Surface Tensions

by Jordan, G R

  He could always see the train coming through the tunnel, that was his problem. Everything in some shape or other always came crashing down. Once there was dreams of living and working on the mainland but his qualifications hadn't been good enough and then his mum had that little bout of illness. With no one else to take care of her, Donald had no choice but to do his duty. So often things had never materialised into something special. He couldn't let that happen with Kiera. Only the beep of completion from the machine brought him back from staring at her.

  Sipping his coffee, he nearly burnt his lips and caused a slight spillage with his reactions. Grabbing a napkin he wiped the mess, remembering that their presence here should be kept under wraps. Strange, in the building it was like the world was far away, he thought. A little island of their own, peace to help the mermaid, calm to get closer to each other. There seemed to be a oneness of purpose with the four of them. No, make it five, after all, the mermaid was in on this. Here, right now, he was actually content. If this was all there was to life, it might actually be enough. A purpose and Kiera. Lord, he thought, we really are such simple creatures.

  Holding his cup to the window, Donald knocked it with his free hand, then indicating as to whether she wanted coffee. She nodded and held up two fingers to indicate how long she would be. Turning away, he noticed the television on the wall. Reaching up, he pushed the power button but was only able to make a single red light come on at the base of the television. Scanning, Donald couldn't see any remote controls lying about and so began looking for further switches on the television. Seeing some, he pressed until the screen sprang into life.

  It was one of the all-day news channels. Apparently City had enjoyed a solid win over United. Donald wasn't a football fan of any note and turned away. His eye was caught by the approaching Kiera, still in her bikini but with a towel draped over her shoulders. Her coffee, whoops, he thought.

  "I'm just getting your coffee now."

  "Did you forget? Tell me you didn't forget me from there to here. Was it that goggle-box there that did it?"

  "No, no. I was just a bit pre-occupied." She stepped forward throwing her arms around Donald, dropping the towel in the process and then engaged his lips with her own. Her right leg slid around his left, hooking onto it tight. For a long moment, she held this pose before breaking off slowly.

  "So you'll remember me better." Donald stood dumbfounded by this show of affection. Kiera's frequent but forward expressions of love were still causing him to be uncomfortable, but he didn't want them to stop. He stood and looked at her body. Drinking in her white flesh, her wet, sticky hair and her bikini cleavage, he was aware he was like a puppy with its tongue out, lapping. Still she didn't seem to mind.

  "Coffee? Any chance, lover?"

  Donald dropped more coins in the machine, and Kiera took a seat at one of the plastic chairs of the café. The café itself was basic with its garden furniture tables and chairs and sachets of sauces in small plastic baskets on each table.

  "No sound on the telly then?"

  "No, Kiera, can't find the remote."

  "Not to worry, they have those subtitles on."

  The screen showed a chemical plant in a hot country. Large plumes of smoke were pouring out from a raging fire and several vehicles were surrounding it. Although they looked primitive, the red colour indicated these were indeed fire tenders.

  Kiera turned back to face Donald as he placed a coffee in front of her. Sitting down opposite her, his face looked as if it was pondering something before he suddenly sat forward.

  "Why don't you get that gorgeous figure over here?"

  "Oh, are you becoming a bit demanding?" Kiera giggled. "Telling your girl what's what?"

  "Haul that horny body my way. Time for some Donnie loving."

  Kiera never moved. Instead, a look of horror shot across her face, and she looked right past Donald. Damn, thought Donald, that's not gone down well.

  "Sorry Kiera, I just thought…"

  "Donald, shut up."

  Bloody hell, thought Donald, I've really done it.

  "Kiera, it was only a joke. Well a not a joke, I did want you ‘round here for…you know…and I …"

  "Donald, will you shut up please and look, just look." Kiera was pointing at the television.

