Real Mermaids Don't Need High Heels (11 page)

Okay, so I didn't exactly
drown
Luke, but I hoped that escaping from a car at the bottom of Talisman Lake would take enough time to
kinda
drown Luke—or at least trap him underwater long enough so he could change into a mer-boy.

Are
you
crazy?
Luke rang through the water as he tried to get past me to escape through my open window.

Trust
me!
Just
take
a
deep
breath
, I rang back.

I blocked his way and felt a final glub of car air escape around me as it made its way to the surface. Lake water flooded my nostrils and throat.

No, I need
ocean
water,
Luke cried in anguish as if I were denying him a drink in a barren desert.

I'll get you to the bridge once you change. There's more salt
water there, but at least the lock will keep you from getting dragged
into the ocean.
I held out my arms and wrestled him into a hug.

Luke fell into my arms and went limp, as if not knowing what else to do. I felt him take a deep breath so I sucked in some lake water, and within seconds the car shuddered with the force of our tail transformations.

Come
on.
I helped Luke out the open passenger-side window and swam out into the lake, away from the car. The whiteness of the moon shimmered overhead through the water.

Feel
better?
I asked as we swam away.

That
depends
on
what
my
mom
and
dad
say
once
they
realize
I
just
drove
their
car
into
the
lake,
Luke replied.

Thankfully, lake water seemed to have taken some of the edge off, and Luke was a little less out of it. Still, with the moon and the bonging noise still in full force, he was jittery and nervous looking and was having trouble catching his breath in the fresh water—the way I felt when I was low on my recommended daily allowance of chocolate-covered WigWags. Okay, so maybe Luke was a little worse off than that.

I'm pretty sure I was the one who elbowed you in the face so I'll take the rap,
I rang, spinning around in the water, trying to make sense of which way the cottage was, when I spotted a light off in the distance.
Wait
here
a
sec
.

I took a big breath of water before popping my head out into the night air.

“Jade!” I could hear Dad and Mr. Martin's frantic calls as they stumbled down the hill in the dark. “Luke!”

“I'm okay! We're both okay!” I hollered back. “Bring Mom and Laurena to the dock!”

I dove again to catch my breath underwater and resurfaced.

“And fair warning, you're all about to get very wet!”

• • •

It broke my heart into a million pieces, helping Dad hold Mom underwater as she struggled against us while Trey and Mr. Martin did the same with Laurena. They were both so out of it, crazed by the forces of Tidal Law trying to lure them back in the ocean, that it was impossible to explain what we were trying to do.

Mom flailed her arms and struggled against us as we held her down. Snippets of memory from when Mom disappeared in almost that same spot last year flashed through my mind. I'd cursed Finalin and Medora so many times for forcing Mom underwater against her will and there I was, doing the same thing.

I felt the rush of current from Laurena's transformation first, and a few seconds later, Mom slipped from my grip as she did the same.

I popped my head out to let Dad in on my plan. “The water is way too fresh here, but I'll swim them back to the lock where the water is saltier.”

“What should
we
do?” Dad asked frantically. “Should we go to the bridge and meet you there? Maybe the Martins and I should help look for Bridget, and Trey and Cori can stay with Gran.”

The moon shone on Dad's wet face, reminding me of the time we'd rescued Mom and Serena from the tidal pool behind Port Toulouse Mall. All Dad had wanted back then was to get his family back on solid ground, and here we were a few weeks later, trapped just like before.

Worse than before.

I took a minute to catch my breath underwater before facing Dad again. But before I could resurface I saw a tailed figure swimming toward us through the dark waters.

Serena? What are you doing back here?
I asked.
And
why
are
you
crying?

• • •

It was pretty much pandemonium underwater as I tried to figure out what was wrong with Serena while Mom swam blindly underwater now that her glasses were long gone. Coach Laurena continued to wheeze for breath, and Luke still shook like crazy from lack of salt.

“Here!” Cori yelled from the dock, passing me a plastic bag full of water in the moonlight. She'd remembered how the box of salt had helped Luke the last time we rescued him from Talisman Lake. Trey had the bright idea of pouring some of the salt in a bag full of lake water so Luke could breathe in and out of it like the paper bag Coach Higgins had given me the time I overdid it and hyperventilated on Sports Day.

Luke took a few deep breaths from the bag and his whole body seemed to sigh in relief.

“Thanks, Cori. I think it's helping,” I said as I handed bags through the water to Mom and Laurena, too.

“Don't mention it,” she said, grasping my arm. “Just…well, you know.”

