The Floating Forest

by Linda Chapman

There were four drawings on the piece of paper – a rock that had a large hole in it; a cluster of stars; a sea lion’s head; and a large X beside some words written in small, faded writing.

  “What do they say?” Luna said. She bent closer, her long dark red hair falling over the map as she tried to read them. “It’s a rhyme. It says…” She broke off with an excited yelp. “Treasure!” she exclaimed, her eyes wide. “Listen, everyone!” She read the words out loud.

  “It’s a treasure map!” gasped Coralie.

  Dash whistled and Melly squeaked. Caught up in the excitement, Tommy waved his flippers and Octavia and Sami zoomed round the room.

  “We’re going to be treasure hunters!” Marina whooped, high-fiving Coralie.

  “I wonder what the treasure is,” said Kai. “It could be a stack of gold bars that were stolen by a one-eyed pirate or –” his eyes grew wider – “huge chests of jewels that once belonged to a fierce king, or diamonds stolen from a dragon’s lair!”

  “I don’t care if it’s only one necklace,” declared Naya. “It’ll just be fun following the clues and finding it!”

  “Do you think it will be dangerous?” asked Luna.

  “No. The kelp forest isn’t scary,” Coralie reassured her. “It’s a really safe place.”

  “Wait a moment,” said Naya, frowning. “What about the rule that, if anyone finds treasure in the ocean, they have to give it to the merguards so they can put it in the museum where everyone can look at it? Do you think we should tell a grown-up about this?”

  “No, no, no!” said Coralie hurriedly. “If we do that, then the grown-ups will go to the kelp forest and look for it themselves.”

  “Please let’s not tell,” begged Marina. “We’re not going to keep the treasure – if we do find anything, we’ll give it to the guards like we should.” She grinned. “But we will do the searching. It’ll be so much fun!”

  “Yes, let’s find it ourselves!” Naya agreed, her sensible expression vanishing and an excited smile lighting up her face.

  Marina beamed. “So tomorrow we go on a treasure hunt!”

  Coralie chuckled as a joke popped into her head. “You know what?” she said. “If a hermit crab found this treasure, I bet he wouldn’t share it.”

  “Why not?” asked Kai, puzzled.

  “Because hermit crabs are a little shellfish!” Coralie said.

  The others flicked water at her with their tails. Coralie giggled and dodged out of the way. She felt fizzy inside. Tomorrow they were going treasure hunting! What would they find?

  The next morning Coralie raced to meet the others at the whirlpool. Her mind was full of the treasure. What would it be? Coins, jewellery, precious gems or gold?

  Spotting Kai and Marina just ahead of her with Tommy and Sami, she whizzed up between them. “Isn’t this exciting? We’re going to find some treas—”

  She broke off as they almost swam straight into Glenda Seaglass, a mean mergirl whose father was the Chief of the Guards. For some reason, Glenda had taken against the Save the Sea Creatures Club and was always finding ways to be unkind. She glared at them crossly. “You brainless barnacles! Watch where you’re going!”

  “Sorry, Glenda!” said Kai.

  Glenda sniffed. “You’re clumsier than that ugly manatee Luna has as a pet. Where are you going in such a rush anyway?” She frowned. “Did I hear you say something about finding treasure?”

  “No!” Coralie exclaimed. She knew if they told Glenda the truth, Glenda would go straight to her dad and then the guards would have all the fun of finding the treasure. Coralie didn’t want that at all!

  “Definitely not,” said Marina, shaking her head hard. “We were just saying we’re going to find … find…”

  “Find a tremendous amount of rubbish today,” Kai invented quickly. “Marina’s dad mentioned that there’s more litter than usual out on the reef and we thought we’d go and clear it up.”

  “Litter?” Glenda regarded them suspiciously.

  “Yes. We’d better go,” said Coralie quickly.

  “See you, Glenda!” said Kai as they swam off.

  Marina grinned. “Phew! Good thinking there, Kai.”

  He shook his head. “I’m amazed she believed me.”

