Hidden Worlds

by Kristie Cook

  “Well, your family is one of the few allowed to live on land.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her tilt her head down and watch me from behind her red hair. “Most families arrange promisings for their merchildren, but you and your sister get to choose.”

  I gulped. Her presence stirred something in me I’d never felt with another mermaid, beyond simple hormones. Most were content to stay underwater and be pretty playthings, unaware a world lived above them. Her adventurous side made her far more attractive than anything else, connecting us somehow, like the whispers of our souls wanting to be united. “Do you get to choose?”

  Her face remained downward. “They’ll choose, but I get to have the final say.”

  She looked up at me and my breathing increased. At that moment, everything about her called to me to seal the deal. My feet moved on their own accord toward her wonting gaze.

  “I didn’t know Fin was here,” Sandy said suddenly, slicing through my intentions. I froze mid step.

  “Aye,” Badger said, eyeing me curiously and giving a wink. “I gave them a moment to be talkin’, right?”

  “Yes,” I choked out while Lily remained silent.

  “You shouldn’t leave them alone, Badge,” she whispered, then turned and gave us both a chastising once over. “You know the rules. The temptation is—” She stopped and raised her eyebrows.

  He gave his own eyebrow waggle in return. “They be good kids.” He wrapped his beefy hands around her slender waist. “Nothing of the sort would’ve happened.”

  She stared at us, knowing she stopped us from doing what we wanted. Badger, having set the whole thing up, looked away like he knew nothing.

  “It’s actually getting late. You ready to go, Lily?”

  She sighed and threw me a sad smile. “Yes, Aunt Sandy.”

  Within minutes they were gone and I caught myself staring senselessly at the empty porthole.

  “She’s a pretty, wee thing,” Badger said, cutting the silence.

  “Yeah,” I mumbled, confused at my lack of self-control.

  “Proud of you, lad. You did right fine today.”

  I snapped around to look at him, questioning. He couldn’t have meant my near accidental promising.

  Badger bobbed his eyebrows. “With the tourney.”

  “Oh … thanks.” I watched him stuff his pipe with tobacco. “Hey, where’d you learn to fight like that anyway?”

  “Funny you’d ask. I learned from Jack, of course. Surprised me when you showed up to the practice field, green as a June bug.”

  My jaw went slack as my brain bounced out of its infatuated state. My dad was an expert fighter? I assumed back in the day when he’d come home roughed up, he was just messing around, not actually training someone. “My dad taught you everything you know?”

  “Well, the mer way to fight. The army was much different back in the day when I arrived as a new merman—back when he led things.”

  “He was part of Azor’s army?”

  “No, lad,” he guffawed. “He be runnin’ the joint.”

  My jaw fell the rest of the way open, but no words came out. Dad never mentioned he was captain of the army either. Why didn’t he ever offer to train me? Was I that inadequate? Was that why he didn’t take me on the mission? My head reeled.

  “He didn’t tell ya?” Badge asked, noting my shock. He scrubbed at his beard. “Son, don’t take it too hard. Yer da’ is a humble and peaceful man. I’m sure he wanted you to make your own path in life. I rightly would have done the same for me son, if I had one.”

  The punch to my gut didn’t decrease with his words, though what he said made sense. But the disappointment of finding out secondhand about the truth behind our gate, the mer expectations, and my father’s past didn’t hurt any less.

  “On a good note, I think Lily fancies you. She’d make ya a great wife.”

  With Lily gone, reality returned and the notion of promising didn’t seem as important. Dad had some explaining to do when he came home. “Yeah.”

  Badger blew more smoke circles. “I hate to be kickin’ ya out, but when Sandy returns we’d like to have a quiet evening together.”

  I stood up. “Sure.”

  “Don’t be disheartened. Jack woulda been right proud of you today. You were a true merman out there on that field.”

  I gulped and tried to imagine Dad’s response. Would he have been proud? I thought I knew him well. Now I wasn’t so sure. “Yeah, Badge. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Wounded and full of questions, I dove into the porthole and swam home.

  19 - ASH

  Oddly, the phone rang and rang, without even an answering machine picking up. I redialed, figuring maybe someone was on the other line, but the same thing happened.