I nodded and dove back in. The salt water didn't fix Mom's eyesight or Laurena's breathing, but they could at least think a little more clearly compared to the trance they'd been in back in the cottage.

I took advantage of the break in the action and pulled Serena aside.

So, what happened?
I asked.
I
thought
you'd be with your mom and dad and the rest of the Freshies by the bridge by now.

I
went
there,
Serena replied in Mermish,
but
Mother
and
Father
are
gone.

Gone
where?
I asked.

They
took
the
Howsers' canoe, just like you suspected,
Serena said,
and
filled
it
with
salty
water
from
near
the
bridge. Their plan was to try to swim the whole length of the lake to the northern passage.

I thought for a second. Finalin probably got the canoe idea from when I transported Mom from Dundee to the locks at the beginning of the summer. But no Freshie had ever been further than Dundee because of the freshness of the water in the middle of the lake. A canoe full of salt water might be their ticket out of there, though.

How
do
your
mom
and
dad
know
about
Folly's Passage?
I asked slowly.

I
told
them
after
I
saw
that
map
in
the
school
office.
Serena looked away as if she'd betrayed a secret.
I
told
them
about
the
rebellion, too. And about voting and elections and democracy. I should have known that would make Father and Mother want to escape more than ever.

Finalin was just crazy enough to try to make it to Folly's Passage.

Now
Mother
and
Father
are
risking
their
lives
to
fight
the
Mermish
Council,
Serena continued.
All
they've ever wanted was freedom for me. For everybody.

Something shifted inside my head. I thought about Mr. Chamberlain and how evil I thought he was with all his shady construction deals. Yet he sponsored all those
Safe
2 Swim
events and worked for a ton of charities. I didn't exactly agree with his methods, but deep down, maybe his heart was in the right place.

What if Finalin and Medora weren't totally the bad guys here? Sure, they'd done some pretty nasty things, like vandalizing boats on the lake and pulling Mom underwater last summer, but that was mostly to buy freedom for their daughter and to figure out a way to escape. And what about all the other mers who were imprisoned and whose only crime had been to stand up for themselves against the Mermish Council? Didn't they deserve their freedom?

But was that really my problem? I was a human first and a mer second, wasn't I? Why couldn't I just go back to being a normal teen girl trying to get over her fear of awkward dancing long enough to ask a boy to her first formal?

What
if
Mother
and
Father
never
make
it?
Serena continued.
What
if
they
end
up
with
Folly, shipwrecked at the bottom of the lake?

I looked around. At Luke, who was breathing into the bag of salty water and trying to stop from shaking. At Coach Laurena, who was still gasping for breath. At Mom, who kept blinking, trying to clear her vision. The Mermish Council had caused all this.

I popped my head out of the water and called for Gran.

“How far is Folly's Passage compared to the bridge in Port Toulouse?” I asked.

“The bridge is about three miles south, and I'd say the passage is about five or six miles to the north.” Gran looked up and down the lake and waved her hand as she spoke. “Why?”

“Just working on a plan,” I said before diving again.

Okay, here's what we're going to do.
I waved Mom, Laurena, and Luke toward Serena and me and went over my loosey-goosey plan, but the more I talked it out, the clearer it became.

Mom, Laurena, and Luke,
I continued,
you
guys
each
take
a
bag
of
salt
water
and
swim
to
the
bridge.

Wait, what are you planning to do?
Mom blinked, trying to focus on my face underwater.

I'm going to help Serena find her parents at the other end of the lake.

No,
Mom said.
If
that's the plan, I think we should stick together and all go north.

You're kidding, right?
I asked.
You
can
barely
see. Laurena can barely breathe, and Luke is shaking like a jackhammer salesman. It will be better if you guys stay safe behind the locks of the bridge.

But
you've never been any farther north than here,
Mom said.
What
if
you
get
lost?

I popped my head out of the water.

“Dad, can you guys get the Martins' boat to lead Serena and me to Folly's Passage so she can find her parents?” I asked.

“I guess…” Dad said slowly. “As long as it's okay with your mother.”

So
it's settled?
I asked Mom as I resubmerged.

I
see
what
you
did
there,
Mom said with a wry smile.
Still,
though—

Serena
is
much
more
used
to
fresh
water
than
any
of
us,
and
I
feel
fine,
I assured her.
I'll get Dad to load the boat with some more bags of salt water. Trey and Cori will help him.

Luke took a huge breath of salt water from his bag and looked me straight in the eye. The salt water must have done the trick because his gaze was steady and straight.