Evelina and the Reef Hag Read online

  Evelina’s aunties, Mrs. Segal and Udora, promised to meet her at the pastry shop.

  Now, all she had to do was find it without getting lost.

  There were so many shops and so many people, it made Evelina’s head spin. She gazed down at the map in her hand, running her finger over the key. Flag shop, art gallery, pirate museum, tattoo parlor—pastry shop!

  Perfect.

  One street down, one corner over.

  She picked up the pace.

  Strange, the aunties hadn’t met her at the airport, or the bus station. But, maybe that was something only real families did. Maybe she was asking too much.

  Water Witches were different—much different. It wasn’t like the aunties were her real parents. No doubt they were doing the best they could. Though she had to admit, she’d secretly hoped they’d pop her to St. Augusta. It would have been much more thrilling, arriving in a puff of smoke.

  Truffles French Pastry

  A purple sign, framed in gold, swung above the door of a white stone shop. It marked the end of her journey.

  Evelina took a deep breath, then stepped inside.

  The pastry shop bustled with activity. Customers visited at little round tables. She tried to find her aunts, but the place was packed, and she couldn’t see beyond the front tables. An elegant woman in white stood at the counter pointing down into the display case filled with cakes and confections of all shapes and sizes. Behind the counter, a short man wearing a tall mushroom hat and black apron filled a pink box for her. Another man headed for the door with a square cake box, wrapped in string, sealed with a gold sticker.

  Evelina gazed around awestruck.

  Soft colors and frills filled the place.

  The aroma of coffee and chocolate mingled with the sweet smell of raspberries and the tangy scent of lemon.

  Her belly rumbled. It had been a long day. She hadn’t eaten a crumb since breakfast.

  “Evelina!” Mrs. Segal rushed from the back toward her, dark curls bobbing, sky blue eyes twinkling. “Welcome! Welcome!” Her aunt’s straw hat swung like a bell from its pink ribbon as she clasped Evelina to her chintz-clad bosom, matching her Capri pants to perfection. “I’m so happy you found us.” She beamed, then crushed Evelina to her bosom again.

  “No thanks to you.” Aunt Udora rose from the wire-backed chair to extend her small hand in greeting. But then, everything about Udora was small. She couldn’t have stretched taller than four foot, nine inches, from her nutmeg pageboy, down the length of her beige sundress, to the sturdy sandals on her feet. Her sober expression softened to a half smile as she clasped Evelina’s hand. “Lovely to see you, my dear.”

  “Come and sit down.” Mrs. Segal sailed back to the little round table. “You must try one of the mille feuille before we go. They really are exquisite.”

  Evelina slid onto a chair opposite them, mouth watering at the sight of the pastries piled on the three tiered silver tray, some swirled with chocolate, some dusted with icing sugar, some heaped with fluffy whipped cream.

  Mrs. Segal played hostess, serving them each a pastry on a gold-rimmed plate.

  “Too flaky.” Udora declared, glaring down at the layered sweet as though it were a grenade.

  “Too flaky? Ha!” Mrs. Segal’s sky blue eyes widened. “I think not,” she twittered. “How ridiculous! That is the point of pastry, is it not? You have the strangest notions.” She turned to Evelina. “She has the strangest notions. Too flaky indeed? I never heard such a thing. Did you?”

  “You cannot eat something that falls to pieces before it reaches your mouth.” Udora sent Mrs. Segal a dour look. “Learn it!”

  “You exaggerate.” Mrs. Segal gave a chortle. “She need only take a bite. For goodness sake, Udora! You are a pill. She is a pill. Isn’t she?”

  Too flaky or not, Evelina was willing to take the chance. She was half starved. She lifted the pastry to her mouth and bit into it. The mixture of sweet icing and whipped cream melted with the flaky crust. Before she knew it she’d scarfed down three.

  “Come along, my dear.” Mrs. Segal rose from her seat, brushing the pastry from her fingers. “We’d better hurry. After all, it’s your first time. No telling how it will affect you.”

  Evelina swallowed down her last bite.

  “First time?

  She gazed from Mrs. Segal to Udora. Affect her? What did that mean? She’d just eaten some kind of enchanted pastry? What were they up to? She had a bad feeling about this. Why was it that they always thought to inform her after the fact?

