Tara and Her Talking Kitten Meet a Mermaid

by Diana Cooper

  This book is dedicated to my grandchildren Isabel, Finn, Kailani, Maya and Taliya and children everywhere who love kittens.

  Discussion points and exercises for children are on pages 78–79.

  Diana Cooper is well known for her books on angels, fairies, unicorns and the spiritual world, all written from her own personal experiences. For more information about these subjects see her website www.dianacooper.com - there is also a children’s corner.

  If you wish to talk to someone about the subjects in this book, the Diana Cooper School website lists teachers throughout the world: www.dianacooperschool.com

  Text © Diana Cooper 2012

  Edited by Nicky Leach

  Illustrations © Kate Shannon 2012

  Interior design by Thierry Bogliolo

  ISBN 978-1-84409-580-3

  All rights reserved.

  Printed in the European Union

  Published by

  Findhorn Press

  117-121 High Street

  Forres IV36 1PA

  Scotland, UK

  www.findhornpress.com

  A Fairy Visits Tara

  It was the weekend. Tara was sitting at the kitchen table doing her spelling homework. She felt grumpy because she didn’t think you should have homework when you were seven years old and she knew Ash-ting her kitten agreed with her. He was soft, grey, and fluffy, and they could talk to each other. But nobody knew!

  Suddenly they heard a quiet tapping.

  “Perhaps it’s Mummy upstairs,” said Tara.

  “No, it’s outside,” replied Ash-ting. “Someone’s at the back door.”

  Tara ran to the door and opened it, letting in a blast of cold air. There stood Marigold, a fairy who lived in their garden, looking excited.

  She burst out, “The unicorn wants to see you, Tara. He’s got a mission for you!”

  Unicorns are magnificent pure white horses that most people cannot see, just like they can’t see angels or fairies. They have horns of pure white light, and they help the world.

  Tara’s cross feeling dissolved, and she felt suddenly thrilled.

  “What’s a mission?” she asked.

  “It’s a special job!” said Marigold.

  “A job for the unicorn!” Tara exclaimed in amazement, for she had met the unicorn before and knew how special they are.

  “Yes!” shouted the fairy. “Can you come to the oak tree now?”

  In the field at the end of their garden stood a huge oak tree where Tara often played with fairies, elves, imps, and many other elementals.

  The little girl looked at Ash-ting, who nodded and said, “Yes, let’s go.”

  So Tara called up the stairs, “Mummy, I’ve learnt my spelling. Please can I play at the oak tree?”

  “Alright, if you are sure you know your words, but just for an hour. It gets cold and dark early.”

  “Right-o, Mum!”

  The child pulled on her coat and boots quickly, hoping that neither her little brother Jack nor her sister Mel would want to join her. She skipped eagerly down the garden path behind the fairy, and Ash-ting ran after them, his tail in the air.

  A Mission for Tara

  Under the oak tree, dozens of elementals were talking in excited whispers.

  “The unicorn came for Tara!” the wee fairy Silver exclaimed.

  “It’s something important,” added an elf.

  “And…”

  He fell silent as Tara and Ash-ting arrived with Marigold. Then the little creatures surrounded them, all talking at once.

  Suddenly, a dazzling white light approached. Out of it stepped a shimmering unicorn. From his horn he radiated a shower of stars over them, and their auras all lit up.

  “Ah, Tara and Ash-ting. Thank you for responding to the call for help.”

  He tossed his mane with pleasure, then bent his head down so that light from his horn shone onto Tara.

  “How can we help?” asked Tara, her heart thumping fast.

  “The ocean kingdom is in trouble. Humans are doing bad things to the waters, and the sea creatures are very angry. They want to withdraw their cooperation and start to fight. But that is not the way. It needs a pure child to go to them.”

  Tara was appalled. “I don’t think I’m the right child,” she responded humbly. “You see, I’m often in trouble. My sister Mel would be better. She’s always good. And…” She took a breath. “I don’t think I can help.”

