by Liz Kessler
“It sounds incredible,” I said.
“It does. You have to go!” Aaron said. Then he grabbed my hand and whispered, “Even though I’ll miss you like crazy.”
“Me too,” I whispered back.
Dad looked at Mom. “It does sound romantic,” he said.
Mom did that gooey smile back at Dad that she does sometimes. “It really does.”
Which, yeah, might be nice for them. But if this was going to be some kind of second honeymoon, I didn’t really want to be the third wheel.
But maybe I didn’t have to. And perhaps I didn’t have to miss Aaron.
“Mom, Dad, can Aaron and Shona come, too?” I asked. The thought of spending a week with my two favorite people was probably the most perfect thing I could imagine.
“Two friends? I don’t know,” Mom said. “No offense, Aaron, but I thought the whole idea was that it would be a relaxing trip for me. Looking after three children doesn’t sound like much of a break.”
Aaron waved his hands in front of him. “It’s fine, honestly. Don’t worry about it,” he said.
Millie loudly cleared her throat. “Sorry, don’t mind me,” she said, thumping her chest.
“You wouldn’t have to look after us,” I said to Mom. “We’d hang out together all the time! And then you guys could be all mushy and romantic.”
Dad laughed, then kissed Mom’s cheek. “Sounds good to me,” he said.
Mom sighed. “Oh, I don’t know,” she said.
Millie coughed again, even more loudly this time. Mom turned to look at her. “You OK, Millie?”
“What, me? Oh, yes, I’m fine,” Millie replied airily. “Just a tickle.” She picked up another brochure, and as she nonchalantly flipped through it, she added, “I always get a little sick this time of year. It’s just the weather. I’ll be fine, though. Don’t worry about me. You go on with your plans.”
Mom laughed. “Millie! I thought you wanted to stay and look after the boat?”
“What? Oh, yes. That’s right. Go on with your planning. Ignore me.” She coughed once more and pulled her scarf up to cover her throat.
“I guess . . .” Dad said. “If we had a third adult there, it would be someone else to watch the kids.”
“Dad’s right,” I said to Mom. If Millie coming along meant more chance of my friends coming, too, then I was all for it. “Plus, you’d have someone to keep you company if Dad wanted to take us on any underwater trips.” I turned to Aaron. “You’d like to go out exploring beautiful, jewellike waters with Dad, wouldn’t you?”
Aaron’s eyes were wide. “Errr, yes!”
“That is a good point,” Mom agreed. She turned to Millie. “OK, Millie, do you want to come?”
Millie slammed down her brochure and pulled her scarf off her neck. “Count me in,” she said, beaming. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Dad laughed. “Right,” he said. “I’ll talk to Shona’s parents. Aaron, ask your mom. If everyone agrees to it, then yes, all right, we’ll book it.”
I squeezed Aaron’s hand as he got up to leave. “Hope she says yes,” I said.
“She will,” Aaron replied. “I’ll make sure.”
I looked at the pictures again as Dad and Aaron left. It looked so beautiful. The perfect place to do what Shona had said and “swill out.” A week of doing nothing. No adventures, no mysteries, no anything. Just lying around in the sunshine, swimming whenever we felt like it, and not having a care in the world.
It was going to be the most perfect week of my life.
Wow — look at it!” Shona said. All around us was nothing but twinkling turquoise water, stretching out as far as the eye could see.
I could hardly believe it had all happened so quickly. The hotel had some cheap deals since it was a last-minute booking. Shona’s and Aaron’s parents had agreed, and now we were really here. Majesty Island.
Mom had spoken to the hotel manager. He had never met a mermaid or merman in real life, but he’d read about sightings of merpeople and was totally open to us coming. He even put us in a couple of the rooms that had underwater caves directly below them.
And here we were. In paradise.
Our rooms were little cottages on stilts in the water. Each one had its own balcony, and below the deck of our balconies were the underwater caves the hotel had told us about. We could dive off and swim straight down into the caves.