  She had no time to ponder it further.

  The aunties were skittering for the door.

  Evelina had little choice but to follow.

  She emerged into the bright sunshine, hurrying to keep up. After tailing them around the block, a stone fountain appeared. A stone wall and giant palms shielded it from the crowded street, like a little oasis.

  Udora and Mrs. Segal hastened around the other side of the fountain to sit on the edge.

  “Hurry!” Mrs. Segal motioned to Evelina. “Come quickly!”

  Evelina followed their example, planting her feet in the fountain, sandals and all.

  “Anyone coming?” Udora looked over her shoulder.

  “Coast is clear,” Mrs. Segal announced after craning her head about.

  “Feet flat.” Udora yanked Evelina’s sleeve.

  Evelina pressed her flip flops against the cool stone.

  The water began to rise.

  Or, more precisely, she began to shrink, smaller and smaller.

  “Hold your breath!” Udora commanded.

  Evelina shivered. She didn’t like the sound of that. She wasn’t an experienced swimmer. But there was no time to argue.

  The current in the fountain sucked her under the water.

  She swirled down, down, down, until she was swallowed up by the drain, to emerge in a giant white pipe, gasping for air.

  “Hold on!” Udora’s voice echoed ahead.

  With a whoosh and gurgle Evelina went flying downward.

  Brilliant blues and greens swirled all around, like sliding down the inside of a spiral seashell. The tunnel widened and the curves grew sharper as she steadily descended, sailing downward, whooshing around corners like a runaway luge.

  And then,

  Plop!

  She landed in a mountain of blue sand.

  Evelina laughed—more excited then alarmed.

  Until.

  She heard a menacing growl.

  Chapter Two

  “Where are we?” Evelina scrambled to her feet, coming face to face with a ginormous long-necked tortoise.

  She jumped back with a yelp.

  “Not to worry!” Mrs. Segal chuckled. “That’s Maximillion. He’s really very gentle.”

  “It’s huge!” It looked like an armoured tank on legs. “What is it?” Evelina scanned the perimeter for the closest exit.

  “He’s a pet, of course. Aren’t you Max?” Udora marched forward, drawing something from the pocket of her sundress, which was soon revealed to be a sugar cube. Udora offered it in one hand, while patting the creature’s grey wrinkled snout with the other. “There you are Max. Good boy.”

  The monster gobbled it up, rolling its eyes with pleasure.

  “Come on.” Udora motioned with a swoop of her arm as she trudged ahead through the blue desert. “Before the spell wears off and we’re picking glass out of our—”

  “Yes, yes, we’re coming,” Mrs. Segal marched ahead. “It wouldn’t do to burst Maximillion’s bowl. No, no, no, he wouldn’t like that. He’d be very cross, indeed.”

  They didn’t have to tell Evelina twice.

  She raced behind them, eager to be away from the monstrous thing, before it squashed her like a grape. Evelina scrambled up the rope ladder, which she later discovered to be a hairnet, as fast as her legs would climb.

  Out of air and gasping for breath, she followed Udora down a purple and white striped tube, sliding downward, to finally land
with a bounce on a pile of sapphire velvet.

  By the second bounce, Evelina had doubled in size.

  By the third, she found herself sitting in a white wicker chair with a blue cushion.

  Her head spun, gazing up at the bamboo table. A large fishbowl sat atop it, containing a small turtle, surrounded by rippling blue sand. A gold medallion hung around the rim, like a dog tag, reading, Maximillion.

  Udora yanked Evelina off the chair by the sleeve, just before Mrs. Segal flew down the straw.

  A good thing, too.

  Mrs. Segal doubled in size in mid-air, achieving full size by the first bounce.

  She would have flattened Evelina like a taco.

  “Ha!” Udora gave a loud snort. “One more second, Philyra, and you’d have been sausage meat. The next time I say move you’d better run. You’re a dawdler. Dawdlers get eaten. Learn it!”

  “I do not dawdle.” Mrs. Segal rose from the chair to dust herself off. “You are mistaken. She is mistaken,” she said with a nervous twitter, turning to Evelina. “I have never dawdled in my life.” She sucked in a deep breath then smiled. “Well, here we are, my dear—our little beach house. I hope you’ll find it quite suitable?”

