were full of
menace. Arlo was frozen to the spot but Sara
held out her arms, blocking Bracken’s path
towards them — a protector.

“Don’t pretend to be clueless, Sara. I know

all about the—” It was at that moment that
Bracken noticed Arlo, his tall, thin frame still
visible. “I know it’s here.”

49
Secrets the Sea Held

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you

have a problem with something, I suggest you
take it to Ephra and we’ll go from there.”

“Ephra will be here shortly. But until then, let’s

try and figure this out together.” His tone had
no sense of kindness. The twitch in his smile hid
a thinly veiled scowl.

Sara paused but her face remained stoical and

her eyes unflinching. “I can assure you, Bracken,
that I have no idea what you are talking
about.”

Arlo looked between his mother and Bracken. As

she spoke, Arlo almost believed what she was
saying. She spoke with such calm confidence
that he found himself doubting the fact he knew
that the creature sat just on the other side of his
bedroom door.

“He’s got it, Dad! I saw him with it.” Only then
did Arlo notice Ryptide standing at the rear of
the kitchen obscured by Bracken. Almost as if
he were his father’s shadow, Ryptide leant over
Bracken’s shoulder before shying back away.

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Chapter Four

51
Secrets the Sea Held

“Well, let’s just ask him, shall we? Arlo, where

is the creature?”

Arlo’s mind transcended the room. It drifted

through the open window and down towards
the shore. The wash of the waves fell over him.
He imagined himself standing, with his feet
buried into the sand, watching and wishing. He
knew that when the tide rolls onto the sand,
the water consumes it. Then, it recedes and is
forced to retreat. The battle is never-ending. As
Arlo opened his eyes and saw his mother and
Bracken’s eyes locked together, he knew this
was the same.

The afternoon sunlight beamed down outside

the open front door. A shadow flicked across it
as the short frame of Marion skittered inside.
Ryptide turned and looked at her in disgust. A
few paces behind, Ephra followed. Arlo knew
from the way her walking stick clacked against
the stone. She lumbered into the room, leaning
heavily against her stick. Inside the room, Ephra
made her way to Marion’s side and supported
herself with a hand on the girl’s shoulder. The
effort of making her way to the meeting on the
outskirts of town had taken its toll.

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Chapter Four

“Right. That is enough!” Ephra commanded.

“Sara. Arlo. Are you both all right?”

“I’m fine. We’re fine.”

“We need to sort this out, Ephra,” Bracken

interrupted. “There’s no time for cups of tea
or pleasantries. Do you understand what this
means for the town?”

“Do not speak another word. This is not for the

children. The other members of the council will
be here shortly. We will discuss it when they
arrive. Until then” — she looked at Bracken —
“cool off.”

Ephra then turned to the children with a steely

gaze. “Children, we need you to step outside the
house while we have our meeting.”

“Why can’t we be in the meeting? I mean — we

found the thing!” Marion protested.

Ephra’s gaze softened a little as she looked upon

the indignant faces of the two children but she
said no more. Arlo and Marion knew there was
no point in arguing any further. Slumping their

53
Secrets the Sea Held

shoulders, they began to trudge out of the back

door when they heard Ephra speaking to Sara
in a hushed whisper.

“Is it true?” Her words were filled with a hint

of something Arlo had never heard from her
before. Worry.

“It’s true, Ephra. They found a fish.”

54
Chapter Five
Fish.

Arlo thought about the sea. Nothing lived

there. That was the way things were. How
could anything live in water? That was what
he had always believed. His mind whirred with
questions and his mouth moved mechanically,
pronouncing the strange word his mother had
called the creature.

He knew there were things being hidden from

him: secrets that were not being spoken. He was
just as much a member of Blueleaf Basin as they
were. Why wasn’t he allowed to hear about it?
But then, that was the way it had been for as
long as he could remember: everyone trying
to preserve the apparent peace and tranquillity

55
Secrets the Sea Held

of their island community.

He stood outside the house, seething, as the

other members of the council began to filter
through the door of his home and out of sight.
Some offered the children a friendly nod; others
gave a quizzical look as to why they were there.

An idea struck him. He waited until the remaining

council members had gone inside and then his
body moved on instinct, as if pulled by invisible
threads. He turned back towards the green,
moss-and-grass-covered roof of his house. As it
was curved, pulling himself up was relatively
easy.

“What are you doing?” he heard Marion say,

her voice aghast.

As he climbed, clumps of wet earth came away

but it did not stop him. He turned and spoke
over his shoulder, “I’m doing what I shouldn’t.
Come on.”

Behind, Marion scrambled after him, pushing

on until they both lay prone directly above
the kitchen. Below them, the council’s heated

56
Chapter Five

exchange echoed up the metal flue above the

hearth. The first words Arlo heard clearly were
the end of a command.

“— until your son leaves.” It was Ephra.

“Without him, I would never have known about

the fish. This council cannot continue under a
cloud of lies and whispers. We must act now!”

Arlo’s mother’s voice drifted up in response,

“Bracken, our children have been told to wait
outside. They found the fish and brought it to us
in the spirit of discovery. Can you say Ryptide
has the same goal?”

Although Arlo could not see Bracken’s face, he

knew it would be set in a scowl. “Ryptide does
what I say.”

Ephra spoke, “Then, we suggest you tell him to

also wait outside.” The final two words were
spoken as if they were sentences on their own. A
few seconds passed as a low, guttural argument
followed by the sound of a slamming door filled
the house. After the heated silence, the council
meeting resumed.

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Secrets the Sea Held

Arlo held his breath, praying that Ryptide didn’t

look up as he exited the house. Cautiously, he
turned his head and, with relief, saw the older
boy march away down the path.

“We all remember what happened years

ago,” Arlo then heard his mother say. “The
consequences of that discovery continue to
haunt this town.”

“It’s not the same as back then, Sara.” This

was Bracken again, although his voice sounded
softer than before. “Do you have any idea what
this discovery means? This could solve all
our problems.”

“No!” Ephra’s voice cried out. “We will not

make the same mistakes as last time. Bracken, I
forbid it!”

Arlo could hear muttering from the other council

members.

“You won’t drive me out too. I won’t be so easily

ignored,” Bracken declared, his voice measured
and controlled but filled with fire.

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Chapter Five

59
Secrets the Sea Held

“What happened to her has no bearing on this

discovery,” Ephra protested.

‘Drive me out too.’ Who was Bracken talking

about?

“It has everything to do with the discovery!”

Bracken cried. “She was driven off this council
and out of this town for doing what we all
thought was right. Perhaps we could find
her and—”

“I don’t want to hear any more about Pepper!”

Ephra’s words were shrill and pained.

Arlo looked at Marion, whose face mirrored

his own confusion. He motioned to speak, to
question but below them, in the house, the
voices continued.

“Let’s get to the facts,” Sara urged. “Earlier

today, our children discovered a fish.”

A ripple of conversation broke out from the

council members. Arlo picked up snippets of
disbelief and shock as well as concern.

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Chapter Five

“Where did they find it?” a soft voice asked. Arlo

placed it as Henrietta Bore, one of the oldest
people in their community. The other members
of the council had learnt the ways of debating
and decision-making from her. As such, her
voice held a special and well-respected place in
council summits.

“In a tide pool, down at the beach,” Sara

confirmed.

“Can we be sure it’s the same? That it’s actually

a… fish?” another voice asked. The rattling tones
had an unsure quality.

In the open space at the centre of the house,

Ephra continued, “We all remember the last
time something was discovered and we know
what happened due to our haste to find out
more. I agree that we need to know what this
means but nothing — and I cannot stress this
enough — nothing can happen until we have
conducted some thorough research.”

“Research!” Bracken cried. “We cannot wait for

research. You told me to find a solution to the
algae problem. This is the solution! We know

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Secrets the Sea Held

there must be more out there. If we don’t get

back out and start harvesting more of these fish
for food, the town may not have enough food to
go around.”

More? Harvesting? Arlo couldn’t believe what

he was hearing!

“I won’t hear any talk of going into the water.

We cannot expose our citizens to that level of
unnecessary danger again!” he heard Ephra
reply. “We need to dissect this specimen first
before taking any further decisions.”

“Dissect! Why would they want to do that?

To dissect the fish, they would have to kill it
first. How could they kill something so special?”
Marion gasped.

Arlo leant in towards the small metal chimney

as close as he could without scalding his ear. He
wanted to see what his mother would say.

“Can you hear—” He turned to Marion but she

was gone. “Marion?” Arlo shuffled back, looking
for his friend over the lip of the house. He heard
her before he saw her. The back door to his house

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Chapter Five

flew open and Marion came storming out. In

her hand was something dark and shining in
the midday sun.

It was the leather case containing the fish.

“Arlo!” Marion called.

Arlo released his hands and slid down the

roof. His sandalled feet took chunks of moss
with them, leaving behind him two tracks of
stripped earth. He landed with a thump. He
looked at Marion and the case in her hands.
In the water, he could see the fish turning
in small circles. The words of his mother, of
Bracken, Ephra and the council rang through
his head.

“We can’t let them hurt it,” Marion declared.

Arlo looked out into the distance, far away from

home. “Let’s go!”

Arlo and Marion were halfway down the hill

when they heard a voice calling.

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Secrets the Sea Held

“They’re getting away with the fish!”

Arlo dared to look over his shoulder to where he

saw Ryptide standing in the dark frame of the
back door. In the seconds that followed his cry,
Bracken, Sara and the other council members
also came into view, with Ephra a few moments
behind. Ryptide must not have strayed far after
he left the house.

“Keep going!” Marion urged. They had gone off

the main path into town and were now taking
heavy footsteps into the turned earth of one of
the potato fields. In the distance, there was a
line of trees that would provide some way of
hiding but the troughs of raked-up soil made
their footsteps leaden.

“Get back here!” a voice called. Arlo turned to

see Ryptide in pursuit. He was thundering down
the hillside. His steps seemed to cover twice the
distance as he closed the gap between them.
Behind Ryptide, Arlo could see faded shadows
raising their arms, pointing in what could
only be a heated argument. For him, the only
concern was to get as far away from the council
as possible.

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Chapter Five

“Marion, it’s Ryptide. He’s coming!”

Marion looked back and her face showed a brief

moment of fear. Her skin was flushed and sweaty
as the effort of pushing through the thick mud
wore down on her. “I can’t get… I can’t go any
faster!”

Arlo knew if they carried on in a straight race,

Ryptide would catch them. He would take the
fish and there was nothing he or Marion could
do to stop him.

He closed his eyes and built a map in his mind.

Ahead of them were more and more fields with
crops. The mud would be thick and the going
would be slow. Turning back was out of the
question: all that lay there was capture and
the end of the fish’s life. Up the Three Trees
Mountain would be too hard a climb with
Ryptide in pursuit. This left only one solution.

“We have to get to the river.”

“But we can’t. It doesn’t go anywhere.”

“It goes to one place.” Arlo reached out for the

65
Secrets the Sea Held

leather case containing the fish and Marion

handed it over to him gladly. She would need all
the strength she could muster to push through
the sodden earth and make it to the river.

With gravity helping them down and the wind

at their backs, Arlo and Marion reached the
bottom of the hill quickly. Arlo’s first steps out
of the field were as light as air in comparison to
those that had come before it. They were on the
edge of Blueleaf Basin and knew they needed
to turn left and head towards the river that cut
through the town.

Locals called the town Blueleaf Basin for the

trees that lined its edge. The blueleaf honeysuckle
tree stood about twice as tall as Arlo and had
small, blue, oval leaves and red berries during
the summer. Despite its height, the blueleaf had
branches and an abundance of leaves almost
all the way to ground level. They would make
excellent cover for anyone trying to hide within.

