Ellie and the Secret Potion

by Gillian Shields

  As Holly was frowning with concentration, the biggest tern struggled bravely to his feet. He bowed shakily to the mermaids. His feathers were streaked with sludgy oil.

  “My name is Kai,” he said faintly as the mermaids listened eagerly. “These are my sisters, Ava and Skyla. Will you really help us with this mermaid potion?”

  Ellie looked at Holly with pleading eyes. Holly flashed back a sympathetic smile. “We’re going to do our best, Kai,” she said. “But how did this happen to you?”

  “We had been flying a long way,” he replied, “riding the paths of the wind back to our island home, near these rocks. My sisters became tired, so they landed on the sea. I tried to pull them back from the danger, but we were all caught in the mess!”

  “Try not to worry,” said Ellie, in a soothing voice. “We’ll make the potion somehow.”

  “Thank you,” said Kai gratefully. “But we are cold, so cold, even in this sun. My sisters were harmed more than I was. They are getting weak. You must make them warm—before it is too late. Please save them if you can!”

  Chapter Four

  “The crystals!” said Ellie, with a snap of her fingers. “They are full of life, light, and power. Maybe they will comfort Skyla and Ava until we can clean their feathers?”

  “Oh, Ellie, you’re so smart,” beamed Lucy. “Let’s hope it works.”

  The mermaids quickly set their crystals in a circle around Kai and his sisters. Glittering light shot out from the magical crystals, like a ring of dazzling fire. It filled everyone with warmth and hope.

  “Thank you, mermaids,” sighed Kai. “That’s better.”

  Then Ellie and her friends looked expectantly at Holly, who had a faraway look on her face.

  “Wait a minute, I’m thinking …” Holly squinted her eyes as she thought hard. “Hang on, I’ve almost got it … Yes! I’m sure I know what to do.”

  The friends listened carefully to Holly’s hurried explanations.

  “We’ll have to search quickly for the things we need. The most difficult one to collect will be the special, secret ingredient that has to go into the potion. My mom told me about it once.”

  “Ooh—what’s the secret ingredient?” asked the mermaids. This sounded like a touch of mermaid magic!

  “We need a pearl given by the oyster who has grown it inside his shell,” Holly replied. “But it will be hard to persuade an oyster to give his pearl away. Pearls take a long time to grow, so they are very precious.”

  “That won’t be hard for me,” said Scarlett bossily. “I’ll tell the oysters it’s an emergency. They’ll have to give me a pearl. I’ll go and get one for you.” She started to uncurl her shimmering tail.

  “Wait, Scarlett,” said Holly quickly. “Perhaps it would be better if Ellie or one of the others went with you?”

  Scarlett looked annoyed.

  “Do you think I can’t manage to get a pearl on my own?” she said angrily. “I’ll show you!”

  “Oh, Scarlett, please be polite and friendly to the oysters …,” Ellie started to say. But Scarlett dived deep into the waves and sped away without waiting to listen.

  The mermaids looked at each other helplessly.

  “Let’s hope she can find one,” said Holly. “We’ll have to collect all the other ingredients without Scarlett. But shouldn’t someone stay with Kai and his sisters, and guard the crystals?”

  “I’ll do that,” said Lucy unselfishly. “I don’t mind staying behind.”

  Ellie thanked Lucy, then stroked Kai tenderly.

  “We’ll be back soon,” she whispered.

  Ellie, Holly, Sophie, and Misty dived like an arching rainbow into the sea, calling their thrilling rescue cry, Mermaid S.O.S.! The race to make the potion had begun.

  “Do you see those sandy spots over there?” said Holly, swiftly leading the way. “That’s where we’re heading.”

  “What will we find there?” asked the others.

  “Shells!” she grinned. “They’ll make the mixture strong to scrub off the oil.”

  The mermaids soon found themselves in the shallow waves near a sandy shore. Sparkling over the sand like a sprinkling of pink diamonds were hundreds and hundreds of tiny shells. A large yellow starfish was basking in the warm water that lapped gently against the beach.

  “Greetings, Madame Starfish,” said Ellie.

