Claxton

Chapter One: Disaster at the Crab Dock

Four years later

        The wheels of the blue and red bicycles skimmed the ground as Makenna and Caleb Delling biked through Seabrook Island. Makenna, now eleven years old, was in the lead, and Caleb, now eight, was left behind.

Makenna laughed and let the summer breeze rush through her hair. Her necklace, the one with the blue horse head pendant, waved with it.

Makenna felt like a brand-new person. Not so long ago, she had won a surfing competition on Folly Beach and a trophy for her ballet group during a dance recital, so she was in an excellent mood. She thought about starting horseback riding since there was a stable on Seabrook Island, but decided she didn't want to max out her mother's credit card.

Now that she was older, Makenna was starting to grow out of fairies, but she still liked them slightly. She had now focused her attention more on American Girl dolls, especially Isabelle, who was also a dancer. Makenna, however, was unaware that behind her back, Caleb had been doing some fairy research. She was also unaware that she was a fairy.

She and Caleb were biking to the crab dock near the Creek Watch Villas condos and the Seabrook Island water tower and fire station. They rode on Seabrook Island Rd., and many trees surrounded them.

After biking for a couple more minutes, Makenna and Caleb reached the turn for the fire station and water tower. It was a four-lane road. They turned left, and the water tower and station came into view. They were on the children's rights. Soon, they escaped the trees, and now the marsh was on either side. It was low tide, and crabs poked out from their holes in the marsh and crawled about.

After a bit, the two siblings passed the station and water tower. They followed the road toward a straight path, and condos stood on either side of them. Soon, the road narrowed, and they peddled through two cones. They were officially on the path leading them to the crab dock. To their left was more marshland, and to their right was the estuary that led to the ocean.

Makenna and Caleb continued to follow the path. They passed a bench and soon came upon a bridge on their right. Beside the bridge was a bike rack.

When they were before it, Makenna and Caleb stopped their bikes and hopped off them, parking them on the bike rack. Aside from the rack, the path continued and disappeared into another cluster of trees.

The siblings now saw they were the only ones at the crab dock. They hurried onto the bridge and peered at the busy crabs over the railing. Their nostrils picked up the scent of the estuary's sand.

After examining it, they continued down the bridge and stepped onto a sandy path, following it to the crab dock on their right. Before them was a nature observation deck. It looked like a tree house since it was made from wood, but it wasn't in a tree. People had to climb a flight of stairs to reach the top of the observation deck, and from the top of it, they had a beautiful view of Seabrook Island's marshland and North Beach. From there, their ears picked up the sounds of North Beach's waves slapping the shoreline. North Beach looked far away from the overlook, but it wasn't.

Just past the observation deck was the crab dock. Makenna and Caleb went there first. Like the observation deck, the crab dock was made from wood and hovered over the estuary. Lots of crab nets and cages were tied to the dock. Makenna and Caleb always liked pulling up the cages and nets to see if crabs were in them.

Soon stepping onto the crab dock, the two siblings trekked down it, and Caleb stopped, resting his elbows on the dock's railing.

Makenna did the same.