As they stopped to catch their breath, Arlo

looked behind them and realised there was
no sign of Ryptide. At the top of the hill, the
shapes of the council had been almost entirely

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obscured. They were on their own.

“What now?” Marion said, panting lightly.

Arlo took her hand in his own and, together,

they ran along the outskirts of the town. They
reached the line of blueleaf trees and shielded
their eyes as they pushed through the thicket
and onto the bank of the river. Water flowed
steadily away from town and along the left
side of the Three Trees Mountain. A few paces
upstream there was a small jetty where a
rickety, old rowing boat lay in the bend of the
river. Used by the town for transporting goods,
it was moored with a loose cord.

It was their only hope.

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The crooked, weather-torn form of the old rowing
boat did not offer much in the way of protection
from the elements. The sun was beginning to set
and evening was drawing in. They had travelled
for many miles on the river. Arlo did not know
how long they had been travelling nor did he
know how far it was to their destination. All
he knew was that he felt cold. From the way
she lay, bundled up with her arms across her
chest, he could see that Marion was cold too.
It was a cloudless sky and what they traded in
comfort they made up for in beauty. An endless
expanse of sleeping stars began to emerge in the
darkness above.

Arlo had wedged the leather case containing

the fish between a broken seat plank. The hardy

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creature seemed to be comfortable for now. Yet,

the more Arlo looked at it in the leather case,
he couldn’t help but think it was not meant to
be trapped in such a small space. Looking at the
fish made Arlo think of his life on the island and
how standing on the shore had always felt like
the edge of the world. The fish showed him this
was not the case. Another world was out there
all along.

Despite the effort of rowing, the cold surrounding

him sent a surge of doubt coursing through his
veins. Was this a mistake? Was the fish really
worth it? Arlo shifted in his spot and felt the
balance of the boat in the gentle-flowing water
unsettle. Marion woke up with a start.

“Arlo! What’s happening?”

“Sorry. I moved.”

“Where are we going?”

Arlo pretended not to hear Marion’s question.

He remembered how his words on the beach
had caused Marion to remember something she
spent every day trying to forget. How could he

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tell her that the river led to the Haunted Place?

How could he say their only hope was the place
where Marion lost everything? He simply said,
“It’s OK. Go back to sleep.”

As the hours passed, Arlo paused rowing and

marvelled at how the landscape had changed
from the flat, agricultural land of his home town
to wild ruggedness. In his twelve years, he had
never ventured farther than the outskirts of the
town. Now, miles away from home, he couldn’t
believe the difference. Even in the darkness, he
could make out the thick forest of trees that
lined the edge of the river. Since discovering
the fish that morning, he had begun to wonder
what other creatures might exist that he had
never encountered before. Clearly, the council
members knew more about this than they would
admit.

Suddenly, the weight of the day felt heavy

against him. He placed the oar down and closed
his eyes.

Arlo was pulled from sleep and thrown into the

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bottom of the boat as it crashed and swerved.

Marion thumped against the side. The case
containing the fish was dislodged from its
position, water spilling out onto the splintered
wooden boards.

The deep water of the river had been replaced

by a bank of sand rising sharply from below.
The nose of their vessel had caught in the silt.
They were stuck.

Arlo leapt over the side and into the shocking

cold of the river. His feet plunged through the
water with a splash and then began to sink
into the mud and sand. Clouds of silt bloomed
underfoot and a thick, putrid smell came from
the glassy surface of the water. With all his
might, he heaved the small rowing boat but it
was stuck as if immersed in glue.

“Grab the oar, Marion,” he commanded.

“See if you can use it to push against the
bank.”

Together, the pair pushed — Arlo with his hands

and Marion with the oar — to try and free the
boat from its position. Gradually, they felt it

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ease away and, finally, slide off the sand and

back into the water.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Arlo was

clambering back inside when he heard Marion’s
strangled cry. “Arlo, look!” He paused, hanging
half in, half out of the boat, and followed the
direction of Marion’s finger. Through the haze
of the early-morning mist, he could see the
water churning against a line of jagged rocks
up ahead. There was no way to stop it. The
boat was now heading straight towards a line
of rocks that looked like serrated teeth.

“Marion, get out of the boat, now!” he urged,

falling back into the icy water. “Now!”

The boat was inching closer and closer to

the rocks. Marion, her eyes wide with panic,
stumbled and scrambled over the side of the
boat.

“The fish!”

Arlo stretched his arms into the boat and

scooped up the case. Then, the pair splashed
through the water and watched helplessly as

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their boat carried on down the river and into

the rapids. In seconds, it was sliced, gouged and
torn to matchsticks.

Lying safely at the water’s edge, Arlo let himself

breathe and allowed the adrenaline to leave his
body. For a few moments, his senses were dulled
to all the sounds and sensations around him.
That was until the morning sun peeked through
the canopy of trees above and warmed his face
before disappearing behind a cloud.

By his side, Marion finally spoke. “Well… what

now?”

Arlo closed his eyes. That was about all the

answer he could give.

Arlo and Marion trudged through the

waterlogged embankment of the Three Trees
River. The blueleaf trees that lined the river’s
edge were hard to push through. This far
downstream, they were thick and wild, ferocious
and untamed. By his side, Marion finally found
her voice.

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“Arlo, I think something’s wrong with the fish.

I think it’s dying.”

Arlo made up the short distance to Marion’s side.

He cupped his hands over the leather case to
block out the light. Inside, the fish was almost
still, only moving when Arlo or Marion flicked
the side of the case.

“What can we do? Maybe it’s hungry. We could

give it some food.” Arlo’s own stomach growled
and he realised it had been almost twenty-four
hours since he had eaten.

“We don’t know what it eats,” Marion replied.

“We don’t even really know what it is.”

She was right as always. All they knew about

the creature was that it lived in the water and
its name — fish. Even thinking of the word felt
strange and alien to him. But then, the world
outside Blueleaf Basin felt the same: strange,
alien, unknown. He only knew about the
wildness beyond the mountain from the stories
and hushed rumours in town.

“I think this river leads to the Haunted Place,”

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he eventually said, telling her what he had

known all along. In Arlo’s mind, he imagined the
Haunted Place was everything Blueleaf Basin
was not. It was unknown; it was opportunity;
it was adventure. It was a place full of treasures
and what greater treasure could there be than
life in the sea? But now, cold, hungry and
struggling for direction, Arlo didn’t feel like he
knew how to begin to guide them through the
wilderness. How could you find a place you
weren’t sure existed? In the water, the fish was
not responding to anything they tried to rouse
it. He knew Marion was right. If they could not
find somewhere or something to help the fish, it
would surely die.

“I know, Arlo. I also know there’s a reason we

don’t go there.”

“I think there’s more out there than they’ve

told us, Marion. The Haunted Place — Ephra’s
been there. She has seen what lies behind the
mountain. It’s why—”

“It’s why we don’t go in the water,” Marion

replied bitterly, “and why…” her voice stuttered,
“...why my parents are dead.”

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The air became heavy. Arlo knew that they

had died in a terrible accident out at sea when
Marion was just a baby. She never talked about
them.

“Marion, I—”

“Don’t,” she said. “Ephra told me that she

recommended my parents to the council. It was
a project — she won’t tell me what the project
was — but they were chosen to be the ones to
start it. My parents went to the Haunted Place
because of Ephra.”

The two walked along the muddy earth as the

sun danced through the canopy of leaves above
them. Marion spoke gently as if repeating a
well-rehearsed story — a tale before bedtime.

“But they were lost. A wave took them. That’s

why we can’t go in the water, Arlo. That’s why I
am always coming to collect you from the beach.”

Arlo choked on the dryness of his throat.

“I can’t lose you too…” she murmured, her

eyes downcast.

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Marion always had the answer to every question.

She was a council leader in waiting and made
Arlo better for being around her. For the first
time, she seemed small. He wanted to give her a
hug but knew what she needed more than that
was for him to lead them somewhere safe —
and the farther they got from Blueleaf Basin,
the safer the fish would be. He took her hand.

“Let’s go.”

They beat their way along a dense mud path.

When their feet hurt with each step, the
ground began to give way to a different texture
underfoot. The mud became hard stone, darker
than any rock or mineral Arlo had seen before.
It was as black as coal but with flecks of colour:
faded yellow and white.

The morning had drawn on and, now, heat

beamed down on their backs. Ahead of them,
trees, shrubs and undergrowth sprung up in
huge clumps and patches. To their right, the
Three Trees Mountain overlooked their journey
like a wise, infinite guardian.

They pushed on along the uneven track. As

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they rounded a corner, a clear, fresh breeze cut

across the ground, taking dirt and gravel with
it. Through a gap in the trees, the sun caught
Arlo in the face. He raised a hand to cover his
eyes. As his vision adjusted, he saw something
so strange, so out of his world, that he felt like
he might never fully understand it.

The blackened road led out into a wide, flat

area, its surface the same texture. Huge clumps
of earth and rusted metal erupted from the
ground. Like a thicket of brambles, weeds, shrubs
and shoots cut through the metal frames.

To the left, the skeletons of buildings rose out

of the prevailing wild all around. Light pierced
through square hollows in the walls. But what
drew Arlo’s eye most of all was the reflected
light bouncing off the largest building of all.
It had curved edges and a rough dome on its
top. A large, claw-shaped section had collapsed
in the centre. In the distance, Arlo heard the
lapping of waves.

“Marion… I think we might be here.”

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Chapter Seven
The Haunted Place was a relic trapped in time.
The crooked angles and faded colours made it
seem to Arlo like he was viewing it through a
misted and cracked mirror. The buildings were
broken and dented. The paths and roads were
fractured and had seams where plants and trees
grew through them. There were strange, twisted
structures Arlo did not recognise, their rusty
metal frames so intertwined with nature that
it was hard to tell where one finished and the
other began.

The place was eerily quiet.

Unlike Blueleaf Basin, with its constant hustle

and bustle of wagons, conversations and sounds
of daily life, the Haunted Place was devoid of

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any noise. With each step, Arlo felt like he was

stamping on something that could never be
replaced.

A treasure of the land.

“The Haunted Place,” Marion whispered. Saying

the name out loud made it real. They had
travelled throughout the night and were as far
away from home as they had ever been. Now,
all that lay ahead was the unknown.

“There has to be something here. There has

to be.”

The morning sun arched its way across the sky

to a point where the intense, orange beams hit
the curved roof of the largest building of all. The
roof’s reflective material sent splintered shards
of sunlight in all directions. Arlo and Marion
walked across the reedy ground towards the
building. It was unlike anything either had ever
seen before: a sheet wall of glass with a curved,
metallic roof — a frozen wave.

A tall, proud pine tree had pushed the artificial

structure to the side. The years had allowed

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nature to reclaim the earth on which this

building had been erected. What looked like
the front door had collapsed in on itself. There
was debris all around from where a section of
the glass had disintegrated under the weight
of time. Marion noticed a partial sign on the
front of the building. Arlo spotted it too, just
as Marion spoke the word aloud. It was the
second part of a board: the rest had been taken,
destroyed or worn away over the years.

“AQUARIUM.”

Arlo mouthed the word but it felt as clumsy on

his tongue as the word ‘fish’. He felt like he was
discovering a new language.

“What does it mean?”

Marion’s eyes narrowed. “Look at this part of

the word: ‘aqua’ means water or the sea.”

“And the other bit?”

“I’m not sure.”

The rubble had left a narrow space between the

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remaining sections of wall. Arlo dared to step

closer and found it was just wide enough for a
single person to fit through.

He raised a hand to cover his eyes and got a

full view of the strange, new world they found
themselves in. “This way,” he beckoned. His
words showed a confidence he did not feel.

