Not Quite a Mermaid

by Linda Chapman

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  Not Quite a Mermaid

  Mermaid Promise

  Linda Chapman lives in Leicestershire with

  her family and a Bernese mountain dog.

  When she is not writing she spends her time

  looking after her young family horse

  riding and teaching drama.

  Books by Linda Chapman

  MY SECRET UNICORN series

  NOT QUITE A MERMAID series

  STARDUST series

  UNICORN SCHOOL series

  BRIGHT LIGHTS

  CENTRE STAGE

  Not Quite a

  Mermaid

  MERMAID PROMISE

  LINDA CHAPMAN

  Illustrated by Dawn Apperley

  PUFFIN

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

  Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario,

  Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

  Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland

  (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)

  Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia

  (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)

  Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park,

  New Delhi – 110 017, India

  Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand

  (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)

  Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank,

  Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

  Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

  First published 2008

  1

  Text copyright © Linda Chapman, 2008

  Illustrations copyright © Dawn Apperley, 2008

  All rights reserved

  The moral right of the author and illustrator has been asserted

  Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

  978-0-14-191828-0

  To Amy

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter One

  Electra the mermaid swam upwards and burst through the surface of the sea. As she shook the drops of water from her eyes, a dolphin popped up beside her. It was Splash, her best friend. Electra put her arm around him and he nuzzled her happily. Seconds later Sam and Sasha, the mer-twins who lived next door to Electra and Splash, swam up through the water too.

  ‘Where shall we go now?’ Sam asked, looking around.

  They had surfaced near the coral wall that circled Mermaid Island — the island where all the merpeople lived. Electra suddenly noticed something strange. ‘The gates are open,’ she pointed out. ‘Look!’

  In the coral wall there were two mother-of-pearl gates. Usually they were kept closed but just then they were open. The two mer-men on guard — Isa and Mellick — were looking out through them, waving and smiling.

  ‘I wonder who Isa and Mellick are waving at,’ said Sasha curiously.

  ‘Let’s go and see!’ Electra exclaimed.

  She and Splash dived forward. The twins followed. As they reached the gates, Electra gasped. ‘Oh, wow!’

  Out in the deep sea, just beyond the reef, there was a group of about ten wild dolphins. They were leaping through the water.

  ‘Bottlenose dolphins — like me!’ whistled Splash.

  Although a few porpoises — a kind of small dolphin — lived with the merpeople in the sea around Mermaid Island, there weren’t any other bottlenose dolphins like Splash. Dolphins didn’t usually stay in one place for long, but Splash was different. Electra had found him stranded on a nearby island. His parents had been killed by sharks. He was too young to survive by himself and so he had come to live with Electra and her mum, Maris.

  ‘They look as if they’re having fun!’ said Sam, grinning as two of the dolphins jumped over each other and the other dolphins all clapped their flippers.

  Isa and Mellick looked round.

  ‘Hi, you lot,’ said Isa. ‘Have you come to see the dolphins? They arrived about an hour ago. They’re very friendly and I think they’re going to stay around here for a few days.’

  ‘Can I go and say hello?’ Splash asked eagerly.

  Usually the merpeople and their friends stayed out of the deep sea because dangerous creatures like sharks and electric eels sometimes lurked there. But Isa nodded. ‘You can, Splash. The sea’s safe today. There have been no shark sightings this week.’

  Splash sped like a grey arrow through the water towards the other dolphins.

  ‘I bet it’ll be fun for him saying hi to them,’ said Sam.

  Electra nodded enviously. She would have liked to go too, but she knew it was too late to catch up with Splash now. She was the slowest swimmer on Mermaid Island because she had two legs instead of a tail like all the other merpeople. This was because she had been born a human.

  The merpeople had found her floating in a boat after a storm when she was just a baby. They had decided to look after her and had given her sea powder so she could breathe underwater. Maris, a young mermaid without any children, had adopted her. Electra didn’t mind being different from the other merpeople — having legs could be quite useful at times — but she often wished she could swim faster.

