Dario arrived for work bright and early the next morning with a beaming smile on his face. He was already wearing rubber gloves and boots, and an apron, all of which appeared to be brand new. Helena greeted him at the door while Massimo loaded his boat, and Maria lingered on the stairs with Alberto in her arms, listening. She didn't want to risk her son getting wet in front of the new employee, but she needed to know what was happening with him.

At first, it didn't seem to be much. Helena walked Dario through using the cash register, and tested his knowledge of the types of fish and shellfish they sold. He did well at both these tasks, and Maria wondered if he'd been studying.

He seemed entirely focused on the job and not at all interested in the family – until the main lessons were over and the small talk began. That was when Dario said, "Signora Marcovaldo? Have you ever seen a sea monster?"

Maria was now sitting on the bench just outside, watching Alberto play with the toy boat Massimo had given him, and this question made her sit up so sharply she almost hit her head on the stone wall behind her.

"I... may have. Once," said Helena.

"What did it look like?" asked Dario.

"I didn't see it very well," Helena told him. "It was just a fishy creature in the water. It could have been anything. When I've tried to draw pictures of them, those have been based on other people's descriptions. Why? Have you ever seen one?"

"No," Dario replied, "but I've heard Signor Marcovaldo sees them all the time."

Helena laughed. "You've been listening to gossip," she said. "He told me he only saw one up close once. He said it was long and sinuous and blue, and vanished deeper into the water as soon as it realized he was there."

"Oh." Dario sounded disappointed. "Only once? Really?"

"Only once. He's been hunting for another ever since. He said his sister and her boyfriend laughed at him when he described it" – Helena couldn't see Maria wince outside – "so he was determined to find one and show everyone it was real."

"I hope he catches one someday," said Dario.

"Do you?" Helena asked. Wood scraped on stone as she moved the chair she was sitting in. "You want to see one for yourself?"
"No! I'd be terrified," the boy told her. "When I was little, my grandmother kept telling me if I went swimming when nobody was watching I'd get eaten. Every summer she used to look out at kids playing in the harbour and say sooner or later one of them's gonna get got. A dead one is the only one I want to see!"

Maria held her breath.

But Helena laughed. "I think your grandmother was being a little silly," she said. "Nobody here has ever been attacked by a sea monster that I know of. I wouldn't worry about it at all. Do you swim?" she asked.

"No," Dario admitted, embarrassed. "I never learned." Had his grandmother's words scared him that badly? Or had she simply never allowed him?

"It's never too late to learn!" Helena told him cheerfully.

Alberto stood up and toddled over to his mother to offer her the toy boat. She took it from him and started to stand up. There was work to do today, and she'd heard enough for now – but Alberto had plans of his own. He turned around, and started heading across the piazza towards the stairs down to the beach.

"Alberto!" she called out. She put the toy on the bench and ran to scoop him up. Alberto responded with a screech, upset at having a potential adventure cut off, and struggled as his mother lifted him.

When she turned around, Helena and Dario were both standing in the doorway, wondering what the yelling was about. Maria felt her face heat up, as she realized they would know she'd been eavesdropping. For a moment the three of them just looked at each other, and then Maria decided she had to say something.

"Buongiorno!" she said. "I was just on my way out to do the deliveries, and Alberto escaped! How's Dario doing?"

"I think he's going to do quite well," Helena replied. "I was just telling him about the time Massimo said he saw a sea monster."

"I remember that!" Maria said with a nod. "Good morning to you as well, Dario."

"Good morning, Signora Scorfano!" the boy replied brightly. "And Alberto!"

Alberto, recognizing his name, made a noise and pointed at Dario.

"That's right, he does know who you are," said Maria. "Come along now, lots to do today! People are waiting for their fish!"

Was it her imagination, or was Helena looking at her suspiciously as Maria headed to the yard? Eavesdropping was rude. Would that be enough for Helena to ask her to leave? Or even worse... Helena had promised not to tell Massimo about Alberto, but she'd never promised not to tell Dario, and Maria couldn't ask her to when he was right there.

