“Something’s happening!” cried Misty.
The waves suddenly swelled into green mountains of water, and out of nowhere a human boat loomed over the friends like a menacing shadow. Tobias and the mermaids instantly dived under the huge waves out of sight, but not before Holly saw a man staggering by the wheel of the boat. He was desperately trying to regain control as the sea raged up and down.
It was too late. The bottom of the boat ripped against the sharp peaks of the reef with a sickly crunch. Water began to gush into it. Holly heard hideous cackling laughter floating through the swirling wind and sea.
“Mantora!” she cried to her friends. “She’s here somewhere!”
Chapter Four
The boat lurched over onto its side. Holly and the other mermaids clung to each other under the crashing waves. More peals of triumphant laughter echoed around and filled them with horror.
Above the freakish waves, the terrified man was struggling to release the inflatable life raft that was stored on deck. After a last frantic effort, he managed to climb on to the raft and get out of the way of the sinking boat. With trembling hands, he sent up a bright red emergency flare. It blazed high over the sky like fire from a volcano. All he had to do now was wait for the next passing boat to find him, and he would be safe, though with a terrible tale to tell.
A tremendous noise deafened the mermaids as the man’s damaged craft finally tipped right over, sucked down into the churning sea. As it sank, six large, barrel-like canisters fell from the boat and knocked against the side of the reef. They startled all the fish from their hiding places like a cloud of silver butterflies. The canisters thundered down, down, down, and the boat landed with a heart-stopping thump on the seabed.
There was an uneasy silence. The wind and the waves gradually returned to normal. The young friends looked around, relieved that none of them had been hurt. Tobias was quaking in his shell next to them. The mermaids glided nervously over the coral, peering down at the newly sunken boat.
“Well,” said Scarlett, in a shaky voice, “you wanted to see a shipwreck, Holly. Now we really have!”
“It was horrible,” shuddered Holly. “And I’m sure Mantora was the cause of it, trying to wreck our mission.”
The others murmured in agreement.
“I’m glad the man got away,” said Lucy, “but why was he steering his boat so close to the reef? Didn’t he see the warning buoys?”
“That’s it!” cried Holly suddenly. “The warning buoys! That’s what was different when we set off for the reef this morning—they were missing. Someone must have removed all the buoys that told the boats to keep away from the sharp coral.”
“Who would have done such a thing?” asked Ellie.
“Mantora!” replied the others, with a groan.
“Let’s think,” said Holly quickly. “Why would Mantora have attacked that particular boat? What was it carrying?”
“I can tell you that,” said Tobias. “Look at those big barrels down there. The humans often take them far out to sea and dump them. Then they lie forgotten at the bottom of the ocean. But the barrels are full of poisonous waste that the humans don’t want on the land. It’s called chemi … oh, chemi-something …”
“Chemicals?” suggested smart Holly.
“That’s the word I was looking for,” said Tobias. “The humans aren’t supposed to throw these containers into the sea, but some selfish people do it anyway.”
Holly and the others peered down to where the shiny metal canisters lay on the seabed near the wrecked boat. They had strange markings on them.
“Let’s go take a look,” said Holly determinedly.
“Be careful,” warned Misty. Then Holly turned to her with a very serious look on her face.
“I took a silly risk because I wanted to see the Lady Jane,” she said, “but I’m not going to let anything bad happen to Tobias and the reef because of my mistakes. I don’t trust Mantora one little bit, and I want to see what she was up to.”
“We’d better come with you,” said Ellie. “We are a team after all.”
Holly squeezed Ellie’s hand gratefully, then swooped down to the seabed with a flick of her yellow tail. The others swam near to her, with Tobias slowly following behind.
When the friends got closer to the metal containers, they could see what the marks were. Two thick lines formed an “x” shape with a round blob in the middle.
“The skull and crossbones!” gasped Scarlett.
“That’s the sign for poison and danger,” said Lucy anxiously.
“And it means that Tobias was right,” explained Holly. “These canisters contain chemicals that the humans wanted to dump far out at sea. But they’ve landed here by the reef because of Mantora’s cunning plot—and look!”
She pointed urgently to the heavy metal barrels. Thin jets of black liquid were escaping from two of them, clouding the water with their filmy darkness.
“They’re leaking!” exclaimed Misty. “Those two containers must have been punctured when they crashed against the sharp coral.”
The mermaids peered down at where the dark liquid spurted out. Both of those barrels had a tiny round hole punched in their metal sides. Sophie started to cough.
“This water is beginning to taste bad,” she spluttered. “The chemicals are spoiling it already.”
“Move away, everyone,” shouted Scarlett.
Tobias and the mermaids shot away from the wrecked boat and the canisters. From a safe distance, they watched the black liquid slowly seeping into the beautiful clear water around the reef.
“If we don’t do something soon to plug up those holes,” said Misty, “all the poison will escape.”
“And this part of the reef will die,” added Tobias miserably. “Our beautiful red seaweed will wither away. There’ll be no food for the fish and the other creatures. We turtles have lived here for so many years, but now our home will be destroyed!”
Holly looked at her friends with flaming cheeks, burning with shame. She bowed her head.
