A Mischief of Mermaids (19 page)

Authors: Suzanne Harper

BOOK: A Mischief of Mermaids

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It wasn't until much later that Poppy, Will, and Henry found out exactly what had happened. They had returned to the houseboat, where Mr. Malone had insisted that everyone help recalibrate the telescopes.

After dinner, Franny had drifted off to bed as soon as the meal was over, saying that she was too tired to even think about taking a shower (this had concerned Mrs. Malone so much that she insisted on taking Franny's temperature).

Then Mr. and Mrs. Malone combined forces to put Rolly to bed (an operation that required capturing Rolly after three separate attempts to dash back on deck). Exhausted, Mr. and Mrs. Malone had retired to their bedroom, even though the sun hadn't even set yet. Finally, Poppy, Will, and Henry could be on their own.

“We're going to take the kayaks out, all right?” Poppy had called to her parents.

“Of course, my darlings, just be careful,” Mrs. Malone called back through a huge yawn. In the background, Mr. Malone could already be heard snoring. “Be back in an hour and knock on our door to let us know you're home.Â .Â .Â .”

Her voice faded as she drifted off to sleep.

Quietly, they lowered the kayaks and slipped away toward the cove.

“Do you think we'll be able to find Nerissa?” asked Henry in a hushed voice.

“I don't know; it's a big lake,” said Will.

Poppy added, “And she may not want us to find her. I don't think she's as fond of humans as she used to beâ”

Before she could finish her sentence, there was a swell of water, the sense of a large object moving under her, and Poppy's kayak tipped over.

Holding her breath, Poppy pulled her legs out of the kayak. As she broke the surface, gasping for air, she saw that Will and Henry had also been tipped over and were now treading water and peering around them.

Will said, a little nervously, “I sure hope that was a mermaid and not Mugwumpâ”

The water behind him seemed to explode. Nerissa threw herself into the air, performing a jubilant triple somersault before landing back in the water with a giant splash.

“Of course it's not Mugwump, you idjit,” she said, beaming. “Oh, it feels good to have fins and scales again!”

Poppy smiled in relief. “How did you make the change?” she asked. “And why doesn't Franny remember anything?”

Nerissa grinned. She swam two fast circles around the kayaks before stopping to answer Poppy's question.

“Once Franny remembered who she was, it was easy,” said Nerissa. “We just nipped to a nice quiet little inlet and I told her how to turn her tail into a cloak. She handed it to meâ”

“And turned back into the most annoying sister on the planet,” interrupted Will.

“To be fair, she was pretty annoying as a mermaid, too,” Poppy pointed out.

“But why can't Franny remember what happened to her?” asked Henry.

Nerissa's eyes sparkled with mischief. “Well, let's just call it mermaid magic,” she said. “If we can make a human forget she was once mortal, we can make her forget that she was once a mermaid, too.”

“Just as well,” said Will. “It's already hard enough to get in the bathroom with her around.”

Nerissa flipped over to float on her back, smiling blissfully at the stars. “Ah, the water feels so nice,” she said. “I'll never, ever wish to be a human being again.”

She glanced over at Poppy, Will, and Henry. “No offense.”

“Of course not,” said Poppy. “But .Â .Â . does this mean we'll never see you again?”

Nerissa's smile widened. “Of course not,” she said, deliberately echoing Poppy's words. “We're friends now, aren't we? But just remember”âshe winked at themâ“you'd better watch out if you hear me singing!”

And with that, she did a backflip, waved good-bye with her tail, and swam away.

About the Author

SUZANNE HARPER
grew up in Texas and lives in New York City. You can visit her online at www.suzanneharper.com.

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Credits

Cover design by Paul Zakris

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used to advance the fictional narrative. All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue, are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real.

T
HE UNSEEN WORLD OF POPPY MALONE: A MISCHIEF OF MERMAIDS
. Copyright Â© 2013 by Suzanne Harper. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

www.harpercollinschildrens.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Harper, Suzanne.

A mischief of mermaids / by Suzanne Harper.

pages cm.â(The unseen world of Poppy Malone)

Summary: Nearly-ten-year-old Poppy Malone finds her skepticism challenged again when she must deal with troublemakers at Lake Travis who look and act suspiciously like mermaids, which she knows do not exist.

ISBN 978-0-06-199613-9 (hardback)

EPub Edition April 2013 ISBN 9780062101761

[1. MermaidsâFiction. 2. Family lifeâTexasâFiction. 3. Brothers and sistersâFiction. 4. TwinsâFiction. 5. HouseboatsâFiction. 6. Travis, Lake (Tex.)âFiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.H23197Mis 2013 [Fic]âdc23 2012046725

13 14 15 16 17
LP/RRDH
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

FIRST EDITION

Greenwillow Books