by Liz Kessler
The worst part was what happened next.
It was the best part really, but so cruel.
I dreamed my mom and dad were there. They’d come to save me. Shona was with them. We were best friends again. Even Mandy was there, and they were all asking if I was OK. No one was angry with me. All those eyes, looking at me with concern, helping me, carrying me somewhere, forgiving me for all the awful things I’d done. I wanted to call out to them, touch them, but I couldn’t move; I couldn’t speak.
I can’t remember what happened next.
“Emily?”
“She can’t hear you.”
“She’s opening her eyes!”
Mom? I blinked in the sunlight. “Mom? Is that really you?” I asked shakily.
She leaned over me, rocking as she held me tight. “Oh, Emily,” she whispered into my neck, her voice choked and raw.
As she pulled away, I rubbed my eyes to see Dad’s face next to hers. He was leaning out of the water, reaching up to hold my hand.
Shona was in the water next to him, smiling at me. “You’re okay!” she said.
I looked around: gold and jewels beside me, dolphins at the front. I was in Neptune’s chariot! And I wasn’t on my own. Millie stood at the front, talking in a low, deep voice. I knew that tone. She was hypnotizing someone! But who?
“Now, moving your tentacle very, very slowly, lift another person out of the water,” she said softly, “and carry them across the chasm, placing them gently on the deck of the cruise ship. Good, good. . . .”
The kraken was doing what she said.
I shuddered as I remembered being in its clutches, the horror of its tentacles around my neck. . . .
“We did it, then?” I asked numbly.
Shona beamed at me. “You’re a heroine, Emily. How could I ever have been angry with you? I’m such a jellyfish at times. Do you realize what you’ve done?”
“I — no. I don’t know.”
I knew one thing, though. Whatever I’d done, I hadn’t done it on my own. I pulled myself up. “Where’s Mandy?”
Shona pointed out to sea. “She’s on her way back to the ship,” she said. “I think they’ll be setting off soon.”
I got up, shakily. I had to see her. My legs wobbled.
Mom grabbed my arm. “Emily, you need to rest.”
“Later,” I said. “I just have to do something.” Before she could stop me, I dived into the sea. I waited for my tail to form. It wobbled and shook just like my legs had, but I could move it. I could get there. I had to see Mandy.
“I’m coming with you, then.” Shona swam over to my side.
We made our way toward the edge of the Triangle. I gasped as I saw what lay ahead: a gulf of utter black emptiness. My body shuddered violently as I looked down. Across the chasm, the kraken reached a tentacle from one side to the other and out toward the ship, carrying people carefully across.
“I can’t!” Mandy was screaming. “It’s HORRIBLE!”
“Quick! Come on. It’s the only way across.” Her dad held his hand out to her. Mandy climbed up onto the awful slimy bridge. My body shuddered. I couldn’t go near it!
She tiptoed along the tentacle. It was so huge it almost looked like a road, bridging the emptiness below. By the time I got there, she was nearly across.
“Mandy!”
She turned. The tentacle was starting to slip. Two more steps and she’d be there.
“Emily,” she said.
I swallowed. “Thank you.”
Two steps away. She paused, stared at me. And then she smiled. I’d never seen her smile before. Not like that anyway. The only smile I’d ever seen from her was a sarcastic sneer. This one suited her better. It looked nice. Made her look like someone I might want to be friends with.
“Yeah, well,” she said. “I didn’t really do anything.”
“No, you’re wrong.” I smiled back at her. “You did a lot.”
Then she lurched across the tentacle, making her way back to the ship.
They’d gone. All of them back on the ship.
As the kraken lay still, I noticed someone in the water beside it. Tall, proud, and silent, Neptune bent forward to stroke a tentacle, holding it sadly. Then he turned and looked around him.
“Beeston!” he called. Mr. Beeston swam toward us from the ship.
“Have you completed the memory wipes?”
“Every last person, Your Majesty.”