  The starfish beckoned the mermaids over with her waving arms.

  “How can I help you, my dears?” she said in a friendly voice.

  “We’d like some of these shells,” explained Holly, “but we don’t know if that’s allowed.”

  “Do they belong to anyone?” asked Misty.

  “No, my dear,” replied the starfish, settling comfortably on the sand like a plump cushion. “These shells were left behind long ago by the creatures that lived in them. Some of them have even been crushed by the waves. You can help yourselves.”

  Ellie and her friends thankfully filled their pouches with fragments of shells that glinted like slivers of glass.

  “Are you making mermaid necklaces?” asked the starfish.

  “Not today,” smiled Ellie. “We’re doing something much more important.”

  “Oh, and what would that be …?” the starfish began to ask, but the mermaids had already dived back into the blue waves, calling out gratefully, “Thank you! Good-bye!”

  “Well!” bubbled the funny five-armed creature. “They were in a hurry! It’s made me feel very tired. I think I’ll just snuggle under this sand for a little nap …”

  The mermaids were already racing along to find the next ingredient. It was like a treasure hunt, only it wasn’t a game. The friends were determined to find everything they needed as quickly as possible. They dived to the seabed like bright shooting stars.

  “We should be able to find the types of seaweed that we need,” said Holly. “Look! Those green and yellow ones right down there are just right for the secret recipe.”

  Ellie sped downward and stretched out her hand to pick a yellow frond from a bushy mound. But the next moment she let out a scream. The seaweed had spoken!

  “What’s all this, what’s all this?” said a shrill little voice. “Who do you think you’re grabbing ahold of?”

  “I’m … er … sorry,” stammered Ellie, hurriedly letting go of the frond she had been clutching. “Am I going crazy, Holly? That piece of seaweed just talked to me!”

  Holly laughed kindly. “That’s because it’s a sea dragon!”

  “Oh, of course,” said Ellie. “I beg your pardon, Mr. Dragon.”

  Ellie and the others stared hard at the swaying mass of green and yellow, until they could make out the shape of a slim pipe fish. He had wavy flaps branching out from his body that were exactly the same color as the plant where he lived. He looked just like a tiny dragon. Holly quickly told him what they were looking for.

  “We need to take some of these fronds, if you don’t mind,” she said, “but I promise we won’t try to take you again.”

  “That’s all right then,” the sea dragon squeaked. “Gather as much as you need, just make sure you leave me behind!”

  The mermaids thanked him politely. Then they shot away with a ripple of their glistening tails, clutching thick, juicy bunches of seaweed. It was just right to make the pearly potion.

  “I wonder how Scarlett is doing,” said Ellie, as the mermaids surged up to the sunny surface.

  “So do I,” replied Holly. “If she doesn’t get the pearl, all our efforts will be wasted.”

  “Let’s not worry about that yet,” said Sophie cheerfully. “What are we looking for now?”

  “It’s right here in front of us,” said Holly. “Fresh seafoam from the rolling waves!”

  The others looked in surprise at the frothy bubbles that were churned up by the wind and tides.

  “But how are we going to carry it?” puzzled Misty. “It will just slip through our hands.”

  It was a big problem. Ellie shut her eyes and tried to
think of what to do. But then she heard something overhead. She opened her eyes hastily and glanced up at the bright blue sky.

  “Look!” she exclaimed. “I think help is near, after all. Can you see what I see?”

  Chapter Five

  Ellie pointed to where a family of pelicans was flying above them, chattering and calling to each other.

  “Hi there.” She waved frantically. “It’s an emergency! Please stop!”

  The kind pelicans glided down to the mermaids, who explained what had happened.

  “Fairy terns, you say?” clucked the mother pelican. “Of course we’ll help them. It’ll only take us a minute to carry this foam for you.”

  The pelicans scooped beakfuls of the creamy foam into their large pinkish-yellow bills. Then they flew to where Lucy and the birds were waiting, followed by the plucky mermaids darting through the waves. Ellie noticed that the sun had begun to fade. In the distance, the magical circle of light from the crystals glowed against the darkening sky. At last, the mermaids reached the seaweed-covered rocks.

