Free Love on Loch Ness by Aubrie Dionne Page A

stung his eyes.
    "Let the boy go, honey. He can't get past the rails."
    Flynn kicked the leg of the chair with his sneaker impatiently as he waited for his mother's response.
    "You'd be surprised what little boys can get their heads through."
    "Or get into their heads." His father rolled his eyes. "Just what we need, more nonsense to distract him.
    "He's just a boy." His mother smoothed Flynn's hair. She bent down and whispered in his ear, "Okay, we'll get up close to the rail, but don't stick your arms and legs through."
    Flynn wanted to reach down and poke the water with a stick, but he knew not to say so in front of his mother. "Yes, Ma."
    She stood and walked him over to the railing. Flynn wrapped his hands around the cold metal bars, pressing his face between them. His ears caught and he couldn't go any farther. Below him, the water ebbed around the boat's hull in silky darkness, each wave promising something mysterious.
    Two grown-ups stood several feet away dressed in black suits — not the type of clothes for a cruise, which was why Flynn was interested in what they said. He inched his way closer until he could overhear.
    "Yesterday the bureau submitted the sonar scan to the government. You'll see their report in the papers soon enough."
    The other man scratched his beard. "What's it look like?"
    "Clear. A better picture than anything that's been taken before. I'm telling ye, Phil. This time we got it, fins and all."
    The man with the beard shook his head. "They'll never let something like that get out. They'll confiscate the evidence before it goes public."
    "Ma, what's sonar?"
    The men gazed at Flynn as if they'd only just noticed him standing there. Flynn smiled, but they frowned and walked away without waving good-bye.
    "Sonar is underwater sound." She bent down next to him and put her arm around his shoulders. "You can take pictures of things deep down that you wouldn't be able to see with your eyes from the surface."
    "Oh." Flynn squeezed the bars in his hands, wishing he could pull them apart like Superman. The men had talked about something in the water, he was sure of it. Something no one wanted them to see. Something with fins. Flynn peered down into the depths, trying to imagine what they caught with sound pictures. Bubbles floated up, and he watched them pop as the boat hurtled forward. Maybe he'd found the same fish they didn't want anyone to see. If Ma was going to believe him, she had to see the bubbles.
    "Ma, look." He tugged on his mother's arm, but she was too busy watching the men across the deck with her eyes creased like they'd threatened to steal him away from her.
    Flynn didn't understand. They weren't that bad, even though they hadn't said good-bye.
    The water darkened underneath the boat, like a cloud had blocked the sunlight just above him. Flynn gazed up. The sky remained clear.
    He flicked his eyes back down to the water. The dark mass moved to the side of the boat, swimming alongside it. The shape reminded him of one of those whales on the telly. The sheer size made him feel like an ant on a leaf.
    For the first time, he grasped a sense of just how big the world was and his place in it. If there were still wonders like this, then he would find them. People needed a break from their newspapers full of numbers.
    Flynn kept tugging at his mom's arm.
    "Just a minute, sweetie."
    The mass turned and, for a moment when the sun hit it just the right way, an oily sheen of green-gray scales, then a glossy membrane spreading between spiky fins, came into view.
    "Ma! Maaaa!"
    "What is it?" She turned him away from the water to face her.
    "There's a big fish in the water. I saw it right—" He turned around, and the glassy surface was clear. "There?"
    "I'm sure you did, honey." She took his hand and squeezed it. "Let's go find Pops. I saw some cookies in the cabin earlier, and I know he won't be able to turn that down."'
    "But—" He had a sneaking suspicion those men had gone into the cabin