by Debbie Dadey
Another Plan
ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?” MRS. Karp asked when Echo got back to class.
“Yes,” Echo said. “Nurse Dilly Dally DoDo made me feel fin-tastic.” Echo noticed that Rocky laughed at the unusual name, but Mrs. Karp gave him a look that silenced him.
“What happened?” Shelly whispered as Mrs. Karp began a lesson on eels. Kiki and Pearl leaned in to listen.
“I was allergic to that miracle cream,” Echo told her friends.
Pearl twisted her pearl necklace in her hands. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
“It’s okay,” Echo said. She knew Pearl had been trying to help, but maybe Dilly Dally DoDo’s secret was the only way to heal: plenty of rest. It didn’t seem like much of a secret, though. Echo sighed and tried to pay attention to Mrs. Karp.
“Who can name an eel that can change colors?” Mrs. Karp asked.
Kiki raised her hand. “A ribbon eel?”
“Yes, you may have seen some at the coral reef next to the Plaza Hotel,” Mrs. Karp told them. “Now, who knows which eel can swallow a fish that’s as big as it is?”
Echo was pretty sure that was a gulper eel, but she didn’t raise her hand. Instead she stared at the fresh bandage the nurse had put on her tail. Echo wished that the cream had worked a miracle, but when she moved her tail, it still hurt.
Surely Echo wasn’t the first mermaid to ever injure her tail. What did other mermaids do? Did they just wait to get better? Or did they try to heal faster? Echo didn’t know what to do.
Just then Pearl leaned over and tapped Echo on the shoulder. “Meet me after school,” Pearl hissed. “I have another plan.”
Echo shook her head. Pearl’s last scheme had sent Echo to the nurse’s office with a horrible green tail. She wasn’t taking any more chances!
Echo didn’t want to hurt Pearl’s feelings, but she was going to follow Nurse Dilly Dally DoDo’s advice. She knew she had to stay as far away from Pearl as possible!
Accidents Happen
AFTER SCHOOL ECHO GOT on her crutches and, with Shelly’s help, managed to steer clear of the statues and a prickly redfish in MerPark. But she almost fell when Rocky splashed to a stop right in front of her.
“Watch out!” Echo said. “You almost knocked me down.”
“I wanted to tell you something,” he said. But he didn’t say anything. Instead, he stared down at the ocean floor. Pearl swam up beside them.
“Echo, you have to listen to my idea!” Pearl snapped. “It’s mervelous!”
“It’ll have to wait,” Echo said. “Rocky wants to talk to me first.”
Pearl stared at Rocky. “For shark’s sake then, spit it out!”
Rocky scratched his brown tail before finally blurting, “Echo, I’m sorry. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”
Pearl nodded. “That’s right. You and those silly sea horses of yours caused this mess.”
“Pearl!” Shelly said in surprise.
Echo frowned at Pearl. “You shouldn’t say things like that.”
“Well, it’s the truth,” Pearl said. “If you don’t get well in time for the competition, it will be all because of them.”
“What about you, Pearl?” Rocky asked. “If you hadn’t distracted Echo, none of this would have happened.”
“That’s not true,” Echo told them. After all, she’d been going too fast to be safe. “It’s no one’s fault.”
Rocky shrugged. “Zollie and Pinky feel just awful.”
Suddenly Echo realized that while she’d been feeling sorry for herself, Zollie and Pinky were probably feeling just as bad. She needed to let them know that the accident wasn’t their fault.
“I have to go,” Echo said.
“But you still haven’t heard my plan!” Pearl cried.
Echo didn’t wait to listen to Pearl. She moved along the ocean floor as fast as her crutches would let her. Pearl swam away in a huff, but Shelly and Rocky followed Echo, occasionally swimming forward to move a dragonfish or a balloon fish out of Echo’s way.
By the time they got to Rocky’s big shell at the edge of Trident City, Echo was moving quickly. Rocky led the way to the back of his home. Echo came next on her crutches. Shelly swam behind, in case Echo needed help.