  The unicorn replied gently, “You are genuine, Tara, and very brave. Mel can’t see or hear us like you can.”

  Tara swallowed nervously.

  “Ask him what he wants you to do,” whispered Ash-ting.

  So she repeated Ash-ting’s words, asking the unicorn, “What do you want me to do?”

  “I’ll carry you to the ocean. From there the mermaids will take you to meet the sea creatures.”

  “Mermaids?” queried Tara, her eyes open wide.

  “They’re water elementals, cousins of your fairies! They look after the seaweed and ocean plants.”

  “Oh, but Ash-ting doesn’t like water. He’s a cat, you see,” Tara protested. She could not imagine going without him.

  “Perhaps it is better if he doesn’t come,” the unicorn said gently.

  But Ash-ting said stoutly, “Of course I’ll come with you, Tara, and do what I can.”

  Tara bent down and stroked him gratefully. Then she said to the unicorn. “Mummy wants me home in an hour. I mustn’t be late.”

  “Of course not,” replied the unicorn gravely.

  So rather reluctantly and not feeling very brave, the little girl and the tiny kitten climbed onto the unicorn’s back. Marigold and the other elementals waved goodbye and shouted, “Good luck.”

  They rose in the air and sped high over the village and meadows. Then they saw the sea like blue silk rolled below them. Still they flew on, until they saw a sandy cove in the distance.

  Tara Vanishes

  Meanwhile, in Oakhurst Village, Rocky Jones and his parents were taking a shortcut from their home to the shops across the meadow behind Tara’s house. Rocky saw Tara under the oak tree with her kitten. The boy used to be an unhappy, nasty bully, but all that changed when Tara, Ash-ting, and the unicorn helped him, and Tara became his friend. He used to be frightened of his dad and anxious for his mum, but now everything was much better.

  “There’s Tara!” he shouted, raising his hand to wave. “Hi, Tara!”

  Then a strange thing happened. As Rocky’s parents looked up, there was a sudden burst of sunshine and Tara wasn’t there any more. There was no one under the oak tree.

  “You must have imagined it,” said his dad.

  Rocky blinked. Then he rubbed his eyes. He knew he’d seen Tara and Ash-ting! He and his parents walked over to the tree, but there was no sign of them. How very strange!

  Meeting a Mermaid

  The unicorn flew over the world and at last glided down into a bay of pure white sand with rocks on one side. The sea shimmered as blue as the sky.

  Tara and Ash-ting slid onto the sand. The kitten meowed at the sea hoping it would move away. “It’s roaring like a lion,” he whimpered to Tara.

  She laughed at him, but Ash-ting reprimanded her. “You should never laugh at anyone’s feelings.”

  “I’m sorry, Ash-ting,” she apologised. “But you are always so brave.”

  She lifted him carefully onto a solid dry rock. Then she pulled off her boots and socks and ran to paddle in the clear, warm water.

  Suddenly, she looked up and saw a little girl about her own age sitting on the rocks. She had big blue-green eyes the colour of the sea, blond hair down to her waist, and a sh
immering blue-green tail. She was a mermaid.

  Tara stared. She blinked. But the mermaid still sat there, grinning mischievously at her.

  Tara ran across the rocks to her, calling, “Hello, I’m Tara.”

  “I’m Petronella,” said the mermaid with a smile. “What’s that creature?”

  Tara stifled a smile. “That’s my kitten, Ash-ting.”

  Ash-ting was frowning as he picked his way across the rocks. He did not like the sea, and he most definitely did not like being called a creature in that tone of voice.

  “You arrived in a flash of light,” said Petronella the mermaid, sounding curious. “How did you do that?”

  Tara explained about the unicorn and the mission she’d been given to talk to the ocean creatures. “Will the fish come here to the rocks?” she asked.

  “Just a minute,” responded Petronella and, rising onto her tail, she dived in a huge arc into the waves and vanished.

  “Oh!” gasped Tara and Ash-ting at the same time.

