Free May: Daughters of the Sea #2 by Kathryn Lasky Page B

lighthouse. There was a bad wreck end of last winter. A coastal schooner fetched up on some ledges we call The Bones. Men died. I started wondering about the currents. It was stormy, but I started to think there might be a current that drove that ship onto The Bones.” She hesitated. “Uh … well, I’m not sure. I just want to find out about such things.” She paused. “Would you like the book? I don’t want to delay your research.”
    He looked at her curiously, as if trying to understand her. “Oh, no, you keep the book for now. You seem to be getting just into it.I’m here for a while.”
    “A while?” May said, feeling a wave of nervousness pass over her. How could she perform her research in front of a real university student?
    “Yes, I’ve come here especially to study the Pleiades.” He smiled. “Do you know, May, that the other name for the Pleiades is Maia?”
    “Maia? Why’s that?”
    “In the Greek myth, Maia was the eldest of the seven daughters of Atlas for whom the Pleiades are named. I want to see how those seven bright stars walk across the sky under the tent of a summer night.” He paused, then added, “Maia was considered the most beautiful—perhaps because of the sparkle in her eyes. At least that is what makes her the most visible star in the constellation.”
    May felt a thrilling tingle go up her spine as he spoke but then felt immediately foolish. She had to leave before he noticed her blushing. “I really have to be going.”
    “Perhaps I could pick up the book from you next week?”
    “I live on Egg Rock,” she said hesitantly.
    “The lighthouse?”
    The way he said it sounded to May as if it were a million miles away.
    “Yes,” she replied.
    “It’s not a problem, I can get there. I’ve rented a small day sailer.”
    “Yes, yes, of course.” Her pulse quickened at the thought of him coming to see her.
    “Good-bye, then,” he said, and smiled.
    But as she walked away, she felt her stomach sink. Hugh would figure out a way to continue his research without going to all the trouble to sail to Egg Rock. He’d never come. He was just being polite. By tomorrow, he’d have forgotten all about her.

11
BELONGING
     
    M AY COULD HEAR THE MUSIC from outside the Odd Fellows Hall. She hesitated and stood in the shadows of the big elm by the building. She could see the swirl of dancing figures inside through the tall windows. She had never been to a dance before, but she so wanted to be a part of something. She wanted to come home and have Zeeba see her cheeks pink from dancing. And for her father to say, “Who’d you dance with?”
    I need to do this!
she told herself firmly.
I need to be a normal girl, doing normal things.
    She walked quickly toward the front steps of the hall and pushed the door open. A twirling dancer brushed by her. Then Rudd appeared in front of her.
    “I thought you weren’t coming. Dance is half over. Where you been?” She recoiled at the slightly accusatory note in his voice. “Thought I was going to have to go out and hunt you down!” He laughed, and there again was the hard fierce light in his eyes that had unnerved May the first time they’d met. He must have sensed her discomfort, for immediately his eyes softened. He smiled, and a quick dimple appeared that she had never noticed before. In a flash, he seemed boyish and charming. “Come on, let’s dance.”
    May smiled and forced the lingering thoughts of Hugh Fitzsimmons from her mind. Rudd was the handsomest young man in the hall. She should feel flattered by his attention.
    “I’m not sure if I know how to dance,” May replied. Zeeba had certainly never taught her.
    “Yes, you do. It’s easy. They’re going to do a reel. Get into the line with the other girls and I’ll be just across from you in the men’s line.”
    “Hey, Rudd, I thought you were across from me! Aren’t we partners for the Island Reel?” Susie Eatonsaid as Rudd slipped between Ralph Emery and Robert