Zollie and Pinky snorted when they saw Echo. She broke into a big smile as Pinky hurried over to her.
“Hi, Pinky,” Echo said. “I just wanted you to know that my accident wasn’t your fault.”
Pinky nuzzled her snout against Echo’s cheek. “It wasn’t anyone’s fault,” Echo said, looking at Zollie. “Sometimes accidents just happen.”
Zollie dashed over, and Echo patted him on the head. “I’m so lucky to have you two for friends,” Echo told the sea horses.
Zollie and Pinky neighed in agreement. Echo laughed, but then she remembered Pearl. Echo was curious. What did Pearl have up her sleeve now?
Human Games
AT HOME THAT AFTERNOON, Echo sank into her purple sea-fan bed. She couldn’t remember ever being so tired. Her arms were sore from using the crutches to move. It was a good tired, because she was happy that she’d been able to go to school, as well as see Pinky and Zollie. The day would have been perfect if she’d been able to go to Tail Flippers practice.
A tear slid down Echo’s cheek. If it hadn’t been for the accident, she would have been the star of the competition. Now she’d be lucky if Coach Barnacle didn’t kick her off the team. After all, who knew when she’d be able to flip again? There were plenty of other mergirls who’d love to take her place.
She gazed down at the stack of get-well cards her classmates had made for her. It made her feel better that her friends cared so much.
AFTER DINNER, SHELLY AND KIKI swam into Echo’s room. “Thanks for the get-well cards,” Echo told her merfriends.
Kiki smiled. “We’re just glad you’re feeling better.”
“Want to play a game?” Shelly asked.
“It’s a human one Shelly’s grandfather let us borrow from the People Museum,” Kiki explained.
Echo squealed. “That sounds fun. How do you play?”
Shelly put a flat marble square on Kiki’s bed. It was divided into smaller squares that were black and white. Then Kiki put lots of small statues on the marble board. A few of the statues looked like sea horses.
“This game is called Race to the Castle,” Shelly explained. “We take turns trying to get to the opposite side of the board. First one there wins.”
Kiki nodded. “We can play in teams if Crystal will join us.”
Echo smiled at her friends as Shelly explained the rules. Echo still wished she hadn’t twisted her tail, but having good friends made being hurt a whole lot easier.
Shake Your Tail
HEY, ECHO!” ROCKY YELLED the next morning in MerPark. Shelly and Echo were on their way to school. Echo stopped and waved at Rocky.
“Can I try out your crutches?” he asked.
Shelly shook her head. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
“Aw, it’ll be fun,” Rocky said.
Echo shrugged. “I don’t mind.” She pointed to a marble bench near the statue of Poseidon. “Help me onto that bench.”
In two merminutes, Shelly and Echo were laughing with Rocky. He was having a terrible time making the crutches work. Twice he had to spit out sand dollars that accidentally floated into his mouth. He kept turning in circles and almost ran into the statue of Mapella.
“This is a lot harder than it looks,” Rocky said with a laugh. “But it’s kind of fun.”
Echo nodded and wiped a tear of laughter from her eye. It had taken her a while to get the hang of the crutches too.
Pearl swam by. “You’d better bubble down and get to school, or you’ll be late,” she told them.
“Gotta shake my tail,” Rocky said, quickly giving Echo her crutches and swimming away. “Mrs. Karp said I’d be in big trouble if I’m late one more time.”
Pearl stopped long enough to poin
t her finger at Echo. “And you had better come to Tail Flippers practice after school,” Pearl said.
“Why? Echo still can’t flip,” Shelly argued. “Her tail isn’t healed yet.”
“But she won’t even listen to my plan!” Pearl growled. “Echo, I don’t think you care about the Tail Flippers!”
“Of course I do!” Echo said.
Pearl lifted her nose in the water with a sniff. “Then prove it. At least come to practice to cheer us on. And if you’re lucky, I’ll tell you my big idea.”
“Okay, okay,” Echo said. “What is your big idea?”
Pearl flipped her long blond hair around and swam away, calling over her shoulder, “No wavy way! You’ll have to come to practice to find out!”
