Chapter 3
Tim drove north. As he'd told Gibbs, he had no idea of where to start. He was going to pick places near the ocean where he could look at local archives, birth certificates for boys born to single mothers. He didn't think it was likely that there were a lot of them when he had been born...whatever year that had been. He still had no idea exactly when he'd been born. That made things harder because his time growing up with the selkies had been just a wash of events. He couldn't attach a length of time to it, but he would start with the guesses his family had made and work outward from there.
First, though, he went to the beach and sat down in the sand, watching the waves roll in and out. Part of him still ached for that life he'd permanently removed himself from. He could never get back to that feeling of swimming in the ocean, feeling the water rush by him, the exhilaration of leaping around in the surf... of being a part of that world. He was separated from it forever and, sometimes, he did wonder if he'd made a mistake in not going back when he'd had the chance.
Then, he thought of his friends, his family...and he couldn't have given them up. He'd made the best he could out of a no-win situation.
But still...
"May we sit?"
The voice was familiar, but more than that, Tim felt the presence of the two men standing behind him, the two selkies. He turned.
"Yes," he said, not bothering to hide his surprise.
They both sat down beside him.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, looking at his father. "I never... I didn't think that I'd ever see you again. The law says that..."
"It is a special situation," his father said.
Tim looked at the other selkie.
"I'm glad you could go back."
"As am I," he said shortly.
Tim nodded.
"Why are you both here?" he asked again.
"Because we need your help...if you can give it."
"My help?" Tim repeated. "What could I possibly help you with?"
The two selkies looked at each other and then nodded.
"There is a man."
Tim shook his head a little bit and lowered his voice. There was no one nearby, but why invite trouble?
"I can't help you kill someone," he said, softly. "It just wouldn't feel right."
His father smiled. "That is not what I asked. We do not need help for that."
Tim smiled weakly. While he understood the reasons and even agreed with them to some degree (to a larger degree than he'd like to admit, actually), he still found it a little off-putting to know that they had killed the woman who had stolen his skin.
"Yeah, I know. Then, what is it?"
The other selkie took over. "Over the last while, there has been a man watching the seals very closely. It has been difficult to find solitary spaces."
"A lot of people watch seals. They like them."
"Not this way. This man is not watching for enjoyment. He is searching. We do not know why."
"Are you sure it's you? And not the seals themselves? Humans have passed laws protecting the seals, but some resent that protection."
"It is not the seals for the seals. It is for us."
"And you want me to find out why he's looking for you?"
"Yes. If it is possible. We would like to know if he is as dangerous as he seems to be."
"I'm surprised you're asking," Tim said, frankly. "This isn't normal."
His father smiled. "It is not normal for us to know of a human who could help in this way."
"Point taken. I'll do what I can, of course, but... I'll need a really good description."
"I have noticed him," the other selkie said. "I will tell you."
"Okay." Tim opened his bag and got out a notebook so that he could take notes. "Go for it."
"He is tall. Not extremely so. He is shorter than we are in our human forms." The selkie paused for a few seconds and considered. "His eyes would reach your chin."
Tim wrote that down, thinking that this would likely be the most interesting description he'd ever recorded.
"His eyes are not dark. They are light, like the ice that floats beneath the water."
"Light blue?"
"Like ice."
"Okay."
"His nose is pointed, sharp. Not large, but small. He has a pinched mouth with lines around it. A little bit of hair grows around his mouth, but not like us. Short and dark."
Tim suppressed a smile at the description of what sounded like a goatee.
"He has dark hair on the top of his head, too. Like that of the man with you that night."
Only Tony had dark hair of those who had been there.
"The same style?" he asked.
The selkie's brow furrowed in confusion.
"Did it look exactly the same or was it just the color?"
"Not exactly the same, but it was much the same length. The color was the same."
Tim nodded.
"Anything else?"
"Yes. He has two dark spots on the side of his face, by his ear."
"Which side?" Tim asked. "Right or left?"
"Right."
"Can you show me on your face where they are?"
The selkie thought and then pointed. Tim did a quick sketch and placed the spots where he'd been shown.
"Where was this man?"
"North."
That same issue. North. Always north. They had no need for naming locations. They knew the beaches when they saw them. Why give a name to something everyone knows?
"Do you know any of the human names for the places you've seen him?"
"Where I was once. It was called Massachusetts. I saw him there once, but I have seen him other places. I do not know the human names for them."
A state. Well, that was a place to start and he could easily eliminate most of the state and focus on the coastal areas.
"Near the sea."
"Yes."
"Okay. I'll do my best, but I can't guarantee that I'll find anything."
"We do not ask for that," his father said. "Help is what we ask for. Nothing more."
"Okay. How will I tell you if I found anything?"
"If it is safe, you can touch me as you did that night."
Tim nodded. He hadn't tried it since the destruction of his skin. He didn't know how that would feel, but he just agreed.
"All right. Is there anything else?"
"Yes." The other selkie rose to his knees and looked strangely earnest. "I wish to express thanks for what you returned to me. It is my life returned."