Aaron had one room, with Dad staying in the cave below it. I had another with Shona in the cave below mine, and Mom and Millie were sharing a third one next to mine, with an adjoining door in between.
I was sitting on my balcony now, toes dangling over the edge as Shona swam below me. Little steps led straight into the water, which was so clear I could see the rocky formation of Shona’s cave underneath.
“Want to explore?” Shona asked with a smile.
I laughed. “Do you?”
She made a face at me. “Look at it. Of course I do!”
“OK, let’s do it,” I said, stepping back into my room. I threw my bag on the bed and opened it. “I’ll get my swimming stuff !”
Just then, there was a knock at my door.
“It’s open!” I called.
A second later, the door opened, and Aaron came in. He took my hand and pulled me back outside to the balcony. “Look at this place!” he exclaimed.
“I know. Beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Like you,” Aaron said and squeezed my hand.
I laughed. Mainly to hide my embarrassment. I mean, I liked him saying things like that, but I didn’t want Shona to feel left out by it. She had a boyfriend, too, but he worked for Neptune, and she hardly ever got to see him.
“Do you two just want to be together?” Shona asked.
I pulled my hand away from Aaron’s. “No! Of course not.” I turned to Aaron. “We were just about to go out swimming,” I said. “You coming?”
“Yeah!” Aaron looked between me and Shona. “I mean, as long as you don’t mind?”
“Of course we don’t,” Shona assured him. “Just get a move on!”
“Two minutes!” Aaron called over his shoulder as he left the room. “See you in there.”
I couldn’t help feeling a tiny flicker of worry. Had I done the right thing bringing them both? I didn’t want to spend the whole week feeling torn between the two of them.
I went back inside to change. I’d bought a new bathing suit for the trip, so once I turned into a mermaid in the water, my top half would be as sparkly as my tail.
After going back outside, I slid off the balcony and joined Shona in the water. It folded around me like warm caramel, and I instantly stopped worrying about anything else.
My toes went numb, then my feet. Then my legs stiffened up. Finally, they disappeared altogether. In their place, a purple-and-green tail splashed on the surface of the water, sprinkling a rainbow arc of droplets around me.
As I dived under the surface, I got that feeling it gave me every single time.
I was home.
The three of us sliced through the water together, exploring the rocky caves below us and darting through skinny tunnels. We swam to the surface and floated on our backs as we gazed at the beauty surrounding us.
“Which do you think is bluer?” I asked. “The ocean or the sky?”
“Ocean,” Aaron replied.
“Sky,” Shona said at the same moment.
I laughed. “They’re both stunning, either way,” I said. Then I flipped over and dived under the surface again.
Even the sea life here seemed particularly serene and beautiful. A small group of thin fish with pastel pink blobs on their bodies and yellow markings around their eyes like makeup drifted by with the slightest flick of their tails.
A bright purple fish with a white stripe across its back and a big, black, open mouth glided alongside us. Reeds waved so gently below us it was as if time had slowed them down.
It was perfect. Every part of it. And as the three of us swam and play
ed and explored the day away, I knew that we wouldn’t have a single worry all week.
I woke to the sound of water lapping gently against the deck outside my room. It was the second day of the vacation, and we’d agreed to meet on Mom and Millie’s balcony for breakfast. All the hotel’s meals were buffet-style, and they had said we could take our food and eat together in our room.
I chose some cereal and fruit and grabbed a drink and some bits and pieces off the deli counter in the dining room to take to Mom and Millie’s room.
“Tea?” Millie asked as I joined the others on the balcony. She was opening a tin full of teabags as the kettle came to the boil. “Brought my own,” she explained. “I couldn’t go a whole week without my Earl Grey.”
“I’m fine with my orange juice, thanks,” I said as I pulled out a chair.
“Now that we’re all here,” Mom said, getting up and quickly going inside. “Look what I got.”
She came back out with an armful of leaflets. After spreading half of them across the table, she handed the other half to Dad to share with Shona. They were both perched on the balcony, their tails dangling over the side into the water.