Pearl ’s Big Idea
I’D BETTER GET TO TAIL flippers practice or Pearl will be flipping mad! Echo thought when the last conch sounded to end the school day. She was amazed at how quickly she got to the practice field using her crutches.
“Yay! You made it!” shouted the Tail Flippers. They surrounded Echo. Even Coach Barnacle swam over to greet her.
“I won’t be able to dance for a while,” Echo explained to Coach Barnacle. “I’ll understand if you want to give my spot to someone else.”
Coach Barnacle threw his hands up in the air. “No wavy way! You are our best flipper! We’ll figure out a way to make things work until you can flip again.”
Echo couldn’t believe Coach Barnacle was being so nice to her after she’d ruined their chances for the big upcoming competition. She decided she’d do her best to cheer them to victory anyway. She sat down on the nearest bench to watch.
But before practice began, Coach Barnacle and the mergirls floated into a circle. Pearl was at the center, and Echo could tell that everyone was listening carefully. Every once in a while, someone would look at Echo and smile. What were they doing?
Finally Pearl swam over with her hands on her hips. “Why are you sitting down?” she asked Echo.
“If I can’t flip, then I’m going to cheer you guys to victory,” Echo said.
“Oh no, you’re not,” Pearl said.
Echo’s heart sank. Had they decided to kick her off the Tail Flippers after all? “But Coach Barnacle said he’d figure out a way for me to stay on the team,” she said with a gulp.
Pearl shook her head. With a big sigh, Echo got up and used her crutches to move slowly off the kelp field.
“Where are you going?” Pearl asked.
“I’m leaving,” Echo said sadly. “Good luck at the competition.”
Pearl grabbed Echo by the arm. “You’re not going anywhere,” Pearl said. “I was just telling everyone my big idea, and guess what?”
“What?” Echo asked.
Pearl grinned. “They loved it!”
Echo shrugged. “That’s fin-tastic, but what does it have to do with me?”
“Because,” Pearl said, “you and your crutches are the big idea.”
“What you are you talking about?” Echo asked.
“I’ll explain in a second. But first, come on,” Pearl said. “We have a lot of work to do. The competition is in three days!”
The Competition
ECHO POPPED OPEN HER eyes and threw off her kelp covers. It was the morning of the competition. Was her tail healed? Dr. Weedly had told her not to wear the bandage anymore, so Echo wiggled her fins carefully. They didn’t hurt!
Slowly she spun her tail in a circle. Ouch! That was painful!
But there was still hope. If Pearl’s big idea worked, she could be in the competition even with an injured tail.
Pearl’s plan with the miracle cream had been a disaster, though. Would this be just as awful?
Echo got out of bed, put on her uniform, and grabbed her crutches. Crystal met her in the kitchen. “Ta-da!” Crystal said. “I made you a special breakfast!”
“Thanks,” Echo said. She was almost too nervous to eat, but she didn’t want to hurt her sister’s feelings. So Echo ate a big shell bowl full of sea hare sausage and sea rose eggs.
“Your uniform looks great!” Crystal said, and put her hand on Echo’s shoulder. “I know you feel bad about not being in the competition, but your tail will be perfect before you know it! And there are plenty of other contests in your future.”
Echo nodded. She hadn’t told her family about Pearl’s big idea. After all, what if it didn’t work out?
As soon as Echo brushed her hair with a Venus comb and put some sparkling plankton in her hair, it was time to leave for the competition. Coach Barnacle had arranged for a manta ray to take the Tail Flippers to Poseidon Prep School.
Crystal, Echo, and their parents all boarded the huge manta together. It was already loaded with the other members of the team and the pep band. Pearl was sitting in the middle of the manta with her mother. They waved and Echo waved back. Every member of the Tail Flippers team wore their uniform of bright gold.
“This is exciting,” Crystal told Echo, giving her hand a squeeze.
“I’m so proud of you for supporting your team even if you can’t compete with them,” Echo’s mother said. Echo nodded, but inside her stomach was doing all kind of flips. She just wished her tail could do flips too!
