Rise of the Jumbies

by Tracey Baptiste

  Corinne waited for more information, but none was coming. There are plenty of rocks here, she said.

  Mama D’Leau took a deep breath, sucking in water and blowing it out through gills at the side of her neck. You are no fool, she said. Is not like any rock. Is a jewel that look like the bottom of the sea. Is a long way to get it. But you not going to have trouble getting there. She gestured to the mermaids. They can get you as far as the shore. Beyond that will call for some . . . creativity.

  Stealing, Malik said.

  No, Mama D’Leau snapped. Is my jewel. I leave it behind a long time ago.

  If I knew exactly what it looked like, it would be easier to get, Corinne said, forcing herself not to smile. She was getting the hang of asking without asking.

  It’s a little smaller than this, Mama D’Leau said. She made a fist and brought it to Corinne’s face. And you will know it when you see it. She slithered closer, pressing against Corinne with her scaly tail. Corinne’s skin prickled and she tensed. She got another close look at the tiny silver fish, blue crabs, orange starfish, and something that resembled an underwater caterpillar crawling in and out of Mama D’Leau’s braided hair as the jumbie leaned in with her sharp, shining teeth close to Corinne’s ear. But you right that it won’t be easy. Maybe you will need more help. The jumbie peered at Corinne. Open your mouth.

  Bouki and Dru shut their own lips tight. Only Malik nodded at Corinne. She did as she was told.

  Mama D’Leau hummed deep in her throat again. She put both hands on Corinne’s face and looked into her throat. She pulled off one of her scales and put it on Corinne’s tongue. It dissolved like salt. Mama D’Leau took two more and put them in Corinne’s ears. That should do it, she said. And don’t let the mermaids get out of the water. Make sure they come back. You hear? You will pay if they don’t. With that, Mama D’Leau left with her tail trailing behind.

  Now what? Bouki demanded.

  The mermaid nearest to Corinne smiled. I know your grand-père, she whispered.

  I understand you! Corinne said.

  Of course, the mermaid answered. Why wouldn’t you?

  I didn’t understand when you were talking before, Corinne explained.

  We weren’t talking to you then, the silver-blue mermaid at Bouki’s side said, rolling her eyes. She turned to the other three. They think it’s nice to listen in on conversations, Sisi, she said to Corinne’s mermaid. These fish are not very smart. And look at their tails! She poked Bouki and he went pendulum-swinging again. He squeezed his eyes shut and sucked his lips into his mouth.

  Noyi, don’t, Sisi said.

  We weren’t trying to listen in, Dru said gently. It’s just that we didn’t think you spoke like us.

  Noyi rolled her eyes again.

  We speak a lot of different languages, Sisi explained.

  How do you know my grand-père? Corinne asked.

  He saved me, she said. Ready to go?

  Wait. How? Corinne asked.

  We’re going now? Dru asked. My mother is on the beach waiting.

  Won’t she wait for you to come back? her mermaid asked.

  Yes, but—

  Then you will see her again. Don’t worry.

  How do you know my grand-père? Corinne asked again.

  How are we getting there? Bouki asked. Are you going to carry us or something?

  Carry you! Noyi said. Maybe Addie and Ellie can carry the little ones, but a big whale like you will have to swim!

  The mermaids near Malik and Dru giggled.

  Mama D’Leau will bend a current for us to follow, said Sisi. She said that we were going home. Only, I don’t know what she’s talking about, she added. She picked at a shimmering gold scale on her hip.

  What do you mean you don’t know what she’s talking about? Bouki asked.

  Don’t worry. We will figure it out, said Sisi.

  What kind of plan is this? Bouki asked. They don’t know where they’re going, and we don’t know how to get this jewel when we get there. We make better plans than this, don’t we, brother?

  Malik nodded.

  What if this doesn’t work out? Corinne asked.

  Sisi swam even closer. Then you better not come back.

  12

  Light in the Dark

  What little light remained in the sky filtered through layers of water and glinted off the mermaids’ scales so they looked like constellations. Sisi touched Corinne’s hand, and everything burst into color. She pulled away in surprise, and it all went dark again.