  ‘It must be strange for Splash never seeing any other dolphins like him,’ said Sam.

  Electra nodded. Splash had reached the other dolphins. Some of them were diving around him and others were nuzzling him.

  ‘How long has Splash been living here now?’ Sasha asked Electra. ‘It must be about a year.’

  ‘Almost exactly,’ Electra replied, watching Splash as he jumped into the air in excitement. ‘I found him on Craggy Island a year ago this Friday.’

  ‘You should have a party or something to celebrate him having been here for a year,’ suggested Sam.

  Electra stared at him. ‘That’s a brilliant idea, Sam! We could make it a surprise party and invite everyone who knows him.’

  ‘We could all give Splash presents,’ said Sasha. ‘He would love it!’

  ‘Oh, yes!’ Electra exclaimed in delight. ‘I’ll ask Mum.’

  ‘Why don’t you swim back to your cave and ask her now,’ suggested Sam. He glanced out to sea. ‘Splash looks like he’s going to be out there for quite a while. Sasha and I can wait here and if he does get back before you do, we’ll just say you popped home but will be back in a minute.’

  ‘OK,’ said Electra. ‘I’ll be back as soon as I can!’

  Electra raced to the cave she lived in with her mum and Splash. She found her mum in the kitchen, chatting to Ronan, the twins’ dad.

  ‘Mum! Mum! Sam, Sasha and I have had a brilliant idea!’ Electra exclaimed.

  ‘What is it?’ her mum asked, looking interested.

  ‘We think we should have a surprise party for Splash!’ Electra burst out.

  ‘It’s a year on Friday since he came to live with us!’

  To her delight, her mum smiled immediately. ‘I think that’s a great idea. We haven
’t ever had a birthday party for him because we don’t know when his birthday is. This celebration could be a kind of belated birthday party. We could have it here, at home.’

  ‘I’ll help with the food,’ offered Ronan.

  ‘Sam, Sasha and I can make some decorations and write the invitations,’ said Electra. ‘It could be on Friday morning.’

  Her mum nodded. ‘OK. I’ll start organizing it right away.’

  ‘I’ll go and tell Sam and Sasha,’ said Electra.

  She dived back out of the cave, excitement buzzing through her. A surprise party for Splash! She couldn’t wait!

  Chapter Two

  ‘Well? What did your mum say?’ Sam demanded when Electra returned.

  ‘She said yes!’ Electra exclaimed. ‘We can have the party! I said you’d help me do the decorations and invitations.’

  ‘Of course we will,’ said Sasha. ‘And I’ll make Splash a shell necklace as a present.’

  ‘I’ll make him some starfish-shaped biscuits,’ said Sam. ‘What present will you get him, Electra?’

  ‘Well…’ Electra had been thinking about that very thing on the swim back to the gates. ‘I think I’m going to make him a den.’

  The twins looked puzzled. ‘A den?’ echoed Sasha.

  ‘Splash doesn’t have a bedroom of his own,’ Electra explained. ‘He sleeps on the floor of my cave, and I think he would really like a den. I’m going to find a cave and decorate it and make it into his own special place.’

  Sasha smiled. ‘That’s a great idea! I bet he’ll love it!’

  ‘Sssh! I can see him coming back.’ Sam pointed to where Splash’s grey fin could be seen whizzing through the water.

  ‘Don’t say a word about the party,’ Electra warned. ‘Or about his presents.’

  Splash popped up beside them.

  ‘Hi, Splash. Did you have fun?’ Electra asked. She could feel a grin pulling at the corners of her mouth. It was really hard to act normally. She was longing to tell him about the party.

  ‘It was brilliant!’ Splash’s dark eyes sparkled. ‘The wild dolphins have seen some amazing things. They told me about watching turtles laying their eggs, and swimming with sea cows, and visiting islands with all sorts of strange birds and monkeys. I’m going to ask your mum if I can go and see them every day while they’re here.’

