The Mermaid Girl Read online

  “I’m worried that girl is following us.”

  “Don’t be. What’s she going to do now?”

  “She might stop us from releasing Mermary!”

  “How is she going to do that?”

  “She might tell someone.”

  “No one will believe her,” Reggie said.

  “What if she takes the bucket away from us?”

  Reggie thought about that as she looked all around.

  “I’m pretty sure she’s not back there, Cam. Anyway, we can’t worry about that. We just have to move forward and deal with whatever happens when it comes up.”

  “Don’t worry, Camile,” Mermary said. “I’ll hide so well, she won’t be able to see me. There’s lots of branches in here.”

  Finally I said okay and we continued on our journey. It took a long time to get to the ocean. I was sure it was more than a mile, plus we had to stop and rest several times. Sometimes Mermary would sing. Reggie was amazed at everything Mermary did. I was used to her, so I liked seeing Reggie be amazed for the first time.

  At last we reached the boardwalk and the beach. Reggie and I stood looking out at the ocean while we rested one more time.

  “The ocean! The ocean!” Mermary cried, pulling herself up high on the edge and even kneeling on it, or at least bending her tail so it looked like kneeling.

  “Careful, Mermary!” I said. “Don’t fall out!”

  “I won’t,” she assured me. “I have excellent balance.”

  A wind was blowing fog in and the day was cooling. Aside from us, there were only about three people walking on the beach, and they were far away. I was tired, but we were almost done, and best of all, we hadn’t been caught. But the part I dreaded most had come.

  “This is the hardest part,” I said.

  Reggie nodded. “I wish there was another way.”

  “The only way would be to give her to my mother. I can’t do that.”

  Reggie nodded again. “I know.” It looked like her eyes were wet too.

  I took a deep breath. “Let’s go,” I said bravely.

  We started lowering the cart down to the sand. Mermary perched on the edge of the bucket and did something I never heard her do before. She cheered with a strange and beautiful cry that sounded incredibly happy. Reggie and I looked at each other.

  “Wow,” Reggie said. “That is totally awesome.”

  As sad as I was, her cry told me this was absolutely the right thing to do. We were bringing Mermary to her true home.

  “I can taste the ocean!” Mermary told us.

  We started pulling the cart across the sand but the wheels sank, so we had to drag the whole thing at an angle. Mermary raised herself on the edge so she could see the water.

  “My new home!” she said. She climbed part way out of the bucket.

  “Mermary, stop! If you fall out, you’ll land on dry sand!”

  “So?” she said. “I’ll just wash it off in the ocean!” But she settled back along the side and rested her head on her folded arms, staring at the waves.

  Finally we reached the wet sand. Mermary didn’t wait for us to pour her into the ocean. She leapt out and scurried to the water’s edge and dove in.

  “Mermary!” I screamed.

  She came back out, washed up in the next wave.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  I didn’t know what to say. She was where she needed to be and my part was done. I walked up close to her and knelt down in front of her.

  “Aren’t you going to say good-bye?” What I really wanted was for her to stay with us for a while before leaving, but I could tell she was very impatient to be in the ocean.

  “Oh, I wasn’t leaving yet. I was just trying out the water.” She dove in again and I watched anxiously. She came out again, then dove into the water again several more times, taking longer to come back each time.

  “This is wonderful!” she cried. “The water is alive!” She burrowed into the wet sand and came up with a sand crab, its little whitish-grey legs waving in the air.

  “Look at what I found!” She set it down and it immediately disappeared down in the sand. Mermary looked surprised. Reggie and I both laughed. Mermary dove into a wave, and after a minute, she came out with a ribbon of seaweed. She wrapped it around herself and dove in again.

  She came out again and the seaweed was gone. She slithered all the way up to me, where I stood away from the edge of the water.

  “I’m ready to go now, Cammie,” she said.

  I nodded. I was biting my lips.