Neptune nodded. “Good work.” Then he clicked his fingers. Instantly, his dolphins squirted water into the air and dived down to pull the chariot through the water. Neptune clambered aboard.
“It’s over,” he said. “The kraken is falling back into its sleep. Who knows when it will wake now, or if it will even wake at all.” He beckoned Mr. Beeston. “We need someone to take on the responsibility of watching over it.”
Mr. Beeston’s mouth twitched into a crooked smile. “Do you mean . . . ?”
“Who else could I trust with such an important task?”
Neptune looked around at us all. “The rest of you will return to your lives. The kraken keepers will join you at Allpoints Island and you’ll live together. The Triangle shall be sealed when I have left. Now, back to your island, everybody, and try to keep out of trouble this time.”
The ship was almost out of sight, a silhouette slowly gliding along the horizon.
Dad put an arm around me as Shona caught up with us, linking an arm in mine. Mom and Millie smiled at me from inside the lifeboat.
“Hang on,” Mom said. Then she pulled her dress off. She had her swimsuit on underneath. Pinching her nose, she jumped into the sea and swam over to join me and Dad.
“I’ve been practicing,” she explained simply as we stared.
Dad kissed her, then turned back to me with a wide grin. “Come on then, little ’un.” He nodded toward Allpoints Island as he pulled me close. “Ready to go home?”
Home. I thought about our bay, about Fortuna, Barracuda Point, the Grand Caves, mermaid school, the million things I hadn’t yet discovered about Allpoints Island — and everyone waiting for us. Althea and Marina, and all my other new friends.
“Yes, I’m ready,” I said eventually. Then I turned to Shona and smiled. “We’ve got a party to go to.”
The Brightport Times — March 25
LOCAL HEROES SAVE BRIGHTPORT PIER
The Brightport Town Council voted today to retain and modernize the town’s historic pier. The decision came after local residents Jack and Maureen Rushton made a substantial donation from a recent windfall.
The Rushtons came into the money due to their stunning photographs of a raging sea monster on the open ocean. The photographs have been sold to newspapers across the world.
The photographs were taken while the couple was on vacation with Mermaid Tours. Bizarrely, they have no recollection of their vacation. “We were as surprised as anyone when we got the pictures developed,” Mrs. Rushton said.
The Rushtons plan to expand their amusement arcade on the pier and are currently in negotiations with planners about a theme park, which they will open later this year. The star ride will be a massive roller coaster with a multitude of twists and turns along tentaclelike tracks.
The ride is to be called the Kraken.
Acknowledgments
Once again, I can’t claim to have done this all on my own. Lots of people have been involved in the process. I would especially like to thank:
Jeanette, Andrew, Alex, and Amber, for two incredible weeks in Bermuda;
Ben and Sam, for the day out on the pirate ship (even if it didn’t go anywhere);
Fiz, for sharing so many special moments, and crying at most of them;
Kirsty, for being so proud and excited, and so good at sharing champagne;
Fiona and the fab team at Orion Children’s Books, for being so behind Emily;
Sarah, for all the beautiful artwork;
my family, and lots of other friends, for all sorts of help along the
way.
With extra special thanks to:
Kath, for 100 percent spot-on editorial feedback and for sharing the agony of second-book syndrome;
Lee, for again being a complete inspiration and a central part of helping this book to take shape;
Catherine, for doing all the right things for Emily and for me, and doing them with patience, friendship, care, and skill;
and Judith, for being such a thorough and brilliant editor that all my writer friends are jealous.
It’s midnight, and as light as day.
A full moon shines down on the ocean, making the waves dance as they skirt the edges of the tiny island, lapping on jagged rocks and stony beaches.
A chariot glides through the sea, tracing a circle around the island. Solid gold and adorned with jewels on every side, the chariot is pulled by dolphins, each decorated with a row of diamonds and pearls along its back and head.
