Page 49 of Kraken the Seal

Nina

The moment we got back to the harbor after walking the town, Dale rushed out of his little office at the dock.

“This is for you!” he said, shoving a sealed envelope into my hands. I noticed the colony car he'd driven us in was parked in the harbor's small parking lot. He'd probably come straighthere after dropping us off. No wonder he'd been so disappointed when we said we didn't need him to drive us around.

It was a heavy, cream-colored envelope used to send out wedding invitations. Curious, I let go of Delmar’s hand so I could open it. Inside was a handwritten invitation on heavy card stock. It gave me a time and address, but no other identifiers. Annoying, but then again, who else would it be from except Norris?

“I’m going to drive you there,” Dale said, as if it were an important job. “You should dress up. If you don't have anything fancy, you could go over to Hannah's store. She has some nice dresses.”

I was proud of how well I held back my sarcasm. “I’m sure I have something to wear.”

Dale looked skeptical. “You can’t wear jeans. No one wears jeans to a dinner with Mayor Norris. It’s a special occasion.”

Dale wasn’t the first colony male to tell me his opinion this afternoon. At almost every shop we went into after getting coffee, I was singled out by a man and told how happy I’d be once I settled in and had a couple of children. They gave me examples from the lives of their wives and daughters.

Wives and daughters who didn’t come up to talk to me. The only time women talked to me was if there were no men around. They would smile and wave, but conversations were rare.

Part of it was because everyone was busy selling to the tourists. The other reason was that many of the men were nervous about Delmar and would put themselves between perceived danger and their families.

I could appreciate that. But there were plenty of times when one of the women tried to talk to me and a male slid between us.

I wanted to punch them.

“I don’t have any fancy clothes,” Delmar said.

“Wear those plaid board shorts,” I teased. “They seem fancy.”

“No, you…” Dale said, but then his words trailed off when he realized Delmar was frowning at him. It wasn’t much of a frown, more like a curious/thinking expression. Having a kraken staring at him was too much for the teenager.

“Uh, never mind,” he squeaked and rushed off.

I shook my head, a question occurring to me that I should’ve asked much sooner. “Why is everyone so scared of you?”

He shrugged. “Rumor has it that I’m a scary kraken.”

“Kraken, yes,” I agreed, following him the rest of the way to the boat. “Scary? Hardly. You’re the sweetest guy I’ve ever been with.”

His head swiveled so fast he tripped slightly and almost ended up in the water. “You think so?”

Laughing, I pushed him to the boat. “How can you ask me that?”

“Because I accidentally cursed you,” he reminded me.

“And it turns out I love having an inner seal,” I said, following him onto the boat. “Except for the way I was hit by surprise, I wouldn’t change a thing.”

“I was being honest earlier,” he said, dropping down onto one of the outside benches. I sat next to him. He draped an arm around my shoulders, and I felt a tentacle stroke a patch of exposed skin at my elbow. I drew the tentacle into my lap and petted it.

Delmar let out a long sigh and slumped back. He loved having his tentacles rubbed.

“Honest about what?” I asked.

“I don’t have anything nicer than a pair of jeans with no holes,” he said.

“I was only half joking about wearing board shorts,” I said. “If Norris doesn’t tell me what he knows, it won’t be because of what you’re wearing. It’ll be because he’s an asshole.”

“I don’t like this place,” he whispered. “And not only because of Norris. I don’t like any of the men we’ve met today.”

“Same,” I said. “I’ve been getting more anxious the longer we’re in this town. This place is weirdly pro-children but anti-woman. It feels counterintuitive.”