Free Fortune's Magic Farm by Suzanne Selfors Page A

between your toes. Only a tender can do that.”
    “But those things grow by themselves,” Isabelle explained, scratching a patch of mold at the back of her neck.
    “Stop being so dense,” he said irritably. “You’re a tender.” And then he said the magic word. “Tenders are
special.
”
    Isabelle had never known the sensation of standing beneath clouds at the very moment when they part and the sun breaks through—but that is how she felt. Her entire body tingled. “I’m
special
?” she whispered.
    “Tenders are incredibly special. Only a few people get to be tenders. I wish I could be one.” He sighed. “But those are enough questions for now. Dawn’s almost here. We need to go.”
    “Go?” Isabelle wanted to talk more about being special. “Are you going to Nowhere, too?”
    “Nowhere?”
    “That’s where I’m from. But I don’t think I should go with you. I don’t even know you.”
    He folded his arms. “Actually, it’s not called Nowhere. And if you don’t know the correct name then how will you get there? You don’t have any supplies or anything. And which way will you go? The mountains that lie to the north will freeze you to death and the desert that lies to the south will cook you to death.” He smirked. “So? Which way will you go?”
    Isabelle wrung her hands. Which way was north? Which way south? Dreaming about a journey was entirely different from actually taking that journey. Maybe she was the crazy one. No one but Mr. Supreme’s delivery truck drivers had ever left Runny Cove. What had she done? Going back meant work, work, work. No way did she want to spend another day standing beside that clunking conveyor belt. No way did she want to set foot in Mama Lu’s Boardinghouse again. Going back meant possible imprisonment for taking Mama Lu’s pickle jar. Going forward could mean freezing like an ice cube or sizzling like a piece of peat. Not much of a choice. She felt as stuck as a barnacle on a rock.
    As if reading her mind, Sage’s voice softened. “Look, Isabelle. Your only chance out of this town is to come with me.” The cat stretched and rubbed against Sage’s leg. “I’m here to take you to your real home, to the place you came from. You have family there, waiting to meet you. But I can’t force you to go. You have to decide on your own.”
    “Family?” Isabelle swallowed hard. Could it be true? “Waiting for me?”
    Someone yelled in the distance.
    Sage ran to the doorway. “Lanterns,” he said. Isabelle followed and peered around his arm. Two yellow lights bobbed near the factory. “They’re looking for you along the road. They probably won’t check the beach right away. That will give us enough time.” He turned to her. “So? What’s your decision?”
    Now was the time to find out if what she had always believed was true—that she had not been left on that doorstep because she was an unwanted piece of garbage. Finding Nowhere was what she craved with all her heart. Her grandmother’s spirit had left for a better place and Isabelle was ready to leave too.
    “I’ll go with you.”
    “Then we’d better hurry.” He slung his satchel over his back and headed outside. The cat and raven followed.
    “How will we get there?” Isabelle called after him. “Which way will we go?”
    “We’ll go by sea.”
    The first rays of morning filtered through the clouds,casting the beach in pale light. The rain had turned to mist, gently coating Isabelle’s face as she watched Sage disappear around the rocky bluff. She clutched the pickle jar and ran after him.
    “By sea? But where’s your boat?” she asked.
    Sage pointed to an enormous lump in the sand. “We travel by elephant seal.”

T he elephant seal lay in the sand, snoring—by far the loudest snoring Isabelle had ever heard, even louder than Mama Lu when she’d chugged too much cheese sauce.
    “NEPTUNE! THE TIDE IS READY!” Sage shouted. The seal snorted but did not open his eyes. Sage reached into