Feeling slightly sick with worry, Maria loaded up the cart with the day's deliveries and put Alberto into it. There were fewer houses to visit than there had been yesterday, but many of them were different people. That meant she would have to stop and make conversation with a bunch of near-strangers again. At least this time, she wouldn't be in a hurry.

"Ma?" asked Alberto.

"Yes, my darling?" She looked up from the list, and saw her son trying to get himself down from the cart. "Oh, no, you don't," she said, catching him and putting him back. "We've got work to do, and then we have to try your shoes again. We're going to keep doing them until you get used to it." Alberto had very strong opinions about things he didn't want to do, but in this particular case Maria was determined to out-stubborn him.

She set off across the cobblestones to her first delivery, while Alberto turned in his seat to look longingly at the water. "Ma?" he asked again.

He wasn't saying mamma, Maria realized. He was saying mare. He was talking about the sea.

"Not today, Berto," she said. "We can't let anyone see you."

Alberto pouted.

"Yes, I know. You're used to going swimming every day, but things have to be different here." Maybe if she kept talking to him, it would help to distract him. "You liked the ladies' cats yesterday, didn't you? Well, we've got the Bagnascos on our list today. They've got a kitty cat. Her name is Scacchiera, if I remember correctly. She'll be right there are the door waiting for us."

Maria's memory was good: Albino and Gemma Bagnasco's very fat black and white cat was sitting on the windowsill. When the cart approached, the cat hopped down onto the street and trotted over, meowing eagerly in anticipation of a treat. Alberto watched, green eyes wide, while Maria knocked on the door.

Signora Bagnasco was in her forties, with prematurely grey hair tied up in a neat bun, and wearing a rather yellowed apron that was clearly very old but a favourite, as her daughter had embroidered it. She answered the door and immediately grinned. "It's Maria! I've seen you around but I haven't had a chance to talk to you yet! Welcome home."

"Thank you, Signora," said Maria. She handed the woman a paper bag with her fish in it. "It's good to be back. I see Scacchiera hasn't changed at all."

"No more than the rest of us, which is to say she's gotten older and fatter," said Signora Bagnasco cheerfully.

Maria nodded. She took a broken fish, and gave it to Alberto so he could offer it to the cat. Scacchiera jumped up onto the cart handle, with perfect balance despite her rotundity, and sniffed at the piece in Alberto's hand. He watched this with wide eyes, and then quickly stuffed the fish in his own mouth.

"Heavens!" exclaimed Signora Bagnasco.

"Alberto!" gasped Maria. She took hold of his face and tried to pry his mouth open. "You spit that out! Right now!"

Alberto wailed and kicked, but she managed to get the piece of fish out and let it drop to the street. The cat jumped down to sniff at it, but turned up its pink nose at food that ahd been in a baby's mouth. When Maria looked up, she found Signora Bagnasco standing here with a hand on her chest and her mouth open in horror. Her husband Albino was looking over her shoulder in confusion.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Nothing! Everything's fine!" said Maria. She quickly wiped Alberto's mouth and fingers on her shawl. "I don't know why he would do such a thing!"

"It's fine, it's fine," Signora Bagnasco assured her, lowering her hand. "Children that age do put everything in their mouths! He must surely know it's food."

"Yes, he definitely does!" Maria agreed. If Giancarlo had been here, she might have slapped him. He was the one who'd set a bad examine for Alberto by snacking on raw fish, no matter how many times Maria asked him not to. He said it was just something sea monsters did, but Maria was worried he or the baby would end up choking on a bone. She moved a few things in the cart, trying to get them out of Alberto's reach.

"Well, say hello to Massimo for me, would you?" Albino asked. "Tell him anytime he wants to go fishing together again, I'd be happy to."

"Oh, yes, I will," Maria said, barely listening to him or to herself. "I'm afraid he's already gone out today, but if you want to catch him tomorrow morning..."

"No, no, recreational fishing," Albino said. "You weren't here last year when I had to go to Genova to get my gallstones out. The surgeons told me to take it easy for a few weeks, so I would get my pole out and go fishing down on the little dock nobody uses at the west end of town. Fernando Aretti came to keep me company and Massimo would some days, too. We all kind of got into the habit of it."

