LEGEND OF THE MER (6 page)

Lana showered and headed off to bed for the night.  When she entered her room, she saw her shorts and tennis shoes.  She realized that Miss Perry had brought them and did
talk with her father. 
I can
only guess what that must have been like.

~~~~~

Chapter 4

THE GUARDIANS

The next morning, Lana woke early to the smell of breakfast downstairs.  It wasn’t like her father to make her breakfast on a school day.  She felt sorry for the way she had treated him last night.  She hoped he wasn’t too mad.  She quickly dressed and headed down the stairs to the kitchen.

“Good morning, thought you could use a good breakfast to start your day
.
”
Her
father
smiled slightly
.

“Thanks Dad sorry about last night.  I had a lot of emotions going through me
.
”

“Yeah, I guess you had a right to be upset with me.  You have to know Lana, everything I’ve done has been to protect you and them,” said her father a little cautious with his words.

“Dad, if you only knew what it’s been like for me living here.  I missed out on knowing who I really
was and where I came from,” she
said trying not to get angry again.

“I know it’s been hard.  It’s been hard for me too.  There’s so much I wanted to tell you and just cou
ldn’t find the right words.  I’
m trying to get the courage, please just give me a chance.  I’d like to start this afternoon after school, if you’ll let me,” said her father sincerely.

“Yeah, that would be really cool Dad
.
”
Lana smiled as she sat down and began to scarf down her breakfast.  She really was hungry after last night.

“I’m just glad you’re home safe,” her father said as he went and kissed the top of her head.

“The one, no the two things I’m glad I didn’t have to deal with, were the tail and those ears.  I would have definitely ended up as someone’s lab experiment,” Lana
said with a
giggle.

Her fa
t
her laughed out loud and then became solemn and said, “Yeah you’re right about that, but seriously kid, I’d have never let that happen.”

“Thanks Dad, I can’t wait for our talk later,” Lana said as she downed her glass of juice and quickly put her dishes in the sink.  She grabbed her book bag and smiled once more at her father.

“I’ll be here,” he said smiling back while he sipped his coffee and watched her head out the door.

Lana couldn’t keep her mind on her schoolwork.  All she thought about were the mer.  She was so glad when the lunch bell finally rang.

Lana grabbed her lunch tray and sat down at a nearby table and saw Elaine coming with her tray.   “Hey Lana, have you thought any more about the prom?”  Elaine asked as she sat next to her.

“No
not really.”

“Well, I’ll try not to ask you every day, maybe just every other day,” laughed Elaine.

“Okay, when is the thing?” Lana asked reluctantly.

“In two weeks!” Elaine squealed.

“Let me see if I can put a dress together by then, if I can, then I’ll go
.
”
Lana
gave a half grin
.

“Great!  I know you can, we’ll have so much fun!” Elaine jumped up clapping her hands and Lana had to laugh at her.

It was hard for Lana not to speak with Miss Perry during class and she knew she wouldn’t have much time after.  She waited for the last bell to ring an
d went quickly to her.  “Hey
Miss Perry!”

“It’s so good to see you here today Lana, you had me so worried
.
” Miss Perry
raised her brows
.

“I don’t have a lot of time to talk right now, but I wanted to thank you for bringing my stuff back and I’m sure it wasn’t easy telling my dad.”

“You
’
r
e
welcome and no it wasn’t easy telling your dad.  He was really upset, but I think he already suspected what you had done.  You know he can see everything from that lighthouse of his,” said Miss Perry with a half grin.

“Yeah, he can, but you know I think things are gonna work out.  He’s actually gonna talk to me today.  In fact, he’s waiting for me right now,” Lana said excitedly.

“Then you go on home, we can talk another time,” Miss Perry said while gently patting Lana on her shoulder.

As Lana walked back down the
sandy
footpath that led to her home, she looked out along the beach and saw the sandpipers running in and out of the edge of the water with their thin long legs
.  It made her remember what
Princess Tarra had said about Lana being special because she could go on land and in the o
cean. 
How strange everything’
s be
coming
, she thought.
  She always hated her differences and now she finds that they may give her a purpose.

Lana’s father was good to his word.  She saw him sitting once more at the kitchen table when she came in the back door.  He smiled when he saw her come in.  “Hi Dad, I’m so glad you’re here,” said Lana
as she threw down her book bag on the nearby wooden bench.

