Chapter One
Gabrielle pushed her hand deep into the wet sand. When she pulled it away, water slowly filled the space left by her fingers and palm and reflected the morning sky like darkened glass. A foam-capped wave hissed toward her, spilling over the frozen handprint; uncounted grains of sand caved in and erased the impression. It was as if her hand had never been there.
Gabrielle thought: I am only a handprint in the sand.
Just yesterday morning, her parents had left her. Kendra and William Sable departed for Switzerland, where they would stay for the next twelve months. Normally, they took only weekend trips there. Things had apparently changed for their business, which made scratch-resistant screens for laptops, smart phones and tablet computers. We don’t want to take you away from your home, they said. We’ll only be gone for a year. We’re doing this for you.
But, no. She knew this was a lie. They did what they did for themselves. They may not have removed her from her “home” country of the United States, but they did pull her from her beloved school in Elmwood Park and sent her to live over three hours away with her grandmother in the seaside town of Ocean Beach. Her parents hadn’t even asked if she’d like to go away with them. The thought of spending all that time in the Swiss Alps made Gabrielle’s heart sing. What an adventure that would be! And she would have her parents, too.
Her grandmother, Marine, was a sweet woman, but very quiet. She lived alone in her home on the beach. Her husband, Henry, had passed away many years ago and the beach house, which everyone called the “Shanty”, sat forlorn on the soft, sugary sand.
Gabrielle turned away from the blue-grey hulk of the Atlantic and squinted up the beach toward the Shanty. The distant, east-facing windows threw back painful shards of morning sunlight. Grandmother said that breakfast would be ready after she’d finished her morning walk.
Well, I’ve walked as much as I’m going to, Gabrielle thought. Might as well have something to eat.
Moving slowly up the beach, she slid her hands into the loose pockets of her jean shorts. The pink, chambray shirt she wore billowed comfortably in the salty breeze. Her blonde hair, falling just past her shoulders, caught the same light wind and shifted left and right without motive. Most boys at school thought she had the prettiest green eyes, though not one had ever voiced this opinion. Many considered her quite beautiful. It didn’t matter. She wouldn’t have believed them for she thought herself achingly ordinary.
With a deep, resigned sigh, Gabrielle continued toward the long, weathered boardwalk that led up to the Shanty. It was the midsummer of her 13th year and she had never felt more lost and alone in her entire life.