Kira's Secret Read Online Free PDF Page A

would disappear behind the rocks and trees until they had passed by, or went in a different direction. Then she would look for new tide pools, and hang over them, dipping her hands in the water, staring at the webs that appeared between her fingers.
    The webbing effect no longer frightened her, but was a source of wonder as she brushed her hands softly over the sand dollars and snails. Other times she passed them quickly over the sandy bottom to create muddy clouds in their wake. Kira pinched the webbing between her fingers but there was very little sensation, no matter how hard she squeezed. Her fingertips told her the webbing was real, though it felt tougher than her skin elsewhere. Each time she withdrew her hands from the saltwater they reappeared as normal fingers and thumbs, the webbing gone.
    Kira often thought about Cody, and how they shared a fascination with the sea. She wished she could talk to him again, but she felt awkward approaching him. He knew there was something different about her, but until she figured out what was going on she didn’t want to discuss it. What if he told someone else? Kids at school would make fun of her for sure. They already found her odd, maybe because of how her parents treated her. Maybe because she was a loner.
    By the middle of August, Kira had developed a pattern of visiting the tide pools every day. She went out in all types of weather, rain or sunshine, calm days or windy. On stormy days, the character of the pools changed. All the plants and animals seemed agitated below the surface. Even the colours were angry shades of purple and ochre and red. But when she dipped her hands into the water she felt calm, and whenever her hands were still, the movement around them slowed.
    On one such day, she watched a group of four people climb out of a car, whooping and shouting as they ran toward the edge of the surf. The waves were wild and high, whipped up by the strong winds. Signs posted along the beaches warned people to stay away on exactly this type of day.
    From the tree line, Kira could see them run toward the water, then dash back again as the waves crashed on the rocks just behind them. They were urging each other to get closer. Crazy show-offs, she thought. Kira recognized them as boys from the village high school.
    She was about to slip back into the trees and farther down the shore when she heard a loud yell. Then, more frantic, louder shouts.
    â€œGary! Where’s Gary? He’s gone!”
    â€œGary, stop fooling around! Where are you?”
    Kira looked back. There were only three boys now, popping up and down on the rocks, running back and forth. One of them must have fallen in. Been swept away.
    Kira climbed up on a boulder, and scanned the beach. There was no one else nearby, no one who would hear them in time. Without thinking, she leaped over the rocks and ran toward the boys. Then she stood next to them, peering into the dark, frothing water, feeling the spray on her face, the push of the wind on her body.
    â€œHe’s gone!” one of the boys shrieked at her. “What are we going to do?” One of the other boys was punching keys on his cell phone.
    Without another thought, Kira kicked off her boots, tore off her rain jacket and glasses, and dove into the angry, roiling surf. As she slid into the cold water she suddenly realized the insanity of her action. She felt herself sucked down by a current, deep into murky darkness. She was going to drown, she thought, along with the boy who was probably in the middle of the Atlantic by now. She expected to be numbed by the cold, but was surprised to feel warmth spreading through her body. She felt calm. Was she drowning? Had she already drowned?
    Kira found herself sitting on a bed of kelp, gently tugged and pushed by the water around her. Like a massage, she thought, though she’d never actually had a massage before. She tried to stand up and found that she rose quickly off the bottom. Looking