  ‘I want to come and meet them too,’ said Electra. She looked at the twins. ‘What about you?’

  They shook their heads. ‘I’m not going out in the deep sea,’ said Sasha. Like most of the merpeople she and Sam didn’t like doing anything adventurous. Electra was different. She loved having adventures. Luckily Splash did too! They’d done some really exciting things together, like finding treasure, camping, talking to giant squid and escaping from sharks. ‘What shall we do now?’ Splash asked, looking round.

  ‘Why don’t we go and play hide and seek in the deep caves?’ Electra suggested.

  ‘OK,’ Splash said eagerly.

  He dived into the sea and they all raced after him.

  To Electra’s delight, while they were playing hide and seek, she discovered the perfect cave for Splash’s secret den. Its entrance was hidden behind an overhanging rock so it was very private. It had ledges on the walls that could be used for shelves and two big rocks on the floor that looked like seats. Electra imagined it with a seaweed rug on the floor and with shells and pictures on the walls.

  She whispered about it to Sam and Sasha while they were hiding from Splash.

  ‘It sounds perfect!’ Sasha whispered back. ‘Let’s come back tomorrow afternoon and start decorating it.’

  That evening, Splash told Maris all about the wild dolphins. ‘It was brilliant!’ he said. ‘Can I go and visit them tomorrow?’

  ‘Me too?’ asked Electra.

  ‘All right,’ Maris told them. ‘So long as there have been no shark sightings you can both go out tomorrow morning.’

  Electra looked happily at Splash. A morning playing with the wild dolphins! That was going to be so much fun!

  When Splash and Electra swam out of the gates the next day, the wild dolphins raced over to meet them. Their sleek grey bodies gleamed in the water. ‘Hello, Splash!’ they called.

  ‘Hi!’ he replied. ‘This is Electra. I told you about her yesterday — she’s my best friend!’

  ‘Hello,’ Electra said. The dolphins nosed around her, touching her arms and legs.

  ‘I’m Flicker,’ said one of them. ‘Do you want to play tag with us, Electra?’

  Electra nodded. ‘Yeah!’ She set off but the dolphins were so fast that they caught her easily.

  ‘Hold on to me, Electra,’ Splash offered. ‘I’ll pull you through the water and then you’ll go faster.’

  She grabbed hold of his fin but it slowed Splash down so much the other dolphins started catching him easily too.

  ‘It’s OK, Splash. I’ll just watch,’ Electra told him, not minding at all. Swimming a little way off, she watched as Splash carried on playing. Without her holding on to him, he was just as fast as the others. He ducked and dived and leapt through the water, whistling with delight. She smiled. He looked so happy.

  When they finally stopped racing around, the dolphins told stories about some of the amazing things they’d seen. They told Electra and Splash about how they had visited sunken ships with treasure on board, seen a group of sea dragons, swum with huge whales and passed an island with monkeys hanging from every tree. It sounded very exciting!

  When Electra and Splash got home for lunch, Maris wanted to know all about their morning.

  ‘We played tag,’ Splash said. ‘The wild dolphins are very fast but I could keep up with them, couldn’t I, Electra?’

  She nodded. ‘You were really good. My favourite bit of the morning was when they told us about all the places they’ve been to.’

  ‘I wish I could be a wild dolphin,’ said Splash longingly. ‘I’d love to have had all those adventures.’

  Maris looked at him. ‘Would you really like to be a wild dolphin?’

  ‘Oh, yes!’ whistled Splash. ‘It would be brilliant to travel through the sea.’

  ‘Me too,’ agreed Electra. ‘Wouldn’t you like to go travelling, Mum?’ She knew her mum was quite adventurous for a mermaid.

  ‘Maybe a bit, but I really like living on Mermaid Island,’ Maris replied. ‘We’re merpeople, it’s our home.’ She glanced at Splash and her eyes seemed troubled. Electra had the sudden feeling that there was something on her mind.