Inside the chariot sits the king of all the oceans: Neptune, grander than ever, a chain of sparkling jewels around his neck, his gold crown glinting above his white hair, his trident by his side. His green eyes shine in the moonlight as he looks across at the island. He is waiting for his bride to appear from the castle that stands above the rocks, half hidden by mist, its dark windows gleaming in the bright night sky.
“Go around again!” he demands, his voice booming like thunder. His words send ripples bouncing away from the chariot. The dolphins draw another circle around the island.
And then she is there, smiling as she steps toward the water’s edge, her eyes meeting his, their gaze so fierce it almost brings the space between them to life. A bridge between their two worlds.
A small flock of starlings approaches the water as she does, circling the air above her head like a feathered crown. Twisting her head to smile up at them, she holds out a hand. Instantly, one of the birds breaks off from the circle and flies down toward her open palm. Hovering almost motionless in the air, it drops something from its claw into her palm. A diamond ring. As the woman closes her hand around the ring, the starling rejoins the other birds and they fly away into the night, slinking across the sky like a giant writhing snake.
“I give you this diamond to represent my love, as great as the earth itself, as firm as the ground on which I stand.” The woman flicks back shiny black hair as she reaches out toward the chariot to place the ring on Neptune’s finger.
A twist of the trident, and a dolphin swims forward. As it bows down to Neptune, it reveals a pearl ring, perfectly balanced on its brow. Neptune takes the ring. Holding it out in his palm, he speaks softly. “And with this pearl, I offer you the sea, my world, as boundless and everlasting as my love for you.” He slides the ring onto her finger. “This is a most enchanted moment. A full moon at midnight on the spring equinox. This will not happen for another five hundred years. It is almost as rare as our love.”
She smiles at him, her white dress wet at the bottom where she stands in the sea by his chariot.
Holding his trident in the air, Neptune continues. “These rings may only ever be worn by two folk in love — one from the sea, one from land — or by a child of such a pair. As long as they are so worn, no one can remove them.”
“No one can even touch them,” the woman says.
Neptune laughs. “No one can even touch them,” he says. Then he holds his other hand up, palm facing the woman. She does the same and their arms form an arch, the rings touching as they clasp hands. A hundred stars crackle in the sky above them, bursting into color like fireworks. “When the rings touch like this,” Neptune continues, “they will undo any act born of hatred or anger. Only love shall reign,” he says.
“Only love,” she repeats.
Then he spreads his arms out in front of him. “At this moment, night and day are equal, and now, so too are earth and sea. For as long as we wear these rings, the symbols of our marriage, there will always be peace and harmony between the two worlds.”
With a final wave of his trident, Neptune reaches out to help the woman into the chariot. Hand in hand, they sit close together, her long dress flowing to one side of the chariot, his jewel-encrusted tail lying over the other side.
The dolphins lift the reins and the chariot glides silently off, taking its royal owners away to begin their married life together.
Emily! I won’t tell you again.”
I opened an eye to see Mom pulling back the curtain across the porthole in my bedroom. Outside, an oval moon hung low in a navy sky. Almost full, I thought automatically. We’d been learning about the moon’s cycle at school.
“It’s still night,” I complained as I pulled the quilt over my face and snuggled back into my pillow.
“It’s half past seven,” Mom replied, perching on the edge of my bed. She folded the quilt back and kissed my forehead. “Come on, sweet pea,” she said. “You’ll be late for school.” As she got up, she added under her breath, “Not that you’d miss much if you were. They haven’t exactly taught you anything useful at that place so far.”
She’d left the room before I had a chance to reply.
I let out a heavy sigh as I lay in bed, looking up at the ceiling. Mom seemed to be really down lately. That was the third time she’d grumbled about something in the last week. Personally, I couldn’t see what there was to complain about. We were living on a beautiful secret island: Mom, Dad, and me, all together on an elegant old wooden ship half sunk in the golden sand and sparkling water that surround the whole island. Merfolk and humans, together in peace.
