BooksBarbecue
Back Gateways
Chapters (98)
  1. Author’s Note
  2. Tuesday
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. Wednesday
  21. 1
  22. 2
  23. 3
  24. 4
  25. 5
  26. 6
  27. 7
  28. 8
  29. 9
  30. 10
  31. 11
  32. 12
  33. 13
  34. 14
  35. 15
  36. Thursday
  37. 1
  38. 2
  39. 3
  40. 4
  41. 5
  42. 6
  43. 7
  44. 8
  45. 9
  46. 10
  47. 11
  48. 12
  49. 13
  50. 14
  51. 15
  52. 16
  53. Friday
  54. 1
  55. 2
  56. 3
  57. 4
  58. 5
  59. 6
  60. 7
  61. 8
  62. 9
  63. 10
  64. 11
  65. 12
  66. Saturday
  67. 1
  68. 2
  69. 3
  70. 4
  71. 5
  72. 6
  73. 7
  74. 8
  75. 9
  76. 10
  77. 11
  78. 12
  79. 13
  80. 14
  81. 15
  82. Sunday
  83. 1
  84. 2
  85. 3
  86. 4
  87. 5
  88. 6
  89. 7
  90. 8
  91. 9
  92. 10
  93. 11
  94. 12
  95. 13
  96. Tuesday
  97. 1
  98. Afterword

As she sat up to untie the thong, she saw the gulls glidin’ overhead and wished she had wings like them so she could fly away.

She lay back on the sand and fitted a shell over each eye—

What?

She snatched the shells away from her eyes and levered back up to sittin’.

What just happened?

She’d put the shells over her eyes expectin’ to see black. But she’d seen white instead…white sand…and she’d been above it, lookin’ down on a girl lyin’ in the sand…a girl with shells over her eyes.

Semelee put those shells over her eyes again and suddenly she was lookin’ down on a girl sitting in the stand—a girl with fire-engine hair.

That’s me!

She pulled off the shells again and looked up. A seagull hovered above, looking down at her, probably wondering if she had a sandwich and might throw it a crust or two.

She started experimentin’ and found she could look through the eyes of any bird on the beach. She could soar, she could hover, she could spot a fish near the surface of the water and dive for it. Then she discovered she could see through fishes’ eyes, swim around the rocks and coral and stay underwater as long as she pleased without comin’ up for air.

It was wonderful. She spent the rest of the day testin’ her powers. Finally, after the sun had set, she headed home. She didn’t want to go there, didn’t want to see her momma’s face, but she had no place else to go.

When Semelee opened the door to the trailer Momma was all tears and apologies, sayin’ she hadn’t really meant what she’d said, that she was just upset and talkin’ crazy. But Semelee knew the truth when she heard it. Momma had said what was deep in her heart and meant every word of it.

But Semelee didn’t care now. She’d thought her world had ended but now she knew it was just beginnin’. She knew she was special. She could do somethin’ no one else could do. They could make fun of her, call her names, but no one could hurt her now.

She was special.

But now she’d lost one of her shells. She’d lose all her specialness without them. She’d be a nobody again.

Semelee gripped the edges of the canoe in white-knuckled panic. “I just had a terrible thought, Luke. What if I dropped it back in that hospital room?”

6

When Jack returned to his father’s room, almost an hour after he’d left, he was in a foul mood. He could have called the rental agency to come and change the tire, but had canned that course of action. He’d had no idea where he was, so how could he tell them where to find him?