  “Of course it’s suitable,” Udora declared in serious tones. “It has a roof and four walls, and is on a beach—hence a beach house.”

  “It’s lovely!” Evelina gazed around her. The place smelled of salt and wind. It reminded her of the auntie’s little cottage on the river, except the interior was painted a soft ocean blue and the outside—she spied out the window—was as pink as a seashell and the complete opposite of the river cottage.

  Other than that, the dwellings were quite similar—bedrooms aloft, with a large open area below, consisting of a kitchen, dining room, and living room. Frothy white curtains draped over the many paned windows like dripping meringue. An ancient black gas stove dominated one wall.

  Udora headed for the weathered, blue step stool beside it to stir the contents of a tall, silver kettle.

  “Udora is treating us to her famous clam chowder.” Mrs. Segal flashed a great smile. “And tonight,” she clapped her hands, “we’ll go crabbing on the beach.”

  “I’ve never been crabbing,” Evelina said, heading to the screen door to have a look. Opening it wide, she gazed across the long stretch of white sand, to the rolling waves of the Atlantic Ocean beyond. The beach appeared deserted, but there was plenty of action. Seagulls screeched and dove overhead on the salty breeze. Sandpipers darted in and out of the foamy surf.

  “Not for long, mind you,” Mrs. Segal called. “We must get you to bed and have you well rested come morning.”

  “What’s happening then?” Evelina couldn’t help but ask as she closed the door with a click. There was never a dull moment with the aunties, that was to be expected. Just the same, she’d rather be prepared for the next bizarre event.

  In fact, she was bursting with questions. For instance, if Water Witches only converged for Flurries during summer vacation, why was Lily meeting her mother in St. Augusta. There had to be a reason they were both here.

  Was it the Glaring?

  “Saturday, of course,” Mrs. Segal said, as though that explained everything.

  “Market day at the pier.” Udora turned from the pot to look down the length of her nose. “The day Philyra tries to sell everything that isn’t nailed down.” She sounded less than impressed. “Last week it was her seashell collection and a selection of sagging undergarments that hadn’t seen the light of day since Salem. This week, it’s likely to be poop on a stick. Prepare for the worst and you won’t be disappointed.”

  “Preposterous! No one would buy that.” Mrs. Segal gave a great peal of laughter. “I hardly think so! No, no, no. This week I have something completely spectacular, I’ll have you know. I’ve come up with a line of bath balms, with intoxicating ocean scents.”

  Udora wrinkled her nose. “Is that what I smelled?” She turned to Evelina. “Philyra is enamored with the idea of becoming an entrepreneur.” Udora pointed her spoon at Evelina. “Never embroil yourself in her schemes.”

  “Don’t believe it! They’re delicious!” Mrs. Segal hustled off, returning a few moments later with a blue chalky ball in her hand. “Isn’t it lovely? I mixed it myself. Just drop this into the rinse water and you’ll see how it fizzles.” She scurried to the agate sink under the window to plop the bath balm in. “There!” She slapped her hands together in triumph. “Come and see!” She motioned Evelina closer. “Look at it go!”

  Evelina hurried forward.

  Udora leaned over on the step stool to gaze down at the thing.

  The blue ball bubbled and bobbed in the water, growing more and more agitated—increasing in vigor.

  Then,

  With a great leap—splashed suds everywhere.

  Mrs. Segal gave a hoot of glee. “My, this is a lively one.”

  And then,

  Boom!

  Water exploded everywhere.

  Suds bubbled out over the counter.

  The bubbles grew bigger and bigger, swelling to the size of beach balls, spilling out onto the floor.

  Evelina leapt onto a wicker chair.

  “Good gracious!” Udora climbed from the step stool to the counter attempting to escape the deluge, rising higher than a foot in the room. “You of all people must know, you cannot sell enchantments to mortals.”

  “I didn’t use a spell.” Mrs. Segal’s blue eyes widened as the bubbles rose to her hips. She began to slip and slide. “It was my own recipe.”

  “I suppose you consider anything labelled ‘bomb’ fair warning!”

  “It wasn’t that kind of bomb!”

