Chapters (68)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- One
- Two
- Chapter One
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Chapter Two
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Chapter Three
- Ten
- Eleven
- Chapter Four
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Chapter Five
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Chapter Six
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Chapter Seven
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Chapter Eight
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Chapter Nine
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Chapter Ten
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Chapter Eleven
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Chapter Twelve
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Chapter Thirteen
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Chapter Fourteen
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Chapter Fifteen
- The Following Summer
- About the Author
- About the Publisher
Ali laughed. “I finally looked at Uncle Percival’s book. I saw where Teddy had written ‘Practice’ in the chapter about not drowning, so when Alfie told me tonight that they’d never found Teddy’s body, I started to put two and two together.”
“But how?” marveled Teddy.
“You don’t know this, but Alfie got attacked by a cat today when he was a squirrel, and he couldn’t change back for a long time. Uncle Percival has a whole chapter about what to do when you can’t change back. It made me think of Alfie, but also of you. I wondered if maybe you went into shock in the water and got confused and then weren’t able to change.”
“That’s exactly what happened,” said a dazed Teddy. “It’s amazing that you thought of that.”
Ali twisted around to look at Teddy. “Honestly? The thing that finally convinced me was learning that all Copycats have pale gray eyes. When we saw you for the first time down at Tin Can Beach, the scientists told us your eyes were a different color because you were blind. But really, it was because you were you. Plus, during another visit, you reacted when I transformed. Do you remember?”
“I was pretty sick by then. I thought it was a dream,” said Teddy.
Ali turned to Digger. “If you’d told me about the Copycat eye thing, I might have solved this a long time ago.”
“I thought I had told you,” said Digger.
Teddy leaned forward and patted her shoulder. “I can never thank you for what you did.”
“Ali’s been a superhero today,” Alfie added. “First she saved me, now you.”
Ali shook her head, but then, just because she could, she turned into the Incredible Hulk.
Digger groaned. “Gigi told you.” He peered into the rearview mirror again. “You showing up is going to be a big shock, Teddy.”
“A happy shock,” corrected Ali.
And it was.
Chapter Fifteen
Animal Victims of Fog
There are many records of seals and whales washing ashore during a thick fog. On the morning of May 8, 1847, six dolphins were found stranded on the beach at Haggerty’s Cove. The locals managed to pull three back into the water, but the animals refused to leave until it was clear to them that the other three had truly expired.
“It was dreadful sad,” Walter Powning told a local newspaperman. “You could tell they was heartbroken. You should have heard the sounds they made. Chillin’, it was.”
—PERCIVAL T. SLOANE,
A History of Fog in the Bay of Fundy (1932)
Alligator Balm