  Coralie wasn’t sure Glenda had completely believed them, but at least she hadn’t questioned them further. “Come on!” she said, flicking her tail and speeding up. “Naya and Luna will be waiting!”

  The five of them gazed at the whirlpool with their pets. “What shall we say?” Naya said as the water foamed and frothed.

  “I think Coralie should ask it to take us to the same kelp forest she visited yesterday,” said Marina. “Tommy, Dash and Melly, you make sure you dive in with us at the exact same moment. Sami, you and Octavia hold on tight to Naya and me. If you don’t, you might end up somewhere completely different!”

  Sami curled his tail round a thick strand of Marina’s hair and Octavia clung on firmly to Naya’s arm.

  Coralie saw that Luna was cuddling Melly and looking a little nervous. “Don’t worry. It’s lovely in the kelp forest, I promise. Ready, everyone?”

  They nodded eagerly. “Here goes!Whirlpool, please take us all to the same part of the kelp forest I went to yesterday,” Coralie asked.

  The waters started to swirl faster. “After three!” she cried. “One … two … THREE!”

  She dived in. There was the same whirl of colours as the day before and, after spinning round madly in a rainbow blur, she shot out into the kelp forest. It was even lovelier than she remembered. Long, ribbon-like fronds of kelp were waving in the gentle currents and small fish nibbled at them. The deep greeny-blue water had shafts of sunlight shining through.

  The others appeared beside her.

  “Wow,” said Luna, her eyes wide, as two large orange garibaldi fish swam slowly past them, their mouths opening and closing. “It feels so peaceful here.”

  “It’s quite cold though!” said Naya, shivering.

  “It’s just like the kelp forest I once went to with my dad,” said Marina. “We must be fairly near land as kelp grows in shallow water, normally close to coastlines. We should keep an eye out, just in case there are humans nearby.”

  “Look at all those sea urchins,” said Kai, pointing to a nearby bed of the spiny creatures. “We’d better watch our tails near their spikes!”

  Naya picked some old kelp fronds off the rocks and put them in her bag. “I’m going to take these home with me and try experimenting with them. Just look at the way the kelp sticks to the rocks and grows up towards the surface. It’s fascinating.”

  Coralie grinned. “Hey, Marina, what does the seaweed shout when it’s stuck at the bottom of the sea?”

  “What?” said Marina.

  “Kelp! Kelp!” said Coralie, swimming away before Marina could throw something at her. Dash clicked his tongue as if he was laughing – at least he always liked her jokes!

  Luna squealed in delight as two dark brown sea lions came gliding through the water, using their front flippers to steer their way round the kelp trunks. But Octavia hid behind Naya – sea lions had been known to eat octopus!

  One of the sea lions was much smaller than the other and had pale beige rings around his eyes. He swam over to Coralie and Dash and barked at them.

  “What’s he doing?” asked Kai, surprised.

  Coralie grinned. “It’s OK,” she said, tickling him under the chin as he rubbed his head against her. “Dash and I met this sea lion pup yesterday.”

  “He’s gorgeous,” said Luna, holding out a hand and humming softly. The baby sea lion swam straight over to her.

  His mother was just as friendly. She nuzzled Luna and Coralie while the others stroked her and her baby.

  After a while, the mother and pup began to play chase, twisting and turning through the water. Dash and Tommy eagerly joined in while Coralie and the others watched, entranced. It was lovely to see the sea lions playing in their natural environment, free and happy.<
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  Finally, the mother barked goodbye as she and her pup disappeared up to the surface.

  “They can’t stay underwater like we can,” Marina said. “They’re mammals and they have to go to the surface to breathe air every fifteen minutes or so.”

  Dash whistled and Melly clicked.

  “Yes, just like you two!” said Coralie. “Do you want to go with them?”

  Dash and Melly nodded and set off.

  Coralie took the treasure map out of her bag and unfolded it. “OK. The clue says we need to go past where otters feed. I bet that means we need to go that way.” She pointed. “Yesterday I saw an otter diving down to get a sea urchin from that bed over there.”

  “Should we go to the surface and have a look around?” said Marina.