  Who calls someone at ten o’clock at night?

  If someone called that late here, I’d assume there was an emergency. And there was. I needed to know where my best friend was and when she was coming home—right now. Good things were finally happening in my life and I couldn’t enjoy them not knowing her whereabouts.

  I clicked the off button and slumped back against my pillows, my plan a total failure. If it wasn’t for the fact that I’d be a wreck for the meet if I didn’t get to sleep soon, I would have walked over in my jammies and knocked on the door. Instead, I picked up a book off my nightstand and flipped it open, looking for a distraction. Maybe reading would be the trick to ease and tire my racing mind.

  Next thing I knew, the sun shone through the curtains and Mom was shaking my shoulder. “Come on, sleepy head. You overslept.”

  I sat up with an adrenaline jolt. “Holy crawfish!”

  Her eyes met mine. “I have breakfast ready. Just get dressed.”

  I nodded and flew to the bathroom to take care of pressing matters, like peeing and brushing my teeth. A shower would have been nice, but had to wait until after the meet. I put on my black team sweats over my suit, bunched all my curls into a ponytail holder, and ran downstairs, gym bag packed and ready to go on my arm. Mom handed me a plate of pancakes and scrambled eggs as we headed for the car.

  “Oh, please tell me you packed me some snacks?” I asked with a mouth full of food as we backed out of the garage.

  “Nuts, trail mix, protein bars, Red Vines, and water.”

  My shoulders relaxed. “Thank you.”

  Though mom wasn’t the doting type, organization and remembering details was definitely her forte. We pulled into the parking lot and parked in the loading zone. My heart thumped harder when I saw people going into the pool area with green “SVA” windbreakers that stood for Squaw Valley Academy.

  “Aren’t you staying?” I asked, suddenly feeling like this was my first meet and I wanted my mommy to walk inside with me.

  “It doesn’t start for another hour. I need to go home, wake up Lucy, and get the family together. We’re all coming to watch you today.”

  “Oh.” I blinked back at her with shock and awe. “But what about the store?”

  “We have Jaime covering.”

  “You do?”

  “I need to go.” Mom motioned for me to close the door. “Get in there and warm-up. I’ll see ya in a few. You’re going to do great.” She smiled.

  I closed the door and walked into the pool area with an extra bounce in my step.

  “Where have you been?” Georgia said from behind me. I whirled around and she gasped. “What happened to your eyes?”

  I reached up and wiped the inner corners, worried I had sleepy seeds from the night. “Nothing, why?”

  “They’re puffy. Did you cry last night or something? Did Callahan break things off with you?”

  “No!” I looked away, caught, remembering he didn’t call.

  “Well, whatever happened, when you get home today, put a cold teabag on each eye for at least an hour. I can work magic, but you need to prep the canvas or your dance pictures are going to look horrible.”

  Great.

  “Yeah, sure.” I turned and headed
toward the locker room, hoping Callahan wasn’t getting cold feet on me. If he was, my worrying about it couldn’t have been happening at a worse time. I had a race to win.

  The energy and hubbub from the crowd added to my nerves and chased me after warm-up to a secluded spot on the shaded lawn where I could hide in my sleeping bag. Within the wings of emo and indie band music floating into my head through my earbuds, I waited for the race and played solitaire.

  Georgia knew not to bother me and an hour later, she lightly knocked on my hooded head. “Time to go.”

  I nodded, grabbed my necessary stuff, and headed toward the blocks. I’d already decided to keep my eyes low and avoid contact with anyone, especially my rival, Meredith.

  I chanted my zone pep talk as I sat in the seats behind lane four. But from the corner of my eye, I saw Meredith next to me and heard her teammates wish her luck. Just her very presence bombarded my confidence.

  “You okay, honey?”

  I looked up to see Mom, relief flooding me. “I’m nervous.”

  “Would you like to pray real quick?”

  I nodded.

  She bent down and whispered in my ear. “Dear Lord, calm Ashlyn’s nerves and help her swim her very best. Amen.”

  Peace filled my spirit. “Thanks, Mom.”