I realize that last part isn’t necessarily a requirement in everyone’s ideal living situation, but it comes in handy when your mom’s a human, your dad’s a merman, and you’re half-and-half.
I pulled my bathing suit on and joined Mom at the breakfast table. As with everything else in our home, the table lay on a slant, so I held on to my cereal bowl as I ate.
Dad swam up to the trapdoor next to my seat and pulled himself up to kiss me on the cheek. “Morning, my little starfish,” he said with a smile. “Ready for your ocean studies test?”
“Test me!” I said.
Dad scratched his head. “How big can a giant Japa nese spider crab grow?”
“Ten feet,” I said instantly.
“Very good. Hm. What color is a banded butterfly fish?”
“Black and silver. Too easy!”
“Too pointless, more like,” Mom said under her breath. What was wrong with her?
Dad turned to her with a frown. “Not again!” He sighed. “What is the matter with you? Don’t you want our daughter to do well at school?”
“I’m sorry,” she said, reaching down for Dad’s hand. “It’s just . . .”
“What? What is it? She’s learning a lot; she’s enjoying herself, getting good grades. I couldn’t be more proud.” Dad smiled at me as he talked. I smiled back.
Dad and I hadn’t gotten along all that well when we first came to Allpoints Island. I mean, we didn’t get along badly; it just wasn’t easy. I’d spent most of my life without him, and we didn’t really know what to talk about, or where to start.
I didn’t know he existed at all till recently. It was only a few months ago that I’d even found out about myself — that I became a mermaid when I went into water. It terrified me in the beginning. The first time it happened, I didn’t know what was going on. It was in a school swimming lesson, of all places. But then I got used to it, and I’d sneak out to swim in the sea at night. That’s how I met my best friend, Shona. She’s a mermaid too. A real, full-time one. She helped me find my dad. When I sneaked into Neptune’s prison and saw him for the first time that was the best day of my life.
I guess it all took a little getting used to. But the last few weeks had been fantastic, once all the trouble with the kraken was sorted out. That’s the most horrific, fearsome sea monster in the world, and I accidentally woke it up!
Since then, Dad and I had been out swimming together every day, exploring the golden seabed around Allpoi
nts Island, racing against the multicolored fish that fill every stretch of sea around here, playing tag among the coral. Dad was officially the BEST dad in the world.
“That’s just it,” Mom was saying. “You couldn’t be more proud. And you have every right to feel proud. Yes, Emily’s coming along in leaps and bounds in . . .” She paused to reach over to the pile of textbooks I’d brought home the previous day. I loved all my schoolbooks. They weren’t like any schoolbooks I’d ever had before, that’s for sure! For one thing, they were all made from the coolest shiny materials, or woven with seaweed and decorated with shells and pearls. And, for another, they were in the swishiest subjects! School had never been so much fun.
“. . . Seas and Sirens,” Mom read from the top one. She picked out a couple more books from the pile. “Or Sailing and Stargazing, or Hair Braiding for Modern Mermaids. I mean!”
“You mean what?” Dad asked, his voice coming out pinched and tight. “Why shouldn’t she learn about these things? It’s her heritage. What exactly don’t you like about it, Mary?”
That’s when I knew something was really wrong. No one ever calls my mom Mary, least of all Dad. Most people call her Mary P. Her middle name’s Penelope, and Dad’s always called her Penny — or his lucky Penny, when they’re being particularly gooey. Which they hadn’t been for a while, now that I thought about it. And while I was thinking about it, I guess Mom had a point. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I loved all my new school subjects. But maybe I did sometimes miss some of my old subjects, just a tiny bit. Or just English, perhaps. I used to love writing stories. I even liked spelling tests! That’s just because I was good at them.
“What’s wrong,” said Mom, “is that while you may be happy for your daughter to learn nothing more than how to brush her hair nicely and tell the time by looking at the clouds, I’d like my daughter to get a real education.”