  There was a fishing boat on the screen with some blood on the deck. The colour of the blood was a little strange. There were pictures of several fishermen and as Kiera scanned the text appearing as subtitles she saw the words "now confirmed dead". Swallowing hard, she reached out for Donald's hand, but he was too engrossed to see this. Then there was a montage of film of a riot where she could see Reverend Murdo McKinney fall to the ground. The words "may find this footage distressing" was accompanied by still pictures showing a merman being carried aloft though he seemed rather bloodied.

  "Donald, what are we going to do? Look at them, baying for blood."

  Donald never looked around but instead stood up and approached the television as if the distance was preventing him from seeing properly. There was now a particular still in the background while the newsreader continued behind a modern desk complete with laptop. Donald suddenly turned around.

  "There! Falling to the floor. Actually more like diving. That's Murdo!"

  "What are we going to do? Heck, Donald, the news says there's a state of emergency. Police telling everyone to stay indoors. Donald, what do we do?"

  "Take it easy, Kiera, we've got time. Not a lot, but we have time. Get Tommy and Hayley up 'cos we need to talk about this." Donald turned away towards the front door.

  "Where are you going?"

  "I'm going to go outside and phone Laura, see how Murdo is. That looked bad. Then we are going to get out of here."

  Kiera walked the short distance to the office, her heart pounding. The excitement of the discovery of a mermaid, of her blossoming relationship with Donald, of the fun of hiding out in the leisure centre was paling. Once again, there seemed to be a dark side to the mermaid's arrival, even if it wasn't their fault.

  She stopped briefly outside the door, drawing a calming breath and then opened the door with purpose. After a quick glance, she exited the office with the word "sorry" repeated several times. Whilst she enjoyed intimate moments of a physical nature herself, she was never one to enjoy observing it in others. Safely outside, she faced away from the door and announced Donald's decision that a meeting was required right now.

  After a brief pause when she considered waiting, Kiera decided the better course was to make her way back to the café. After all, the couple would soon find their way there. Donald was still outside, so she took her coffee and stood at the window watching the mermaid. "The mermaid" just didn't sound right. She needed a name. Almost as if her mind was trying to step away from the horror of the incidents surrounding the creature, the name just came to her. Tink. Little Tink. Our own little piece of fairy tale. And if we don't look after her, then she's going to die.

  A tap on the shoulder brought her back. She hadn't heard his footsteps, too engrossed in her thoughts, but she felt his arms slide around her waist to hold her tight. Leaning back into him, she allowed herself a moment of pleasure, of comfort, of finding strength.

  "What the hell's the crisis? We were in a moment there, Kiera. In fact we nearly had reached THE moment," said Tommy.

  "Sorry, guys," apologised Kiera.

  "What's up?" asked Hayley seeing Kiera's worried face.

  "It's the mermaid," replied Donald.

  "Tink."

  "What, Kiera?" queried Donald.

  "I've called her Tink. Seems right."

  "That's lovely," agreed Hayley, digging Tommy in the ribs as he rolled his eyes.

  "Okay then, Tink," said Donald. "Well, Tink and ourselves have a problem. Apparently McCreedie is dead. All hell's broken loose in town, and they were carrying a merman through the streets. Cut it right up."

  Hayley began to weep. Placing a hand on her shoulder, Tommy looked at Tink.

&
nbsp; "How bad is it out there?" Tommy asked Donald.

  "Well, Reverend McKinney was injured, and I just spoke to his wife. He's in a bad way in the hospital."

  "The news said there's a state of emergency," interjected Kiera.

  "Well that's wrong, Kiera. Laura said that there's all our police about, and they are telling everyone to stay indoors, but there's no emergency. She did say things were heated, though. There's been a few more clashes between animal rights people, camera crews, and the public. Everyone's talking, taking sides. This would not be a good time to be found with a mermaid in our care."

  "No," agreed Tommy, "Is she fit, Hayley? Will she be okay to move tonight?"

  "I don't know, Tommy. I'll be able to tell you in a few hours."

  "We need to go now," said Donald, "When I spoke to Laura, she said that the leisure centre was going to be used for a press conference tonight. I expect you'll get a phone call soon Tommy."

