Mermaids in the Backyard (6 page)

Lindy bit her lip. Finneus was cringing in the cloudy water at the bottom of the bucket. His dorsal fin was flat against his back.

Matthew looked in at the sea horse. “Hey, you!” he said loudly. He tapped on the side of the bucket. “Come on, swim around!”

“M-maybe you should let him go,” Lindy said.

“Let him go? Are you crazy?” Matthew stared at her. “No way! I bet I’m the only person around here with a pet sea horse.”

The only person
above
the sea
, Lindy thought. She knew Coral and Sealily must be worried about their pet. How had the shy little sea horse ended up in Matthew’s bucket?

Matthew tapped on the bucket again. “Stop that,” Lindy said. “You’re scaring him.”

“Make me.” Matthew tapped harder.

Lindy felt like crying. Poor Finneus! He would be miserable stuck in a tank with loud, annoying Matthew taking care of him.
He might not even survive! She had to think fast.

“You caught him on my family’s property, right?” she said. “That means he’s really mine, not yours. And I think you should let him go.”

Matthew rolled his eyes. “Make me,” he said again. Then he grinned. “Wait, I have an idea. If you like this sea horse so much, I’ll trade him to you—for that shirt.” He pointed to Lindy’s Cubs T-shirt.

Lindy stepped back and tugged at her hair. “No way,” she said. “Um, but I’ll trade you something else. How about my allowance for next week?”

Matthew shrugged. “Uh-uh. It’s the shirt or nothing.” He turned and walked toward his own house.

“Wait!” Lindy said, feeling desperate. She
couldn’t let him take Finneus home!

“What?” Matthew stopped and looked at her.

Lindy hesitated, touching her shirt. She thought about Tara, and Chicago, and her old life. Then she thought about Coral and Sealily. And Finneus.

“It’s a deal,” she blurted out.

“Huh?”

Lindy pulled the T-shirt off over her head. “Here,” she said. “I’ll trade.”

Matthew looked surprised. Then he grabbed the T-shirt out of Lindy’s hand. “No backsies,” he said.

He hurried toward the tide pool. “What are you doing?” Lindy asked.

“What does it look like?” He dumped the bucket into the shallow water. “I traded you the sea horse, not my bucket. You’ll have to catch it again yourself.”

With one last smirk, he raced away.

When Lindy peered into the tide pool, Finneus was huddled beneath a rock. “It’s
okay, Finny,” Lindy said softly. “He’s gone.”

It took a few minutes to coax him out. At last the sea horse seemed to recognize her. He swam over and bumped her fingers with his head.

Lindy smiled. “You’re safe now. Let’s get you home.”

She scooped him up carefully. Then she scrambled up the hill and down to the beach. Kicking off her sandals, she waded into the surf.

But releasing Finneus wasn’t as easy as she’d expected. He was very small, and the waves tossed him back to shore as soon as Lindy let go of him.

“Sorry, Finneus!” she cried as he landed on the beach, flopping around and gasping for breath. She scooped him up and tried again, wading out farther this time. And even farther the time after that. Every time, Finneus ended up back on the beach.

Finally Lindy put him back in the tide pool. The little sea horse seemed relieved to be away from the rough waves.

“Now what?” Lindy whispered as she watched him swim around.

She wondered if she should carry him over to the cove, where the water was calmer. But she didn’t have a bucket, and she didn’t trust Matthew not to come back and capture Finneus again while she looked for one.

Besides, Matthew’s house was on the cove. What if he spotted the sea horse over there? Or what if Finneus couldn’t find his way out of the cove to the ocean?

Lindy felt like crying. “I need to get you out to deeper water,” she told Finneus. “But how?”

Suddenly she had an idea. She raced to the house and grabbed a life jacket. Slipping it on, she fastened the buckles tightly.

There. Now she wouldn’t have to swim. If the water got too deep or a wave knocked her over, she would float.

Lindy was shaking as she waded into the surf again, holding Finneus. But she knew what she had to do. She had to get out past the breaking waves. Then Finny could swim away without being tossed back to the beach.

Soon the water was up to Lindy’s knees, then her thighs. She realized she’d forgotten to take off her shorts. She didn’t want to turn around now, though. If she did, she might be too scared to try again.

“Almost there,” she chanted. “Almost there.”