  But a second later the mermaid reappeared. “Forgot my conch,” she explained. She blew into the shell. The sound travelled across the ocean. “That’s to call my brothers. They’ll know what to do.”

  Almost immediately, seven identical heads with blond hair, blue-green eyes, and wide smiles bobbed up in front of them.

  Petronella introduced the merboys. “These are my brothers: Jolly, Julian, Joseph, John, Jerry, Jimmy, and Jupiter.”

  They all grinned and waved.

  “The sea creatures are waiting for you in the great cavern,” Jolly called. “Follow me.”

  The Magic Bubble

  Tara’s stomach flipped. She looked at the ocean in alarm. “But I’ve only got my 50-metre badge, and I can’t swim underwater. I don’t like getting my face wet very much—and cats are scared of getting wet, too.”

  “No problem,” said one of the merboys with a grin, leaping out of the ocean to sit beside her. “Here’s your magic breathing bubble, and we’ll make sure you’re safe.”

  He produced what looked like a goldfish bowl with tubes coming out of it.

  “Try it on. You can breathe underwater when you use it, and it regulates your temperature.”

  “But… ” Tara protested.

  She was too late. The merboy popped the bowl over her head. It felt very comfortable.

  “And here’s one for the animal,” he said.

  He handed Petronella a tiny bubble for the kitten, but Ash-ting backed away from them. He had been splashed by spray. His ears and tail drooped, and he looked bedraggled and miserable.

  Tara’s heart went out to him. She thought of all the times he’d helped her to feel good about herself and said softly, “Wait here, Ash-ting. You can communicate with me from here.”

  But the stout-hearted kitten said he was not going to leave her. He stood still while Jolly the merboy popped the little bubble over his head and a special cat suit over his body. He looked like a cat in a transparent overcoat and Tara tried not to laugh.

  They saw a school of dolphins arcing through

  the sea towards them followed by two big turtles.

  “They’ve come to collect you for the meeting,” whispered Petronella.

  “Wow, I’ve always wanted to swim with dolphins!” replied Tara, excited.

  She picked up Ash-ting. Petronella grabbed Tara’s hand. Then they all jumped into the sea!

  Fairy Magic

  Meanwhile, back at the oak tree, the fairies, elves, brownies, pixies, and other elementals were talking with some urgency about what to do. They did not want anyone realizing that Tara and Ash-ting had vanished.

  “Rocky’s parents might tell Tara’s that she wasn’t playing at the tree,” said a worried Marigold.

  “Tara’s parents will be concerned and search for her,” agreed a pixie.

  “We have to do something to stop them,” piped up Silver.

  To delay things, a mischievous imp jumped down from the tree and untied Mr. Jones’ shoelace, so the big man had to bend down to retie it.

  Whallee the elf thought it was time for fairy magic, and all the little folk solemnly agreed. They were only allowed to use it in exceptional circumstances, but this was one of those times.

  Mrs. Jones was hugging the tree, while Rocky

  was staring up into the branches, sure that Tara must be sitting up there.

  At that moment, the fairies danced a magic circle round the oak so that Rocky and his parents were frozen in their positions and could not move.

  Swimming with

  the Sea Creatures

  Petronella the mermaid, Tara, and Ash-ting were in a pale green, watery world. They swam in excited loops around the two big turtles, the mermaid pulling along Tara and Ash-ting. The dolphins leapt and splashed around them, and so did the merboys.

  Suddenly, Petronella saw her friend Dolphie, a young dolphin. “Hi, Dolphie,” she called, waving with both hands and letting go of Tara, who started to float away.

  Jolly saw it and raced after her, grabbing her legs to pull her back. The old turtle grunted that Petronella was irresponsible, but Jolly defended her. He said that Petronella was lots of fun, and he and his brother merboys would teach Tara and Ash-ting to use their legs properly, so that they could move in any direction they wanted to.

  Petronella introduced Dolphie to Tara. The young dolphin said that Tara could hold his fin and he would pull her.