  She smiled as I stood and patted me on my butt, like she’d done before every race since I started swimming at age six. “Go get ‘em, Lanski.”

  “… in lane three, Hamusek. In lane four, Lanski. In lane …”

  The announcer’s voice sent my heart hammering. I slipped on my goggles and stepped up onto the block. The timer stood next to me, stop clock in hand.

  I glanced over at the stands to find my family. Gran waved and nudged Lucy, who conveniently yawned. To my complete surprise, someone with a familiar blue baseball cap and STHS jersey sat next to Dad—Callahan! They both grinned and nodded at me. Dad gave the big thumbs-up. My mouth fell open, my nerves on overload.

  “Swimmers, take your mark.”

  I snapped my head around toward the starter and leaned over. The gun popped. I was airborne. The second I hit the water, a million things flashed through my mind: Senior Ball, Fin, the make-up incident, the last time I saw Tatchi, the weirdo at her house, Meredith’s face when she’d hit the wall before me last time. I couldn’t stop the barrage which gave Meredith time to get a half a body-length ahead.

  I panicked and took an extra breath.

  Dear Lord, help me.

  Something settled within and I found my rhythm in the current. Up and over my hips followed my butterfly stroke, the crowd’s roar filling my ears at each breath. Coach’s voice rang out clear over everyone else.

  “Go, Lanski, go!”

  Courage surged through my veins as I finished another lap. I’d caught up and we were neck and neck, flying through the water like dolphins.

  I need this. I want this.

  One more lap to go. I raced with all my heart, kicking with burning legs and aching lungs. I refused to lose time by taking unnecessary breaths, gaining a tiny lead.

  This is it.

  Both of us slammed into the wall. I popped my head out of the water to scan the board. The quiet hush covered the stadium like a blanket of fog.

  “And first place goes to … my, this is unusual.”

  With heavy breaths, I felt my pulse continue to hammer on. Who won already? They never took this long to call a race.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer said, sounding baffled, “this is a first …”

  Two matching times popped up on the board next to our names.

  “… a new record and a tie!”

  My eyes bugged out of their sockets, imagining my name on the record board in the gym hallway. Meredith turned and moved toward the lane rope, holding out her hand.

  “Good race, Ashlyn.”

  I shook it. “Yeah. Good race.”

  “Lanski!” Coach called out with a huge grin. “Great race! I knew you had it in you!”

  She put her hand down and pulled me out of the water. Her rapid-fire pats on my back sent splatters of water all over her clothing.

  “You did awesome!” Georgia handed me my swim jacket before accosting me with a hug. “And broke a record!”

  I stood there, shaking from the evaporated adrenaline in my body and took a deep breath. “I guess this is better than second, right?”

  “Heck yeah!” Georgia said, jumping up and down. “You broke a record!”

  I looked around, still in shock, when the stroke-and-turn judge asked me to move aside. The next race was starting.

  Then I saw him. Callahan walked toward me, escorted by my whole family. Our eyes met and he smiled, weakening my knees. He looked amazingly sexy and oh so kissable in his baseball hat.

  One big event down. One more to go.

  I held my breath, ready for the onslaught, wondering what kind of impression my family left on him and why he didn’t call the night before. I’d soon find out.

  20 - FIN

  “Before you start today, I need two volunteers,” Azor called out over the assembled group of mermen.

  I yawned and looked off to the side, bored out of my mind. Whenever Azor called for volunteers, it meant some type of grunt work for an elder mer. He scanned the crowd with a straight face. Usually someone wanting his favor raised their hand, but with his foul mood and crappy assignments, no one did today.

  Actually, after all Badger and I discussed, I planned to quit Azor’s army. During the last few weeks, I’d technically honed my fin fighting skills like Dad asked me to do and I had no purpose here anymore. Sunlight exploration was more up my alley and could be useful knowledge when we returned to Tahoe. I’d sell Azor on the idea and move onto bigger and better things.

  “Thank you, Kieran, for volunteering. That leaves one more. Anyone?”

  Come on with it already.

