Real Mermaids Don't Need High Heels (15 page)

Renata turned my way. She pulled her hair away to show me her earplugs and winked.

You, too, Renata? Oh, thank goodness. It's the bell, though, isn't it?
Serena
guessed
that.
I turned to Reese.
Can
you
still
hear
us
okay?

Yes. These just help dull the sound of the bell so we can at least think straight,
Reese said.

But
how
did
you
know?
I asked.

It's easy to make friends when you have something they want.
Reese wriggled his eyebrows and made Petra giggle.

That's when I remembered that Reese had been the one to feed Bridget information about what was happening with Tidal Law.

Did
you
find
your
mom?
I asked.

Bridget, you mean?
he asked. That's when I noticed Renata's food cart at his side.

Yes, Bridget,
I replied, a hopeful feeling growing in my chest.

Reese pulled back a woven seaweed mat from inside the large cart. Underneath the mat was a large, swollen tail.

O
migod, Bridget. Are you okay?
I whispered.

I'm okay,
Bridget answered, but the ring of her voice was weak and strained.

She
got
pulled
into
the
ocean
by
the
tide
the
other
night,
Reese rang, covering his mom up again to keep her hidden.
I
was
able
to
rescue
her
and
give
her
earpieces, but I can't do anything for her tail. She really needs to get back to dry land.

That's when Dame Council began to speak.

You
are
gathered
here
today
for
a
very
special
announcement. Perhaps you have heard rumors about Webbed Ones and such floating around, but I am here to put those rumors to rest.
She motioned to Finalin and Medora, who struggled against their bindings.
You
may
remember
these
two
as
the
convicted
murderers
of
our
valiant
past
Dame
Council. Since they escaped imprisonment, they've been working tirelessly to spread these rumors to divide mer loyalty.

The other mers from the Mermish Council nodded their heads and added words of agreement, all except the older woman with the seashell necklaces.

Look
at
that
sister
of
mine,
Renata said, waving toward Dame Council.

Who? Dame Council?
I asked.
She's your sister?

Yes, and our grandmother would be ashamed to know how she's lost her way,
Renata replied.
Then
again—am I any better, sitting here silently?

Dame Council resumed her speech as I picked my jaw up from the bottom of the ocean floor.

Let
me
assure
you, you have been duped by these criminals and I am here today, standing before you as Dame Council, to finally expose these mers for the traitors they are.

Serena tensed at my side but I held her arm to keep her from doing anything crazy.

Do
you
understand
what
I
am
saying
to
you?
Dame Council nodded her head from mer to mer, as if to make sure the information sank into their brains as the ship's bell kept ringing.
There
is
no
such
thing
as
a
Webbed
One.

Yes, Dame Council.

And
anyone
who
continues
to
defy
us
by
spreading
these
lies
or
opposing
our
laws
can
expect
the
same
fate
as
these
two
. She waved her hand through the water toward Finalin and Medora
. Is that also understood?

Yes, Dame Council.

This
is
ridiculous,
I rang to Reese.

This
has
been
their
plan
all
along,
Reese rang.
Recall
all
the
land-dwelling mers to prove Webbed Ones don't exist and brainwash everyone into following the Council's laws blindly. They'll never let the Webbed Ones return to land.

Of course! Force all the Webbed Ones back in the ocean, make them forget their human lives, then keep them there to rot so the rest of the mer world would stop believing that being a Webbed One was even a choice. But all of the Webbed Ones I knew didn't actually
have
a choice—they couldn't survive in the ocean. That's why they'd been given land status in the first place!

That's it!
I rang. My fear of standing up to the Mermish Council was replaced by a seething rage.
We
need
to
find
a
way
to
get
Bridget
back
to
dry
land
and
Petra
here
to
safety
and
then
put
a
stop
to
the
Mermish
Council
once
and
for
all.

Oh, and don't forget figuring out a way to give mers a say in what goes on around here,
Reese said.

Are
you
sure
we
can
do
all
that?
Serena asked.
Where
do
we
begin?

Come
on,
I replied, grasping the handles of Renata's cart.
If
this
is
going
to
work, we're gonna need those reinforcements after all.