Flat, panelled boards had been planted into

the ground and were painted with pictures
of unusual creatures. The floor was made of
once-smooth stone that surrounded a large
hole in its centre. Above, a model of a
Goliath-like creature hung from the ceiling. The
metal wires that bound it had snapped on one
end so a section had collapsed into the floor,
cracking it in all directions.

“What is this place?” Arlo wondered aloud.

Marion looked around. Arlo could see her

mind whirring as she took in the details of the
unfamiliar, new place. He could see her piecing
together the known and the unusual to find a
way to make a connection. “Look down there!”
She pointed to the dark space of the floor below.

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When the light caught the right place, Arlo could

see water. “Maybe it’s a place to keep water.”

“Maybe,” Arlo agreed, moving away from

Marion to the far side of the room. He edged
closer to one of the large, rectangular boards
that seemed rooted to the ground. It was cold,
translucent and seemed stronger than glass.
Arlo rapped his knuckles across it and there was
a dull vibration. He had never seen any material
like it. Whatever it was, it was built to last. On
its surface, Arlo could see images of strange and
mysterious creatures.

One was scaly with what looked like a shield or

a wedge of some kind of its back. Another was
long with pointed wings and rows of knife-like
teeth. A third looked like a sponge, a kind of
ball, but with strings or ropes falling away from
all angles. They were the types of images you
only saw in the twilight before sleep fully took
you. But, mostly covered by a tangle of hanging
vines, Arlo did recognise one small, glimmering
creature with its mouth hanging slightly open.

“Or maybe it’s where they kept the fish.”

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On the far side of the hole in the floor, Arlo and

Marion discovered a set of wide steps leading
down to the room below. They were metal and
jagged along the edge. Cautiously, they took
them until they were almost underground.

When they stepped onto the lower floor, it was

soft and spongy. Every move made an audible
splash and Arlo’s feet were soaked instantly.

“I can’t see much down here, Arlo.”

It took several moments for Arlo’s eyes to

adjust to the dim level of light. There were
glass-fronted tanks lining each of the walls.
They seemed to blur into the world beyond
them. Arlo edged closer, placed his hand on
their cool surface and saw they were filled with
foggy, murky water.

By each of the glass tanks was some kind of

plaque. Marion stepped on instinct to the tank
closest to her. The glass was dirty and smeared
with many years’ worth of grime. Arlo watched
her run her hand across its surface and what
came off was a mix of dried salt and grease.

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He moved to join her and read the plaque next

to the glass front of the tank.

Red Lionfish: Pterois volitans

At nearly 40cm long, the red lionfish is one of the most
venomous fish in the ocean. With a diet that includes
small fish, shrimps and crabs, the red lionfish could
soon have a big impact, wiping out whole species and
upsetting, disrupting and even eradicating natural
food chains. Native to tropical waters in the Pacific
and Indian oceans, the red lionfish can

“Marion,” Arlo uttered, “what does any of this

even mean? Shrimps? Crabs? I don’t know
what those are. What’s a pa-ci-fic ocean?” Arlo
was frustrated. He was scared. This place, these
words, they were undoing everything he knew
about the world.

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Marion leant to get a closer look at the plaque

with the writing on. Beneath the words Arlo had
read, there was a section that had been broken
or snapped long ago. But, underneath that,
there was another section and the words were
just visible. Marion read it aloud, stumbling
over some of the strange, new words.

Due to overfishing and oceanic pollution, many

species of fish continue to decline. In 2020 alone, 16
species were declared extinct.

Marion wiped her forehead. “This place,

whatever it is, has a lot to do with fish. Maybe
there’s different types of fish or maybe our fish
changes into what we see here. Either way, I
think our best bet for keeping it alive is to get it
in one of these tanks. Agreed?”

Arlo couldn’t think of anything else. He wasn’t

sure of anything any more so he just nodded
silently. He turned and inspected the tank next
to the red lionfish plaque once again. Marion
joined him in looking for a way to open it.

As they looked, however, the tank’s glass front

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exploded. Water gushed out onto their faces

and bodies, knocking them to the ground. They
landed hard on their backs and Marion was only
just able to keep the fish safely inside its case.

Arlo opened his eyes and saw the black eyes of

Ryptide staring down at him. On the ground, in
front of the tank, lay a rock.

“Give me that fish!”

Arlo pushed himself up but Ryptide shoved him

down to the ground with the tip of his shoe.
Marion tried to pull herself away but he did
the same to her. They were both weak and the
older boy had obviously come prepared. He had
a backpack and clothes made for travelling long
distances.

Water continued to pour from the broken tank.

It seeped through their clothes, soaking them
and chilling them to their bones.

“Wasn’t hard to find you,” Ryptide sneered as

if reading Arlo’s mind. He walked to Marion
and took the fish from her. Whatever fight she
had left was gone. “Took a boat and followed

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you straight down. We need this fish for our

survival. My father says so. He won’t go against
the wishes of the council but I will. I’m doing
what my father won’t do. I’m doing what
everyone else is too scared to do.”

Arlo tried to stand but Ryptide shoved him back

down into the freezing water. A muddy, rotted
smell began to fill Arlo’s nostrils. As his ears
dipped under the water, Arlo thought he could
hear his own heart thumping. The sound was
loud: clunking, clanking in a slow beat.

As the water splashed over his mouth and into

his nose, he began to choke. Ryptide stepped
over him, releasing him from the weight of his
boot.

“Now, I’m going to take this fish and I don’t

expect you to follow me. You can try but you
won’t like what happens if you do.”

Arlo rolled his head to the side to watch as

Ryptide made for the jagged steps out of the
aquarium. The older boy paused briefly and
turned back towards them.

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“Sleep tight.”

Then, he turned in victory but, out of nowhere,

something bore down on him from the steps
above. It was a figure, encircled by darkness,
with large, sweeping arms and fins and a domed
head with glittering teeth on a half-moon jaw.
It reached out to Ryptide, grabbed him by the
wrist and brought him in for a bite.

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The veiled beast loomed large over Ryptide. It
had his forearm clasped in its claw and pulled
him in closer, closer, closer. He screamed and
threw all his weight into the creature’s chest.
The attack caught it off guard and it fell back
heavily onto the steps. Ryptide, his face locked
in terror, scrambled over it to get away. But,
as he did, the creature’s claw lashed out once
more, this time catching the strap of the leather
case in its talons. Ryptide tried once, weakly,
to pull it free but gave in to his fear and let the
fish go. The sound of his boots tapping against
the metal steps as he ran mimicked the beating
of a terrified heart.

Arlo and Marion stood, dripping wet, watching.

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The creature ahead of them huffed and groaned

as it eased itself off the ground. It looked like
a mixture of all the sea-bound aliens that
were painted on the boards in the room above.
This one had long, powerful arms and sharp,
gleaming teeth. Its black body was covered in
glistening scales. When it stood, its movements
were slow and deliberate. It let out a sigh and
eased the leather strap of the binocular case
over what looked like its shoulder. It turned —
at least Arlo thought it turned — towards them
and, to Arlo’s amazement, it spoke.

“Well, that was no way to treat an old woman.”

Arlo, Marion and the creature settled in the lower

room of the aquarium. The water continued to
stream in from the broken tanks but slowly
enough not to cause any further panic. There
was time for them to take in the sight of the
creature fully. It had taken off its costume
shortly after revealing itself to be, in fact, a
human. She was shorter than the costume made
out, standing roughly shoulder to shoulder with
Marion. Her hair was wild and unbrushed. It

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fell in long clumps and knots down to her back

and was dotted with grey and black streaks.
She had a hooked nose and the wildest, green
eyes that Arlo had ever seen. Her clothes were a
patchwork of sewn fabrics resembling a hessian
sack or a lovingly made quilt that had seen
many years of use.

“Apologies for the costume but it keeps strangers

away.”

The woman took the binocular case from her

shoulder and then, very carefully, tipped it so
the fish was placed inside a small, portable tank
she found near the far end of the room. It was
tall, with a screw-top lid, and seemingly made
of glass. The woman had filled it with some of
the water that had flooded in. Instantly, the fish
swam in circles, investigating the edges of the
tank. It seemed to be enjoying the freedom and
the ability to move. The woman picked a small
handful of leaves from the broken tanks and
scattered them over the surface of the water.
The fish latched on to them and moved its head
furiously to eat.

“It was hungry,” Marion said.

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“Well, wouldn’t you be if you were taken from

your home and kept in a box?”

Arlo, who had been staring at the fish the whole

time, finally spoke. “Its home? You mean the
ocean?”

“Yes. That’s where they live — or where they

used to. This is a fish. I assume you have never
heard the word before?”

“Just once,” Marion replied. “Back at our home.”

The unusual woman stepped away from the

glass and, for the first time, observed the two
children properly. She looked into their eyes
and at the arching curves of their faces. She
smiled only for a moment.

“And home is Blueleaf Basin: the only place to

find a Hook and a Tarn.”

Arlo and Marion’s mouths fell open. “How do

you know our names?”

“I know more than you may think and more

than you may want,” the woman replied. She

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moved away from the tank containing the fish

and over to where glass from Ryptide’s attack
now lay on the ruined floor. She watched the
water trickling through a crack in the wall.
“We should leave here soon. There is not much
strength left in these walls.”

Arlo stood behind her but with the staircase in

sight. He felt unsure about this stranger and the
revelation that she knew about Blueleaf Basin
and their families in particular.

“Who are you?” he asked. He summoned all

the strength he could muster to make his voice
sound steady and confident.

The woman turned round and caught his eye.

“I was once a member of the council of Blueleaf

Basin. I knew your parents. My name is Pepper.”

Pepper! The name Ephra called out in the

meeting. She was here. She was alive.

“You see — this fish you have found, it represents

the future and also the past. I too once found
such a creature and the consequences of that

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discovery led to a terrible accident for which

I bear full responsibility.” She looked sadly at
Marion. “The council have spent the last decade
hiding the truth from you.”

Pepper gently raised her hand and directed

Arlo’s attention to the tanks, the pictures, the
strange shapes and forms shown on the plaques.
“This is the life we left behind, many years ago.
To you, the oceans are dead, and that has been
true for longer than anyone can remember, but
what the council hides from you is that we
are to blame for that. We are the reason the
oceans are empty. Once, they were filled with
all manner of creatures: sharks, turtles, whales,
coral reefs as wide as a country. All gone. You
will never be able to change the past but you
can be there to help protect the future.”

Arlo felt like his brain was about to explode. He

was desperately trying to understand what the
old woman was telling him but the thoughts
kept spilling out and he was unable to cling on
to them.

Their home was supposed to be a place of peace

and cooperation but was it really? For years,

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nothing had changed. No one was allowed

in the water and no one seemed to question
this. Everyone seemed happy with the way
things were but how could things get better if
they always stayed the same? Now, Arlo had
been exposed to the dark secrets that littered
their past.

Nothing was right any more. Nothing would

ever be the same again.

“What did you say this place was really called?”

Marion asked. They were now standing back
outside the building.

“I didn’t. But, it used to be a harbour — a place

for sailors, for fishing, for exploring the oceans.”

“Harbour. Harbour,” Marion repeated, trying

out the new word.

Pepper guided their view across the water in

the distance and towards the horizon. She told
them how in times gone by, this harbour would
have been abuzz with life. People would come to

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take boats out and catch many different types

of fish. People would go to the glass building
— the aquarium — to look at all manner of
sea creatures. Arlo heard the words but could
not picture a world where there was more than
just one fish. To know a whole, other world had
come and gone before him was more than he
was able to accept.

“Why do you come here?” he inquired.

