Prologue
I never had a normal life. Does any one? I've never lived in one place more than a year. I travel with my mom, we've lived in just about every country, and definitely every state in the US. I can always tell when we're about to leave, because mom starts telling me that if I like staying in one place, I can go live with Dad in Texas, and that she really loves me and all, but I don't have to stay with her. I roll my eyes and go pack.
But then, something happened. We moved from Pheonix, AZ to Pescadero,CA. to tell the truth, I didn't mind, I mean, I hated Arizona, too hot and dry and no ocean. If I knew what I would find in Pescadero, I would have moved there in the blink of an eye, maybe scared, maybe no. Who knows… But I do know that even after all I'd been through nothing had prepared me for my new life…
Chapter 1
"Honey you are gonna LOVE Pescadero!!" Mom said dancing around my room writing my name on all the boxes.
"You said that about here, and lady, this has been the worst three months of my life." I rolled my eyes. Mom came over and sat cross legged beside me on the bed
"Wren my darling" she looked me in the eyes "Trust me. I never said you'd love it here, I said I hoped you'd love it here." She reached into the kangaroo pocket of her sweatshirt and pulled out a little scrapbook. "Here." She smiled and left the room. I shrugged and opened the scrapbook. The first picture was of a beautiful estate. Along the bottom, in Mom's curly handwriting said Our new house. I ran my hand along the picture I hadn't lived in a house for about a year and a half.The rest of the album was like this; The beach, your new school, the library, the woods behind our house; it went on and on. I picked it up and went to go find mom. It wasn't too hard, seeing that we have a 450 square foot apartment. She was in her bedroom, folding laundry.
"Mom, when did you take these pictures?" I walked in and set it on top of her suit case. She ignored me and kept folding. "Mom. Remember? 'No secrets'? or do your own rules not apply to you??"
"I went down there last week while you were at Grandma's house. And darling, it's beautiful!" She walked over to the curtains and closed them, cutting off the glaring sun. "You will love it. I promise. And If you don't, I'll buy you the next Maximum Ride book with no guilt trips. Deal?" She looked at me pleadingly and stuck out her hand. I needed that book, and Mom needed Pescadero.
"Deal." And we shook on it.
* * *
The car ride was loooong. Unbearably long. I slept half the time, and mom drove day and night. We followed the U-haul through the deserts, up the ugly dusty highways, only stopping three times for lunch, dinner, and then for breakfast the next morning. I was surprisingly ecstatic when we finally crossed the CA border.
"What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." Mom said. "That's T., by the way,"
"I know. I've heard that one at least a million times, Mom." I went back too my book.
"Hon. I'm serious. This is important. This is the most important move we've had. I grew up in Pescadero, you know."
"No, as a matter of fact I didn't know that," I looked up at her "I'm sick and tired of you lying to me! First you travel behind my back, then you tell me you didn't actually grow up in a development in Virginia!"
"Hon, I lived in Pescadero for the first 11 years of my life, with Mama Taya and my foster family, I was adopted by"- She paused and sighed-"Your grandparents"
"Mom. Why can't you just say "Mom and Dad" like any normal person! You act as if you're afraid of them!"
"Wren. I'm not afraid of them, I just…never really got along with them too well. They're like toast, and I'm like…." She searched for a word. "Focaccia"
"Is that why we never visit them? Because they're to bland for you!!!????"
"No hon, that's not why! And anyway, we lived with them for two months!"
"Yeah, and you never said more than five words to either of them! And we stayed in the Mother in Law unit out back."
"It's just that—I'm not… never mind."
"No. Mom. No secrets. Remember?" I sat up on my knees and looked over to her. She was staring blankly at the long dry road ahead.
"Wren, my Birdie, I'm not human. Neither are you."
"Mother are you losing your MIND????" I swallowed, though. I was loosing steam, I mean she caught me off guard, and heck, hadn't I always dreamed of being not human? "So am I an alien?"
"No, dear" She laughed "You're a Mortze Osoby"
"A Mortal what?"
"Mortze Osoby"
"That's Polish- for… Sea Person. What the heck?"
"Hon! I've always wanted to be able to tell you."
"Mom! You could have told me a lot earlier!" I stared at her. "Why didn't you?"
"Because" She looked down at me "I had to ask the Sea Police"
"Eyes on the road Mom" I said automatically "The Sea Police?"
"Yeah" Mom said "Oooooh yay!" she grinned suddenly "Here we are!!" we turned down a road with a sign that said "Old Pescadero". There was a sign with a picture of a girl and a goat that said "The Country Bakery" We kept driving for about twenty minutes, through the town, off on a country road, until we pulled up in front of a large, white, birthday cake of a house. It was odd, compared to the rest of the area, which had that sort of sparse, beach grass look to it. This house had by far the best garden around, with green lawns and rose covered trellises. Behind the house was a huge forest. We drove up to the gate. There was an old book on a stand next to it. I raised my eyebrow at mom.
"Watch." She said, taking a pen from the glove compartment and climbing out of the car. She opened the book and wrote her name in it, then climbed back into the car.
"That's the guest book" She said, starting the car back up. "It's processing my name. Oh! Yay!"She said as the gat started to open, slowly but surely. She entered, our old van sputtering slightly. "This is it. Schronienie dla Magiczne. Or Oaza This is why I had you learn Polish. It'll be really helpful around here."
"Haven… For the Magical"
"Yes! Oh my deary! This is my home. My haven. Where I can be me"