  “Good bye, Camile,” Mermary said. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

  I was trying really hard not to cry. I crouched down and kissed her, even though my sneakers and jeans got wet. “Mermary, please be really careful. Stay away from big fish until you know what they are, and that they’re not going to eat you. You’ll know because you’ll see them eating fish your size.”

  Of course, that was probably most of the fish in the sea. I tried not to think about that.

  “I will.” She promised. She kept turning to look at the water.

  “I love you, Mermary,” I said, starting to cry. “I love you so much.”

  She took my hand. “I love you too, Cammie.”

  “Do you?”

  “Of course. How could I not love you? You saved me, and have taken really good care of me. You’re pretty, and smart, and fun. I’ll always remember you. Thanks for giving me a really good life.” She looked at Reggie. “I’m so glad I got to meet you. You’re really kind. I’m glad you’re Camile’s friend.”

  “I loved meeting you too, Mermary, little mermaid,” Reggie said. “I hope you find your mermaid family.”

  She held out her hand again and Mermary took it. She leaned over and kissed Mermary on top of her head. Reggie had tears in her eyes too.

  “Don’t be sad,” Mermary said. “This is where I want and need to be, more than any place in the world.”

  “I know. I’m just sad because I’m afraid for you,” I said.

  “Don’t worry. I have my knife, and I’m really fast.”

  “And . . . and I’m sad because I’m never going to see you again,” I said, and then I did cry.

  “I can come back,” Mermary said. “How about if I come back in a year?” She looked around. “I can meet you over at those rocks.” She pointed at an outcropping of rocks.

  A year! A whole year! I nodded, because I couldn’t talk anymore.

  “Good bye then, Camile and Reggie!”

  Mermary blew us kisses, then turned and dove into the ocean. She was gone.

  Chapter 61

  A Long Farewell

  I sat on the beach with Reggie, crying. I kept searching the ocean, as if I would see Mermary leaping through the waves.

  “It’s almost three,” Reggie said finally. “We should get back home.”

  I nodded and forced myself to get up. We dragged the cart and bucket back out to the street. I took one last look at the ocean before we lifted the cart to the boardwalk.

  “Why don’t we go back to my house?” Reggie asked. “If you go home now, your mother will see your eyes are all red and puffy and want to know why. Have dinner at my house.”

  So we headed over to Reggie’s. We went a lot faster now that the bucket wasn’t carrying water or Mermary, but my heart was heavy. On the way, Reggie asked lots of questions, and it was such a relief to finally be able to talk about Mermary.

  At Reggie’s house I washed my face with cold water and called my mother. After dinner Reggie got out an old videotape with the title, The Mermaids of Tiburon.

  “I found it among my mom’s old videocassettes,” Reggie said. “I saved it so we could watch it together.”

  It was a movie about beautiful mermaids living in an island lagoon in the Mexican ocean. They protected a bed of giant clamshells, and an evil scientist was trying to steal their pearls by blowing up the sea beds with dynamite. A nice scientist was trying to protect the mermaids and the
ir habitat, and in the end he won. I felt a lot better.

  Later, when my mother was on her way to pick me up, I asked Reggie what she was going to tell Zander and Elmo about Mermary. It didn’t matter who knew now, because Mermary was safe—at least, as safe as she could be in the big, wide ocean.

  Reggie shrugged. “Nothing, I guess. They probably wouldn’t believe me anyway. At least Zander won’t, even if I showed them the pictures.”

  “What pictures?”

  She took out her phone and showed me. She had three photos of Mermary. The first one she was leaping into the bucket, and part of me from behind was in the picture too. The second was really cute, with Mermary holding onto the side of the bucket and looking over the edge of the bucket at Reggie, her head cocked. The last one was of Mermary, washing back to shore. I was in that picture too, crouched down and holding my hand out to her.

  “When did you take them?”

  “When you weren’t looking. I figured if we had to set her free, we should at least keep some pictures. I hope that’s okay.”