Maria was surprised by that. She knew Massimo had used to go fishing like that with Papà when he was younger, but it had been many years since then. She wouldn't have thought Massimo would want to do it again, since it would remind him of how Papà really stopped wanting to do anything since Mamma died. "I'll mention it to him," she promised.

"Perhaps he can bring that little fellow along," Albino said, pointing to Alberto.

"Alberto's a little young for that." Again, Maria could just picture Alberto hopping off the old dock into the water, in front of not only Massimo but two other fishermen who would surely be shocked that there was suddenly a sea monster in front of them.

She wished the Bagnascos goodbye, and headed up the hill to her next delivery with her heart pounding. Alberto was looking up at her warily, and when she met his eyes, he quickly lowered his head.

"Oh, Berto, I'm sorry," said Maria. "I shouldn't have panicked, but you really can't eat raw fish. It's not good for you. They might have parasites or diseases. I know your Papà used to do it, but she shouldn't have, either." She stopped and gathered him up for a hug. "Just don't do it again, and I won't have to get get upset about it, okay?"

Alberto seemed to have learned his lesson. He didn't try to eat the fish again, but he did get some treats nevertheless. There were a couple of regular customers who, having seen him yesterday, hoped to do so again. Adelina Paoli was one of these. When Maria came to the door, she was waiting with a handful of almond cookies.

"Hello again, Alberto!" she cooed. "Would you like an amaretto?"

Alberto made a happy noise and snatched it up. Maria took one, too, and held it in her teeth as she delivered the fish.

"I spoke to Carolina in Pisa on the telephone last night," Adelina said, referring to her twin sister who'd moved away to marry a man named Gianpaolo Marsigliese, whose father ran a pasta manufacturer there. "She sends you her best, and she said congratulations on your son. I told her how beautiful he is."

"Thank you," said Maria, "please tell her congratulations from me on her marriage. I hope we'll see her back in Portorosso to visit sometimes."

"Absolutely! She and Gianpaolo are planning on coming for Christmas," Adelina assured her.

Alberto continued to behave himself, and people continued to be friendly, so that Maria began to relax again as she went on with the deliveries. Alberto gnawed on the cookies he'd been given like a dog at a bone, and smeared parts of them across his face and clothing.

"I can't wait until you're old enough to stop getting your food everywhere," Maria remarked.

Alberto gave her an amaretto-y grin.

She returned to the Pescheria with her purse bulging and her cart empty, and parked it in the yard behind the house before poking her head into the shop to see what was going on. All seemed to be well. Dario was happily talking to a customer, while Helena supervised from a seat in the corner. The two women's eyes briefly met, and Helena gave Maria a nod. Hopefully that meant everything was okay.

That was one good thing about having the boy there, she had to admit – it meant Maria didn't have to worry about getting back in time. She could linger for a moment. She left Alberto in the cart, where he had fallen asleep among the boxes and bags, and stood in the gate to look out to sea.

That's where the sea monsters were. That's where they'd been the whole time, right under everybody's noses. Giancarlo could have mentioned it at any time, but he hadn't. Somewhere out there, not far, were Alberto's own people.

It made Maria's heart ache. The Aragosta women had said it was all right for Alberto to stay with her... but Maria didn't like the idea that she might be keeping him away from where he belonged. What if he hated her for it someday? What if she'd gone to all this trouble and worry trying to give him a good life, only to later realize she'd actually done the worst possible thing.

The creaking of the wooden cart alerted her to the fact that Alberto had awakened. Maria went and retrieved him, intending to take him inside and talk to Helena, and perhaps gauge Dario a little more. As she carried him out of the yard, however, he began to struggle.

"Ma!" he said, pointing to the water. A group of children were there on the beach below the town, wading and splashing.

"No, Berto," said Maria, shifting her grip to hang on tighter. "You have to stay with Mamma."

"Ma!" he repeated, bouncing in her arms.

