Mermaids in the Backyard (2 page)

A boy around Lindy’s age was on the near side of the boulders. He was standing in a large puddle in the rocky ground. Scrambling out of the water, he sloshed along a narrow, sandy path up the hill. The path led toward Lindy and her parents.

Lindy watched the boy. He had messy brown hair that looked like it should have a bird nesting in it. His shoulders were sunburned, and he wore faded board shorts and flip-flops. Dangling from one hand was a slimy-looking orange starfish.

“Hi,” he said when he reached them. “Are you the new people on the island?”

“Yes, we are,” Lindy’s mom said. “We’re the Michaels family. We’re moving in today.”

“I’m Matthew. I live over there.” Matthew waved the starfish toward some scrubby trees to the right of the bug house.

“Matthew!” a new voice called. “Where are you?”

A girl hurried into sight between the trees. She was about twelve years old and had light brown hair with sunny blond streaks. She was carrying a baby dressed in a sparkly green bathing suit with a mermaid’s tail.

Matthew made a face and pointed at the baby. “That’s one of my little sisters,” he said.

“There you are!” the older girl said when she saw him. “I thought you were going to help me watch the babies so they could play in the water.” Then she noticed the others. “Oh! Hello. You must be the Michaels family.”

“That’s right,” Lindy’s dad said with a smile. “Are you Matthew’s sister?”

“No way!” Matthew said quickly. “She’s Jessica. She lives down the road.”

Jessica laughed. “I’m Jessica Trenton. Welcome to Little Hermit’s Cove.”

“Thank you, Jessica. It’s lovely to meet you,” Lindy’s mom said. “And you and your sister, too, Matthew.”

“He has two more little sisters. They’re triplets.” Jessica shifted the baby she was holding to her other hip. “Isn’t that cool?”

Matthew rolled his eyes. “Only if you don’t have to smell their stinky diapers,” he said.

“Gross,” Lindy muttered. Her parents chuckled.

“This is our daughter,” Mr. Michaels said. “Lindy, say hello to Jessica and Matthew.”

Lindy guessed that someone Jessica’s age probably didn’t care about meeting someone her age. And she could already tell Matthew was the kind of boy she wouldn’t like.
Loud, messy, and annoying.

Jessica gave her a friendly smile. “Hi, Lindy,” she said. “You’re going to love living here. Little Hermit’s Island is the coolest place in the world.”

“Hi.” Lindy couldn’t think of anything else to say. Sure, the island seemed kind of cool. It would be a nice place to visit on vacation. But how would she ever get used to
living
there?

“This is it.” Mr. Michaels spread out his arms and turned in a circle. He had a big smile on his face. “Our new office! Isn’t it great?”

The Michaels family, Jessica, and Matthew were standing on a wooden pier. Small waves lapped against the pillars. Boats tied to the pier bumped gently against one another as the water rocked them back and forth. Overhead, seagulls circled and swooped, letting out a chorus of noisy cries. Everything smelled like salt and seaweed. At least Lindy guessed it was seaweed.

“What do you think, Lindy?” Mrs. Michaels asked. “With a little luck, your father and I will turn this place into the best boat dock in South Carolina!”

“The dock used to be really popular with tourists,” Jessica said. “Then Mr. Lewis got sick and moved to the mainland. Nobody wanted to take it over until you guys bought it.”

Jessica had left the mermaid-suited baby
with Matthew’s dad so she could show Mr. and Mrs. Michaels a shortcut from the bug house to the dock. Matthew had tossed his starfish back in the water and tagged along.

The boat dock was about a quarter of a mile from the house. They could walk there on the road, or they could take Jessica’s shortcut, a twisty, sandy path along the edge of the cove.

Now here they were. Lindy looked around. The sun was so bright she had to squint. The dock was right in the middle of the cove, a blobby inlet cutting into one end of the island. Houses lined the shore of the cove. A cluster of shops and restaurants stood just south of the dock. People strolled around looking sunburned and happy. More people were swimming in the shallows off a narrow strip of pale sand. Half a dozen boats floated on the sparkling, sunlit water. One was a big sailboat heading toward the open sea beyond the cove, and another was a rowboat with a pair of kids rowing it.

“Hey! Earth to New Girl.”

Lindy blinked. Matthew was waving his hand in front of her face. There was dirt under his fingernails and a grubby Band-Aid on one thumb. It looked like it had
been there for at least a month.

Lindy’s parents were walking farther down the pier, checking out the boats. She hoped they wouldn’t fall in. “Are there sharks out there?” she asked.

Jessica smiled. “Don’t worry. Sharks hardly ever come into the cove. At least not the big ones.”