Finneus wriggled in her hands, but she held on to him. They weren’t quite deep enough yet.

Just ahead, she saw the spot where the waves started to swell up and get pushy. All she had to do was get past it. Then she could release Finny and go back.

She took another step. The waves splashed up past her waist. Almost there …

“Whoa!” she cried as her foot stepped forward—into nothingness!

She dropped Finneus and swung her arms, trying to push herself back onto the edge of the drop-off. But the push and pull of the waves dragged her. Her other foot lost its grip on the sandy seafloor. Just like that, Lindy was floating!

There was a happy chirp nearby. Finneus popped to the surface. He darted over and bumped her with his head.

“You’re welcome,” Lindy said breathlessly, realizing that she’d done it. The rough, breaking waves were behind them.

Way
behind them. Lindy glanced back and gulped. The shore looked very far away.

Finneus chirped again. A second later he
disappeared beneath the surface, leaving Lindy all alone. The life jacket made it easy to float. But she still felt nervous.

“Better get back,” she muttered. She pushed at the water with her arms to turn herself around. Then she kicked with both feet.

Yet the shore didn’t get any closer. In fact, it looked even farther away! Lindy kicked harder, but it was no use.

She was caught in a riptide that was carrying her out to sea!

“Help!” Lindy cried. Her voice sounded weak and shaky. She thrashed her arms and legs. “Someone, please help!”

But the current was pulling Lindy farther from the island with every passing moment, and there was nobody in sight anyway. All she could think about was floating out to sea and being eaten by a shark. Her parents would never even know what had happened to her! Neither would Tara, or any of her other friends, or—

Suddenly Sealily’s head popped into view!
Then Finneus appeared beside her.

“Lindy Drylander!” Sealily cried joyfully. “You came to see us!”

Coral surfaced beside her sister. “So that’s what Finneus was so worked up about. Are you okay, Lindy?”

“Oh my gosh!” Lindy exclaimed. “I’m so glad to see you guys!” In a rush, she told them what had happened.

When she finished, Sealily shook her head. “Naughty Finny—he must have sneaked back to the Drylands to visit you!” she exclaimed.

“We thought so,” Coral added. “That’s why we came here to look for him. You saved him again, Lindy!”

“Yes, and now I’m the one who needs saving,” Lindy said. “Can you help me get back to shore?”

“Of course. First we should pull you out of the current,” Sealily said.

Coral looked dubious. “It’s pretty strong here. It would be lots easier to get away from it by diving down.”

“Down?” Lindy gulped. “Um, I don’t think so.”

“No, Coral’s right, Lindy Drylander,” Sealily urged. “If we dive down, we’ll be out of the current in no time!”

Coral nodded. “Do you still have the sponges?”

For a second Lindy wasn’t sure what she was talking about. Then she remembered.

“I have them,” she said, fishing around for her shorts pocket. “But I thought you weren’t sure if they’d work.”

“We’re not.” Sealily giggled. “We’re never sure about anything Thetis tells us.”

Coral smiled at Lindy. “Just try, okay? We won’t let you get hurt. Promise.”

“Okay.” Lindy was scared, but she couldn’t help trusting Coral. As if they’d been friends forever.

She stuck one of the sea sponges into her left nostril. Ew! It felt weird and slimy in there. She almost yanked it right back out. Instead, she quickly shoved in the second sponge.

“Oh, this is so gross!” she exclaimed, breathing through her mouth. “It smells like old fish.”

“Try to breathe,” Sealily urged.

Lindy knew if she stopped to think much about it, she’d never do it. So she tipped forward, squeezing her eyes shut. Then she shoved her face into the water. As she did, she automatically gulped in a breath and
almost snorted the sea sponges right up her nose!

“No, no!” Coral said as Lindy came up coughing and sputtering. “Close your mouth, then breathe the water in through only your nose.”

“I’m not sure this is a good idea after all.” Lindy wiped her face. “I can’t even get my whole head under with this life jacket on.”

“You need to take it off, Lindy Drylander,” Sealily said. “We’ll help you float.”

Lindy gulped. “T-take off the life jacket?” Her heart pounded. But once again, she decided to try. If the breathing sponges didn’t work, the mermaids could hold her up long enough to get the jacket back on. “Get ready to catch me if I sink,” she said.