Tim was more surprised than he'd admit. "You're welcome."
"Humans express gratitude. You live with them, now. I needed to do it."
Tim smiled. In a human, that explanation would make the gratitude seem insincere, but for selkies, there was no need to express what all knew. So the fact that he was saying it at all meant a lot, gave it a depth it would be lacking otherwise.
"You're welcome. I'm just glad that you could go back."
The selkie looked as though he wanted to ask a question, but he didn't. Instead, he got to his feet and walked toward the ocean, leaving Tim with his father.
"How do you feel?" his father asked.
"Not quite right."
"Because of your skin?"
"Yes. I was so relieved to not feel the pain of its destruction that I didn't notice. ...but I feel its...lack. I feel where it should be and isn't. It's harder than I thought it would be."
The selkie nodded.
"No one could know this thing you have done. No one else has done it. Those who lost their skins died."
"Yeah." Tim took a breath. "I don't know if I could recommend it."
"It is a last resort, not a first. You treated it as such."
"I did."
"Do you regret it?"
"Sometimes. Sometimes, I do. Sometimes, I feel it was the best option, no matter how hard it is."
"I would be surprised if you felt otherwise."
Tim nodded. Then, he looked out at the ocean. "I'm looking for my mother."
"Why?"
"To help me find balance."
"She will help you find balance?"
"Yes. I think so. Do you think she'll want to see me?"
"That I cannot say. If she is as she was, then, yes. It has been a long time, though. No one stays the same... not human or selkie."
"Yeah." Tim looked at his father. "Where she was, was it further north than this place?"
"Yes."
"Further north than where the seals are now?"
The selkie thought about it.
"She might have been near where they are now. Not exactly. It is not the same beach, and she may not have stayed there."
"That's someplace to start, anyway. Next weekend. I'll take this description to work and see what I can find without being too obvious about it."
The selkie nodded and started to stand.
"Wait," Tim said.
"Yes?"
"Why did you two come? Why not anyone else?"
"Few are willing to leave for so long. It feels too dangerous to be apart from the herd. The other who came back to us felt a need."
"And you?"
"I made a promise, and I must keep that promise while still obeying the laws."
"A promise? Not to me."
"No. Not to you. To the one you call your mother."
Tim furrowed his brow. "What promise?"
"To watch you and care for you as needed. That promise does not change, no matter where you might be. Now, it will be harder than it was, but that also does not change the promise. It must be kept, and that is known."
"She asked that of you?"
"Yes. When she brought you to the sea, it was what she asked. You would have been cared for by all. That is how the herd works, but she asked me to do that. I agreed, and I will not break that promise. I have not ever broken that promise."
"What about when I had to leave the herd?" Tim asked.
"Do you think that you were able to find us simply because of coincidence?"
Tim was surprised. He hadn't ever thought about why he was able to swim with the seals as often as he had. He raised an eyebrow in a silent question.
"It is easy to convince the seals to stop places without telling them why. They do not care about why. As long as the beach is a good place for them, they will stop. As you say, they are protected. It was not always our herd that you saw, but it was often. I was able to ask the seals about you."
"I never even thought about it."
"Why should you? You know the laws. As do I."
"But you're breaking them."
"No. I never sought you out."
Tim smiled. That was quibbling, but he didn't care. It was a nice surprise that he'd been watched more closely than he'd ever expected, that he'd been cared for, even when he'd felt abandoned. The selkie got to his feet and Tim noticed how easily he moved. He had clearly been in his human form for an extended period and had fully adjusted to it. Tim got up as well.
"I'll see what I can do," he said.
"I know you will." He turned and gestured to the other selkie. Then, he walked away without a backward glance.
Tim watched the two of them go. There was a part of him that cried out to follow them, to go back to the sea with them, but it wasn't as powerful as it had been before.
Still, Tim wondered if he could find some seals. If not, maybe he'd swim in the ocean anyway. It had been a little while since he'd done that.
He took a deep breath and walked away from the beach.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
It was a beach at night. Not many people around.
That was all right. He didn't care about the people.
He cared about the seals.
There they were.
He kept himself out of sight and waited.
As the seals came onto the beach, there was something else with them.
A man came out of the ocean, almost staggering onto the sand. He knelt down and the seals frolicked around him until he got back to his feet. He walked up the beach, clad only in what looked like boxers.
The watcher crept out of his hiding place and started back to his car, in the hopes of following the man he'd seen. Here was the one who swam with the seals. If anyone could lead him to the selkies, he was sure this man could. He had a connection to this other world and that should be used.
It would be.
Suddenly, there was a chorus of sounds from the seals on the beach. The man stopped and looked around. Then, he sprinted toward his car, got in and sped away before the watcher could catch up.
Cursing silently, he headed back to his car without any attempt at stealth.
He'd find the man who swam with the seals. Somehow, he'd find him and that man would lead him to the selkies. He'd get his proof, and then, the laughter, the scorn, the rejection would be gone.
He was getting so close now. He knew he was and he would not be stopped.