"No, Berto," she repeated. "You can have a bath later."

He started to wail. "Ma! Maaaaa!" Alberto kicked and screamed, and Maria lost her grip on him. He dropped to the ground, rolled to his feet, and took off for the sea again, as fast as his short legs could carry him.

"Alberto!" she shrieked, and ran after him.

He went tearing over to retaining wall that separated the piazza from the beach and toppled over the edge of it, vanishing from sight. Maria cried out in alarm, and she heard Alberto's startled wailing, followed by a human voice's alarmed shout. For a moment she was convinced the secret was out in front of the entire town – but then a man popped up, lifting Alberto back up ontot he wall.

It was Albino Bagnasco. He and a couple of friends had been sitting on the gravel at the base of the wall, smoking cigarettes and watching the children play. "Careful there, young man."

Maria ran to take the squirming, wailing child from him. "Grazie a mille, Signor Bagnasco!"

"My pleasure," said Albino. "I imagine the little fellow can't swim very well."
"He swims better than you'd think," Maria replied, "but I wasn't looking forward to going in after him. Thank you again. We'll have to have you over for supper sometime!" The words popped out as a nicety, something her parents would have said, but she immediately regretted them. If Albino and Massimo actually did consider each other friends, there was every chance he would take her up on the offer.

"That would be wonderful," said Albino. "Not tonight, unfortunately, Gemma's already done the shopping, but we'll find an evening."

Maria's heart was pounding as she carried her furious son back into the Pescheria. That had been far too close. This had been a terrible idea! They was going to have to leave and then what would Massimo think when she disappeared again ? Did Alberto somehow realize there were more sea monsters out there and was trying to go to them? Or was it only that he'd been swimming every day of his life until now and didn't understand why it was suddenly forbidden?

"Are you okay, Signora Scorfano?" asked Dario. He was standing in the door of the shop, looking at her with worried eyes magnified by his glasses. Helena was behind him.

"Yes, I'm fine, Alberto just got away from me again," Maria replied. "I'm gonna take him upstairs and give him a bath." Maybe that would satisfy his desire to be in the water.

It did not. By suppertime, when Dario went home and they all sat down to eat, Alberto was clean but still grumpy. He even refused food the first few times it was offered.

"We've finally found something he doesn't like, have we?" asked Helena. She'd stayed in the shop all day supervising Dario, and dinner that night was very simple sardenara .

"No, he usually likes sardines," said Maria, wincing at the memory of him trying to eat a raw one. "He's just grouchy, I think. How was Dario?" There was still a part of her that half-hoped he wouldn't like it there, or wouldn't be good at it, and they'd have to send him packing.

"He's certainly an eager beaver," Helena said. "I can't argue with his work ethic, but talking to him is exhausting."

Maria nodded.

"We won't let him up in to the house," Helena added. "We value our privacy, too – don't we, Massimo?"

"Mmm," said Massimo, mouth full.

"Thank you," Maria said quietly. She tried again to give Alberto some sardenara . Was it the deep red of the tomato sauce that was putting him off? Maybe not, because this time he opened his mouth, and she was able to put a piece in. Alberto chewed and swallowed, apparently grudgingly, but then reached out for more. Maria gave him a slice, and he began to chew on it, though still with a sulky expression. Within seconds, there was tomato sauce on his shirt.

Maria felt like she was going mad. She lay down for bed that night and stared at the shadows on the ceiling, wondering what she was going to do. Today had been too close. If Alberto had gone only a few metres further he would have been in the water. The mental picture of him surrounded by people shouting and attacking him with whatever weapons they had to hand was so awful that Maria closed her eyes and shook her head hard, trying to make it go away.

What was she going to do ?

Halfway through the night she woke and sat up, eyes flying open as a partial solution occurred to her.

Giuseppina Ottonello and Albino Bagnasco had both talked about the beach west of town, where there was an old dock sometimes used for fishing or swimming – but that wasn't the only place to get into the water besides the harbour. The first time Giancarlo had showed Maria how he could transform, he'd taken her in the other direction, to a boulder-strewn slop to the east. It was a place older kids sometimes used to go swimming without supervision or interference. If she took Alberto there ... as long as nobody else came along, maybe she could let him spend some time in the water. As long as he didn't go out too far.