“This is all my fault,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”
Chapter Five
“We don’t think that it’s your fault, Holly,” said Misty quickly. “Do we, everyone?”
“Of course not,” soothed Ellie. “Mantora might have attacked that boat even if we hadn’t visited the Lady Jane.”
“I don’t think so,” said Holly unhappily. “She must have overheard us talking on the island last night and then planned all this. She’s trying to stop us from getting home with the crystals again. Oh, Scarlett, you warned me that stopping to see the shipwreck would be a risk.”
“I could have persuaded you not to, if I’d really tried,” Scarlett replied ruefully. “But I secretly wanted to see the Lady Jane, too. We’re all to blame—or none of us!”
“It doesn’t matter who’s to blame,” said Lucy. “The important thing is how to stop the black liquid from hurting the plants and creatures who live here.”
“And then getting back on track with our mission,” added Sophie.
“You’re right,” said Holly, looking at her friends’ kind faces. “That is the important thing. Ideas, anyone?”
“Could we drag the canisters onto one of the islands?” asked Misty. The others glanced up hopefully. It seemed like a good suggestion.
“I’m not sure that we’d be able to move them,” Sophie replied slowly. “They look really heavy. And we don’t want the poison leaking out on a reef island either. That could harm the crabs and birds there.”
“If we can’t move those two containers,” said Holly, “I think the best thing would be to plug up the holes somehow. Then the liquid can’t escape.”
“Good idea,” said Sophie, “but how can we plug them up?”
The mermaids eagerly searched through their S.O.S. Kits, looking for something useful. Tucked away in a corner of her purple pouch, Ellie found a piece of dried seaweed. At the end of it was a small round pod, like a bead filled with
air.
“Perhaps we could use something like this seaweed pod,” she said. “Something small and round that would fit into the puncture holes.”
“A seaweed pod full of air wouldn’t be strong enough, though,” Misty replied. “It would have to be something hard and solid, something that was going to last forever …”
“… something like a precious jewel,” interupted Holly with a shout. “A ruby stone—Lady Jane’s rubies!”
The young friends looked at each other with new hope.
“Do you really think we could find them in time?” asked Scarlett.
“The legend says that they lie near the wreck,” said Tobias urgently. “That’s what we turtles have always been told. I’ll make sure that no creature swims near these leaking barrels, while you go and search for the rubies. Hurry, mermaids—and good luck!”
Holly led the way as the mermaids surged back along the reef to where the wreck of the Lady Jane lay half-buried in the sandy seabed. As they saw its eerie masts lying ahead of them, the determined young friends swept into action, searching all over the seabed for the glinting jewels. But there was no sign of them anywhere.
“They must have fallen under the sand,” groaned Misty. “We’ll never find them in time.”
“We’ll just have to examine every grain of sand,” said Scarlett stubbornly. “We’re not going to give up.”
Ellie and Lucy found some empty scallop shells in their S.O.S. Kits. The mermaids used them to scoop up the glistening sand, then let it fall slowly through the clear water, trying to spot any flashes of red. But after scooping the sand over and over again, they felt discouraged.
“I’m afraid it’s hopeless,” said Sophie. “Even if we looked for a year and a day there’d always be another patch of the seabed to sift through.”
“Maybe the answer doesn’t lie there,” said Holly thoughtfully. She looked up at the ghostly rigging of the submerged ship. “Maybe the rubies are hidden on the ship itself.”
The mermaids swam cautiously toward the gray hulk of the wreck. They drifted through the old masts and rigging, examining it carefully. Then Sophie swooped down to the deck with a flick of her orange tail.
“Look,” she said, “we could get through these broken deck planks into the ship’s cabin.”
The mermaids peered through the gaping hole. It was very dark inside and silent. They could just barely make out strange shapes in the gloom.
“We’ll need our crystals to give us some light,” said Holly bravely. “I’m going in!”
The others squeezed through the gap after her, clutching their gleaming crystals. Glimmering light flickered around the sunken cabin, and great shadows sprang up and wavered on the walls.
“It’s so spooky,” gulped Lucy.
“I think I’ve found something!” whispered Scarlett. She shone her crystal over an ancient-looking chest in a dark corner. The lid was studded with rusty iron nails and was propped open slightly.
“That would be the perfect place to keep long-lost treasure,” breathed Ellie.
The mermaids gathered around, their hearts beating wildly, as Holly slowly lifted the creaking lid …
“Aaah!” They all squealed in fright. A large, angry octopus shot out his snaky tentacles, startled from his sleep in the old chest! The mermaids dashed wildly out of the dark cabin into the clear sea.
“Ooof!” gasped Misty with relief.
“I’ve never been so frightened in my life,” confessed Ellie, as the friends hovered by the wreck and watched the angry octopus swim away. “But we must try to find the jewels.”
“I’ve just remembered something,” said Holly quickly. “Tobias told us that the Merfolk in the old days said that mermaids would come back for the jewels at some time in the future. Well, what if those mermaids were actually us?”
“What do you mean, Holly?” asked Lucy in a puzzled voice.