  “Of course it is,” I said, and I hugged her.

  I was so glad she had them. I had never thought about taking pictures of Mermary, and anyway, my cell phone was only for emergencies. I was so glad Reggie had thought of it. It was a way of always having Mermary with me.

  Chapter 62

  The Rest of the School Year

  I brought my grades back up and did okay for the rest of the school year. I didn’t go to the lake anymore because I missed Mermary, and it made me too sad. I still read books about mermaids whenever I found new ones. Some were adult books. Kids at school still called me the Mermaid Girl.

  People kept trying to find the mermaid, and several claimed to have seen her even after she was gone. Other pictures that looked sort of like a mermaid turned up on the ranger’s exhibit, including a couple that were obviously fake, but none were as realistic as the photo Kitty’s mother had given them.

  Although I no longer had to deny I’d seen “the mermaid,” I didn’t tell anyone else about Mermary. I realized people would be really mad if they learned I had taken her away from the lake, even if I explained why. The only difference was now, when people asked if I had seen her, I said yes, that I had seen her on the first day of school, and I went to the lake every day after that, hoping I’d see her again. I also told them that was what started my interest in mermaids. The only strange thing was that some people didn’t believe me. They said I was making it up. I would just shrug and wonder why they had asked me.

  Sometimes I dreamed of Mermary. She would be living in my aquarium again, or I would look and she would be with me and my friends. Sometimes I would be swimming with her. Those dreams were so real I’d wake up crying, missing and longing for her.

  Kitty and Bambi are still my friends. We talk about mermaids in general and watch movies about them together. But we have other interests too, like choral. I’ve made friends with other girls in my school too.

  Reggie is still my best friend forever. She loves hearing my stories about Mermary, even when I tell them a second or third time. I shared my mermaid journal with her. She drew a comic strip about us taking Mermary to the beach and added lots of adventures we didn’t really have. I loved reading them.

  She told her brother about Mermary, which I knew she would sooner or later. He never said anything about it, but I would see him looking at me curiously sometimes, like he wasn’t sure what to make of it all.

  Once when Zander and Reggie were arguing about the existence of mermaids she got so angry, she turned to me. “Can I show him the pictures?” I froze for a minute, but finally I nodded. Zander just laughed when she showed him her phone.

  “Those are so-o-o-o fake. I bet if I did a search, I’d find them on the Internet.”

  “They’re not fake,” Reggie snapped. “How would I get them from the Internet onto my phone? It doesn’t work that way.”

  “If she was real, why didn’t you show her to me?”

  Elmo stared at the pictures for a long time and asked a lot of questions, like “she was in a bucket? You transported her in a cart? So she was about a yard long? How big were her hands?” It turned out he was glad that mermaids were so small. “That way they won’t be able to get us. Did you know that mermaids have pitchforks?”

  “Those are called tridents,” I said.

  “They also have knives and spears,” Reggie said, giving me a knowing look.

  A couple of times for special occasions, I was asked to tell mermaid stories to the lower classes or at the library, and once for a big group of kids at Children’s Hospital. It was easier telling stories to younger children, still, I was glad for all the practice Sister gave us in public speaking.

  Chapter 63

  Talent Show

  At the end of the school year, Bambi and Kitty and I wore our costumes and performed “Under the Sea” at the school talent show. I had maracas, Bambi castanets, and Kitty had a kalimba. We played along with a karaoke version of the song. There was one part where we did a conga line dance Kitty’s mother had taught us. The school loved us.

  The whole talent show got to perform a second time in the evening for families and friends. When it was over, everyone met in the courtyard next to the school. It was a beautiful, warm evening, and people were pouring out of the auditorium, milling around, saying hello, and talking; some people congratulated us. All of a sudden Helen was in front of me. She put her hands on her hips.

  “Why don’t you go to the lake anymore, Mermaid Girl?” she demanded.

