Real Mermaids Don't Need High Heels (12 page)

I'm coming with you.

Yeah, right,
I rang.
We
just
spent
all
night
trying
to
keep
you
from
the
ocean, and now you want swim right into it?

Look,
Luke said.
I
feel
fine
and
it's like I said back at Bridget's Diner: the Mermish Council might force me into the water with all this Tidal Law crap, but there's no way I'm going to become one of their puppets.

If
you're sure,
I rang slowly, hoping I wouldn't regret it.

I'm sure,
he replied.
Are
you?

We were like two royal caravans heading off in different directions as Dad, Cori, and Trey accompanied us northward, feeding us bags of salty water through the freshest part of the lake, while Mr. and Mrs. Martin rowed Gran's rowboat to keep an eye on Mom and Coach Laurena on the way to the lock.

Gran decided her talents were of best use on land, so she returned to her cottage to clean up and to call the tow truck to get the Martins' car out of the lake.

The moon still shone brightly and felt like a bare light bulb in an investigation room on one of those TV police dramas Dad watched. Luke struggled for the first few miles, but as we traveled further north, I could feel the lake growing saltier. We swam for another hour or so before the water became shallow and weedy.

It must have been close to midnight by the time I heard the boat's engine whirr to a lower gear.

We
must
be
close,
I said to Serena and Luke.
You
guys
okay?

Serena nodded.

Yes!
Luke said in a strong, re-energized ring. His shakes were completely gone, and he swam easily and confidently. Actually, he looked like a mer on a mission, the way he zigged and zagged through the water.

I couldn't help wondering what Luke had meant when he asked me if I was “sure” before we started on our swim up the lake. Was it just about our plan to swim north or some leftover weirdness from almost-but-not-quite asking him to the Fall Folly? Was he wondering if I still wanted to be his girlfriend? Ah! This boyfriend-girlfriend stuff was so complicated.

“Jade?” I heard Dad call from the boat.

“What's going on?” I asked as I popped my head out of the water.

“I think that's the Howsers' canoe washed up on shore.” He pointed a high-powered flashlight toward the bank. Sure enough, a canoe was swamped and tilted at an odd angle along the shoreline.

“Can you get this attached so we can tow the canoe out of there?” Dad handed me a rope with a carabiner.

“Hold on a sec.”

I swam to the canoe and hooked the carabiner to the canoe's crossbar, then swam out of the way so Dad could haul it out into the open water with the boat's winch. Cori and Trey helped him pull the canoe aboard
The
Lady
Sea
Dragon
.

There's nothing in there,
I rang to Serena and Luke as the water drained from the canoe.

Well, at least we know Mother and Father have made it this far,
Serena rang through the water, sounding relieved.

What
do
you
want
to
do?
I asked.

We
need
to
keep
going!
Serena said.
They
could
be
in
the
ocean
by
now. We need to catch up before it's too late.

“Serena wants to keep going!” I yelled out into the night as I resurfaced.

Dad leaned out around the cabin of
The
Lady
Sea
Dragon
and looked past the bow. “The passage is way too shallow for me to get the boat through. I think we're going to have to turn back.”

“We don't have any salt left.” Cori picked up the salt box and shook it upside down.

“Yeah,” Trey continued. “Jade and Serena might be okay, but there's no way Luke will make it back.”

“We'll just go see what's on the other side of the passage. One of us can come back and let you know what's over there,” I suggested.

“I dunno…” Dad rubbed his head and cringed.

I dove underwater to catch my breath and glanced at Serena. She parted the weedy grass, trying to see through to the other side of the passage. Finalin and Medora might be just on the other side of those weeds, for all we knew. We'd come so far. Having to turn back would break Serena's heart. In fact, from the look on her face, I doubted she would turn back at all.

What
do
you
think?
I asked Luke.

I
have
a
feeling
she's going with or without us,
Luke answered.

“Serena still wants to go. We can't let her go on her own,” I called out to Dad.

Dad paused before responding, scanning the passage again. “You'll stick together?”

“Of course,” I called out.

“And come right back once you see what's on the other side?” he continued.

“Don't worry!” I replied before diving back in.

“Be careful!” Dad called after me.

• • •

The hills along the passage rose on either side of us as we swam toward the open ocean. I imagined the tree-covered cliffs Gran had described from her childhood, but years of clear-cutting by foresters had eroded the cliffs. All that soil had filled in the passage so the water was only a few feet deep, just enough for us to swim through.

Your
dad
was
right,
Luke rang.
It's way too shallow for our boat.

These
weeds
would
probably
clog
the
propellers
anyway,
I added, trying to relieve my guilt for leaving Dad behind, especially knowing how worried he must be. The weeds swayed with the ebb and flow of the current, and the ever-present bonging noise seemed to keep time with their movements.