  They nodded and swam upwards, joining Dash and Melly. Cautiously breaking through the surface, they glanced at their surroundings. To their relief, there was no sign of any humans. Merpeople had to keep hidden from humans at all times.

  What they could see was a long, shingle beach with grey stone cliffs rearing up behind it. On one side, very close to them, was a rocky strip of land that jutted out into the sea. Otters were gambolling across it and diving from the rocks into the water. Every so often, one would swim back to the surface with a purple sea urchin in its paws, then it would turn over, float on its back and balance the urchin on its tummy to eat it. On the far side of the bay, there was a similar rocky headland. Coralie could see some animals moving on it, but it was too far away for her to work out what they were. Seals, maybe?

  She looked at the playful otters. “I was right. This must be the clue the map talks about – the place where otters feed. So we go past this and then the next instruction says, seek a rock with a hole.”

  Marina grinned. “What are we waiting for? Let’s get seeking!”

  “Wait! The trouble is we don’t know which way we need to go past the otters,” Naya pointed out. “Do we go towards that bit of land over there –” she indicated the rocky strip on the far side of the bay – “or there?” She pointed in the opposite direction from the otters. “Or even out to sea?”

  “Maybe we should split up?” Kai suggested. “We’ll be able to search a larger area and we should be safe as long as we stay in the kelp forest.”

  “That’s a good plan! Let’s all go and explore and meet back here,” said Marina.

  Coralie saw that Luna was looking nervous. “Do you and Melly want to come with me and Dash, Luna?” she asked.

  “Yes, please,” said Luna gratefully.

  Promising to meet back there in twenty minutes, they all set off. Coralie and Luna swam across the bay towards the far strip of land. They dived down to search along the bottom, weaving through the trees. They passed rocks of all different shapes and sizes – smooth, jagged and tall – but none that were round with a hole in the middle.

  Suddenly Dash gave an alarmed whistle and Melly squeaked, her small eyes widening.

  Coralie turned to see two sleek grey-and-white shapes with pointed snouts and tiny black eyes heading towards them through the kelp. One was much smaller than the other, but both moved with a stealthy purpose as they weaved through the seaweed. It was a mother and baby shark!

  “Luna! Quick!” she hissed in alarm.

  She grabbed her cousin and pulled her behind an enormous, seaweed-covered boulder. Dash and Melly hid beside them.

  Coralie’s heart pounded as she watched the two sharks swim nearer. The mother didn’t look very big and she had a dark grey body with a white tummy. Coralie remembered that Marina had told them that most sharks weren’t dangerous. According to her, the only really dangerous species were great white sharks and the occasional bad-tempered reef shark. But Coralie didn’t know what type these two sharks were. She wished she had concentrated more in her lessons at school!

  Luna moved as if she was about to swim out from behind the boulder. “No!” Coralie hissed, grabbing her hand and holding her fast. Her younger cousin might have a real knack with sea creatures, but there was no way Coralie was going to let her try to make friends with a shark!

  The mother shark’s head swung towards them. She’d heard Coralie’s voice. Leaving her baby, she swam suspiciously towards their hiding place.

  Coralie froze in horror. Now what were they going to do?

  Coralie gripped Luna’s hand as the mother shark swam round the rock and stared at them with fierce black eyes.

  There was a long pause when no one moved, but, to Coralie’s intense relief, the shark simply turned away, swam back to her baby and the pair carried on.

  “Oh, Coralie, aren’t they sweet?” breathed Luna, pulling herself free and swimming out to watch them leave.

  Coralie blinked. The sharks were beautiful in a sleek, streamlined way, and it had been thrilling to see them so close, but she definitely wouldn’t describe them as sweet. “I’m not sure about that,” she said, joining Luna. “For a moment, I thought we were going to be shark snacks!” She ran a hand through her wavy hair. “I’m sorry, Luna. I didn’t realize there were dangerous things in this forest. Maybe you should have stayed at home on the reef.”