When they finally arrived at Poseidon Prep, Echo was so scared, she felt like she might throw up. “Are you ready?” Pearl asked, swimming up beside her.
Echo shook her head. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
Pearl surprised Echo by saying, “Don’t worry about it. If it doesn’t work perfectly, then at least we tried.”
Echo smiled. “Okay! Let’s bubble down and do it!”
An announcer came onto the loudspeaker. “Welcome to the eleventh annual Poseidon City Dance Competition!” The Trident Academy team clapped as the performing schools were announced.
The competition began. Ten teams from all over the Western Oceans were performing. After the Bubbles School took their bows, Echo whispered to Pearl, “They’re really good!”
“But they don’t have you,” Pearl replied.
When the Trident Academy Pep Band starting banging on their sharkskin drums and blowing on their conch-shell horns, Echo was ready. She took her place on the stage alongside her teammates.
The Tail Flippers flipped around her in a rainbow of tails as Echo kept time by tapping on the floor with her crutches. Echo’s heart soared as her merfriends lifted her up. She held her crutches high in the air as they spun her around and around. The whole team whirled with her and then let go. Pearl soared to the top of the gym as the rest of the Tail Flippers did triple backflips. They then helped Echo gently float down to the floor. She landed crutches first with her tail straight up in the water. When they finished, the crowd cheered. Echo could see the surprised looks on her parents’ faces as they clapped. Crystal yelled, “Go Echo!”
As the Tail Flippers sailed off the floor, Coach Barnacle congratulated them. “Merladies, that was tails-down your best performance yet!”
Echo smiled. Even though she wished she could have flipped, she was happy that she’d had the chance to perform with her friends.
Next, Poseidon Prep’s team spun onto the stage. Their costumes sparkled like silver allis shad fish, and from the serious looks on their faces, Echo could tell they really wanted to win.
“All right, begin!” yelled the tallest flipper. Immediately, Poseidon Prep flipped in a circle to a loud thumping beat. It was hard to know where to look because everyone seemed to be doing something different.
After the other schools had performed, it was time for the awards. Echo was so nervous she wanted to disappear into the floor like a sand bubbler crab.
The headmaster of Poseidon Prep School floated up to a podium. “Everyone did a wonderful job today. Let’s give a big fin clap to all the teams.”
Echo very carefully tapped her fins together. They were still a bit sore, but at least she didn’t have to wear the big tail bandage anymore.
“And now, for the third-place
winner . . .”
Echo held her breath.
“Poseidon Prep School!” the headmaster announced.
The squad from Poseidon Prep swam up to their headmaster and accepted a big bronze urn with a number three on the side. Echo was surprised they had come in third. They had flipped so high! If Poseidon Prep had gotten third place, there was no hope that the Trident Academy Tail Flippers could win.
“And now, for the second-place team,” the headmaster went on.
Echo gently crossed her tail fins.
“Trident Academy Tail Flippers!” the headmaster announced.
Echo and Pearl looked at each other and squealed. The entire Trident Academy team swam up to the stage—except for Echo, who used her crutches. The Poseidon Prep headmaster presented Coach Barnacle with a silver urn that had a huge 2 on the side. Echo thought she’d never seen anything so beautiful in her life.
“Here,” Coach said, handing the prize to Echo. “This is for you. Without your crutches, we never would have won second place.”
Echo smiled. She wasn’t sure that was true. “Don’t forget it was Pearl’s idea,” Echo told him.
“Hey,” Pearl said with a wink. “It was teamwork.”
Echo wanted more than anything to do a flip to celebrate. “Will you do a flip for me?” she asked Pearl.
Pearl did a three-point spin and a half-twist flip.
“Hurrah for the Tail Flippers!” Echo cheered.
Class Cards for Echo
REFRAIN:
Let the water roar
Deep down we’re swimming along
Twirling, swirling, singing the mermaid song.
VERSE 1:
Shelly f lips her tail
Racing, diving, chasing a whale
Twirling, swirling, singing the mermaid song.