Aaron and I looked through the leaflets on the table. There were boat trips, island tours, nature walks — all sorts of activities. “We could do a different thing every day,” I murmured.
“Not sure how Shona and I would do with mini golf,” Dad said, laughing.
I picked up a leaflet for “The Falls of Forgotten Island.” The front page had a picture of a small island with a mountain in the middle of it, stretching way up into the sky. A massive, white, frothing waterfall crashed all the way down the side of the island.
The picture showed a bright yellow boat in a still stretch of water at the base of the waterfall. Along the bottom of the leaflet, in bright yellow letters that matched the boat, it said: “Visit the recently discovered Forgotten Island and its magical waterfall. Daily trips with Majesty Tours throughout the year.”
I held the leaflet out to Mom. “That looks pretty awesome.”
Mom glanced across at it. “Gosh. Doesn’t it?”
Millie plonked herself down next to Mom and looked over her shoulder. “Ooh,” she said with a loud slurp of her tea. “Count me in for that one.”
“How about you guys go on the boat trip?” Dad suggested. “I could take Shona on a species-spotting trip along the seabed?”
I caught Shona’s eye. She didn’t look thrilled at the idea, and I didn’t want her to feel left out, especially on the first day.
“I won’t go,” I said.
Shona frowned. “You have to go. It looks totally swishy.”
I thought for a moment. “Come with us!” I said.
Millie flipped the leaflet over. “Emily,” she said carefully. “You know it’s all on a boat, don’t you?”
I grinned at Shona. “You could swim along beside the boat. It’ll be fun.”
“You sure it wouldn’t be dangerous?” Mom asked. “We’re responsible for Shona while we’re away.”
“I guess I could come at least part of the way,” Shona said. “Maybe not all the way to the falls, but I could head out toward the island. Far enough to feel like I’m with you. Kind of.”
“Not ‘kind of’ at all,” I assured her. “You’ll totally be with us.”
“All right,” Dad said, giving in. “But be careful.”
“Of course,” Shona agreed.
Dad turned to Aaron. “What about you, young man?” he asked. “Boat or seabed trail?”
Aaron took a bite of his toast. “Um. I’ll go on the boat, please,” he said. Holding my hand under the table, he added more quietly, “That way, we get to spend the whole day together.”
And, yes, of course that made me feel nice. And, yes, it was what I wanted, too. But I was desperate to make sure Shona didn’t feel left out, so I shoveled a spoonful of cereal into my mouth and mumbled, “Yeah, cool, whatever,” as casually as I could.
As Mom went inside to call and book the trip, I pushed my chair away and went to sit on the deck next to Shona.
Shona shuffled over to make space so I could dangle my legs over the edge. Her mouth made a smile shape, but her eyes didn’t.
“You OK?” I asked.
“Yeah, of course,” she said in a flat voice.
“Hey. What’s up?”
“Nothing, honestly.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“OK.” Shona waved the leaflets at me. “Just, I dunno. All this,” she said. “It’s all stuff I can’t do in the same way as you. I don’t want to hold you back from enjoying your vacation.”
I laughed. “Shona, you’re my best friend. You could never do that!”
Shona frowned. “I know. I’m being silly. Sorry. I guess I thought we’d just be hanging out, not going off on trips. You, me, and Aaron, doing nothing. Like we agreed.” She gave me a pointed look. “To be honest, I don’t know if swimming across the bay to a forgotten island on my own and watching you guys enjoying yourselves on the boat is going to be all that much fun for me.”
Shona was right. We were supposed to be chilling out or swilling out or whatever. We’d agreed, and I didn’t want to let her down. I was about to say I wouldn’t go on the trip. We’d hang out doing nothing together all day when Mom came back outside.
“That’s all booked,” she said. “We meet on Paradise Quay at two thirty.”
I turned to Shona.
“Go on the trip,” she said. “I’ll stay around here or go on the seabed trail with your dad. It’s only going to be for a couple of hours.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
She nodded.
