"Please,"

The word floats through the crack in the door and is diffused amongst murmurs. I strain against the seams of the wall to better hear, crumbling plaster between my fingers. Is that Aunt Signa?

"Look, Espen, even if I said yes-"

I inhale sharply at the hand on my shoulder and in two steps there they are, dad looming over us passively with Signa frowning uncertainly behind him. A few wordless sounds come from Signa, then dad dismisses us single handedly, the other taken with the door handle.

"Okaybye!" Fae blurts all at once and rips me away by the hand, my palm enclosed tightly in my sister’s fingers.

"Why's aunt Signa here," I mumble dejectedly as she leads me down the alley stairs. In response she grins her wide Fae grin over her shoulder, bright as the beam of evening glow in her sunset hair, but she’s not happy. She lets go of my hand.

"Up we go!" she exclaims, crouching down with her back turned and her hands open and waiting, and she catches me on her back. We cross the street, pass under the wall and onto the boardwalk, where men with arms like thick ropes lift boxes onto waiting caravans. Behind them, the sun sets on the strait. The pier is winding down now, the cranes lie like sleeping monsters with their eggs of cargo nearby. A bundle huddles at the top of the dock steps, violet eyes, and Fae holds me closer as she quickens pace to pass, trotting down to the water. Suddenly I am very aware of the weight in my stomach and the toes in my shoes, and I think of Dad drinking a tall mug of water watching us eat breakfast.

At the bottom of the stairs under the dock at the edge of the sea, Fae sets me down but won’t let me go. Muffled footprints melt into the wish wash of waves on the wood below. She breathes deeply, warm shoulders rising into me, then pushes me off her back.