Pepper sighed. From the crease of her brow, Arlo

could tell she was tossing around a response in
her mind. Arlo had asked a question that Pepper
was not yet ready to answer.

“I know,” Marion whispered. “This is where my

parents died.”

Pepper closed the gap between herself and

Marion. She raised a hand as if to comfort
her and then thought again, lowering it to
her side. “Your parents were the smartest and
most dedicated people I have ever known. What
happened to them was a tragedy. It was the
darkest day in the history of Blueleaf Basin.”

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Marion’s eyes grew darker and heavier, the

weight of tears building.

“I am sorry for what happened,” Pepper

continued. “I am sorry because… because—”

“Because it was your idea.” Marion wiped her

face, raised her head and looked at Pepper.

“Yes,” Pepper replied, her voice choked. “Over a

decade ago, I found a fish in the ocean, just as
you have done. I brought it to the council and
there was great excitement. One fish meant there
might be more out there. We could, at last, right
the wrongs of our ancestors and preserve the life
that was finally returning to the oceans.” She
paused. Arlo and Marion hardly dared breathe
in case they missed a single word.

“I persuaded the council that we should set off

in search of more. Ephra recommended that
your parents, Marion, be the first to go but
it was my discovery, my idea that we should
go out to sea. Ephra, your leader, supported me
the whole time,” Pepper paused again, “until
we lost them. I lost my friends and Blueleaf
Basin lost the sea. After that day, we would

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never be allowed in the water again.”

“And that’s why you were asked to leave?”

Arlo inquired. Pieces of the puzzle were slowly
starting to fit together in his mind. Questions,
suspicions that had niggled away in the
background were finally being revealed. Pepper
replied only with a slow, weighted nod.

Marion raised her hand and placed it gently

on Pepper’s arm. “I don’t blame you for what
happened,” she said.

Pepper smiled as a tear broke free. She took

Marion’s hands in her own. “So much like your
parents. So very much.”

The two children followed Pepper out of the

harbour. Marion carried the fish in the tank
that Pepper had found. It seemed much happier
now, particularly as Arlo had been able to scoop
up a handful of the green leaves from the larger
tank to keep it fed.

The small band of travellers turned back

towards the wilds. They met the road that had
led them to the Haunted Place earlier that day.

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Arlo looked left and right. He turned his head

to face the looming figure of the Three Trees
Mountain and then asked the question that was
surely on everyone’s mind.

“Where now?”

Pepper smiled, the wrinkles under her eyes

displaying a lifetime of hard work. “It’s up to
you both. You can go right, back to Blueleaf
Basin and not mention a word of what you
have seen here. The council may choose to
pretend that your discovery does not exist and
your lives will go back to the way they always
were…” Pepper paused and took a deep breath.

“Or?” Marion said.

“Or,” Pepper continued, “you can turn left, come

with me and get a glimpse of what your lives
could be. Also, there’s food,” she smiled with
a twinkle.

Arlo and Marion looked at one another. Despite

what Pepper had said, there was no going back
to the way things were. The fish had made
sure of that. Left or right? There was no choice

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really. Arlo nodded at Marion and took his first

step into the unknown. Behind him, Marion
followed on and, with the sun at their backs,
they exchanged certainty for possibility.

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After a tiring hour of travel, they arrived at
Pepper’s home. Sand dunes rose up high on
either side and a sandy inlet — a section of
land protected from the shore and open sea
— lay ahead. Sunset rays fell upon the gentle
waves and blurred into the water. Arlo stepped
forwards and noticed the outlines of several
small buildings: some built into the hillsides
and others free-standing.

Pepper moved ahead of him into a wide,

open space. She raised her hands into the air.
“Welcome to my home.”

Purposefully, Pepper walked to a thick wooden

beam wedged into the ground. There was a
rectangular metal box attached to it and, when

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she opened it, Arlo saw buttons, lights and

switches inside. Pepper flicked a yellow switch
and, in an instant, an array of lights encircling
the camp came to life. Along the straight-edged
rim of every building, tiny lights illuminated
the area like fireflies. Arlo’s eyes were wide with
the sight of Pepper’s camp. Behind him, Marion
spoke.

“Beautiful.”

Arlo could not have thought of a better word if

he tried.

“Let me give you the tour,” Pepper offered.

She led them round the small, sandy inlet. They

approached a ramshackle building carved into
a dune. The front door was attached to a sliding
frame. The entire facade was a patchwork of
rusted metal, splintered wood and scars from
where Pepper had affixed them together.

“This is my home. It was quite a challenge to

excavate the sand and mud.”

“It’s really something,” Marion marvelled.

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“What is it made from?” She handed the fish

tank to Arlo as she observed Pepper’s creation.

“I thought the design might catch your eye.

The metal is salvaged from an old fishing ship
in the harbour. The bolts I took from some of
the vehicles near the aquarium and the wood
I carved from a pine tree over the hill that fell
after a storm several years ago.”

“You did this all by yourself?” Arlo exclaimed,

his voice full of surprise.

“Oh, yes! That’s the beauty of living in exile.

You have nothing but time.”

“Your crops — they look so healthy!” Marion

exclaimed, as she skittered across the sand, full
of excitement. She stood next to four deep plant
beds. They were built with a mixture of long,
rectangular wooden planks and more sheet
metal. They reached up to Marion’s waist and
were bursting with life. A tangle of plants: green,
red, yellow — all intertwined and blossoming.
When Arlo approached, the air was thick with
their natural perfume.

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“These are my plant beds. There are beans,

fennel, beetroot and, I think, even some spring
onions in there too. I’ve got a beetroot soup
simmering as we speak.”

Marion turned to Arlo and they shared the same

thought. “But, how are they so healthy?” she
questioned.

“Ah,” Pepper mused, “I assume you are referring

to the new algae? Yes, I did have a problem
with that.”

“You did have? So, you know how to stop the

algae? You have to tell us!” Marion could not
control her outburst. Arlo was by her side and
felt that all they had gone through might be
worth it. If they stopped the algae, perhaps the
fish would get to live. But Pepper did not tell
them her secret. Instead, she turned and walked
back to her house without a word.

“Where are you going?” Arlo called.

Pepper stopped briefly and spoke over her

shoulder. “To eat — and I would love you to
join me. There’s plenty to go around.” With

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that, she slid open the metal door of her home

and stepped inside.

Marion set off after her, barking questions as

she went, but Arlo felt himself drawn instantly
to the sea. The lapping of the waves placed him
back on the shores of Blueleaf Basin but the air
here was different. It was enough of a reminder
that he was as far from home as he had ever
been.

“Not empty,” he said, quietly to himself. “It

never was.”

Those were real creatures they had seen painted

on the boards at the aquarium. Real living
things who once called the sea their home.
Now, they were all gone — apart from the fish.
Arlo pulled the fish tank up to his chest and
held it with both hands. He looked down at the
creature that swam in small circles inside the
glass container.

A thought crossed his mind.

Putting the tank down carefully, he unscrewed

its lid. He looked out to the sea and thought

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about how he would give anything to explore

the world beyond the island. He rested on his
knees and made to release the fish back into the
unknown world of the waves. Would it survive?
All he knew was that his world had changed
forever but what remained true to him was that
no creature should be forced from its home.

“Make yourself comfortable, Arlo,” Pepper said

as he entered the room, the fish tank in his
hands. He had stared out at the water until the
evening chill had overtaken him. He had not
released the fish; he couldn’t. He told himself
that until he knew more about it, releasing it
would be the wrong thing to do. In truth, he
was scared. He was selfish.

“Where have you been?” Marion scolded before

turning back to Pepper.

Arlo said nothing but observed Pepper’s home.

The inside was roughly square shaped. There
was one large room with areas for cooking,
eating, sleeping and working — although the
working area spilt over the whole room. There

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were wires, scraps of metal, half-completed

machines and designs drawn on the walls with
charcoal. The overriding smell was of the soup
keeping hot on a low simmer.

Marion followed Pepper across the room to

the cooking pot suspended over the hearth.
Arlo was a few steps behind her. He took
the case containing the fish and laid it on a
wooden table top. He picked a few leaves from
his pocket, tore them up and sprinkled them
onto the surface of the water. The fish ate
them greedily.

Marion spoke as Pepper served up ladlefuls of

soup. “Pepper, I’m sorry, but can you tell us
how you solved the algae issue? Please, we have
to know. Blueleaf Basin could be in trouble. I—”

“I only have one food bowl,” Pepper stated,

appearing not to hear Marion’s question. “But
don’t worry — I only use these for storing
tools.” She motioned towards two stained metal
containers now filled with steaming hot soup.
She held one out to Marion. “They’re clean.”

Pepper led them to a seating area, where they

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rested on large, homemade cushions. They

crunched when they took a seat and Arlo noticed
they were filled with dried straw.

“Can we please—” Marion began but Pepper cut

her off once more.

“A full belly comes first.”

Arlo wanted to support Marion. He knew they

needed more information but his stomach
protested loudly and his strength was nearly
gone. He took a spoonful of soup and the bitter
brew warmed his blood. It was deep and thick
and, at once, filled his stomach and lulled his
weary body. He ate two more bowls, as did
Marion.

He yawned as the weight of their travels

pressed down heavily upon him. Pepper stood
and picked out two large linen blankets from a
nearby wooden trunk. She offered them to Arlo
and Marion, who accepted their warmth.

“Now, rest, if you will. You’ve had quite a day.

We will discuss it all in the morning.”

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Within moments, sleep offered its guiding hand

and Arlo took it.

The next morning, Arlo woke and, for a few

moments, believed he was back in his own
home. Through the wash of sleep, he imagined
pulling himself out of bed, later than he should,
before heading to the dunes. It would be a day
like any other. Arlo had slept on the mishmash
of cushions near the hearth with Marion on the
far side of the dying embers. When he pushed
himself up, he felt fully the reality of where he
was and what was to come.

“Marion,” he said in a loud whisper, “are

you awake?”

“I am now,” she murmured before stretching

and pushing herself up.

Arlo scanned the room and looked for the fish in

its tank but there was no sign of it.

“The fish is gone!” He wrapped the linen blanket

around his shoulders and stormed towards

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the door. It was slightly open and he pulled it

roughly to the side. The early-morning light
beamed through the space and blinded him for
a moment. He blinked and stepped out into the
open, bright morning.

Ahead of him, Pepper was packing a bag, adding

small pouches and boxes to fill it. On a bench,
near a firepit, was the fish in its tank. Pepper
stopped momentarily to slip a few green leaves
into the top of the container. Next to it, there
lay two leather straps and a buckle. It looked
like a harness.

“Hey!”

“Hay is for horses. Good morning,” Pepper

responded, not taking her eyes off the bag.

Arlo strode over and took a seat on the bench

next to the fish. He checked it over and, despite
his racing heart, everything appeared well. He
took a deep breath and considered the facts of
the situation: the fish was unhurt; they had
eaten and slept well; Pepper seemed kind.

“What’re you doing?” he asked her.

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“I’m packing.”

“Packing?”

With the bag now full, Pepper attached the last

strap through a buckle hole. She slung it over
her shoulder and tied a strap across her waist.
“I have been working, preparing. I have made
you a harness for the fish. It will help you carry
it on our journey.”

“Journey?” Arlo said. “What are you talking

about? We hoped you’d be able to give us some
more information, some answers, about the
algae, the fish...”

“You want answers?” She turned to observe

the sun beginning to peak over the summit of
the Three Trees Mountain. “Then, you’d better
keep up.”

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“It started a few months ago.”