“I promise I’ll just go on this one trip, OK? Then we’ll spend the rest of the week doing nothing except soaking up the sun and the sea together.”
Shona smiled, and this time it reached her eyes. “Only if you want to.”
“Of course I want to. One trip, then it’s swishy swill time. No mysteries, no crazy adventures. No breaking our deal.”
Shona laughed. “Sounds good,” she agreed.
I grinned and gave her a big hug. Droplets of water sparkled around us as our tails flicked with excitement. Today was going to be swishy!
Ladies and gentlemen, please listen to the following safety announcement. You may move freely about the boat on our journey to Forgotten Island, but you must remain within the white lines around the edge of the deck at all times. Where possible, please hold on to the rails. We will drive as close as possible to Forgotten Island. This means that those of you who wish to view the waterfall from the deck will get wet. We are here for your enjoyment, but your safety is paramount, and we must remind you that it is not safe to go beyond the white lines. Thank you for listening, and we hope you all have a magical trip with us today.”
We pulled on the ponchos they’d given us. They looked like enormous yellow tents.
“I really like this,” Millie said, looking down at herself. To be fair, it wasn’t that different from the flowing capes she wore most of the time. “Might have to see if they’ll let me keep it.”
“Where do we want to sit?” Mom asked.
“The front!” Aaron and I said in unison.
Mom frowned. “I don’t know. It could get very slippery if it gets wet. You heard the announcement.”
Millie headed for the door that led into the cabin. “Do what you like, kids. I’ll be keeping warm and dry. See you later!”
“Think I’m going inside with Millie,” Mom said. “Promise you’ll be careful, and do what the man said. Hold the rails and stay inside the lines.”
“We will,” I assured her.
“I’ll look after her,” Aaron said as he put an arm around my shoulder.
I raised an eyebrow.
Aaron laughed. “On second thought, it’s probably more likely to be the other way around,” he added.
I laughed back.
“I mean it. Be careful, OK?” Mom insisted.
“M
om, we will.”
“I’m going to go and join Millie then. See you later.”
Aaron took my hand, and we made our way to the front deck. There were a few people there already: a young couple taking photos of each other, an elderly man pulling on his yellow poncho, and a family with two children packed in tightly between their parents.
“Here.” Aaron pointed to a space in the middle of the deck. We squeezed in and waited for the boat to start moving.
The engine suddenly revved loudly, and one of the crew members jumped aboard with a rope in hand. “Anchors away!” he shouted. “We’re off.”
After that, the engine settled into a regular “putt putt” sound as we left the dock and started sailing out into the bay. We couldn’t see Forgotten Island yet, and I leaned on the railing and looked around as we puttered along.
The sparkling blue sea deepened as we chugged out of the bay, with a clear blue sky to match it.
The engines grew louder and the water grew darker as we left the bay behind and sped up. Soon, I could see something ahead of us. It was still a speck in the distance, but as we grew closer, I recognized it from the leaflet. Forgotten Island.
All around the island, harsh, jagged cliffs rose directly from the sea, shooting upward like giant rockets. The one at the front looked white, as if it were made from chalk. A mountaintop towered behind the cliffs.
A ring of clouds encased the whole middle section of the island, the peak of the mountain poking out above it.
As we approached, I realized that the white cliff wasn’t a cliff at all. It was the waterfall. Cascading down from the top of the island and crashing into the sea below, it was the biggest, angriest thing I’d ever seen in my life. More powerful, even, than the Great Mermer Reef that protects Neptune’s prison.
“Aaron,” I whispered, clutching his arm.
“I know,” he whispered back.
The boat chugged slowly toward the island. As we drew nearer to the falls, I stopped being aware of anything else. Even the boat and my fellow passengers. Even Aaron.
Closer, closer. Bit by bit we edged forward. The nearer we got, the more I could see. The cloud shrouding the island hovered like a belt around its middle, flashing different colors as the spray from the falls shone rainbows through it.
