Luna of Mine (37 page)

I attempted to climb up into the truck
and came up against the limits of my short skirt, falling backwards
into Blake. He caught me before we both tumbled to the ground, his
large, square hands stayed on my hips, holding me up. I jumped away
from him, quickly, like I always did when we wound up
touching.

Mica put his hands on the rails and
vaulted gracefully into the back. Which made me want to pound him
with my something.

“
Let me help,” Blake
offered, lifting me into the back of the cart before climbing in
myself. I crammed against Mica, attempting to sit down, but no
matter how I wiggled, we couldn’t fit all three of us
across.

“
This worked a lot better
last summer,” Blake said in that smooth, slow tone that made people
lean in to hear him.

“
Extra workouts paid off,”
Mica said, giving Blake a high five.

I squirmed away from both of them,
standing again.

“
I’ll walk,” said Blake,
getting up like a gentleman.

“
Nah,” said Mica,
squinting at the setting sun. “Can’t be late. Cami can sit on your
lap.”

When the boys had satisfactorily
arranged their legs, I settled on Blake, gingerly, trying not to
keep some space. Then, Billy gunned the gas and the cart took
off.

I flew sideways and back down on
Blake. “I’ve got you,” he said locking his arms around me, holding
on just tightly enough to keep me safe. Being this close to him
made me slightly nauseas, like nails on the chalkboard. He
disrupted my equilibrium, and not in a good way. I liked him plenty
as a friend and appreciated him as eye candy, but I wasn’t
attracted to him that way at all. Probably because I’d been hearing
how perfect he was for me every day since birth.

Billy slowed down through the center
of town to avoid the day-trippers who walked slowly back to the
ferry, blissed out from their beach days.

“
Mainer,” Mica muttered
under his breath, when a cute guy with a surfboard locked eyes with
me. I smiled back, only to get an elbow in the gut from my
brother.

“
Be nice,” Billy called
from the front. “Those folks pay your salary this summer and make
The Guard possible. Which you’ll appreciate, if you get in, of
course.”

“
Have you seen me swim
lately? I’ve beat all the local records—even yours,” Mica
said.

“
Tonight’s not about
speed. Swimming from the little island the main beach represents
rebirth,” said Billy.

“
Don’t go all zen surf nut
on me, Bill,” laughed Mica. “This is Pinhold. It’s a race every
time you get in the water.”

“
For Nippers, yes. But The
Guard’s about other things,” Billy warned, wrestling the golfie
onto the beach path. Dune buggy wheels helped but it was still a
bumpy ride.

“
I’m more than ready for
the big game,” Mica said.

His casual tone disguised his
frustration at having to wait so many years. Those feelings sent to
me—dark, angry thoughts that clicked directly from his brain to
mine like telepathic text messages that I loved and hated. Our
deepest secrets bounced between our brains, and I couldn’t hide
anything. Mica was half of my heart; but I was never alone with my
thoughts.

Right then, he knew I wasn’t
comfortable in my own skin. Blake had me so itchy I couldn’t wait
to get off of him. I jumped as soon as the truck got close to the
bonfire spot, before we’d even stopped. I shed my skirt and tank
and ran to the water’s edge where antique wooden watercrafts and
Billy’s girlfriend, Celeste, waited for us.

“
I’m so curious, even
though I know I shouldn’t be,” Celeste whispered as she gave me a
hug.

“
They don’t really
appreciate curiosity,” I said in agreement. Technically, The Guard
was a surf rescue club. They existed in popular surfing spots
around the world to supplement the beach lifeguards and they hosted
surf carnivals. But here on Pinhold, they acted more like a secret
society, with ceremonies and rituals for members only.

Celeste hadn’t been born on Island or
descended from one of the original ten families who had landed here
eons ago, so she would never get in. Blake, Mica and I at least had
a chance.

Billy paddled to a little island that
sat independent of the rest of Pinhold, broken off from the larger
landmass with the eruption of an ancient volcano.

I jumped from the wooden craft and ran
through the shallow surf. Thirty lava rocks swirled in a sacred
spiral, with members of The Guard around them. Some held torches to
provide fire and light, and others beat rhythms on stones that
sounded like ocean waves, like the ancient conversation between sea
and land.

I’d heard the drums from home over the
years, but they never sounded like this before. It enveloped me,
connecting me to the union of nature, time, and the many who’d come
here before me. I breathed in, savoring the connection, when Blake
caught my eye. He smiled, and I knew he felt the same.

His grandfather, Stoney and my
grandmother, stood in the middle of the circle. Both were Elders in
The Guard, revered for their wisdom, athletic prowess, and lifelong
commitment.

The single most important thing
drilled into us, year in and year out, was a responsibility to take
care of the island and the ocean around us. Tonight’s ceremony
renewed that commitment for all attendees. But my friends and I
would take the pledge for the first time.

Can’t we just skip to the party? Mica
clicked, disturbing me with his intense impatience. His average
emotional temperature always burned higher and dipped lower than
mine. His feelings influenced us more frequently, but I wanted to
enjoy tonight.

Stop. Breathe. This is happening. Look
around and enjoy it, ok? I clicked back, attempting to do the
same.

Two sets of twins—me and Mica, and
Andrew and Darwen. Blake stood by Shayla, mismatched because
neither of their twins were there. Around us stood relatives; the
combined generations of The Guard who’d prepared us for this since
we were born.

“
Welcome to First Night,”
said Stoney. He was Blake’s grandfather and their rumbly voices
were so much alike. “Please close your eyes.”

Following orders, I concentrated on
the shadows and flashes in my mind and let my other senses capture
the moment. Briny saltwater and honeysuckle hit my nose, the wind
shivering with expectation.