• • •

Thankfully, nobody questioned Reese with his cartful of goods as he swam through all the spacey-eyed mers listening to Dame Council's one-woman show. It killed me to leave Luke and our new mer friends, and I could tell Serena needed all of her courage to leave her parents tied up at the stake, but we needed a better plan than just rushing the stage.

But
how
are
we
supposed
to
stop
Dame
Council?
Serena rang quietly beside me. Although it was a tight squeeze, Serena, Petra, and I had managed to cram ourselves into the cart with Bridget until Reese could get us across the town square through the mob of mers.
She
has
everyone
under
her
spell.

Not
everyone,
I replied in a low ring.
You, me, and Petra, plus Reese and Bridget, can still think for ourselves. And Renata, too.

But, it's just the six of us and there are hundreds of them.
Serena lifted the edge of our seaweed blanket and scanned the crowd nervously.

It
only
seems
that
way,
I replied.
Who
knows? Dozens more could be in hiding, afraid to disagree with the Council. I have to believe that, given the choice, all those other mers will choose to stand up for what's right. We just need a better offense to make our point.

Like
in
underwater
hockey, you mean?
Serena asked.

Exactly
like
that,
I said, squeezing her hand.
First
we
need
to
figure
out
how
to
get
the
Freshies
out
of
Talisman
Lake.

Serena and I slipped out of the cart once we'd emerged from the other side of the tunnels at the base of the ridge and knew the coast was clear. Then we took turns towing the cart with Bridget and Petra still inside.

Oh, hey!
I rang to Reese as we swam, pointing to his wrist.
You
still
have
Luke's watch.

Luke had given Reese his diving watch as a souvenir the last time we'd been in the ocean. Eddie had installed a GPS chip in it to keep track of Luke while he was underwater.

Yes, and it still works.
Reese pressed the Indiglo button to make the face of the watch light up.

Cool. One of these days I'll teach you how to actually tell time,
I joked, but I kept checking over my shoulder as we swam away, avoiding any of the well-traveled routes so we wouldn't be discovered. Finally, we arrived at Toulouse Point.

It's a good thing we've been working out for underwater hockey or I might never have made it back to shore,
I rang to Serena as I hung on to a huge boulder for a quick rest.

Underwater
hockey?
Reese asked with a laugh as he checked on his mom.

Is
that
a
game?
Petra asked as Serena helped her out of the cart, now that we were safely hidden among the boulders.

Oh, yes, it's a sport I played with the humans when I was up on land,
Serena replied.

Speaking
of
‘on land,' I need to get back out there to find my dad,
I rang.

You
are
Webbed
Ones, too?
Petra asked, her eyes widening as she glanced from Serena to me
. Mother told me many times that is only a children's story.

I laughed out loud.

I
thought
mermaids
were
only
in
stories, too,
I replied.
In
fact, I have a whole series of books about mer-girls just like you.
I remembered my Emily Windsnap books from Gran's cottage.

Books?
she asked.

Where
we
keep
our
stories,
I replied, rearranging the seaweed around Bridget to make her comfortable.

Oh
yes. Books and televisions—being on land is so different,
Serena added.
They
have
skateboards
and
elections
and
school. Oh, Jade!
she turned to me.
We
forgot
to
turn
in
our
Social
Studies
project!

We've been kind of busy,
I rang with a laugh. Honestly, we were in danger of being controlled by an underwater dictatorship and she was worried about passing Social Studies?

I
know,
Serena rang, her eyes downcast.
But
it
was
my
first
project,
and
we
worked
so
hard.

Let's just focus on one crisis at a time. Deal?
I asked.

Okay, okay,
Serena agreed.
What
do
you
have
in
mind?

I
need
to
get
my
dad
down
to
the
shore
with
the
Merlin
3000 for Bridget and find Eddie so he can open the lock.
My mind was going a mile a minute, trying to ignore the nagging doubts about everything that
could
go wrong with the plan I was formulating.
But
first, I need to find a place for me to sprout legs and get some clothes on.

I scanned the beach.

My
tent,
Bridget whispered. She braced a hand against the cart and looked around.
It
should
be
somewhere
along
the
shore
if
it
didn't get washed away. There's a backpack in it with extra clothes.

Perfect. Reese, you stay with your mom until I can get help down here for you. Serena—can you stay with Petra until the coast is clear?