Frantic Inside Grand Caves

4: Looking into Some Detective Work

"Hey!" I stuck my head out the porthole window. "Mary! Jake! Millie! Shona!" I yelled. "Something you should see here!"

They rushed to join me, Jake and Shona till the trapdoor.

I held out the piece of seaweed for them to examine.

"Emily isn't into that style, is she?" I asked quietly. No one needed to answer. Who could imagine Emily as a punk chic? No one, for sure.

"So our suspect is a punk!?" Shona said incredulously.

By now, some of the crowd outside had seeped inside to see what was up, including Theo. He gave a collective gasp as he caught sight of the neon strand in my hands.

We all looked his way.

"What is it, Theo?" Marina and Althea said together.

"Early this morning – while I was workin' on a dense patch of dead kelp, just short of Double Arch Bay, I saw that twinkly kid with the nose rings on her way to somewhere secret. It was clear." He scratched his head. "She was with her spiky boyfriend, the one with all that gel on his hair spikes and his tail with those fake razor decals. So anyways I'm behind this huge clump o' dead seaweed, so I decided to keep quiet, 'cause they was lookin' murderous, I mean dead serious, 'bout some business they had. They went the way of the Caves. I just throwed the matter away, but now…" his voice trailed away. My heart skipped a beat.

"Allen probably buys his stuff near the craft stalls, eh?" said Jake. "That's only place around you can buy some real merchandise." For a fleeting moment his eyes proudly darted to a beautiful shell medallion he'd hung above Emily's dresser.

"So Allen's a suspect?" Shona asked to fill the silence that followed.

"Not only him. Angel too." Surprisingly, my tongue worked.

"So then," nodded Beeston, "Who sells striped neon seaweed?" we combed our minds.

Marina stepped forward. "Sir," she said nervously to Beeston, "That seaweed isn't an ornamental at all."

Well, what d'you know.

"I used it a few weeks ago. It's a hair tattoo. Do-it-yourself highlights."

'Well, Miss Hair Expert, no one here is particularly familiar with the concepts of hair 'frills and frizzies'," barked Beeston, "But thank you for the crucial bit of information. It has come to my attention that all need to behave orderly and efficiently to maintain the peace on this privileged paradise haven that…" and he droned on and on and on until Millie stepped forward and sharply said, "So any way, the point is, WHO SELLS DO-IT-YOURSELF HIGHLIGHTS?"

Beeston looked a bit embarrassed, but then shrugged it off and looked round at us.

That was when Theo stepped forward. "That's it, I have it!" we all swiveled our heads towards him. "Sandy Tailtassle's uncle, the one living in North Bay, he'd stopped by the other afternoon and asked me if I couldn't set aside for him a pile of fresh green seaweed I happened to see floatin' 'round. Said maybe I'd give the ones I'd cleared out to him, too. 'Course I said yes. Then the feller mumbled somethin' bout the new kid's fads today, and how this product of his were in high demand. Didn't listen much but I'm pretty sure he's the guy."

Beeston nodded.

We all trooped back outside, me and Shona the last to leave. "You coming, Aaron?" she said softly. I was looking at a snapshot of me, Emily, and Shona on the deck of the Fortuna. It had been the day after we saved out families and brought the Rings together. I was on the left, Emily beside me, and Shona on the other side. Back then, I'd had no idea things like this would happen. Ever.

"Aaron?" Shona called again.

"I'm coming," I muttered, plopped down into the water, and followed the crowd in the direction o the craft stalls. However, it was anything but thoughts of hair accessories that occupied my mind. It was Emily.

Emily with her dark brown eyes staring into mine the moment before I'd leaned in and kissed her.

Emily with her last attempts to end the curse set on us all.

Brave, beautiful, adventurous Emily. My Emily. Was she gone? For good?