“You’ll probably see some by your house, though,” Matthew said. “You’re right at the mouth of the cove. There are tons of sharks out on the ocean side.” He smirked. “So don’t go swimming alone, or you might come back with one leg missing.”

“That’s not funny!” Lindy shivered.

“He’s just trying to scare you,” Jessica said in a soothing voice. “Still, you probably shouldn’t swim in the ocean. Not until you get used to being near the water, anyway.”

“I
am
used to being near the water,” Lindy said. “Chicago is right on Lake Michigan. That’s a huge lake. Like,
really
huge.”

Jessica didn’t look very impressed. “Okay. But the ocean is different. You’ll see once you’ve been here awhile.”

Lindy didn’t answer. Instead, she walked a little farther out on the pier.

“Ow!” she cried as her toe caught on a loose board. She stumbled forward. When she put out her hands to catch herself, she realized she was falling straight toward the water! Just in time, she staggered sideways onto her other foot.

“Are you okay?” Jessica asked.

Matthew laughed. “If you want to go swimming, just say so!”

“Shut up.” Lindy scowled at him. She was sensitive about being clumsy. Even Tara
would never tease her about it.

Then she stared out at the water. The waves seemed to dance, throwing sparks from the sun. It was hard to see clearly. But Lindy thought she spotted something near the mouth of the cove. Was it—could it be a person’s head popping up from the water?
She squinted, taking a step forward.

“Careful,” Matthew said. “You don’t want to fall in for real this time. The sharks might get you.”

Lindy ignored him. “Do you see that?”

“See what?” Jessica asked.

“It looks like somebody’s out there! Right by those big rocks and trees and stuff.”

“That’s where your house is,” Matthew said. “If the trees weren’t there, you could see it from here.”

Lindy glanced over at the shore. Sure enough, the shrubby trees looked familiar. When she looked back out at the water, there was no sign of anything other than waves.

“Oh,” she said. “They’re gone. What if it was somebody drowning? Shouldn’t we tell someone?” She looked toward the lifeguard chair on the beach.

Jessica chuckled. “I’m sure there’s no one there. Just your eyes playing tricks on you because of the bright sun shining on the water.”

Before Lindy could answer, her parents came walking back. They looked happy and excited. Her mother’s hair had mostly escaped from its bun and was blowing around in the breeze. Her father’s feet were hairy and ghostly pale in his brand-new sandals.

“Well, kids?” Mr. Michaels said. “Want to take one of these babies out for a spin?” He waved toward the boats tied to the pier.

“Sure!” Matthew said. “We have our own motorboat. So I can totally show you how to drive one.”

Jessica checked her watch. “I’ll come, too, thanks. Can you please drop me off at
Matthew’s house? They have a dock.”

“Absolutely.” Mr. Michaels beamed. “Come on, Lindy. All aboard!”

Lindy smiled weakly. Her parents seemed really excited to start their new life in Little Hermit’s Cove. But she was afraid that she’d never, ever fit in.

Lindy stared out the living room window. Rain ran rivers down the panes. Out on the ocean, the waves seemed confused. Instead of lapping gently and evenly against the shore, they crashed against one another, sending white spray everywhere. Watching them made Lindy nervous.

She looked down at the old-man boulders. The ocean was already halfway up their backs. Every few seconds a wave crashed against them. Each time, more water flowed over the tops of the boulders. Some of it
splashed into the tide pool where Matthew had found that starfish the day before. The rest splattered onto the rocky ground or got mixed up with the rain.

Lightning cracked the sky in two. Thunder snarled like a giant, belching monster. The sound made the whole house shake. Lindy wished her parents would hurry home. It was too stormy to go to the dock that day, so they’d taken the ferry to the mainland to shop for supplies.

An even bigger crash of thunder rattled the windows. A second later the phone rang, making Lindy jump. She hurried to answer it.

“Hello, Lindy?” Her mother’s voice sounded crackly and far away. “Can you hear me?”

“Where are you?” Lindy asked. “Are you going to be home soon?”

“I’m afraid not.” The phone crackled again, making it impossible for Lindy to hear the next few words. Then it cut back in. “… and they said it’s not safe to take the ferry out until the storm passes. So we’re stuck on the mainland for a while.”

“What?” Lindy tightened her grip on the phone.

“Don’t worry—your father is on his cell right now talking to Jessica. She’s going to run over and sit with you.”

“She doesn’t have to do that,” Lindy said quickly. She hated the idea of staying alone in the creaking, swaying house. But she hated the thought of needing a babysitter even more.

Once again, a crackle of static swallowed her mother’s voice. “… but she’ll be there as soon as she can.”

“Mom?” Lindy said as her mother’s voice cut out. “Hello?”

The phone was dead. Lindy set it down and tugged at her hair. Now what? Suddenly she hoped Jessica would get there quickly.