At
least
the
water's getting saltier
, Serena rang.

Yeah,
Luke rang, breathing deeply.
I
could
get
used
to
this.

Not
too
used
to
it, I hope,
I said, studying him. Something was still off with Luke but I couldn't quite figure out what it was. He raced ahead as the moon illuminated our way through the passage. The bottom of the passage started to drop off, and a strong current of cooler water swept toward us.

Awesome,
Luke rang, swimming back to take my hand since I was obviously going too slowly for him.

That
current
feels
like
it's coming from the ocean,
Serena added.

I thought back to the last time I'd been in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Port Toulouse. But now we were at least eight miles up the coast. I tried to keep up but Luke was really swimming fast. Like supersonic fast. Faster than I'd ever seen him go.

Slow
down!
I rang.
You're going to tear my arm off.

But there was no stopping Luke and Serena once the passage widened, and I could feel the awesomeness of the current and tides wash over my body and tail. We were definitely in the ocean now.

There was no sign of Finalin and Medora, though, and I wasn't psyched about swimming the ocean blue to find two people who'd done nothing but complicate my life.

Hey, guys?
I rang.
I
told
my
dad
we'd only go to the other end to see if Finalin and Medora were here, then turn back.

We
can't go back.
Serena looked at me, a panicked look on her face.
They
left
the
canoe, which means they must have escaped.

But
Serena,
I pleaded,
if
your
mom
and
dad
managed
to
escape, I'm pretty sure they're long gone by now.

Not exactly the right thing to say, judging from the look on Serena's face. I swear I put my foot in my mouth more as a mermaid than as a human.

Serena turned out into the vastness of the ocean.
Mother! Father!

The rush of the water around us made it hard to hear, but there was definitely a response from someone.

Not just one someone—several someones.

Luke and Serena took off in the direction of the rings.

Guys, wait!
I called after them. I looked back through the passage. I even popped my head out of the water to see if I could see Dad, Trey, and Cori in the boat, but the channel had been too long and curvy and they were nowhere in sight.

I was stuck all alone, fighting against the crushing current of the open ocean. A knot of panic rose inside my chest.

Wait
for
me!
I rang out, turning from Folly's Passage.

This
way!
I heard Luke ring back off in the distance.
You're not going to believe this.

It took a few minutes to reach them against the force of the current. First, I went the wrong way up the coastline, but I stopped when I saw the blinking light of a lighthouse off in the distance and realized I was heading toward a point. Once I got turned around and could make out the source of Serena and Luke's rings, the sound led me to them.

Okay.
I grabbed Serena's arm as soon as I caught up.
Let's get this straight. The further we swim from the mouth of the passage, the harder it's going to be to find it again, especially in the middle of the night.

Look!
Luke swam beside us and pointed to a large darkened silhouette about the size of Gran's cottage at the bottom of the ocean.

What
the
heck
is
that?
I asked.

At first, it just looked like the normal rise and fall of the bottom of the ocean, but soon I could see what Luke saw. The shape of the hull, the long mast sticking up from the mound.

It's a sunken ship,
I said in a low ring.

Fortune's Folly,
Serena rang.

I
thought
Gran
said
the
ship
sank
in
the
passage.
I thought back to the conversation we'd had back in the principal's office on Serena's first day. Cori had later explained how Folly Porthouse had sailed her ship to Europe to go get her fiancé after the Second World War, only to sink the ship while trying to get back into the lake.

It
must
have
gotten
swept
out
to
sea
with
the
tides,
Luke suggested.

But
Gran
said
divers
couldn't ever find this ship,
I replied.
Why
haven't they been able to see it? We found it after swimming for just a few minutes.

Listen,
Luke replied.

That's when I heard it. The same low ring I'd heard when I discovered Mom in Talisman Lake earlier in the summer. It wasn't like the massive ring from the mer village where the Mermish Council rang supreme, but there were definitely mers down there.

The
mer
rings
must
block
the
signals
from
the
divers' radar. They would never know to look here.

And
there's no way any boat is getting close to these cliffs.
I could feel the rush of the surf crashing against the cliffs a few dozen feet away. In fact, the ocean was much rougher in this area, far away from the shelter of Toulouse Bay.
But
where
is
the
ringing
sound
coming
from?

Luke pointed to a porthole at the bow of the sunken ship. My heart skipped a beat when I saw a little mer-girl about eight or nine years old. She rubbed her eyes and slipped out of the porthole, smiling as she swam.

An older mermaid about Mom's age reached out of the porthole and grasped the girl's arm before she could get too far. She pulled her back in through the hole and stroked the girl's hair as she studied us from inside the ship.

I turned to Serena and Luke.
Did
anyone
else
know
there
were
mers
this
far
north?