  Udora glowered down at her. “I must respectfully disagree.”

  Mrs. Segal screeched as she lost her footing. Her legs flew out from under her, depositing her with a hollow thump on the floor. “Something must have gone wrong!” She shouted through a tunnel of foam. “There seems to have been an overreaction.”

  “So it would seem.” Udora waved her wooden spoon at the mess. “You cannot sell this toxic sludge.”

  “Oh well, back to the drawing board,” Mrs. Segal said with a bright smile, struggling to her feet, “You must admit, it smells divine.”

  “I shall admit nothing of the kind.” Udora narrowed her gaze on Mrs. Segal. “Except that you are insane!”

  ***

  Jogging along the beach, under the shadow of the moon, stirred Evelina’s blood—like she’d been there before. Some innate sense whispered against her skin on the salty wind. The crash of the surf called to her. Come closer. Come here.

  For a split second she thought she saw two shining eyes in the white curl of a wave.

  She switched her flashlight off and checked again.

  Nothing.

  Hmmm.

  Just the light of a trawler, miles out.

  Evelina spun round to head back up the beach with her tin crab bucket clattering at her side.

  She didn’t want the aunties to worry.

  A flash of color stopped her in her tracks.

  She sucked in a sharp gasp.

  A strange young woman blocked her path. Her slanted eyes gleamed like silver coins in the moonlight. She had a wild look about her.

  Her body appeared to be covered in a mirage of kaleidoscope tattoos, in brilliant shades of fire red, deep purple, and magnetic blue. Her long ebony hair twisted like dangling screws. The gap between her front teeth appeared wide enough to slip a lima bean through.

  Evelina took a step back.

  The woman laughed, a high pitched sound, twisting and tossing on the wind, sending shivers rattling up Evelina’s limbs. “You’re a long way from home, Evelina Crimm.”

  Evelina stared back at her. How did she know her name? “Who are you?” She demanded. “How do you know my name?” “

  “I know many things about you.” The woman’s gaze narrowed while the crinkled skirt of her purple gypsy dress swirled around her bare calve
s like licking flames. “A Time Keeper’s daughter, born of a Water Witch.” Her black eyes squeezed to slits. Her mouth widened in a long grin, turning her face to the mug of a cat. “You’re a friend of Frankie Hollers, ain’t ya?”

  “Yes.” At least she had been once. “How do you know him?”

  “Yoo hoo! Evelina!”

  Evelina turned at the sound of Mrs. Segal’s call.

  When she turned back around the woman was gone.

  Vanished.

  For a moment she thought she saw a silvery glint in the rush of the surf.

  Shivery fingers ran up her back.

  Who was she?

  How did she know so many things about her?

  Evelina quickened her pace, hurrying up the beach to meet the aunties.

  “I saw a woman down the beach.” Evelina pointed behind her with her thumb when she reached them. “Maybe you know her. She was covered in tattoos. Had the strangest eyes. She said she knew me.”

  “Oh dear!” Mrs. Segal appeared startled. “Oh my!”

  “Come quickly!” Udora motioned with her hand furiously. “Come!”

  “Why?” Evelina raced to keep up with the aunties as they hustled up the beach. “Who was she?”

  “A Reef Hag, that’s who,” Udora said with great feeling. “A sly, two-faced piece of baggage, to be avoided at all cost.”

  “Why?”

  Udora halted, spinning to face her. “Never look one in the eye in broad daylight. They’ll poison your soul.”

  “How do they do that?”

  “In the eyes and in the blood.” Udora made a V with two fingers in front of her face. “They confuse your instincts, eroding everything good, until there’s nothing left but mud.”

  “In the blood?” Evelina’s heart tripped. “How?”

  “Udora! Stop frightening the child. For goodness sake!” Mrs. Segal turned to Evelina, but kept moving at a fast clip. “Not to worry. They never come out in daylight.”

  “Except, when they take another form.” Udora’s voice echoed as dark as a dirge. “When they’re looking for someone.”

  “That hardly ever happens.” Mrs. Segal scolded, breaking into a half run. “Not to worry. They usually come out at night, not by day. And then, by all means, stay away. It’s not good. Come quickly. Time to go in.”