“Some of the Merfolk are seers—they can see into the future,” Holly reminded her. “Maybe the mermaids who rescued Lady Jane could see that we would come along one day, needing her rubies! If they did know that, where would they leave them?”
“In a place where we’d look for her jewels,” murmured Lucy, with a strange expression on her face. “Oh, of course …”
She suddenly darted toward the prow of the shipwreck, followed swiftly by Holly and the others. They clustered excitedly around the old carved mermaid. And there, on the cracked and faded head were …
“The rubies!” cried Holly. “Lady Jane’s statue is still wearing her earrings! Good job, Lucy.”
Holly carefully reached forward and unhooked the delicate jewels from where they dangled on the painted ears of the figurehead.
“Thank you, Merfolk of the old times,” she whispered. “We came for the rubies, just like you said. And thank you, Lady Jane.”
Then the mermaids gasped. A trick of the light made it look as though the carved face smiled at them for a second.
“I think Lady Jane is pleased,” said Lucy softly. “She wants us to have her jewels to save the reef.”
“Then let’s go and save it,” cried Holly. “We’ll swim back to Tobias with the rubies, everyone, before it’s too late. Mermaid S.O.S.!”
Chapter Six
The young friends swooped eagerly through the water, away from the old-fashioned wreck toward the new and much more dangerous one. Tobias was waiting for them with two other turtles under a ledge on the coral reef.
“These are my kinsfolk, Tara and Titus,” said Tobias. “I warned them not to swim across this part of the reef until you had plugged up the leak. Did you have any success?”
“We found the rubies,” replied the mermaids triumphantly. They swirled to a halt and looked down at the broken boat. The dark jets seeping out into the water from the two punctured containers had grown stronger. A black cloud of gassy liquid hung over the wreck.
“I’ll go down and try to plug the rubies into the holes,” said Holly bravely. Then she dived toward the ominous metal barrels with the skull and crossbones on their gleaming sides.
“Wait,” called Ellie. “You can’t breathe in any of the bad water.”
But Holly was already choking and spluttering as she tried to get near the holes in the containers. She turned and sped back to her friends.
“I couldn’t get close enough,” she coughed, her eyes red and stinging. “But I have to plug up the holes or the poison will leak everywhere!”
A little crowd of worried creatures had gathered near the turtles, peering around the colorful branches of coral and the waving crimson seaweed. There was a squid, a family of boxer crabs, and some brilliant blue-green parrot fish.
“What’s that horrible black cloud?” they muttered anxiously. “We’ve heard that the whole reef is going to be destroyed.”
“Stay calm, everyone. These mermaids are going to save our reef,” Tobias explained in a loud voice. “They are being helped by Lady Jane herself!”
Relieved murmurs quickly rippled around the little throng, followed by, “The mermaids are going to save our reef! They’re going to save the reef!”
“If we can think of a way to get down to the canisters without being poisoned ourselves,” whispered Sophie, looking over at the bright parrot fish.
“Parrot fish!” cried Holly, following Sophie’s gaze. “That’s given me an idea. Parrot fish wrap themselves in a thick cocoon to keep themselves safe at night. That’s what I need—a protective covering to keep me safe.”
“Take my silk handkerchief,” urged Scarlett, quickly searching in her S.O.S. Kit.
Holly wrapped the handkerchief over her face like a mask, then dashed back down to the canisters. She dropped the glinting rubies into the holes with her nimble fingers. The jewels fit exactly, and soon the hissing leaks came to a stop.
“Now we need to clear away the poison that has already seeped out,” she called to her friends. “It’s time to use our crystals!”
The mermaids hovered a little di
stance away from the cloud of discolored water, holding out their bright crystals. Brilliant red shafts of light, like tongues of flame, flowed from them and attacked the black liquid. For a moment, there seemed to be a great burning ring in the water. Then the flames and the dark cloud of poison disappeared, leaving nothing but the beautiful clear sea.
Finally, Holly placed her crystal on both the rubies in turn. They glowed a brilliant fire-red, like molten lava, then there was a flash of golden light.
“The rubies have been sealed in the containers by Mermaid Magic,” she declared to Tobias and the other creatures. “Now they will never let a single drop of the black liquid leak over the reef. The red seaweed, the coral, and the fish are all safe—and so are the turtles.”
“Hooray!” cheered Tobias and the others. “We will cover this smashed boat and these ugly canisters with sand. Then no one will ever know that there was a new wreck at the Shipwreck Isles. And,” he added, with a twinkle in his eye, “you mermaids have proved that our legend is true.”
“I don’t think I’ll be searching for any more ships from stories for a long time,” smiled Holly. “It’s just too much of a risk!” Then she looked serious again.
“I’m so sorry, everyone,” she said, turning to her friends. “I’m glad we found Lady Jane’s rubies to save the reef, but all this has meant a long delay to our journey home.”
“Don’t worry,” said the kindly green turtle. “We can show you the fast currents that lead to your Coral Kingdom. You’ll soon be making up for lost time.”
“Oh, thank you so much, Tobias,” said the relieved mermaids. “You’ve been such a good friend.”
Holly and the others hid their crystals away and swirled their sparkling tails. Another long swim into the west lay ahead of them.
Holly Takes a Risk Page 2