Pepper’s voice was barely audible as it was

caught by the swift wind atop the Three Trees
Mountain. The group had spent the best hours
of the day trawling up the side along steep
paths and crumbling ridges. Pepper knew all
the routes that had long been hidden by time.
There were thin tracks, wide pathways and
arching rock formations that guided their way.
It seemed Pepper was reading a map written
into the wild itself. Now, they stood on the edge
of a flat body of still water.

Arlo and Marion had only ever seen the algae

in small patches back home but this was where
it all began. The two friends observed the thick

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layer of algae on the surface of the lake. They

knew that, in time, it would filter through the
mountain, down into the Three Trees River and
into the fields and orchards of Blueleaf Basin. If
they could not find a way to purify the water,
then, eventually, their home could be in trouble.

“I thought you said you’d got rid of the algae?”

Marion cried, her eyes fixed on the layer of black
on the lake’s surface.

“Got rid? No, you misunderstand. I’m not trying

to get rid of anything.”

“Hang on,” Arlo spoke now. He turned to

look at this woman who seemed so wise and
knowledgeable. “I thought you said you would
give us answers?”

“I am…”

“Then, you have to show us!” Marion insisted.

“The council wants to kill the fish! They either
want to dissect it or see if there are more.
Pepper, if there are more, the council will kill
those as well.”

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“I am showing you.” Pepper motioned with her

hand towards the water. “What you see before
you is my solution.”

Arlo and Marion looked once more at the lake

and then at each other. They looked at Pepper,
who was smiling serenely at them.

Was this some sort of joke? Had Pepper been

playing them all along? Arlo was about to say
something when Marion spoke first.

“I don’t get it. What are you actually doing?”

“Nothing, my dear. That is the whole point. I’m

allowing nature to flourish, working with the
natural cycles of this world. This algae appears,
it blooms and then it dies. Just like us. Just like
everything in this world. Your council cannot
see this is the way to progress. They have such
a fixed mindset: wanting to act, to interfere.
This is how they have always behaved and no
one can question it. Here, I allow nature to run
its course. The algae will eventually die off if
you let it.”

“So, you’re telling me that the way to solve the

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algae problem… is to do nothing?”

“Precisely. I learnt my lesson all those years ago

with the fish. If we had just let it be, allowed
it to thrive and flourish, then the species would
have found a way to come back to us. Nature
will always find a way. But instead, we were
too quick to interfere. I thought we were doing
the right thing, by trying to help, but all that
resulted in was the tragic loss of life and a fear
of the ocean.”

Arlo felt like his brain couldn’t keep up with

what he was hearing. A light rain broke out
from the thick clouds above. A blurred mist,
full of vapour, surrounded them. The first shy
droplets gained purpose and were soon lashing
down on the mountaintop.

“Marion,” Arlo said, his voice quiet, “let’s get

out of the rain.” He put a hand on her forearm
and began to lead her to a small section of
the mountain where a rocky outcrop would
protect them from the downpour. At first
she resisted, her eyes locked on Pepper but
when the rain grew angry, she gave in and
retreated quickly to shelter. Several pointed

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moments later, Pepper followed.

As the older woman entered the covered space,

she let her bag drop to the floor and shook off
the worst of the rain from her coat. She looked
wild, like scattered leaves. Arlo and Marion
breathed heavily as a chill crept towards them
once more. Marion carried the fish tank, now
securely fastened to the harness, on her back.

“Children,” Pepper said, “I can see that you still

do not understand. Look at this rain. It will
flood this lake. It will carry the water down the
mountain in ways you cannot see. That is nature
and nature is life. You ask me how I make my
crops grow. I work with nature, not against it.
The way nature works is all entwined. Creatures
are born, they grow, they consume and they
die. We are part of this chain. Although our
ancestors took more than they needed, at the
expense of nature, now, the fish has found a
way back.”

Neither Arlo nor Marion replied. They thought

about Blueleaf Basin, of the way that problems
were always dealt with by acting immediately.
There was never time devoted to reflection, to

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considering different approaches, to stepping

back and waiting.

The wind and rain atop the mountain was

determined. Heavy and thick, it surrounded
Arlo as a chilling reminder of how much world
there was beyond the boundaries of his home.
Gathering its strength, the rain turned into thick
blades of water stabbing at the mountain lake.
The algae threatened to spill over the edge. Arlo
felt sure they would not be safe much longer.

“I think we should get out of here,” he muttered.

Pepper looked out at the rain. “Yes, you are

right. Follow me. I know a path.” She scooped
up her bag and tossed it over her shoulder. By
her side, Marion began to undo the harness.
Arlo carefully removed the fish tank and placed
it on the ground. Marion handed the harness to
Arlo. Her head was downcast and she had said
nothing in reply to Pepper’s words. For once,
Marion didn’t have an answer. She ducked her
head and followed Pepper into the downpour.

For a few moments, Arlo watched the empty

space where his friend had been, before tying the

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harness over his shoulder. He realised, however,

that he would need help lifting the tank onto
his back. Stepping out from under the outcrop,
he looked for Marion and Pepper but they were
gone, lost in the driving rain.

As the downpour thrashed against his face, a

thundering strike lashed against Arlo’s lower
back. He was bundled to the ground and only
just had time to raise his arms to stop his face
dashing against the earth and rocks. His right
wrist took the heaviness of the impact and he
screamed silently. He landed face first into a
thick puddle of wet mud and gagged on the cold
water, tasting the mud on his lips and inside his
mouth. Rolling over, he recognised the looming
shadow staring down at him.

Arlo choked its name.

“Ryptide.”

Arlo tried to stand but Ryptide clasped his hand

around Arlo’s poncho and heaved him off the
ground, as if he were weightless.

“Where is it?” he cried over the drumbeat of the

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rain. Arlo could feel Ryptide’s breath on his face.

He smelt of rotten earth. “Where is it?”

On instinct, Arlo’s eyes flicked to the rocky

outcrop where the fish tank stood. Ryptide
turned his head slowly and the realisation fell
over his face. He had seen it.

Ryptide let Arlo go. His legs buckled. He was a

leaf blown in the wind. He was a speck of rain on
a hot summer’s day. He was no threat at all. The
older boy took slow, purposeful steps towards
the tank. He swayed his shoulders slightly as he
walked. He moved with the strength and poise
of a lion ready to strike.

“No…” Arlo mumbled, pushing himself up onto

his hands.

Ryptide looked over his shoulder at Arlo. He gave

him only the most pitiful amount of attention
he could muster. “Get back in your ditch.” Then,
he knelt before the tank, taking it in his hands
and beginning to loosen the lid.

“No!” Arlo shouted into the earth. He stood and

summoned the last of his strength to shove

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Ryptide in his back. The force of his push was

not enough to knock the larger boy down but it
made him pause, if only for a moment. The fish
tank slipped out of his slack grip and landed
heavily on the floor, dislodging the loosened lid.

As Ryptide regained his balance, Arlo ducked

under his outstretched arm. He picked up the
tank and made for the path Pepper and Marion
had left on minutes before. But Ryptide lashed
out and took a handful of Arlo’s poncho in his
hands, tearing it across the seam. Ryptide spun
him round and began to speak in the low, fierce
growl of his father.

“If it weren’t for my dad, our whole town would

have starved years ago.”

He shoved Arlo, who stumbled back out of the

cover of the outcrop, towards the mountain
lake.

“This fish is ours. It’s mine! I’m taking it back

home to prove we can use it for food. Why do
you want to protect it?” He stepped towards
Arlo and shoved him again. He nearly fell.

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Ryptide raised his hand and swiped at Arlo’s

head. The younger boy ducked but not quickly
enough. He took the heaviest part of the blow to
the side of his face. When he fell, his ears rang
from the pain. Arlo spun and plunged into the
thick pool of gelatinous algae. The air was filled
with a putrid stench.

He thrashed in the water, swept his hands

and kicked his feet to hold his head above the
surface. On the shore, Ryptide laughed. “Good
luck, worm. You make me—”

But Ryptide was never able to say what Arlo

made him. The younger boy gathered a handful
of the viscous algae and lashed it through the
air. It slapped across Ryptide’s face, turning
him into nothing more than pond scum.

Arlo scrambled for the shore as Ryptide pulled

slicks of green and black algae from his eyes
and mouth. That may have been the only
chance to give Ryptide a taste of everything
Arlo had endured throughout his life. More than
anything, he wanted to make him pay.

As he tried to make up the few steps towards

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Ryptide, the waterlogged embankment gave

way under Arlo’s feet and he slipped. His
momentum carried him forwards and he slid
into Ryptide’s legs. The older boy buckled and
he collapsed onto the floor.

Arlo felt Ryptide’s hands grasp the scruff of his

neck. The thick odour of the algae filled the
space between them. Ryptide’s eyes were filled
with fire as he lifted Arlo up off the ground
and then slammed him back down onto the
wet earth.

“What have you done?” he cried.

Arlo struggled desperately against the older

boy’s grip — one hand on each of Ryptide’s
wrists. At that moment, he realised there was
an empty space where the tank had been. In
their struggle, the boys had knocked it from
where it had landed.

Over Ryptide’s shoulder, the forms of Marion

and Pepper emerged back at the top of the
path, perhaps drawn by the sounds of a scuffle.
Ryptide’s eyes flicked between the water and
the rest of Arlo’s group bearing down on him.

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“This isn’t over,” he spat. He let go of Arlo and

turned towards a thicket of trees on the hillside.
Arlo watched as he slipped and scrambled down
the rocky mountainside, dodging between the
trees, and was gone in moments. Looking at the
dark space once containing Ryptide, Arlo knew
that next time, he would finish it.

“Arlo…”

Marion was slowly walking towards him.

“I know,” Arlo replied.

“Arlo... look,” she said, pointing.

Arlo looked into the water. On its surface, the

fish’s tank floated silently.

It was empty.

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Inside the murky depths of the mountain lake,
the group had tried everything they could to
find and track the fish. If the fish were to react
to the algae the same way the rest of nature did,
it would be dead before long. Once the water
had stilled, smaller ripples appeared where the
fish surfaced for air, food or a way to escape.

“We have to get it out! The algae — it’ll poison

it!” Marion cried.

“The algae isn’t its only problem,” Pepper

added, concern in her eyes. “This fish is from the
ocean. It is a saltwater fish. This lake contains
fresh water.”

Arlo rested on his knees at the edge of the water.

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The rain had begun to ease and sunlight dared

to show its face once more. Under the water,
faintly obscured by the algae, he could see the
fish swimming in small circles.

“Do you still have your binocular case?” Arlo

asked Marion.

She reached for the empty case that was slung

over her shoulder. “Here!”

Arlo took it and made to lunge for the fish but,

as he did, a hand stopped him dead. It was
Pepper. “Wait!” she urged. “Look!”

Arlo stopped. The fish did not seem at all

pained. It did not seem at all troubled by being
in a freshwater lake full of algae. In fact, where
the fish swam, ducking up and down, the algae
was clearing.

The fish was eating it.

“Well, I never!” Pepper breathed. “Children, this

fish is a true example of the wonder of nature.
Not only has it adapted to live in both salt and
fresh water, it can also feed off the algae.”

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For what felt like the longest time, Arlo, Marion

and Pepper watched in amazement as the fish
consumed the algae. It cleared a small section
and swam in slow circles, more full of life now
than ever before. Arlo felt like he could watch it
forever. Finally, Marion broke the silence. “We
need to get back to Blueleaf Basin. We have a
solution! There’s no way they will kill the fish
now we know it eats the algae.”

Pepper sighed. “This fish is not ours to do with

as we please. This was the mistake our ancestors
made: exploiting natural resources for our own
gain.” She looked sadly at the children. “Nor
can it stay here in this lake. This lake is not
its home.”