  If I don’t hold your hand, I can’t take you, Sisi said. She took Corinne’s hand again and the seafloor lit up. Even the dull sand looked like it was covered with tiny colored jewels.

  It’s beautiful, Corinne said.

  What is? Dru asked. It’s too dark to see much.

  Can’t they see what I can? Corinne asked Sisi. How are you doing that?

  I’m not doing anything, Sisi said. You are. It’s not working for them.

  Dru, Bouki, and Malik were brighter than Corinne had ever seen them. The brown tones of their skin glowed orange, red, and purple in some places. Their nails were pink as seashells, and their hair drifted around them in dozens of shades of black and brown.

  Amazing, Corinne whispered.

  What? Dru asked again.

  You’re so bright, Corinne said. It’s like you light up in the dark.

  I can hardly see you, Dru said.

  Must be a jumbie thing, grumbled Bouki.

  Corinne’s stomach flipped as if she had suddenly been turned upside down by his words. But he was right. She was different from the others. Her mermaid pulled her along. Sisi’s hand was so cold it was like holding on to a block of ice. It made Corinne’s fingers numb, but she hardly noticed. Corinne could now see that each mermaid had subtle patterns in her tail. The gold stripe on Ellie was made up of varying metallic shades. Noyi’s tail was covered in spiral whorls in every imaginable shade of blue. Sisi’s yellow tail contained intricate patterns of green, red, brown, and orange.

  The mermaids took them past fields of coral, bright as flower gardens. A leatherback turtle looked up at them as they passed. Something even larger and slower lumbered in the distance. When the mermaid got close enough, Corinne held out her hand and brushed the rough skin of a kind-looking grayish-blue creature.

  What is it? Corinne asked.

  Don’t these fish know anything? asked Noyi.

  They’re not like us, said Addie, as she tugged Malik along. They’ve probably never seen one before.

  One what? Bouki asked.

  A manatee, Noyi said.

  You mean there are things swimming right around us? he asked.

  What are you called? Sisi asked Corinne.

  Corinne quickly introduced herself and her friends.

  Why do we need to know each other’s names? Noyi said. She adjusted Bouki in the crook of her arm. We are your transportation. That is already a very undignified thing to be. We’re not going to be your friends too.

  Why not? Ellie and Dru asked together. Then they looked at each other with surprise and giggled.

  If you like them so much, here, you can carry mine, Noyi said. She tossed Bouki toward Ellie and stopped swimming. Bouki began to gasp as if he suddenly needed to breathe. His eyes opened wide, and he tried to swim for the surface.

  Brother! Malik called out.

  Corinne pulled away from Sisi, and instantly, she also began to gasp for air.

  Sisi rolled her eyes and caught Corinne again. Then she doubled back for Bouki and tossed him to Noyi, who was flipping her tail as though watching Bouki drown was no concern of hers. Bouki seemed fine once he was with Noyi again. This time, he held tight to her arm.

  Noyi grinned. Hear how quiet the sea is now?

  Ellie and Addie smiled, but didn�
�t really seem to enjoy her joke.

  How long will it take to get there? Corinne asked.

  I don’t know, Sisi said.

  Sisi moved closer to the surface under a mass of floating plants in shades of yellow and orange. Corinne caught clumps of it between her fingers.

  Sargassum, the mermaid explained. She slipped some into her mouth. Tasty. She held a piece toward Corinne. Corinne smiled and shook her head.

  A thin curving line, a paler shade of blue than the surrounding water, appeared in front of them. What’s that?

  The current, Sisi said. That’s the path Mama D’Leau made for us to follow.

  Corinne started to ask another question, but Sisi turned to Noyi, Addie, and Ellie and said something in their watery language. Addie hummed a low, long note, then Ellie and the others joined in with harmonies that rose and crashed. Their music was soothing, and Corinne’s eyes began to grow heavy. Her friends’ bodies went limp, and their heads drooped as they fell asleep. The last things Corinne remembered from that night were the sargassum that thinned and gave way to the vast navy blue sea, and the shadows on the very edges of her vision that darted, dipped, turned, and twisted as if they were testing the boundaries around the mermaids.

