“Thank you for a lovely night,” Christina said, and gave Andy a little wave and went, alone, into her house.

Chapter 4

December was always a crazy month. Christina’s Toy Shop kept her running, waiting on customers, unpacking inventory, organizing the shelves, keeping track of sales on credit cards and sales in check or cash, rushing to the bank. The town held lots of festive events, and it seemed everyone Christina knew had a Christmas party.

Wink showed up at the shop at precisely one o’clock.

When Wink arrived, Christina was already surrounded by customers. At the back of the store, a couple was arguing about the moral impact of pirates. The husband wanted to buy his son several pirate items. The wife said pirates were nothing but thieves and she didn’t want their son to think stealing was okay.

Two other customers were in line, waiting for Christina to ring up their purchases. Wink slipped down the narrow aisle between shoppers with the grace of an otter. She slid the contract onto a shelf in Christina’s inner space behind the counter. She swooped to the counter on Christina’s right, an array of small bins filled with petite, attention-catching items: white rope bracelets, marbles, miniature fairies, seashell angels, glass whales, and tiny, exquisite mermaid dolls.

During the past rush hour, all the minuscule objects had gotten mixed up in the bins. Wink set about organizing them.

Of course, the sight of a child so seriously moving the objects drew the customers’ attention.

“Stocking stuffers!” one woman cried, and even more people clustered around Wink.

While Wink was there, Christina sold a pile of marbles, dolls, and whales.

After an hour, the store emptied out. Do I dare? Christina wondered. She always locked her shop when she had to rush across the wharf to the bathroom at the end of the shingled shops. She had to trust Wink…and she had to use the bathroom!

“Wink, I’m going to run to the restroom. It’s right over there—”

“I know where it is.”

“Good. Could you come behind the counter and stand right here by the cash register? If someone comes in, tell them I’ll be right back.”

Wink’s shoulders straightened. “Don’t worry. I know what to do.”

Christina raced off to the restroom at the side of the dock.

When she returned, Wink was still behind the counter. Two teenagers were debating over which wooden ferry to buy for their brother.

“Does your family come to the island with a car?” Wink asked.

“Yes,” the teenage girl replied. “At the beginning of the summer. We take it back when we leave in the fall.”

“Then you don’t want the ferry you’re holding. That’s the fast ferry. You need the bigger car ferry. The one in the corner.”