“Well, what are we going to do?” Arlo asked,

not really knowing if he was asking for an
answer. He had begun to realise the wealth of
knowledge Pepper had that was so different
from the people of Blueleaf Basin. Arlo had
always felt a connection to nature and the wild
outdoors that he could not explain. It seemed
that Pepper, too, had this connection. He knew
they must trust in her.

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“I think it’s time for us all to go home,” the

older woman replied.

“Home?” Arlo hesitated. “But what about

Ryptide?”

“He’ll be heading back home to Bracken. They’ll

come for the fish. They won’t listen to us. We
need to get back and release it before they find
us.” Marion ran her hands through her hair. She
looked out across the water of the mountain
lake and then towards the horizon, with a
heavy mist hanging just above the treeline. She
was finally beginning to understand.

As Arlo tried to think of something to say to

Marion, as he considered any words that might
give her hope, someone stepped in front of him.

It was Pepper.

“I know a way. I know a way and I will

take you.”

“You will?” Marion said.

Pepper nodded, the sun at her back. On her

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face, Arlo could see a thin smile. “It’s time

to make things right. I’ve been away for far
too long.”

Pepper had taken them over the top of the

mountain and down a hidden path on its far side.
So little used was the route that it had become
almost impassable due to
the dense undergrowth
and unstable rocks. They
had to scramble down

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the steep mountain face until they hit the line

of trees at its base.

The day fell away as the group continued to put

one foot in front of the other. They walked in
silence, stopping only briefly to take on water,
to feed the fish, which was now back in its tank
on Arlo’s back, and to think about what lay
ahead. They rounded a bend in the river and
Pepper stepped away from the path, leading
them to a small section of trees.

She looked at the two children. “Perhaps we

should rest. It will get dark soon.”

Arlo listened only enough to let the words wash

over him as his eyes were focused elsewhere:
the familiar rise and fall of the Three Trees
Mountain. They had followed the river round its
base and now, from the angle where Arlo stood,
it looked familiar.

“No,” he said resolutely. “We haven’t got a

moment to waste.”

On his back, he felt the weight of the fish

tank press down on him but he pushed on

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past the shelter towards the valley and hills,

which brought back moments, memories and
adventures as a child. He knew this place and
he would do all he could to protect it.

The group walked through the late-evening mist

that fell from the canopy of leaves. Arlo’s feet
were battered and blistered but they continued
through a line of blueleaf trees and into the
wide expanse of an orchard.

Pepper breathed deeply and set her eyes on

the small mounds that made the buildings
in Blueleaf Basin. “If I know anything about
the elders at a time of crisis, they will be
talking. We should head to the council
chambers.”

They traced a path through the orchards, down

into town, where, over the crest of the hill, a
voice echoed towards them.

“It’s him!” The sound of the voice pulsed through

Arlo and he recognised it instantly.

Ryptide.

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Arlo was caught by indecision. All around, other

members of the town began to emerge from their
homes. The faces were drawn towards Arlo and
Marion, towards Pepper and towards the fish.
Even if Arlo had wanted to run, it would have
been impossible. The townspeople had formed a
human barrier, blocking their exit. He looked for
Marion but she was hidden by the tall, arching
bodies looming over her.

Through the crowd, he could hear voices calling

his name and then the sea of bodies parted
just enough to let one imposing slab of a figure
through. It stood over him and spoke in a
coarse whisper.

“It’s over, Arlo.”

Arlo opened his eyes just enough to see the

hulking shadow of Bracken, who crouched
down and spoke softly enough for the words to
pass only between the two of them.

“You lose.”

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Arlo was sitting inside the council chamber, his

mother standing behind him with her hands
protectively on his shoulders. He could not see
Marion or Pepper. The room, domed with a high
ceiling, was filled with not only council members
but people from the town. Above, the ceiling
had been patched with wood and a roughly
made thatch. In the centre of the room, round a
large, circular table sat the six members of the
council, with the figures of Ephra and Bracken
the most impressive and forceful. Ryptide stood
behind his father, his eyes cold and black. The
main focus of the room’s attention, however,
was directed at what was inside a dirty glass
container on the table.

The fish.

“Now, you see! Now, you can all see! Life has
returned to the oceans. This is the answer to
all our problems. We must go out and fish for
more!” Bracken shouted, pointing at the tiny
creature.

The room broke out in hushed voices but they

were cut short when Ephra stood from her spot
at the table. She slammed a fist down onto

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the hard wood, making the fish’s tank shake

slightly.

“No!”

Her harsh exclamation silenced everyone in

the room. Was she saying no to Bracken’s own
words or no to the whole situation?

“I will not put the lives of our people in danger

once again. We cannot react on impulse. We
must examine this fish, study it and find out
what this means for Blueleaf Basin.”

Bracken scoffed, thrusting his hand towards

Ephra. “There is no more time for waiting. We
have to find where this fish has come from and
launch the boats. This fish is the food we need
to get through this algae problem.”

“We cannot go back into the water. It is the rule

of this council that the water is—”

“It is your rule!” Bracken cried. “This council

and this town have lived in the shadow of our
loss for far too long. When will you no longer
let that cloud your judgement?”

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“How dare you speak of them in front of

this council? How dare you use their loss to
strengthen your argument?” Ephra said, venom
in her words.

“We cannot let the fear of loss prevent us from

acting now!” Bracken declared, his words laced
with finality. “The sea should not be a place of
fear. We can use it. It is there to serve us.”

“Bracken… Ephra...” It was Arlo’s mother. Her

words were a calm, soft undercurrent. He could
hear her, feel her words from over his shoulder.
“You cannot be suggesting that the first thing
we should do with this life form is kill it?”

The murmurs returned. Bracken leant his fists

on the table. He stared across the room directly
at Arlo’s mother. “Kill it is exactly what I’m
suggesting. Something is going to die, Sara. It’s
the fish or it’s us.”

A hushed voice to Arlo’s left spoke. “Always

looking for what you can gain, aren’t you,
Bracken?” it said.

The eyes of everyone in the room and the

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members of the council turned towards the new

voice — the one that belonged to Pepper.

Defying the air of confusion, panic and fear, she

cocked her head to the side towards Bracken.
She continued, “The ways of this council haven’t
changed one bit since I left.”

“Quiet!” Bracken growled. “You have no voice

here.”

Pepper carried on, ignoring Bracken. She spoke

as if she were the only one in the room. “Have
you learnt nothing from what happened all
those years ago?”

“Pepper. You are not here to— ” Ephra began

but Bracken cut off her words.

“We cannot listen to this nonsense any longer!

The fish have returned. Now, we must go out and
catch them to feed ourselves and our families.
For all we know, Pepper is the one who brought
this algae upon us? Is it a coincidence that she
arrived just as our situation is getting worse?”

A low, angry murmur broke out in the crowd.

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“Calm! Calm!” Ephra insisted. She tried to

appeal to those in the room that remembered
the ways of Blueleaf Basin but they were
falling away under the power of Bracken’s
words.

“The fish eats the algae,” Marion’s small voice

piped up among the murmuring and muttering.
Suddenly, there were shushes and silence fell
upon the crowd as they waited for her to speak
once more. “We travelled to the Haunted Place,
where we met Pepper, who showed us the source
of the algae. It lies in the Three Trees Mountain.
We watched the fish eat it.”

“Well, this confirms it then!” Bracken declared.

“We must find more fish — to eat and to rid us of
this algae.” He turned to the people in the room,
widening his arms. Some met his declaration
with a roar of approval. Others looked more
uncertain than ever.

Arlo saw the look of horror on Marion’s

face as she realised what had happened.
She had meant this news to be a reason not
to kill the fish, but it had only succeeded
in strengthening Bracken’s argument and

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convincing the people that they needed to

find more.

Before she could protest, Ephra banged her stick

on the hard floor.

“No one will be doing anything until we are all

in agreement. As leader of this council, I forbid
you, Bracken, to take action until a unanimous
decision has been made.”

“We don’t have time!” Ryptide cried out

suddenly. He moved from behind his father who,
it seemed, had been about to speak. Ryptide
slammed his fist on the table before pointing his
finger at Marion. “You can speak all you want
but you won’t defy us. You won’t drive us out.
The fish belongs to us!”

The same low, angry murmur broke out once

more in the crowd.

A noise came from the far side of the room as

arguments and scuffles broke out across the
chamber. Two people came to blows. As they
shoved and brawled, a group of four adults fell
against the table. The weight of their fall knocked

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the fish tank. Arlo flew towards it, his hand

outstretched. Inside, he saw the fish nibbling at
the algae. He tried to pull the tank towards him
but, on the far side of the table, another set of
hands took a firm grip. Arlo looked up through
the mess of people pushing and jostling against
one another. Through the blur, Ryptide pulled
the tank out of Arlo’s hands.

“Mine! ”

Arlo tried to scramble round the table but his

way was blocked. Ryptide threw his weight into
a group of adults, shoving them aside, and broke
for the door. He was through the dark space and
into the night before Arlo had managed to find
his feet again.

“Marion, he took the fish!”

“I know!” she bellowed. “Go!”

Arlo ducked under two of the onlookers’ arms

as they wrestled each other. He made for the
door, passed through the veiled curtain across
the frame and escaped into the night. Across the
centre of town, he heard Ryptide before he saw

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him. He was furiously tracing a path towards

the beach. Arlo followed, tracking the kicked-up
dust in the moonlight. After less than a minute,
he arrived at the dunes but Ryptide had gone.

“Where is he?”

The clouds thickened and the moonlight drew

back. Arlo saw fresh footsteps cut through the
sand of a nearby dune. Arlo made his way up it,
fighting against the sinking feeling of his feet in
the hungry sand. After everything he had been
through, he felt the weight of his experience
catch up with him. His body wanted to curl
up and fall asleep with the patchwork of stars
above him. But the sight on the shore meant he
could not do that.

Down across the sand, he saw Ryptide, he saw

the fish and he saw a boat. Ryptide was heading
out to sea.

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Arlo ran through the sodden sand. Above him,
the darkened sky loomed large and wide. Stars
punctuated the blackness. A bitter wind whipped
over the shallow water and slapped across his
face. He had to raise his hands to shield his
eyes from its strength. Each step closer to the
breaking water did not seem like enough to
catch Ryptide. The older boy had pulled a small
rowing boat into the water and it rose and fell
over the peaking waves.

Arlo reached the water and pushed through the

biting cold. His run was slowed by the growing
pressure of the water around his ankles. The
ocean’s icy grasp spread in sharp needles across
his body as he pushed against the tide. With
each step, Arlo felt himself becoming one with

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the waves. The water stripped away his grip on

the shore and the certainty of his life before.

A large wave rolled through the darkness. Arlo

felt the water peel back, rise up and fall over
the top of him. He was consumed by the wash
and thrown off his feet. He turned and tumbled
as the breath was forced from his lungs. The
clawing cold of the water coursed like lightning
through his veins. Arlo found solid ground and
pushed against it with as much strength as he
could manage. Breaking through the surface,
he heaved in a deep gasp of air. He had been
thrown back to shore.

The wave had swept him up, carried him along

and dumped him back on the sand. It had
spat him out. It had thrown him away. In the
distance, he could see Ryptide’s boat fighting
against the current.

“Arlo! Arlo!”

Marion’s voice reached Arlo across the windswept

night. Seconds passed as the cold sea churned
and crashed onto the beach. It muted sound and
dulled his senses. On his backside in the shallow

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water, he felt Marion’s hands under his arms,

pulling him up. He couldn’t take his eyes off the
shrinking image of Ryptide’s boat disappearing
over the swell.

“Marion! We’re going to lose the fish!”