  Every moment, the shadows inched closer.

  13

  Shadows in the Sea

  The mermaids’ singing tapered off once the children were all asleep. Sisi held on to the last note as it flowed out to sea and bounced off something moving in the distance. A feeling of dread vibrated through her body, beginning at her belly and extending to the tips of her tail and the top of her head. Mama had created the current to take them all the way to whatever home it was she said they would know. They were to stick to the current. They would be safe inside it. But she never said anything about creatures that might encroach on them. She never told them what they should do if something went wrong. Sisi’s heart fluttered in her chest. Mama D’Leau would not have sent them if she thought they would be harmed.

  Sisi swam faster anyway.

  These people-fish are twitchy, Noyi said, readjusting Bouki in her arms.

  This one’s making noises, Addie said, giggling.

  Just hold them tight, Sisi said.

  Nothing will happen, Ellie said. Mama said—

  Mama is not here, said Sisi. I don’t even hear her song. Do you? Sisi felt the bodies of her sister mermaids stiffen and they moved faster, too.

  The low moan of a whale rang through the water. It dove into deep notes and rose again to midrange tones like a mournful song. A higher moan answered it—a baby—mimicking the undulating sounds of its mother and adding its own variation. A moment later, the mermaids came upon the graceful mammals, moving gently through the water despite their large size. Their crusty heads and dark gray bodies glided past. The mother barely noticed the mermaids, but the little whale, longer than Noyi, turned and gave them a wide-eyed glance.

  Addie and Ellie hummed a harmony of mournful notes and caught the baby’s attention. It came toward them.

  It’s only a whale family, Ellie said. They’re friendly.

  Sisi didn’t feel better. She went ahead as the others swam in looping twists with the young whale until its mother let out a long resonant note that recalled the baby to her side. Sisi felt something pressing in. She looked back to hurry her sisters, but they had slipped out of the stream in their game with the whale. As the current pulled Sisi, they were being left behind. What are you doing? Get back in the current!

  Noyi looked surprised. She grabbed her sisters one at a time and tried to swing them back into the path of the stream, but they were too far out. Sisi set her jaw and swam out of the stream toward them.

  We have to get back, she said. Your games will knock us off course.

  What are you so worried about? Noyi asked. Nothing happened. Mama’s current is right—

  Long, bright red tentacles rose up in front of the mermaids like stalks. The tentacles twisted as they rose, showing white undersides covered with hundreds of suckers that opened and closed like mouths, each one independent of its neighbors. The tentacles waved like an eyeless horde searching for food. Sisi flipped her fin in the other direction, trying to stop, but she was moving too fast. Instead, she tumbled head over tail and just missed one thick, blistering red tentacle that had popped up a few feet in front of her face. Each tentacle was at least as thick as Mama D’Leau’s tail and much longer. Beneath them, the body of the squid was still hidden in the shadowy depths.

  Keep back, Sisi told the others, but the tentacles had already sensed the mermaids’ movement in the water and were reaching toward them.

  The mermaids angled backward to avoid the waving arms of the squid. Noyi dove, while Addie and Ellie split in opposite directions. The squid moved toward the other three, so Sisi couldn’t see her sisters past the probing tentacles. She surged forward and bumped into Addie, knocking Corinne and Malik together. Sisi and Addie untangled the children’s limbs and moved again as one tentacle wiggled toward them. This time Sisi twisted down and around as Addie went up.