  “No way! I’m fine. Those sharks weren’t dangerous,” said Luna. “The mother looked like she just wanted to protect her baby and was checking we weren’t a threat. I bet she was travelling through the kelp so she could avoid predators like killer whales. A forest like this must provide her and her baby with perfect protection from bigger, more dangerous creatures.”

  Coralie nodded. “You’re right. She was just looking after her baby, but it was a bit scary. Should we go back and find the others?” She looked round to see Dash nosing at the seaweed on the boulder. He pulled some off with his teeth. “Come on, Dash!” Coralie called. “Time to get moving!”

  He shook his head.

  “Dash, what are you doing?” she said.

  Dash backed away from the rock and then swam straight at it with an excited look in his eyes.

  “Dash! Don’t do that—” Coralie broke off with a gasp as Dash hit the centre of the rock and sailed through! It wasn’t solid! There was a massive hole in the middle of it that had been covered by the strands of thick seaweed. Dash stopped beside her with seaweed hanging over his face like a wig. He opened his mouth as if he was grinning.

  “You’ve found the round rock with a hole!” Coralie cried, hugging him. “Oh, you clever, clever boy!”

  “Oh my goodness!” said Luna, peering at the rock with Melly. “We have to tell the others about this – it’s the first clue!”

  Dash whistled at Coralie. She understood.

  “Why don’t you go and get them, Dash, and we’ll stay here? You’re so fast, it’ll be quicker if you travel on your own. Hurry!”

  Dash set off like a silver arrow through the water.

  The two mergirls and Melly started to pull the rest of the seaweed off the rock. It looked just like the drawing on the map.

  “Where do we have to go next?” Luna said.

  Coralie took out the map and read the clue aloud.

  She looked up. “From here we need to head east into the forest.”

  “Let’s go to the surface and work out which way east is,” said Luna. “We’ll be able to tell by looking at the sun.”

  They swam up and poked their heads through the water. They were very near to the second rocky strip of land now and Coralie could see that the animals she had spotted moving around earlier were mother sea lions and their babies. The other adult sea lions in the colony were sunning themselves on the rocks of the main beach along with a number of grey harbour seals.

  “Sea lion mums and pups,” breathed Luna. “Can we go and see them?”

  “I’d love to but we’d better wait here for now,” said Coralie reluctantly. “The others might arrive at any moment with Dash.” She looked at the sun. “East is in the direction of the pups though. Maybe we can stop and say hello to them after we’ve found the treasure.”

  They dived
back down, just in time to see Dash returning with everyone else.

  “Over here!” called Coralie, waving.

  “You’re OK. Phew!” said Marina in relief. “When Dash came to get us and he was on his own, we thought you might be in trouble.”

  “No, we’re fine and look. Ta-da!” Coralie pointed at the rock with a hole in. “We’ve found the first place on the map!”

  The others crowded round and Coralie explained how Dash had found it.

  Tommy clapped his flippers, Sami kissed Dash’s nose and Octavia patted Dash on the back with her arms. Dash looked very pleased with himself.

  “Now we need to head east,” said Marina.

  “To a galaxy of stars,” said Kai. He frowned. “Do you think that means we need to go to the surface and look at the sky?”

  “But we’ll only be able to see stars if it’s night time,” Coralie said. “Are we going to have to come back when it’s dark?”

  Naya giggled. “Do you two seriously never listen at school? The name for a group of starfish is a galaxy. Don’t you remember Sylvie telling us that the other day? I reckon what the clue means is that we need to find a big group of starfish, not look up at the sky!”

  Kai grinned at her. “Why would we need to listen when we have you?”

  “You know everything,” Coralie agreed.

  They swam eastwards a little way and found a large group of giant sunflower starfish spread out across the rocks on the seabed. They were each roughly a metre across and had pink-and-purple tentacles.

  “This must be the galaxy of stars, which means we’re almost there!” said Marina excitedly. “We just need to find sea lion rock then a rookery and we’ll reach the treasure.”

  “A rookery?” said Luna. “Isn’t that where rooks nest? But rooks are inland birds.”

  “I think other birds can nest in rookeries too,” said Naya. “Maybe it means where some seagulls are nesting.”