Very little sleep had preceded this revelation, and very little followed it as she tried to work out what her pretense for going alone would be, what she would do if somebody else came along, and several other questions. In the morning she was still very tired, but she had a cup of espresso and hurried out to do the deliveries.

" Buongiorno , Signora Scorfano! Buongiorno , Alberto!" called Dario as she went by.

"Good morning, Dario!" Maria replied, but didn't look at him until she realized Alberto was waving. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw Dario waving back, looking delighted that the baby was acknowledging him.

Maria raced through deliveries and returned to the piazza, where Alberto began to fuss again. The water was right there , and he didn't understand why he wasn't allowed into it. The fact that he could see other people swimming and having fun must have made it even worse.

"Ssssh, Berto," Maria soothed. "I'm going to take you swimming, but we have to be a little patient."

She put the cart away, and got them both into swimsuits from the second-hand shop, with ordinary clothes overtop. Then she gathered Alberto up and made her way up twisting roads and staircases to the east end of town, where there was a steep and treacherous path down to the beach. This was nerve wracking to descend while carrying a small child, but Alberto spared her the trouble. He once again escaped her grip and dropped to the gravel.

"Alberto!" she exclaimed, worried he'd hurt himself – but if he had, he showed no sign of it. He picked himself up and half-ran, half-tumbled down the slope to the beach at the bottom. Maria could only do her best to keep up.

Fortunately, there was nobody else there, and Maria managed to catch him and get his clothes off him before he could race headlong into the water fully dressed. He was wiggly and impatient, but she got him stripped down to his swimsuit, and then she couldn't hold him any longer. He took off into the surf, where he fell flat on his face. For a moment he was invisible as the waves rolled over him, then he sat up, transformed, and laughed delightedly.

Maria couldn't help laughing back. "Don't go out too deep!" she warned. "You know Mamma can't follow you!" She pulled off her own dress and hid it under a bush with Alberto's clothing, and waded in after him. Alberto waited for her, knowing what would happen next – she scooped him off his feet and blew a raspberry into his tummy, while he giggled and thrashed his tail.

"Oh, yes, you're much happier now!" said Maria.

Alberto slithered out of her arms and slipped back into the water, and she saw the sunlight flash off his scales as he swam out deeper. Maria waded a few more metres, until it was up to her chest, then took a breath and dived under.

Alberto was well ahead of her. His scaly body and powerful tail were built for much faster swimming than any human could manage, but he also knew that his mother couldn't keep up, so he'd only gone as far as the beginning of the seagrass. He waited there until he saw her coming, then he giggled and darted into the weeds.

Maria knew this game. He would hide and she would have to find him – it might take her several breaths to do so, but long practice had taught Maria how to hold it longer than anyone else she knew. She began searching for him.

She could hear his laughter, but underwater it was hard to tell what direction it was coming from. For a couple of minutes she searched, but then she needed air. Maria went to the surface and took several deep breaths to fill her lungs before diving again.

By the third dive, Maria was getting worried. Could this, of all days, be the one when she finally couldn't find him? Had Alberto gone too deep or too far out for her? Would he wander off into the depths. The idea of him out there all alone, in a sea full of sharks and orcas and heaven knew what else, made her shudder. Maybe at least some other sea monsters would find him and she could know that he was being raised with love, by somebody perhaps better suited to the task than she...

Then something flickered in the grass, and Maria reached in and pulled Alberto out. He howled with laughter as she dragged him back to the surface so she could breathe.

"You little devil!" she panted. "You love to make your Mamma worry, don't you?"

Alberto just giggled more.

They played in the water for a lot longer than Maria had planned, but that was her own fault, really. She should have known that after a few days out of the water, Alberto would want to have a longer swim. It was hard work, even for Maria who was used to it, and when she finally called him back to get out, she was tired and sore.

"How was that?" Maria asked. "Did you have fun?"