  “Fine then,” he waved his finger over the group and landed on me, “Finley, I’d like you and Kieran to report to Mrs. Crabtree’s house. She has some rocks to move.”

  “What—?”

  Azor shot his beady eyes at me. “Excuse me? Were you saying something, Finley?”

  “With all due respect, I’d like to be transferred. Someone else should go in my place.”

  Badger grunted while smashing his eyelids together.

  Azor’s dark lifeless eyes sparked with deviousness. “Transferred? Interesting. Well, since you’ve proven you’re able to fight at least, I agree. You can be in charge of maintenance now and Grommet will partner with Badger in your place,” —he signaled to Grommet who watched attentively— “dismissed.”

  “What?” My jaw dropped as the group scattered, everyone eyeing me with relief and curiosity. With stars in his eyes, Grommet swam up alongside us as Badge gave me a deflated look, shaking his head.

  “Badger!” I called out.

  He whirled around, disappointment eroding deep grooves into his face. “Son, you’ve heard the captain. Get to yer new assignment.”

  “What? This is crazy. He can’t force me!”

  I knew I sounded like a child, but I couldn’t help it. If Dad were here, none of this would have happened. Azor was taking out his frustration on me because my sister refused him. I couldn’t be a gofer for the elder mers. Badger needed to stick up for me and make Azor see reason.

  Badger narrowed his eyes. “That he can and that he has. So, you better go. We’ll talk later.”

  He patted Grommet on the back and together they swam away to our corner of the practice grounds. Kieran hovered off to the side and watched me like a lit stick of dynamite.

  “Come on,” I grunted and swam ahead as Kieran followed behind at a distance.

  As soon as we were out of Azor’s sight, Kieran caught up to me and filled the silence with useless nonsense about his inventions. I didn’t pay close attention, still angered at the rotten assignment, confused why I had to listen to Azor in the first place. Why couldn’t I just leave? Of course, d
eserting an assignment probably didn’t look good on my record and I did want Tahoe some day.

  Once arriving at Mrs. Crabtree’s, I changed my mind. No matter where we moved her decorative rocks, she complained. After an entire day of repositioning the stones in her front yard, she ended up liking them best in their original location. I knew there was no way I could handle this until Dad returned. Azor had to see reason.

  I picked up Tatch at the palace without a word and swam ahead. Today, she looked almost normal with only a few streaks of purple in her hair.

  “Fin, I’ve figured it out,” she called behind me.

  I looked over my shoulder and sighed. Didn’t she see I was pissed? Would it be too much for her to be quiet for once? “I don’t feel like playing games today.”

  “Rough day at the office?” Tatch giggled. When I didn’t respond, she caught up to me and nudged me in the ribs. “Lighten up, Mr. Prickleback. All I wanted to say was I figured out how to get the mer-matrons off my back.”

  I lifted my right eyebrow when her silence went on too long. “I’m too hungry and tired to guess.”

  “You’re no fun,” she said with an upturned lip. “Fine. It was really so simple. Rumor has it they all want me to promise to their sons, so I announced that I’d finally chosen.”

  “You’ve chosen? Who?”

  “Dorian.” Her face brightened.

  Dorian? Sandy’s cousin? Stunned, I waited for her to laugh and tell me she was kidding.

  “Oh come off it. I’m not really going to go through with it. He’s got his sights on a human girl anyway. It’s just a way for both of us to get the pressure off, you know?”

  The mention of Dorian picking a human girl over a mermaid brought Ashlyn to mind. Though I’d never bring her into this world willingly, there were so many times when I was tempted, like the day we left. But after meeting Lily, I started to feel like I could be happy with a pure-born mermaid.

  Tatch thumped her fist into my shoulder. “Didn’t you hear me?”

  “That’s a great idea.”

  “Geez, take all the fun out of it, why don’t you.” She gave me a dirty look then swam up through the porthole into the house.

  I clenched my jaw a few times and looked up at the house. Yesterday had been my best day since we’d been trapped in Natatoria and today, my worst. I didn’t want Mom to know about my altercation with Azor so I plastered on a fake grin and went inside. Crap day or not, my stomach was about to turn inside out and start digesting itself.