  "A press conference?" queried Tommy.

  "Yes, to take things away from the sea front, they reckon the town hall's too close. So we need to move now, and you need to get this place back to normal, Tommy."

  "We can't take Tink now," protested Hayley, "I'm not sure she's okay to be going out there."

  "Then we need to find somewhere to put her. And I'm guessing a bath tub's no longer suitable." Hayley shook her head. "Right guys, let's get dressed and moving, we ain't got much time."

  "Donald, wait I've had a text. Apparently they want to be here at five. What's that give us? Two hours?"

  "Okay, Tommy." said Donald. "You stay here with Kiera and get this place sorted. Hayley and me will take Tink out of here and we'll text you when we get somewhere suitable. Agreed?" Tommy nodded and Hayley grabbed him and gave a strong but brief kiss. Motioning at Donald to follow, she made for the pool. Kiera held Donald's hand and looked into his eyes sensing the fear inside.

  "You got this. Go on, sort it out. Love you." She was taken by surprise at his rapid embrace and the deepness of his kiss. But then he was gone, following Hayley. She looked at Tommy and smiled.

  "Okay, what's first?"

  "Well, I'll be a gent. You sort out the café and the office, then get onto the changing rooms."

  "What are you going to do?"

  "I'm taking the crap out of the pool, but if you want it, the job's yours!"

  19

  A New Place to Swim

  "It would have been a better idea to put her back into the suitcase."

  "No way, Donald. She is a creature, and she needs looked after."

  "Hayley, look you’ll get no argument from me, but there's a lot of places between here and where we are going. Lots of opportunities for her to be seen."

  "We need to get her back into the water, sharpish too. Anyway, where are we going?"

  "I don't know. Just away from here and any other civilised place."

  A spattering of rain had obscured the windscreen, and so while turning the ignition, Donald also hit the wipers. The blades smeared a greasy mess across.

  "You really should clean the outside of your car, Donald. In fact clean the inside too."

  "Hey, you put the fish woman in the back seat. I think you need to help out with the cleaning too."

  Pulling away, Donald wondered how Kiera and Tommy would be getting on. It was no easy feat to get everything cleaned up, especially with the oncoming rush for the public meeting. Tommy had tried to ease Hayley's fears, but his bravado was fairly transparent. Things are getting serious, thought Donald, and now’s the time to act. Glancing around, he saw that Tink had thrown the blanket over her backwards, exposing her torso.

  "Hayley, can you sort her out. Bad enough seeing her head but any man's going to stop us if she sits up like that."

  Giggling, Hayley covered Tink up to her neck with the blanket. Let's hope it stays light, thought Donald.

  Once clear of the car park, Donald headed through some back streets until he was able to take the main road out of the town heading west. Hayley was quiet, and only the sound of his gear changes around severe corners and the occasional whimper from Tink broke the silence. The sky showed a darkening grey cloud and soon the spitting rain became steady. Island weather, does it ever change?

  Rounding a corner, Donald had to apply his brakes as he saw a roadblock ahead. A young policewoman was indicating stop with a pronounced flat palm and eyeing the car intently. Blast, thought Donald, I can't get out of this. He rolled down the window as she advanced.

  "Excuse me, sir, but we have reason to believe that someone is taking some items along this road that can help with our inquiries into an incident earlier today. Can I ask you to step outside and open your boot for me?" Her blonde hair was tied up and a pony tail came out from the back of her cap. She was of moderate height but had a slim figure. And her face, thought Donald. I know that face.

  "Are you Joanne's sister?" asked Donald, stepping from the car.

  "Joanne. Why yes. How did you know Joanne?"

  "From school. The secondary in town. I used to sit beside her in Chemistry. You have her cheeks and eyes."