Together, they watched in silence as the boat

rose up a wave, fell over the top and righted
itself, ready for the next surge. Again, the boat
rose and fell. Arlo felt a hollow sickness in the
pit of his stomach. They waited for the boat
to appear once more but it did not. The sea
was empty — the rickety wooden shape had
disappeared.

A brief moment of silence hung in the air.

Moonlight fell upon the black water, dappling
its surface. As another wave rolled towards
them, something was offered up as evidence, as
proof of the ocean’s power.

“M… Marion?”

She stepped into the breakers. Arlo moved to

her side. Clouds gathered and moved with force
towards the shore. Above, lightning cracked in

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the sky and lit up the night. On the surface of

the glistening water, Arlo spotted flat wooden
panels. With each lapping wave, more came
into sight.

“It’s the boat!” Arlo shouted. With the ocean

returning the scraps of the boat to shore, they
knew the vessel was lost — already forgotten
by the night. The sound of the waves slapping
against the shore, the rolling thunder in the
sky, the roar of the wind. All reminders of
nature’s power.

From behind them, Arlo heard the sound of

voices echoing across the dunes and getting
nearer. The townspeople of Blueleaf Basin had
made their way down to the scene on the beach.

A voice called out, “Ryptide! Where is he?” It

was Bracken. He shoved his way to the front of
the crowd and advanced to the water’s edge.
Looking down, he pulled a wooden board free
of the waves and looked out towards the black
horizon. “Where is my son?” he bellowed into
the void.

Ephra, Sara and Pepper stepped forwards. They

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surrounded Arlo and Marion. In the silence of the

night, they waited. Bracken stood, unmoving,
in the shallow water.

Then, in the distance, they heard a sound. It was

so faint that it was almost swallowed by the
waves and the wind. But then, it came again: a
thin voice or bird’s call carried on the air. But
there was something more to it than the trill of
a bird. It was tinged with something different.
Something altogether more human.

Fear.

“That’s… that’s Ryptide!” Ephra cried.

Bracken’s head twitched and he looked towards

the group. They waited for another hint of a
word on the wind. Arlo could hear just the
faintest cry.

“Help! ”

Suddenly, the group on the beach exploded into

action. They scuttled in all directions looking for
a way to locate the sound, to find Ryptide. Arlo
knew the best place to look would be from the

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top of a dune. Setting off in the direction that

no one else thought of, he clawed up the sand
and found the highest viewpoint. He scanned
from the spot he knew the boat went down and
looked for any sign.

The waves and the darkness masked most of

what would be clear in the day but Arlo knew
this rocky shore and, with eyes fixed, he saw
it: a helpless figure clinging to a dagger-shaped
rock. In a shallow recess, partway down the
rock stood the familiar shape of the fish tank.

Arlo looked down towards the beach. “Marion!”

he cried.

His friend looked up and Arlo pointed into the

distance. To the left of the beach, rocks curved
round in a half-moon hook. At the head of the
outcrop, about fifty metres offshore, jagged
rocks sprung up out of the ocean floor. Like
the serrated teeth at the mouth of the Three
Trees River, these rocks were pounded by the
never-ending force of the tide. Day after day,
the waters rose and the waters fell, taking
everything with them back into the blue. Now,
they had Ryptide and they had the fish.

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Arlo knew he had to help. The older boy would

not be able to hold on for long before the ocean
would take him completely. On instinct, he set
off down the dune and towards the curve of
rocks that led out to where Ryptide clung. From
behind him, he heard Marion’s voice call, “I’ll
get help!”

Reaching the point where the soft and cushioned

dunes turned into rock, Arlo found a space to
wedge his right foot. He took another step but
hit a patch of seaweed and lost his balance,
causing his left foot to slip into a deep pool
and slice his lower leg on a thin, razor-like
edge. He cried out, reaching for his leg, and
saw the trickle of deep scarlet, almost black, in
the moonlight.

He steadied himself as he stepped back onto

the jagged rocks. He managed three more steps
before slipping again. This time, he fell off the
rocks entirely, plunging himself under the water.
Nevertheless, he knew he had to keep going. He
scrambled back up and, crawling on his hands
and knees, pushed on towards Ryptide. He was
about ten metres ahead, trapped on the farthest
edge of the outcrop. The waves crashed down,

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high and heavy, on top of the older boy. This far

out, there was no protection from the elements.
Through the fierce wind and rain, Arlo tried to
catch sight of the fish. From on top of the dune,
he had seen the moonlight glinting off the edges
of its tank. Where was it?

Eventually, he could go no farther. The line

of rocks ended and fell away into the water.
Perhaps two metres past this edge, Ryptide held
on desperately to a final, jagged rock, the fish
tank still in a recess below him. Beyond, there
was nothing but the wild ocean.

“Ryptide!” Arlo shouted, his words swallowed

by the ferocious wind. “Ryptide! Give me
your hand!”

Still on hands and knees, Arlo stretched his right

arm out towards the older boy. Ryptide turned
his head, his eyes wide with terror. His face was
crumpled with fear and exhaustion.

“Help me!” he cried. “I can’t hold on much

longer!”

“Give me your hand!” Arlo shouted again.

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“The fish…”

At that moment, Arlo realised that it would be

impossible to rescue both boy and fish. What
could he do? He was here to save Ryptide, the
person who had tormented him, bullied him
and made his life miserable, but the fish was
the future and after all he had been through,
could he let it go?

Waves smashed onto the top of the tank. Waves

smashed onto Ryptide. He lost one hand’s grip
on the rock.

“Forget about the fish.” Arlo knew this was the

right decision. He reached out his arm once
more and watched as another powerful wave
caused the fish tank to crash violently against
the rock, shearing off the top part completely.
Then, as if in slow motion, the broken container
tipped and disappeared into the depths below.

For a moment, Arlo felt a sense of disappointment

and of despair wash over him. He had protected
that fish since its discovery. He had travelled
with it to places he had never been before
and learnt things that, he realised now, he

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was probably never supposed to learn.

A strangled yelp from Ryptide broke him out of

his thoughts. He was here to save Bracken’s son.
Blueleaf Basin would not have another tragedy
tonight. Arlo leant as far forwards as he dared,
desperately trying to reach Ryptide with his
outstretched fingers.

They did not reach.

Determined, Arlo inched farther out and then,

all of a sudden, he felt himself slipping. He
twisted and twirled, sliding towards the water.
He had pushed and fought so hard but he had
failed. Neither would make it. In the second he
almost gave up the fight, something caught him
and halted his spiral. It was a hand. It hooked
his arm and pulled him up. He blinked away
the water in his eyes and looked up at a face:
gnarled, hard and weather-worn.

Bracken.

As the older man pulled him back to safety, Arlo

saw, behind Bracken along the outcrop, a line
of people, their hands entwined, unbroken. The

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sight of one of their own trapped on the edge of

disaster had brought them together. Their arms
linked, their faces set, was everything Blueleaf
Basin had forgotten it was. It was unity; it was
bravery; it was rising above fear.

Bracken’s eyes met Arlo’s. He spoke, loud and

gruff to be heard over the fierce wind. “Let’s get
my boy.”

Arlo nodded and the thick and frosty air that

existed between him and Bracken thawed.
Arlo turned his face back towards the wind.
With Bracken’s sturdy hands holding on to the
fabric of his poncho, Arlo was able to reach out
farther this time. He felt the hands of all the
townspeople holding on to him and he knew
they would not let go.

He caught Ryptide’s hand in his own and, as

soon as contact was made, Arlo felt a pull from
behind. In an instant, both he and Ryptide were
swept up in strong, undefeatable arms.

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They sat on the shore surrounded by almost
the entire population of Blueleaf Basin. At the
horizon, the sky and the sea began to settle.
The wind turned from a shout to a whisper;
the waves eased into their usual rise and fall.
A break in the clouds allowed the moonlight
to shine through and, suddenly, all the faces
around them were lit in a wash of ivory. From
his side, Arlo felt a pressure against his shoulder.

“Hey! You OK?” Marion spoke quietly, hushed.

Arlo turned to her. He was wrapped in a thick
cotton blanket and the feeling was slowly
returning to his limbs. His mother had bandaged
his cut leg tightly to stop the bleeding but it
still pulsed heavily.

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Arlo thought about the question. He thought

about everything they had been through with
the fish, Ryptide, the trouble with the council
and, to be honest, he wasn’t sure. He couldn’t be
sure if he would ever be OK again.

“I think so. Thanks to you.” Arlo thought about

the human chain that had made the rescue
possible. Without those people, there was no
way he and Ryptide would have made it back
to safety.

“It was just my idea. Everyone else did the hard

work.”

Arlo turned, smiled and said, “You’ve always

got my back.”

Marion rested her head on Arlo’s shoulder. “It’s

my job.”

Together, they watched the tide and a group

of people that stood nearby staring out across
the water. One of them turned and walked
purposefully back up to the two children. Sara
rounded them and sat next to Arlo. She took
his hands in her own and he felt the warmth of

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her touch. It reminded him of roaring hearths,

warm soup and freshly baked bread.

Arlo looked again to the group on the shore.

They were gathered around Ryptide. Bracken
was by his side with his arm draped over his
son’s shoulders. They were talking but Arlo
could not hear their words. Sara noticed him
watching.

“I’ve checked him over. He’s cold, he’s scared

but he’s all right.”

Across the beach, Ryptide looked up. His eyes

met Arlo’s and held their gaze. The older boy’s
face softened and Arlo knew that things would
never be the same between them. With the water
crashing down on them, Arlo had grabbed on to
Ryptide, saving him from the thundering waves.
He had dragged him back to the human chain.
He had saved his life. But in making that choice,
the fish had been lost. One moment, the tank
was there and the next moment, it had gone.

Arlo had saved the present but the future was

now uncertain.

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The townspeople had returned to their homes

shortly after the events at sea. It had been a
long and tiring night but one that showed the
spirit of Blueleaf Basin. Bracken had demanded
an immediate emergency summit of the council
but Ephra had refused. Emotions were high,
fraught, and that was no way to begin what
might be the most important meeting in memory.
So, they went home. They slept. The next day,
Arlo and his mother ate soup and bread and he
lay on the roof of their house to daydream. He
swapped the stars for the sun and didn’t care
about doing anything useful. But he did change
his shirt.

Now, two days after the rescue, Arlo and his

mother walked through the centre of town
towards the council chambers.

“What’s going to happen?” he asked her.

“That’s the good thing, Arlo. Nothing is decided

yet.”

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They entered the council chamber. Whereas, the

day before yesterday, the room had been full,
round the table now sat only Ephra, Bracken
and several others. Behind Ephra stood Marion.
She smiled at Arlo and he returned her smile
warmly. When Arlo, Sara and Pepper moved
nearer to the table, Ephra stood. She motioned
towards some empty chairs on the side closest
to them.

One by one, Sara, Pepper, Arlo and then Marion

sat down. A pause hung in the air before Ephra,
ever the leader, spoke.

“The events of the last few days have been a

stern lesson for Blueleaf Basin. We must look
past our divisions and find a way forward. We
have overcome problems before and we will
overcome them now.”

“We needed that fish. The crops, the algae… It

was our only hope.”

Everyone turned to look at Bracken. The older

man sat slumped in his chair, his hair pulled
over his eyes in loose strands. He wore every
minute of the recent events on his face.

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Now, it was Sara’s turn to speak. “And what if

you had got it? What if you had found more?
What then?”

“I would have killed them. I would have eaten

them. Then, I would have found more and done
exactly the same thing,” Bracken replied.

Arlo couldn’t believe it. After everything they

had been through, was Bracken still determined
to scour the oceans for the fish? Was he prepared
to destroy something so new and utterly
defenceless?