  ‘Can I go back and see the dolphins again this afternoon, Maris?’ Splash asked eagerly.

  Maris nodded. ‘Of course you can. You hardly ever get to see other dolphins. It’s no wonder you want to be with them.’

  ‘Are you going to come with me, Electra?’ Splash asked.

  Electra remembered the plans she’d made with Sam and Sasha for decorating the cave. ‘No. I won’t. I’ve got stuff to do.’

  ‘What sort of stuff?’ Splash asked curiously.

  ‘Oh, just stuff with Sam and Sasha.’ Electra shrugged, trying to pretend it was no big deal. ‘I’ll see you at tea time though. Have a good time with the wild dolphins!’

  He whizzed round the cave in excitement. ‘I will!’

  Chapter Three

  Electra, Sam and Sasha worked on Splash’s den all afternoon. They made a rug by plaiting fronds of purple seaweed together and found two big blue sea sponges and put them on the rocks to sit on. Then Electra made a notice that she hung inside the entrance. It said in big black writing: Splash’s Den. They all drew some pictures for Splash and hung them round the walls.

  ‘That’ll do for today,’ said Electra, pleased with all they had done. ‘We should go and write the invitations for the party.’

  ‘Let’s do them in our cave,’ said Sasha. ‘We don’t want Splash to see.’

  Electra had just put the last invitation in an envelope when she heard Splash calling her name outside. Leaving Sam and Sasha to hide the invitations in
case Splash came in and saw them, she swam out of their cave. ‘Hi,’ she called.

  ‘Hi,’ said Splash quietly.

  He was looking upset. ‘What’s the matter?’ Electra asked.

  ‘Flicker and the others have just told me that they are going to be leaving the island on Friday — the day after tomorrow,’ Splash replied.

  ‘Oh, Splash,’ Electra said. ‘You’ll really miss them, won’t you?’

  Splash nodded. Electra wished she could tell him about the party to cheer him up.

  Just then, Maris came out of their cave. ‘Hello, Splash. Have you had a good afternoon?’

  ‘Yes, but the dolphins are moving on soon. I’m going to have to say goodbye to them.’ He looked dejected. ‘It’s so much fun playing with other dolphins like me.’

  ‘You’re growing up, Splash,’ Maris said slowly. ‘You know, maybe—’ She broke off as if she had changed her mind about what she’d been about to say.

  ‘Maybe what?’ Splash asked curiously.

  Maris cleared her throat. ‘It… it doesn’t matter. I’d better go and check on tea.’

  She went back into the cave quickly. Electra wondered what her mum had been about to say. She thought about it for a few seconds and then pushed the thought to the back of her mind. She had more important things to think about — like getting everything ready for Splash’s party!

  After Splash had gone to see the dolphins the next morning, Electra began to make some decorations for the party they were going to have at home. Maris swam in just as she had got started. ‘Electra, we need to talk.’

  ‘About the party?’ Electra didn’t wait for her mum to answer. ‘I’m really glad we’re having it. I hope it cheers Splash up after the wild dolphins have gone.’

  ‘That’s what I want to talk to you about.’ Maris sighed. ‘He doesn’t have to say goodbye to them.’

  Electra frowned. ‘What? Of course he’s got to say goodbye. They’re moving on.’

  ‘What I mean is… well, he wouldn’t have to say goodbye if he went with them,’ Maris explained.

  Electra stared at her. ‘What?’

  Maris swam over and took her hands. ‘Oh, Electra, I’ve been thinking about this all night. Splash has been very happy here with us for the last year — playing with you, living in our cave. But he’s growing up now and maybe…’ Maris bit her lip. ‘Maybe now he’s getting older, he needs other things. Mermaid Island is our home because we’re merpeople. But Splash isn’t a merperson, he’s a dolphin, and perhaps his place is out in the deep sea with the other dolphins. He’s been so happy playing with them the last few days. Perhaps we should see if he wants to go with them.’