  The rain continued, and Donald could hear a nearby river above the splatter of rain in the small puddle by the roadside. Bowing his head, he stared at his feet in remembrance of the vibrant blonde headed girl who he had chased but whose heart he failed to win. She had been sixteen when she had collapsed at the school. Right beside him, just fell off her stool. He remembered the ambulance and so many people crying. What a waste of such a girl. To this day, he still felt a rage at his helplessness, Mrs. Macleod performing chest compressions while he stood in shock. Life was so cruel. It was only fair to fight against it.

  "Donald, is it?"

  "Yes, I was there that day. So sad. But you have her radiance, her beauty if you don't mind me saying so."

  "No, I don't. Thank you. I still need you to open the boot though."

  "Oh, sorry, but of course." Stepping past the constable, Donald reached to open the boot, but halted when the policewoman stopped and peered into the back seat window.

  "Hey, is she okay? She looks somewhat pale."

  "Oh her, she's fine. Just had a rough one last night, catching up on some sleep." The policewoman stared before coming around to the boot. Once opened, she scanned around the near emptiness.

  "Okay, Donald, that's fine. Have a safe trip and get your friend to her bed with some water."

  "Will do. Thanks, Officer."

  Donald quickly got into the car and continued the journey. Hayley kept glancing over. They started going through tighter corners and Tink sat up. The towel promptly fell off and Tink looked out the window.

  Up ahead, Mr. Morrison was returning his grandfather back to the home when the car had picked up a flat tyre. His father had insisted on standing out of the passenger seat on his own and was now just ahead and monitoring the traffic. The old man watched cars go past in the rain. Donald's car approached and the old man saw a car approach with an attractive young woman in the passenger seat. A blonde, her soft-looking skin pulled at him. Continuing, he now saw the rear passenger seat. He thought he was going to collapse when he saw another blonde woman who appeared to be nearly nude. He chortled to himself.

  "What's up Dad?" came his son's question.

  "Young ones, son, young ones. No end to what nonsense they get up to. Damn well like it."

  "Whatever, Dad. Hand me the wheel bolts."

  ***

  A half hour after leaving the town, Donald was still none the wiser as to where to put Tink for safety. Hayley was suggesting one of the many little sea lochs around the island, but they needed to find one without anyone nearby. By now, they were far from any townships, and it was the little isolated pockets of houses that were troubling their plans.

  "Over there, Donald. That's a sea loch."

  "Blimey, Hayley, there's just about no access down to the shore there. It's almost sheer cliffs. I don't think anyone even goes down there fishing."

  "Perfect then. That's w
hat we need. Find somewhere to park her up, and we'll make our way down."

  There was a rough path down the hillside to the loch's edge. Not a path for humans, but a sheep path. Donald had Tink over his shoulder and was wishing she had wings, for the long hours and lack of sleep were taking their toll on him. Struggling behind with her large veterinary bag, Hayley cursed the fact she was wearing her dress boots. Although they could drive Tommy wild, they didn't have the necessary support for hillsides.

  At the bottom of the slope was a very small beach of pebbles and a small cave, only a few paces deep but dry and well sheltered. Despite the rain, the area had a serenity as the waves lapped gently on the shore. Nodding her approval, Hayley placed her bag down and indicated for Donald to place Tink into the water. Hayley removed herself to inside the cave and was soon followed by Donald. Taking a seat beside her, Donald let out an enormous sigh.

  "Shouldn't you get back and get some supplies for tonight? I dare say it won't be too warm out here."

  "I will, I will, just give me a moment. Flippin' knackered Hayley. Anyway sorry to have to split Tommy and you. Think you have him well and truly caught." Hayley blushed. "I don't blame him. And thank you. We really needed your help. It's a heck of a risk you are taking. There's been too many people hurt already."

  "And too many animals. Thanks Donald, you've been a real friend to Tink. What made you look after her in the first place? I mean why go to all that trouble?"

  "Why are you here? Same reason. Right thing to do. And now I'm so deep in, I have to see it through. But it's easier when friends are with you."

  "You realise it could be a week before Tink swims off. I don't think she'll leave the shallows until she is fit."

  "Then we'd better get some sort of accommodation. Did you see any shielings around here?"