“Then,” Bracken continued, “I saw what it did

to my son. I did not want that for him.” His
words faltered. “He acted in a way I did not,
would not, ever want for him. He acted like me.”
He lowered his head in shame.

Arlo knew Ryptide had nearly been lost at

sea. The situation had skittered on the edge of
disaster but, although the fish had been lost,
Ryptide was thankfully in his home, warm and
safe. Arlo thought how it might go when they
saw each other next. Would they greet each
other as friends or would they never speak

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another word to each other? Arlo did not know

which outcome he would prefer. But, looking at
Bracken, his eyes downcast, Arlo wondered how
a man like this, a force of nature, could change
so much? It was like a storm blown away by a
butterfly’s wing — impossible.

After a few still moments, Bracken raised his

head, composed once more. “We know the
fish did not deserve the treatment it received.
I was blinded by our troubles and, for that, I
am sorry.”

Ephra acknowledged his words with a gentle

nod. The air in the room settled and thinned.
Something had changed in Bracken and it was
something for the better.

At the table, Ephra spoke again. “Now, we must

decide what we do from here. I believe that,
with more study, we could find out about the
true state of our oceans. Then, perhaps one day
soon, there might be the option to fish for—”

“But we don’t need the fish.” The council

members turned to the origin of the small
voice that had spoken. It was Marion. Arlo saw

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her blush at all the pairs of eyes now fixed

upon her.

“Go on,” Ephra said encouragingly.

Marion swallowed and then began to speak

again, “Yes, it eats the algae but Pepper showed
us a different way…” She looked at Pepper as if
to ask her to take over.

The older woman, now returned from exile,

smiled and shook her head. “No, my dear, you
carry on. You understand now.”

Marion rose from her seat. “It’s not about the

fish. This whole problem has been caused by
people wanting something from it.”

Arlo felt the passion in her words. Marion was

one with nature. She knew everything there was
to know about life in Blueleaf Basin. Perhaps
she was the best person to speak on their behalf.

Marion continued, “You weren’t there. We looked

after the fish. We kept it alive while you were
thinking of ways to kill it.”

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Bracken looked at Marion and spoke but there

was something different in his voice. He spoke
to her as an equal. “But did you not bring the
fish back here to rid us of the algae? You were
the one who told us that creature ate it.”

Marion faltered, perhaps surprised by Bracken’s

tone. “I… Yes, I did. I had hoped that by telling
you, it would stop you wanting to kill the fish.
I was wrong. We all wanted to know where
it came from, what it was, what it did, what
it could do for us. We never considered what
we should do for it. We need to leave it be. If
there are more, if they are allowed to flourish
and grow, perhaps one day, they will come to
us willingly.”

The room fell silent. Marion continued with a

newly discovered confidence.

“Pepper has shown us that by working with

nature, working with the natural order of
things, the algae will disappear on its own. We
do not need to use the fish for our own gain.”

Pepper rose from her seat and filled the empty

space. She spoke softly, kindly and with the

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wisdom of someone who had lived two lives.

“Marion, thank you. What we have witnessed
here proves that the future of Blueleaf Basin
does not lie with the old: it sits in the hearts of
the young.”

Pepper then turned to Ephra. “I think you and

I should talk.”

Arlo and Marion stood outside the council

chambers. Ephra and Pepper had been engaged
in conversation for almost an hour. The council
building was in the centre of town so they
wouldn’t be able to climb onto the roof to
eavesdrop.

“What do you think’s going on in there?” Arlo

said.

“I don’t know. Maybe they’re deciding on what

job to finally give you,” Marion replied.

Arlo quietly snorted a laugh.

With the sun arching slowly across the

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Secrets the Sea Held

afternoon sky, Sara approached. She had been

told to gather the townspeople. They had come
quickly with a sense of urgency about them.
Soon, the central square of town was almost
full: the residents of their island home standing
shoulder to shoulder.

From the doorway of the council chambers,

Ephra and Pepper emerged. They stood side
by side.

“We must tell you that the fish is gone,” Ephra

began in a calm and clear voice. “It has returned
to the oceans…”

A rumbling of voices broke out. Some called

out exclamations of ‘Why?’ and ‘Where?’ They
were confused. The impossible had become real
but, with the fish gone, there was no way to
prove it.

“What does it mean?” an unknown member of

the crowd called.

“It means nothing. The fish is gone and the

council have decided to leave it — them —
where they are. We have learnt our lessons from

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Chapter Thirteen

the past. It is not our place to interfere now.”

“But what about the algae?” another member

of the crowd called.

Ephra looked to the woman standing next to

her to answer and gestured for her to speak.

Pepper, who had lived in exile, who had lived

with the guilt and shame of her discovery and
its consequences all those years ago, stepped
forwards.

“We will rely on the land. We will look to

innovate, to improve and adapt to what the
world is, not what we believe or want it to
be. I will share with you all that I have learnt
and all that I have. We shall strive through the
difficulties facing us to build the foundations of
a better tomorrow.”

Pepper’s words were met with what sounded

like approval.

She continued, “The fish is not a part of this

journey. Not yet. We cannot bring a quick
solution. The other night, fighting to save one of

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Secrets the Sea Held

our own, has proved that if Blueleaf Basin is to

ever succeed, it will do so by working together.”

The crowd cheered.

Arlo thought he had not seen the people look

so free and joyous. Changes were coming and
he felt certain in his bones that they would
be for the better. Blueleaf Basin had been the
beginning and end of his world for so many
years; however, the past few days had shown
him that there was something more out there.
There were different ways of thinking, different
ways of viewing the world. He was excited to
see what the future held, not staring out to sea
but here in his home town.

Ephra silenced the crowd and spoke once more,

one final time. “A new member will be invited to
join the council. We need their determination,
their drive, their compassion. This person’s wise
counsel and sage wisdom has proved vital in us
finding a way through. They will offer a fresh
perspective. They will always look forward and
will forever have the future of Blueleaf Basin in
their hearts.”

174
Chapter Thirteen

“Who is it?” a chorus of voices called from the

crowd.

Ephra looked across the faces staring up

with anticipation and then down at Arlo and
Marion. She laid a hand on Marion’s shoulder
and smiled.

“Well, will you join us?”

175
Epilogue
It is a bright and clear morning in Blueleaf
Basin. A storm the previous night has left a
dewy glow across the leaves, vines, hanging fruit
and turned earth. In the fields and orchards,
fruit and vegetables grow plentifully. Animals,
some wild, some not, wander free. They move
with ease, completely unhurried by the world
around them. Morning birds sing their daily
chorus. Across the earth, agricultural probes
planted in the soil read and assess the health
of the plants. They hydrate those that need it
and monitor those that do not. They analyse
the data and use it to keep the health of the
crops at the forefront of their work.

From the doorway of a weather-beaten house,

a man walks out in the sunshine. He closes

176
Epilogue

his eyes. Enjoying the birdsong, he lets the sun

warm his skin — something he never tires of.
Old and weary, the sun, the song and the distant
wash of the waves always make him feel young.

He walks by the fields, saluting the workers.

A woman, many years younger, walks over.

“Mornin’,” she says.

“Hey! How’re the crops looking? Any blueberries

going spare?”

“‘Fraid not,” she replies. “They need another

couple of weeks until they’re ready.”

The old man sighs with disappointment but

the woman carries on, “But when they’re done,
check your front step for a pie.”

The old man smiles, bids her goodbye and

carries on into town.

He passes the aquaponic farm. The glass

greenhouse was built many years ago with
salvage taken from the harbour. He thinks of
its old name, a name never used any more. It

177
Secrets the Sea Held

makes him chuckle to think about it now as a

thriving settlement and the heart of the island’s
technological innovation.

The old man peeks inside and sees the fish

fluttering inside the large tanks. All around,
tanks, racks and pyramids of green bloom. The
nutrient-rich water from the fish allows the
farmers to grow all manner of vegetables and
fruit. He remembers how Pepper had worked
to develop a system where the fish could come
and go as they pleased. Thanks to a lifetime’s
worth of work to create the perfect habitat, they
now thrive.

The frame of the aquaponic farm had once been

the rusted hull of an old fishing vessel. Pepper
had managed its relocation and construction.
She had worked with the glassmakers to find
the ideal spot for the arc of the sun and taught
them ways to maintain the ideal temperature
for growth.

Bracken had, in his usual way, resisted the idea.

“How does it work without fish? We let the only
one go!”

178
Epilogue

But that’s why Pepper was there. Her view of

the world gave pause. “We’re building this so if
the fish return, we are ready to support them.”
Blueleaf Basin had grown strong with her gentle
view of the world guiding them.

The man approaches the door and looks through

the glass window. He raps on it and waits for
another man inside to approach. It takes him
a great effort to stand from his chair and even
more to move to the door. The man outside is
two years younger than him and he never lets
him forget it.

“Well, isn’t this a surprise?” Ryptide says.

“Nice to see you too,” Arlo smiles.

The pair share a laugh. “Would you like to

see them? The silverfin seem to be enjoying
this crop.”

“Not today, friend. You take care of them.”

“I will,” the other man replies. “They are mine,

after all.” Waving to his old friend, he reflects
on how so much has changed but some things

179
Secrets the Sea Held

stay the same. When they were boys, they had

fought to possess the fish. Now, they fight to
protect them.

As he carries on into town, his walk is interrupted

by children skittering past, nearly knocking into
his legs. He is used to the twisting and twirling
of the busy town. He pats one of the children on
the head as they go.

“Something exciting, children?”

“We’re off to see the fish. The shoal’s come back!

And there’s something new — a big one!” one of
them exclaims and then they are gone, chatting,
laughing and running all the way.

He spots one child lagging slightly behind,

weighed down by her heavy bags and thick
coat. “Ephy!” he calls.

The child stops and turns, looking flustered.

“Have you seen your grandmother?”

“Uh, she’s at work, I think.”

180
Epilogue

The old man smiles and waves the child off.

She runs to catch up with her friends and
he laughs, knowing she will always be a few
moments behind them. He heads farther into
town towards the building that stands at its
heart: a circular dome. The door is open as it
always is. It will be market day soon and the
stores and merchants will have all their wares
on display: fruits, vegetables and other produce.
There will be new contraptions from those with
a mind to create them. The old woman inside
will be preparing for it all.

He reaches the door, leans in and spots her —

the leader of the council. She is bent over the
table, thick glasses on the tip of her nose and
papers scattered in a loose pile. By her side
sits a child, the newest member of the council,
appointed just weeks ago.

The man knocks on the inside of the open door

and they both look up.

“It’s a beautiful day,” he says.

The leader, short in stature but mighty in spirit,

pushes herself up from her chair. “Shouldn’t

181
Secrets the Sea Held

you be working?” She narrows her eyes in mock

annoyance.

“Bit late for that now,” the old man laughs. “Do
you have some time?”

“I always have time for an old friend. That’s

my job.” Marion moves to his side and takes his
arm. “Where are we going?”

The man pats her hand. “It’s the day after a

storm and the sun is high. We’re off to look for
treasures. You never know what we might find.”

182
Epilogue

183
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Arlo managed to
wrap his hand around
the shimmering object that
felt oddly spongy and pulled
it from the water.

The treasure was unlike anything

he had ever found before.

It was slimy. It wriggled. It was alive.

Arlo Hook spends his days looking out to sea and

dreaming of a world beyond his island home.
Here, the ocean is out of bounds following a tragic
accident many years before and, besides, nothing
lives in it anyway. One day, however, Arlo and his
friend Marion make a shocking find that threatens
to change everything they thought they knew
about their lives, their community and the past.
In a bid to protect their discovery, they go on a
journey and learn more about their world than
they could ever have imagined.

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