  She could see the entire bulk of the beast now. It was as long as the mama whale and thicker. Its head pointed like a spear toward Sisi as its tentacles waved above. Its large black eyes looked right through her, but its body remained still, as if waiting to pounce. Behind her, Ellie screamed. One of the tentacles had wrapped around her tail. She held Dru away from her body, looking for someone to pass her to. Addie and Noyi dodged the other suckers, pulling Malik’s and Bouki’s arms out of the way of danger as they tried to reach Ellie. But with the children to carry, the mermaids weren’t as agile as usual. Noyi passed Bouki to Addie and managed to navigate the field of tentacles to get to Ellie. She tried to pry Ellie loose. Sisi dove and rammed herself into the squid’s rubbery body. She bounced off and turned for another attack. The squid reached for her. Sisi stopped short and changed direction. Corinne’s head bounced and lolled. As Sisi turned, she saw Noyi pull Ellie out of the squid’s grip. But glittering scales and dark red blood trailed behind them.

  What if we dropped these fish to distract it? Noyi suggested.

  They will drown, Sisi said.

  Not if the squid eats them first, Noyi replied.

  Leave them with me, Ellie said. I can’t go fast anyway. She pressed her hand against the bleeding gash in her tail. I’ll swim for the current. You lead it away and then come back.

  Ellie’s blood was sure to attract other predators. You have to get back to the current fast, said Sisi. You will never survive alone.

  Ellie scooped the children in her arms and aimed for the current. Sisi darted ahead of the other two mermaids, dodging tentacles as the squid reached up for them. When they were far enough out, Sisi doubled back with Addie. Noyi hung back and punched the squid a couple of times before she moved on. The squid released black ink and darted off. As the water cleared, Sisi, Noyi, and Addie spotted a shiver of sharks closing in on Ellie and the children.

  All three moved as fast as they could, but it was too late. Corinne woke up. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in a scream. The vibration distracted a couple of the smaller sharks, but the largest continued to follow Ellie.

  Sisi lowered her head and moved like a dart through the water. Corinne took a slingshot from the pocket of Bouki. She used it to launch something at the shark. The beast whipped off in another direction. Sisi got close enough to pull Corinne and Dru from Ellie. The other mermaids took Bouki and Malik, leaving Ellie to swim on her own. Blood still flowed from her tail in a steady stream.

  The shark came around again. This time, Corinne pulled a piece of coral from Sisi’s hair and hoisted the slingshot. She waited for the shark to get closer. It closed its eyes and opened its jaws. Rows of white teeth stuck out of its pink gums. Corinne fired and hit it right at the tip of the nose. The beast thrashed and missed them completely. It turned and disappeare
d like the others.

  Sisi carried the children to Mama D’Leau’s stream, where the water pulled them along faster than they could swim. Mama had been right. In here, they were safe. The force of the faster water shook Bouki awake. He stretched and turned as much as Noyi allowed him to, then he looked at Ellie.

  What happened to her? he asked.

  14

  The Empty Waves

  When the wave rolled back into the sea, Pierre worked to catch his breath and find his footing. He looked for Corinne among those who had been knocked flat and were covered in salty mud. He raced around, picking people out of the muck and moving on with disappointment each time he didn’t see his daughter’s face. Panic burned his chest. He called her name. Hugo ran into the waves, grabbing at the water, so Pierre followed him. That was when he realized that the boys were missing as well. On shore, Mrs. Rootsingh dug at the wet sand. All four of them were gone.

  Victor waved everyone toward the boats. “The jumbie has them in the water,” he called out. “Let’s go find them.” Boats moved out while grim-faced men and women walked the beach for the second time in two days.

  As Pierre clambered into his boat with Hugo and Mrs. Rootsingh, he felt pinpricks of loss puncturing his heart. It had been like that when he lost Corinne’s mama. He said “Nicole” so softly that the wind pulled it from his lips and carried it out to the waves where no one else heard it.

  Some of the other fishermen threw spears into the water or dove in with their hooks, ready to fight, but the waves were empty. Pierre, Hugo, and Mrs. Rootsingh settled into a cascading call, echoing the names of their children. They reached into the waves many times but gathered nothing but seawater that rolled off their arms like tears.

  When the last brushes of light disappeared and the water had given up nothing but hopelessness, Pierre turned toward shore. But the waves became violent. They pitched and turned the boats. People were thrown into the waves. Some boats flipped. Others were torn apart at the joints. The sea seemed to be fighting them, and there was no way to win against the sea.