“I wouldn’t miss it.  I made some of your favorite cookies this morning,” said her father as he held out a plate of chocolate chip cookies.

“Dad, didn’t you go to work today?” Lana asked surprised.

“No, I asked Marty to fill in for me.  This isn’t an easy thing for me to do.  In fact, I’ve pretty much been sick at my stomach about it,” laughed her father nervously.

“Oh Dad, I’m sorry, but I’m so glad you
’
r
e
willing to talk.”

“Yeah, but like I said before, I’m not sure how much I can talk about today.  I’m gonna try, but I want you to do something for me,” said her father quite seriously.

“Okay Dad, anything,” Lana said sincerely.

“I want you to promise me that you won’t put one foot in the ocean until after graduation.  I need you to give me time Lana.  There’s so much I want to tell you and I need the time to do it.  I’m just afraid that you might get mad at me and take off with them forever,”
he said
as his eyes began to fill with tears.

“Okay Dad, it won’t be easy, but I promise not to put one foot in the ocean until after graduation
.
”  Lana
smiled
as she went and hugged him and kissed his cheek.

“Okay, okay, give me some room
.
”
H
er father
smiled
as he wiped his eyes.  Lana sat down across the table from him and he began to speak, “You’ve heard the tale of Captain Jedediah Prentis.”

“Yeah, who hasn’t?  Anyone living on the island has heard it from kindergarten through high school.”

“Well, what you didn’t hear is that when Captain Jedediah and his men first came to the island, he was looking for treasure.  He had heard about a legend of the treasure and the mer.  He and his men spent near a month with the Indians and found neither.  Captain Jedediah then did something very peculiar.  He released his crew and sold his ship.  He then returned to the island and the people that he had come to care for.  He must have loved their way of life and found solace there.  He soon earned the trust of the Indian Chief and was allowed to meet and eventually marry his daughter, who was what the mer call, a merwalker.  She was half human and half mer,” her father said cautiously, not sure of everything that Lana knew.

“Wow, I didn’t know that.  I mean, they said that you were a descendant of the merwalkers.  I just didn’t know how far back it went
.
”

“Well, at least you’re over the shock of it,” he laughed.

“Yeah, I didn’t have much choice once my gills opened up.  You should have seen me trying to keep them covered with my hair all day,” she giggled.

“I can imagine.  I didn’t realize that you had them, though it doesn’t surprise me.  Nothing surprises me about you kid
.
”
H
e smiled lovingly.  “Let me get back to my story, well you know things weren’t always fair in those days, the Indians didn’t legally own their island.  Though the mer have no need of it, or even the concept of it, they have plenty of treasure.  They gave Captain Jedediah enough for him to buy the island to keep them and the Indians safe.”

“That’s an amazing story; no I never heard that before.  You have to know Dad, I did pass out before my gills opened and it was Prince Titus who took me to the cavern,” said Lana afraid of what he might say next.

“I see, well I guess you were that determined.  I’m glad he was there to help.  I was just hoping that you two wouldn’t meet for a
while
.
”
H
er father
gave
a wide grin.

“Yeah, it was pretty awkward being told that I was engaged to him,” Lana laughed.

“It doesn’t have to be like that Lana.  In fact, I hoped you would be happy here just being a normal kid.  I knew one day you might leave the island, but I was hoping it would be for college or a job on the mainland.”

“Dad, look at me, I’m anything but normal.  I haven’t been happy here and I would never be happy on the mainland.  I’m not saying that I’m gonna marry the guy, I just don’t know where I belong?” said Lana hoping he’d understand.

“Lana
you belong anywhere you want to be.  Let’s see, the rest of the story is that before Captain Jedediah died, he made his heirs swear to guard the secret of the mer.  He had come to be their pr
otector.  Every male heir since
has sworn to keep the secret of the mer and to guard them with their life.  I am the last Prentis to know the secret, although I think Miss Perry knows more than she’d ever admit.  Her mother was a Prentis and I’m certain that her own father must have told her the secret.  She was his only child, just as Miss Perry was hers.  Some have told their daughters in such cases, even though they weren’t supposed to.  You know how M
iss Perry is about
mermaid d
ay
and all
.
”
H
er father
grinned
.