  “We’re back, Kai,” called Ellie. “We’ve got everything we were looking for.”

  “Thank you,” whispered Kai, as he lay with his damaged wings protecting his shivering sisters.

  “But we still haven’t got the pearl,” muttered Holly. “Where could Scarlett have gone?”

  “Let’s do what we can while we’re waiting for her,” said Ellie.

  So Holly showed her friends how to shred the seaweed into pieces. The pelicans emptied their cargo of foam onto the fresh green mound, then flew away with the mermaids’ grateful thanks. Last of all, the crushed shells were added to the mixture.

  “But it doesn’t look anything like the pearly potion,” said Ellie, as she stirred it doubtfully.

  “Don’t worry, it isn’t finished yet,” said Holly. “We still need Scarlett to bring the secret ingredient.”

  Just then Scarlett’s angry red face bobbed up from under the waves.

  “Those horrible little oysters!” she said. “They wouldn’t give me one measly pearl. I told them that they had to, but they refused!”

  “… er, Scarlett,” said Ellie, “did you ask them nicely?”

  “I didn’t have time,” she snapped. “I told them I was on a very important mission. That should have made them hand one over right away. But they wouldn’t!”

  “It might have been better if you’d said ‘please,’” said Lucy quietly.

  Everyone looked at her in surprise. It wasn’t like Lucy to speak up. Scarlett was just about to say something bad-tempered to Lucy, when she noticed all the mermaids looking at her with disappointed faces.

  “So we won’t be able to make the potion after all,” Ellie murmured. She stroked the terns sadly. Scarlett began to feel ashamed of herself. She looked away and hung her head.

  “I’m sorry,” she said in a small voice. “I see now that I said all the wrong things. Oh, Lucy, would you go and ask the oysters to give us the pearl? And you too, Ellie? I’m sorry that I spoiled our chance of getting one for the potion.”

  The mermaids had never heard Scarlett say “sorry” to anyone before!

  “Of course we will, Scarlett,” said Ellie, squeezing her hand. “I know you tried your best. It’s easy to make mistakes. But it’s much harder to say sorry, like you’ve just done. Thank you.”

  Scarlett looked a little bit happier.

  “Tell the oysters that I’m sorry,” she said. “I mean, please tell them.”

  “We will,” said Ellie and Lucy. “Wish us luck! We’ll come back as quickly as we can, Kai.”

  They dived together through the clear blue water. The rocks that they had been sitting on were really the tips of some underwater hills. All sorts of colorful sponges and bright seaweed grew on their sides. Tiny bright fish darted about. Ellie and Lucy swirled their sparkling tails and dived down farther to the oyster beds. They wanted to find the pearl as quickly as possible.

  The mermaids soon saw lots of little oysters nestled on the sandy seabed. Their curved shells gleamed a lovely silvery color. Ellie and Lucy hovered next to them.

  “Excuse me … er … dear oysters,” Ellie said nervously. “If you don’t mind, we came to ask you about your pearls.” A hundred oyster shells opened, and a hundred angry little oysters glared at the mermaids.

  “HANDS OFF OUR PEARLS!” they shouted. The oyster shells snapped shut. Ellie tried again.

  “But we only need one to help our friends Kai, Skyla, and Ava,” she said.

  The oyster shells opened a tiny crack.

  “That bossy mermaid with the shiny red tail said we had to give her all our pearls.” Then they suddenly closed tight!

  “She didn’t really mean that,” said Lucy quickly. “Don’t think badly of her. She wants us to tell you that she’s sorry for being bossy.”

  One by one, the little oysters opened their shells and peeped out.

  “Apology accepted,” they said. “But we still won’t give our pearls away. They take a very long time to grow.”

  “We know your pearls are very precious,” said Ellie patiently. “We wouldn’t ask you to give us one just for ourselves.”

  “What’s it for then?” asked the biggest oyster suspiciously.

  “It’s to make pearly potion for some fairy terns who are covered in oil,” Ellie replied. “Mantora tricked the humans into spilling oil into the sea by getting her sea serpents to smash their boat against the tall rock.”