“
On this First Night, we
rededicate ourselves to an ancient covenant symbolized by this pin
which represents the balance in our world. You join those who’ve
come before you and vow to protect the ocean from land, nature from
man. You may now look.”

As head lifeguard, Stoney had top
authority on our Island and the run of this ritual. Silver flashed
through his long fingers, the famous pin. I recognized it without
ever seeing it before. Stoney placed it on a central
stone.

The pin needed to stand at a right
angle to the ocean, representing the pivotal balance between ocean
and land, animal, and man. When it did, our Island, our people, and
the ocean stayed healthy. When it tilted, disease and disaster
would come.

I held my breath, wondering how it
looked for us this year. The pin wavered for just a moment, then
landed perpendicular to the horizon line. A celebratory cheer went
up all around us, and the music started again.

A combination of beats, claps, clicks,
and hums were something I’d heard since birth, but never in a
ceremony like this. Rhythm and music were a big part of Pinhold
life. Visitors joined our weekly drum circles on the beach, and
stayed to listen to the wave organ built into the cliffs that
played a series of gongs at high tide. Tonight, they stirred that
feeling of connection and continuity that had always eluded me
before.

To the untrained ear, the clicks and
whistles probably sounded like nothing more than rhythmic nonsense
playing along with the beat. In reality they were imitations of the
sounds made by the dolphins that lived in our bay—we were inviting
them to join us and witness our commitment to protect their
home.

“
We call you to pledge
yourself as the guardians of the sea. Witnessed by the sacred
swirl, do you pledge to protect the ocean from land and the animals
from man?” Stoney asked. His voice pulsed in time with the pounding
drumbeats.

“
Yes,” said six voices in
unison, including mine.

“
Now, it is time to answer
in the language of the ancients.” Stony instructed, keeping his
voice low. “When I touch you, repeat after me.”

Stony started with Mica. The strange
sounds rolled from his tongue with ease. Instantly I heard the
dolphins chattering over the kicked up breeze. My heart jumped
along with their increased activity in the water. Legend said we
needed them to witness our pledge, but they didn’t come for every
ritual anymore.

As each of my friends took the vow,
the dolphins’ talk faded, as if they headed the wrong way. The
tension grew palpable until Blake spoke, when the noise got louder,
but not closer. Finally, my turn came.

I inhaled deeply and shut my eyes,
seeing the location of the dolphins clearly in my mind. They
frolicked in the riptide off towards the open ocean. They heard us
calling them but did not swim closer to watch. For maximum success,
we needed them to join our swim. My heart churned as I realized
now, that was all up to me.

I wondered how on earth I’d reach them
with my low, scratchy voice. Speaking loudly never worked well for
me. Then, I heard their noises change as they went under the
surface to play and swim even further from us.

You can do this, clicked Mica,
straight into my brain. Slow and low. He said the syllables
silently, emphasizing all the proper points for inflection. With
this info, I realized Stoney hadn’t repeated it perfectly. Somehow
Mica had already learned which tones to pay attention
to.

I repeated it silently then spoke it
as loudly as possible. My voice lacked volume but I added energy by
sending vibrations swirling through my bones, through the rocks and
into the water, hoping to reach the dolphins below the
surface.

They reacted instantly, repeating the
clicks and whistles I made sound for sound. Quickly they moved
towards me, churning through the thirty-foot sea waves that made
Pinhold a famous surfing spot.

“
Again!” Stoney said,
insistently. I listened, repeating myself five more times, until
the dolphins came right into the bay. The mood shifted and I opened
my eyes to the pure joy of their arrival. As if sensing my
attention, the huge pod began playing and showing off. They
flipped, jumped and twisted in the air.

“
Well done,” Stoney said,
looking proud of us all. “Now, go join the guardians of the sea for
the traditional swim.”

I took a second to appreciate their
silvery grey bodies moving before I dove off the rocks, getting in
the water first. While everyone in The Guard swam, only those of us
pledging for the first time had anything to prove.

The inky-black water surrounding me
hid silvery bodies darting around. They brushed against me, skin
like neoprene, swimming in front, behind, churning the water to
actually move me along. I stayed with them as long as I could,
reluctant to give up my primo spot for something as ordinary as
air. When I finally surfaced, a dolphin with skin brighter than the
others stopped; raised her head and stared. It felt like she
recognized me, but I knew I’d never seen her before.

I’d heard of her, of course. White
dolphins played a large role in Pinhold mythology. Based on her
size and age, she was the elusive albino born the month before me.
I never believed she actually existed.

She dove back under the water and I
followed without taking enough oxygen. Underwater, she nudged me
forward, and as I picked up speed, she came alongside me. Her
smooth movement created a slipstream, a pocket in the liquid that
let me stay right against her. I focused on staying with her as we
moved in front of the crowd and lost track of all the other
dolphins, and people too.

Underwater, time passed differently. I
didn’t realize that I had forgotten to breathe until I landed next
to the dolphin on some jagged rocks, gasping for air. I couldn’t
move my body, no matter what I tried.

A sharp fragment of rock dug into that
soft indented space behind my ear. Blood—the dolphin's and
mine—mixed in the water between us, and she looked wan, instead of
pearly white. I got worried. She flopped her tail a few times,
unable to get off of the rock. When I moaned in pain, she stopped
doing that and looked right at me with one eye. I blinked for a
second, breaking the stare when I felt her pulse. I knew it was
there. It came through my skin and into my bones, right to the spot
that hurt the worst. At once, the blood clotted and the pain
stopped. But, I was still stranded too far away for anyone near the
bonfire on the beach to see.

Then, Blake sprang from the ocean like
a dolphin with wings, or at least that’s what it looked like to me.
I tried to smile, but my lips wouldn’t move and since my eyes
weren’t all the way open, he set up for mouth-to-mouth. If the
situation were reversed, I would have too.