  I just looked at her and didn’t say anything. I didn’t have to answer her questions. Lots of times people are bullies because they know how to scare people. But now that Mermary was safely in the ocean, Helen could do or say anything she wanted to me.

  “It’s because she isn’t there anymore, is she?” Helen said knowingly. I still didn’t say anything. “You did something with her, didn’t you?” she pressed. People were looking at us now.

  “Why do you say that?” I asked. I always wondered if she had seen something because she was so suspicious, but she didn’t answer.

  “I knew I should have stuck with you that day. Where did you take her?”

  “What’s she talking about?” Bambi asked me.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Yes you do,” Helen said, not taking her eyes off me. “I saw you at the lake on the first day of school. You were talking to someone.”

  I bit my lips, not sure what to say.

  “You used to go to the lake twice, every day,” Helen went on, not caring who else heard. “On top of that, you’re a big mermaid expert. Only now you don’t go to the lake anymore. That’s because you know the mermaid’s not there.” She looked at all of us. “So what happened to her?”

  Kitty and Bambi looked from Helen to me.

  I rolled my eyes at them. “She likes to pick on me about the mermaid.”

  Kitty got in Helen’s face. “Camile didn’t do anything to the mermaid. She would never hurt her. She took us over to the lake and showed her to us.”

  “What?” Helen said. “You actually saw the mermaid?”

  “Yes we did. She came when Camile called her! Just ask any girl in our class!”

  “When exactly was this?”

  I thought Bambi might actually be making things worse, but right then Helen’s brother Michael elbowed her out of the way.

  “Just ignore her, she’s a pain,” he said. “Her and her mermaid conspiracy theories.” Then he put his arms around me and Bambi and Kitty and gave us a group hug.

  “You guys were beautiful. Which one of you wants to marry me?” he asked, and we all giggled.

  I saw Reggie heading over with Elmo and Zander and our mothers behind them.

  “You guys were great!” she said.

  “Oh, and here’s the other mermaid kidnapper,” Helen said.

  “You again,” Reggie said. “You’re still talking about mermaids?” She sounded disgusted a
nd totally believable. “Anyway, why don’t you hang out with people your own age? Go kiss a boy, or put on some makeup. You need it.”

  Helen crossed her arms over her chest and glared at us. The thing was, she had totally been right about everything, but no one would listen to her. It reminded me of that Greek prophet who no one believed, even though everything she said turned out to be true. I had realized sometimes the truth was secondary in importance. People believed what they wanted to believe.

  We stayed about half an hour, and as we were leaving, I noticed Helen over at the lake, on the landing where I always used to go. She was searching the water, so I knew she was looking for the mermaid. Her being so mean and accusatory was just about wanting so badly to see the mermaid. I felt sorry for her, because I knew bullies were lonely. Even her own brother didn’t like her.

  Chapter 64

  A Year Goes By

  I had marked the day that we had set Mermary free on the calendar so I would know when I would see her again. As if I’d ever forget. The night before, I spent at Reggie’s house so her parents could take us to the beach. I wanted to go early in the morning, but it was warm and Reggie thought Mermary probably wouldn’t come in the daytime because a lot of people would be at the beach.

  It was hard waiting all day, plus I worried that Mermary would think I had forgotten or something. Finally after dinner, Reggie asked her mother to take us to the beach so we could look at tide pools. I couldn’t ask my mother because she would want to make it a teaching experience and come with us out to the rocks. I knew Mermary wouldn’t come out of the water if my mother was there.

  While her mom and dad walked on the beach, Reggie and I went out to the rocky part. I was ahead of Reggie, climbing faster because I was so anxious and excited. I stopped two or three times to sing our two-note code. At first I thought no one was there, and Mermary hadn’t come. Then I heard the two-note code in beautiful tones sung back to me. I turned in the direction of the singing.

  “Mermary!” I said, even though I couldn’t see her.