" Si ," said Alberto, and yawned expansively, showing off his sharp sea monster teeth.

"Yes, I think it's definitely time to go home," Maria said. She turned towards the shore, suppressing a yawn of her own. A moment later, however, she was wide awake again, as she heard human voices.

There was nowhere to go. All Maria could do was grab Alberto and climb up among some rocks that were below the cliff face east of the little beach, and huddle there as three teenage girls tossed their clothes aside and ran naked into the water, laughing.

Alberto pointed at them and started to call out, but Maria quickly put a hand over his mouth. "Sssh," she warned.

Maria and her son huddled unobserved in the rocks as the kids splashed and wrestled in the water. After a few minutes the sun and wind dried Alberto and he transformed back into an apparently human child, but there was no way to reach the beach from here without getting him wet again, so all they could do was wait.

Suddenly, the laughter turned to screams, and the three girls went rushing out of the water again. Most of what they said was just incoherent panicky yelling, but among it all Maria made out the words, sea monster .

She barely dared breathe. The girls grabbed their clothes and ran up the slope for their lives, leaving the water still and quiet, and apparently lifeless. What had they seen?

Maria waited a few minutes longer, to be sure they were gone, and then cautiously slipped back into the water. She looked around, and then she saw it.

At first it did look pretty monstrous, like some sort of gigantic silver serpent. Then she realized it was actually a fish: a very long, sinuous fish with red fins and huge, staring eyes. An oarfish. Maria had only ever seen drawings of them, and had thought they lived out deep where humans seldom saw them. It was very much bigger than she would ever have expected it to be, some five metres long, and she could certainly see how it would terrify somebody who came upon it unexpectedly. She watched as it turned around and, perhaps confused about where it was, headed back out to sea.

When it was gone, she returned to the surface and laughed out loud in relief.

She got herself and Alberto back into their clothes, and headed up the hill and back down to the village. With the rush of adrenaline past, she was yawning again by the time she arrived in the piazza, and Alberto was fast asleep with his head on her shoulder and his arms and legs dangling.

There she stopped. Dario and Helena were in the shop doorway, watching and listening as the three girls from the beach, now fully dressed again, were describing their encounter to Massimo.

"And then," one of them said, "something grabbed my leg! I looked down, and there was this huge, horrible, scaly and spiky monster!"

"We all saw it!" a second one agreed. "It wasn't just Alicia! There was blood all over it!"

"We barely escaped alive!" said the third.

Massimo nodded gravely. "I will keep my eyes open," he promised them. "In the mean time, maybe you should avoid swimming there for a while."

"Yes, Sir!" said the one called Alicia. "I'm never getting back in the water again!" She shivered.

The girls hurried off, with Alicia's friends comforting her and promising to buy her gelato to help her get over the harrowing ordeal. At the door of the latteria , they stopped to let Concetta and Pinuccia Aragosta, together with a third lady, come out. Pinuccia waved to Maria, who held up a hand in reply.

That was when Dario noticed Maria had returned. He waved and called out to her. "Hello, Signora Scorfano! Did you hear that? They saw a sea monster!"

"Yes, I did hear," said Maria. She thought for a moment, and then decided she'd better say something. The last thing she needed was Massimo poking around in the area looking for a sea monster. "I'm sure this has nothing to do with that, but I saw an oarfish today."

Dario's eyes went wide. "Really? A re di aringhe ?"

"That's the one! I have no idea what it was doing up in the shallows. Imagine there being a sea monster and an oarfish in the same waters on the same day!" She looked over at Massimo.

He chuckled. "We'll keep that to ourselves. It might stop young people from swimming in dangerous waters."

"They do tend to do that, even when their older brothers tell them not to," Maria agreed, knowing very well who he was talking about.

At supper that night, Maria realized she was actually feeling better about things. Dario seemed very focused on his new job – so far, he had no interest in coming into the house. She now had a place to swim with Alberto that would hopefully be private for at least a little while, and Massimo wouldn't go there looking for a sea monster. Maybe things were going to be okay. Not forever, but for now .