Alabaster Island

Chapter 9

"Balloons!" Mom cried when I ran into the kitchen. She turned to Dad and laughed. For a moment I almost mentioned the mermaid, but something stopped me. 

"Balloons," I said. "Why haven't I ever seen one?"

"Oh, Kassandra's never ordered any from the Outlands. You know her, always practical. But my they are pretty aren't they?"

I released them and they hovered for a second before descending to the floor. 

"Watch," Mom winked. She picked up one of the balloons and used her fingernail to untie it. She inhaled a lungful of air. When she spoke she sounded tiny. Like a mouse.

"Hello, Marei," she said.

Dad's eyes crinkled up and he barked with laughter. "Take them to the wharf. I heard Cunningham found a tank. After the last storm. Helium."

"Helium? What's that?"

"Take those balloons and he'll show you! They'll fly, like magic." 

"Ben's Dad is the last person I want to see," I said. "Especially if Ben's there." I told them about Maxie and Ben's arrow but Mom and Dad weren't sympathetic. 

"Seagulls are wild animals, you can't be sure he did it on purpose," Dad said.

"I do know. I saw how he acted," I repeated. 

But the balloons had transformed my day. I wanted to share my joy with Chloe and Ethan. Plus, maybe Cunningham could get the balloons to fly? 

On my way to the dock, I paused at smooth luck rock. It had been cleaned. Poor Maxie's body was gone. Ethan must have come. For a moment, I felt upset. I'd wanted to bury her myself. But a thrill of affection for him coursed through me as I continued walking. 

Soon, I arrived at Chloe's house. She sat bent over a large bucket, washing clothes. "Come down to the docks!" I said. It took little persuading to draw her away from laundry. 

"Hey! Whatcha got there?" Cunningham called as we walked toward the docks. Ben and Carlson stopped scrubbing their boat and glared at me. Ben still had his stupid bow strung over his shoulder. I wanted to grab it and break it in half. And I would, given the chance. I came and showed the balloons to Cunningham who nodded as if he'd seen such things before.

Ben's eyes narrowed. Before I could react, he came and grabbed my balloons like a three-year-old. "Oooh pretty," he said to Carlson. 

"They're mine!" I shouted. But he ignored me, holding them out-of-reach. 

"I'll show you something," Cunningham said with a wink. "Grab that and roll it over, Carlson." A rusty, silver canister sat at the far end of the dock. 

 "It's heavy!" Carlson said as he rolled the tank. 

"I found them!" I said. But only Chloe showed sympathy. I tried to grab them back from Ben again but I was afraid I'd break one. Soon Carlson had rolled the canister over and we clustered around it. 

"Well lookie this," Cunningham said whistling. "Seems like she still has a bit of gas in her," he spoke to himself running his hand along the canister's metal surface. 

He put his mouth to the valve and turned it. "Hello everybody." When he spoke his voice was high like my Mom's had been. He sounded like a tiny man. Everyone laughed except for me. I'd already seen this trick. 

Carlson and Ben grinned. Two other island teens, beautiful Katrina and her friend Eliza, came to see what was happening. Cunningham let the balloon deflate with a depressing thwap. Now there were only two balloons. I wanted them back. I was sorry I'd come. 

"What is it?" Carlson asked. "How'd you do that?"

"Helium. Well, air and helium. But still a bit of helium left. Must have fallen off the ship. Or they dumped it." 

"What's helium for?" Ben asked.

"Balloons," Cunningham said making his "O" long, mouth taking the same shape as the sound.

"What's a balloon?" Katrina chewed on a tiny frond of her beautiful hair.

"You're looking at them." Cunningham put up one finger and took the balloon he'd untied. "And watch. If there's enough left, I'll show you."

"What are you doing?" I cried as he deflated another balloon.

"You'll see," he winked at me again. I hated being winked at. It made me want to poke him in the eye. I grabbed one of the yellow balloons away from him and held it to my chest. Cunningham chuckled. "Just watch," he said. Then he put the deflated balloon over the tank's nozzle and turned the dial again. The tank made a hissing sound. "C'mon," he said. "Just a little more."

Soon the three balloons were full and even larger and shinier than when I found them. He tied them in tight knots to hold the air in. Now they seemed weightless. With a mischievous grin he let go. Like magic, instead of falling into the water, they rose straight up into the air.

I felt my heart rise with them. They were gorgeous. Sun shone through the pink balloon as a gust of air pushed them down and I gasped, expecting them to plunge into the ocean. But like a living thing she swooped up into the air again and led her brother and sister balloons toward the bright sky. I shielded my eyes from the sun. Rays of sunshine shone through the balls giving them a golden glimmer. The balloon family hovered, caught between two currents of air, and headed even higher. 

"Amazing!" I said to Chloe laughing. "They're magic."

"It's like they're alive," she agreed.

I wondered how far the pink balloon and her family would travel. Probably across the ocean. Over the giant waves. And then? Where? To find the couple who had released them. 

I stood feet planted on the dock, but mentally I floated up in the sky flying with the balloons. I hovered over the ocean and looked at our tiny island from above. Ready to drift far away. To set down in a new land. I was imagining what places she might see when the arrow ripped through her pink body and then her yellow sister. 

The balls exploded into multiple pieces with a pop and the whole group plunged into the calm ocean with a distant splat.

"I knew I could do it!" Ben shouted, pumping his fist in the air.

"Nice shot, boy," Cunningham said patting him on the back while Carlson stood, mouth gaping. 

"Impressive," he said. 

Tears in my eyes, I turned to Ben, snatched the bow out of his hand and threw it as hard as I could into the ocean.

"You idiot!  Saltwater! You'll ruin it!" he shouted diving off the deck into the water. I took the one, forlorn yellow balloon that remained and ran.

***

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