  “Oh, thank you,” Tara gasped in delight and grabbed his fin, still clutching her kitten.

  “Race you, Dolphie,” yelled Petronella.

  “Whee!” shrieked Tara, as Dolphie zipped through the water.

  “Meeeeeeeoooow,” yelled Ash-ting.

  It was exhilarating. Dolphie and Petronella were neck and neck. Then Dolphie stopped, and Tara looked back to see the turtles trailing behind with the merboys.

  “It’s always great being with you, Petronella,” said Dolphie with a smile.

  A big dolphin with a wide grin called, “You’re a naughty, mischievous, wee mermaid, Petronella, but life’s always exciting when you are around.”

  Petronella laughed. She grabbed Ash-ting and did three backflips. The kitten felt quite dizzy and paddled around in a circle afterwards.

  Into the Meeting

  Now a huge green curtain of seaweed blocked their way, so they waited for the turtles and merboys to catch up. The dolphins streaked up to them and suggested Tara should sit on one of the giant turtles for it was time to go to the meeting.

  Tara’s heart skipped a beat at the thought of it, but a big merboy lifted her onto the turtle’s back. They placed Ash-ting on the other turtle.

  The mermaids pulled back the seaweed. Jolly blew on a conch shell. Then the dolphins led the way, while Tara astride one of the turtles and Ash-ting on the other followed majestically behind them. What a procession!

  They entered a vast and beautiful cavern lit up by thousands of lantern fish. As far as she could see millions of sea creatures had gathered. It was an awesome sight.

  Whales as big as houses floated at the edges of the crowd. Sharks patrolled each section, keeping order while cheeky little fish nipped across the aisles to see their friends.

  All at once, Tara was aware of an enormous, bright aquamarine light. She wondered if Ash-ting could communicate with her when she was underwater.

  “Ash-ting, what’s the light?” she called to him telepathically.

  She felt the familiar buzz in her forehead and was relieved to receive her magical kitten, loud and clear. “The light is Archangel Joules who looks after the oceans,” said Ash-ting. “He is watching over the meeting.”

  Tara nodded to herself in wonder. She had never seen an archangel before. The light was almost blinding, even though the archangel was at the far end of the cavern.

  She noticed that a huge ray floated in front of the shoals of fish. He was clearly in charge of the meeting. As they all made their entrance, the ray greeted them with a wave of his great winglike appenda
ges. Then everyone fell silent.

  The Sea Creatures

  Are Angry

  All at once, an angry prawn shouted, “They’ve polluted our rocks.”

  A tiny turtle yelled, “Their plastic bags choke us.”

  A tuna fish grunted, “It’s our job to keep the waters of the planet clean and pure, but humans are spoiling it for everyone.”

  A dolphin added, “Their noise pollution blocks our sonar, so we can’t find our way.”

  One whale grumbled, “They’ve killed nearly all of us.”

  A shoal of brightly coloured fish piped up in unison, “They’re spoiling our reefs.”

  And the list of grievances went on and on.

  Tara hung her head in shame. People were damaging the seas, the homes of these beautiful intelligent creatures. She felt so sorry for them.

  “What have you got to say, human?” called a cod.

  “Ash-ting, please help me!” Tara said urgently.

  “Show them that you understand,” came the response from Ash-ting.

  But before Tara could say anything, the unicorn waiting for her above the ocean poured a pure white light down onto them all.

  Tara lit up like a beacon. She felt herself getting stronger and braver. All the fish could see the amazing light round her.

  She said in a clear voice, “What’s happening is terrible. I’m so sorry,” and she really meant it. A little ripple of relief passed through the shoals. Someone understood.

  “What are you going to do about it?” yelled a haddock.

  Tara listened as Ash-ting communicated with her. “Be honest. Don’t promise anything you can’t do. Just say that you know that fish and sea creatures are very special and need to be looked after.”

  So the little girl told them this, and they all clapped their flippers and fins. She could see their anger was evaporating because one human had understood and been honest.