  “Humph!” said the oysters. “We don’t trust that greedy old Mantora, or her ugly sea serpents. She’d love to steal all our pearls if she could.”

  “We’re doing our best to fight Mantora and her greediness,” said Ellie. “Could you bear to part with a single pearl to help us? Then the birds will be able to fly in the sky again.”

  The oysters seemed to huddle together, whispering to each other. After a few moments, a little oyster at the front opened his shell widely and spoke up.

  “Do you mean there really is a SKY?” said the little oyster. “Is it all big and blue and high up? We’ve heard about it, but we’ve never seen it. We always live down here, you know. If you take me to see the sky, I’ll give you my pearl.”

  “Of course we will,” smiled Ellie. “We’ll gladly give you a ride to see the sky.”

  All the oysters cheered as Ellie lifted up the little one and set him on her shoulder.

  “HOORAY FOR OLLIE!” they shouted. “He’s going to see the SKY!”

  Then Ellie and Lucy flicked their shining tails and headed for the surface. The sunlight from the overwater world made the water glow as the mermaids raced to join their friends. They had succeeded in finding a pearl after all. Now Ellie would soon find out if the secret ingredient really would work.

  Chapter Six

  The mermaids all fussed over the little oyster, as Ellie and Lucy gently placed him on the rocks.

  “Thank you for coming,” said Scarlett shyly.

  Ollie gazed up at the sky. It was a beautiful greeny-blue, streaked with a red sunset.

  “Ooooh!” he said. “There really is a sky after all. It’s so big and high. And so many colors! It’s the most … splendiferous … thing I’ve ever seen. Of course you can have a pearl. I’d have given TEN pearls to see this!”

  He seemed to huff and puff for a few seconds. Then a perfect pearl popped out of his shell onto the rock. It was exactly what the mermaids needed.

  “Now if you’d kindly take me home,” said Ollie, “I want to tell the other oysters all about the big sky. And I need to start growing another pearl immediately. That’s what we oysters love doing best. Good-bye! I hope the terns get better!”

  Lucy smiled and picked him up carefully. Then she dived into the water to take the little oyster home.

  Ellie dropped the pearl into the mixture as Holly stirred it. Then something amazing happened. A shimmering haze rose up, like a soft white cloud. When the pearly cloud disappeared, the mixture had changed. Instead of being
a green sticky mess, it was a rich pearly potion. The secret magic of the pearl had transformed it.

  “Holly, you’re a star!” cried Ellie. She gently rubbed the pearly cream all over Kai, while the others began cleaning his sisters. The dirty oil soon melted away like a bad dream. By the time Lucy came back from the oyster bed, Kai’s beautiful white feathers gleamed brightly. He wasn’t a shabby creature anymore, but a dazzling fairy tern. Ava and Skyla stood next to him, shining and graceful.

  Kai nuzzled his beak against Ellie’s hand in thanks. The air was full of the birds’ happy cries. The magic circle of light from the crystals leapt high like a ring of fireworks, as the white terns flew joyfully into the evening sky.

  “Hurray!” the mermaids laughed.

  “How can we thank you, Ellie?” said Kai, as he swooped around her. “You have saved our lives.”

  “Really?” said Ellie, with starry eyes.

  “Really and truly,” replied Ava and Skyla. “If you or your friends ever need the bird folk, just call and help will come. We know you delayed your journey to Coral Kingdom so that you could save us.”

  Coral Kingdom! Everyone at home would be waiting for them. The mermaids quickly packed the bright crystals away and started to think about the journey ahead. But as Ellie hid her crystal carefully, she was still worried about the oil patch. What if other birds landed on it? As she was closing her pouch, the albatross flew overhead.

  “Thank you for all your help, mermaids,” he cried. “And I bring good news. The humans who spilled the oil from their boat are sending a rescue team to clean it up.”

  “I never knew humans did anything like that,” said Ellie. “I’m so glad.”

  “So am I,” said Lucy quietly. “I think that some of the humans love the sea as much as we do.”

  “But we don’t want any humans to find us here, even if they do care for the sea. It’s time to go,” said Misty.