For the rest of the day Sophia was not able to get her thoughts on anything other than seals. The taxidermied seal heads lining her bedroom walls with their pained looks kept drawing her mind back to the physical details of the strange sealman she had spotted on the beach. Reason suggested she couldn't have seen such a creature- it had to have been Menelaus Winslow Groat, Phoque King Light's keeper. Yet while Menelaus was an unsettling individual, his features were vastly different from the figure she witnessed race by. The seal heads around her further enforced what she could remember of the brief glimpse below.

Jane, the cook, made scallops and potatoes for dinner, a dish that normally delighted Sophia. But she found herself without much appetite and spent her time after the meal in the sitting room, staring down at the rocky shore as she had before. Surely the creature would return, if it had passed that way earlier. But there was no sign of motion apart from the crashing waves or a stray seagull.

"Sophia," her father said as the sun was setting, "are you sure you're alright? Perhaps you should go to bed. A bit of sleep and you'll be better in the morning."

"Thank you, father," she replied, "but I'm not tired. I think I will sit here a bit more to watch the ocean."

"I may have some more morphine, if you need help falling asleep," volunteered Minnie, though was quick to insist it was for herself and never used otherwise.

"You can save what you have for Horace," answered Sophia, making Minnie angry.

"I was trying to be kind, not criticized for my parenting!" she snapped back as she turned to her husband. "It's bedtime, William! Leave her!"

"She certainly got mad there," remarked Augusta after Minnie and William had gone. "But it is getting dark and we've all had a busy day of travel. You really should retire."

"Thank you, Aunt Augusta, but if you'd seen my room I doubt I'll get much rest there."

Albert, standing besides his mother, nervously looked at his feet as he softly spoke. "I...I can switch rooms with you, Sophia. If you'd like, I mean. I'm in a cormorant-themed room."

"Albert," Augusta said, "you're twenty-one years old. You can speak louder and more confidently than that!"

"Thank you, Albert," Sophia smiled at her cousin who instantly blushed, "but I am not tired enough to sleep anywhere right now."

"Oh, Sophia," sighed her aunt, "I would feel much better if you at least tried to rest. I don't want to think of you sitting here all night staring at the sea."

Sophia relented for Augusta- if attempting to sleep would make her happy, then that was for the best. But after lying in bed for what felt like hours, the shadows of the seal heads extended on the bedroom floor from the moonlight coming in through the windows, and her general uncertain state after the day's activities, Sophia was no closer to not thinking of the sealman.

Well, I made a valiant effort to sleep, she reasoned as she got out of bed and put on her night gown. Her drive to return to the sitting room and watch the beach remained stronger than her urge to slumber.

The house was quiet and the floors surprisingly not creaky as Sophia descended the main staircase. But as she approached the sitting room, she was slightly alarmed to hear an unfamilar sound- it seemed almost like wet footsteps sloshing about; they were not particularly close yet in the silence of the home not hard to notice. Slowly, Sophia followed the sound, past the sitting room and down the hall towards the dining room.

That room likewise seemed empty, yet as Sophia slowly peaked in the sloshing sound stopped. Then in the doorway between dining room leading into the kitchen, Sophia saw the shadowy outline of a figure. It was about three feet tall, and stood as one would expect a normal person to stand. Yet, the figure had a very rounded head and, though in the dark and unable to make out distinct details, had a strangely salty smell.

Not sure what else to make of what she was seeing, Sophia softly whispered: "Jack? Is that you?"

Jack, the son of the butler and cook, was about that tall. Hardly that stocky or bald, yet Sophia had little to work with in the dark.

But instead of confirming her guess, the figure let out a sound of panic, like the bark of a dog when its tail was stepped on. It took off running, sloshing as it did and bumping into everything around as it made its getaway. The crash of falling objects was noticeably louder in the silence of night.

Sophia too was startled by the figure's noise, letting out a slight scream as it took off. But, her her thoughts returned to what she had been thinking about nearly all day: the sealman. The figure was there was extremely similar in build could that have been him? But if it was, what was he doing in the house?

Unsure what else to do and wanting to prove she had not been merely imagining things earlier, Sophia took off running after the figure.

"Wait! Wait!" she called out as she did her best to chase. The figure was leaving a trail of water that made the floor slick. It was also quite quick. Sophia struggled not to slip but it was hard to keep pace.

"Wait!" She cried out again but her misplaced bare foot in the water caused her to slide. She fell face first into the ground as the figure ahead crashed into an end-table and bounded out of sight. Sophia pushed herself up, listening to the crashing now further and further away.

"What's going on?" She heard from behind. It was the voice of Augusta, seemingly approaching.

"Is someone there?" It was the voice of Jerome, the butler, coming from the direction of the servants' quarters.

Sophia just sighed. There was no point in answering, both parties would find her soon. Who knew what they would think, but as soon as she could get back on her feet Sophia was intent to keep following the water trail.