Disaster. How, how are we going to handle this? How can we save the mermaids with Mum and Nonna in tow?
It’s impossible.
“That’s settled, then,” says Uncle Alistair, beaming.
Is it? I look at him disbelievingly.
He winks at me.
A couple of hours later, we are ready. Uncle Alistair, Mum, Nonna Rina, Valentina and I, all packed up like sardines in the van, with Camilla floating alongside us. We can hardly close the boot for bags. We all have a small one each, but Uncle Alistair is bringing a heavy, clunking trunk, which, I suspect, contains more than a change of underwear and a toothbrush.
On the ferry to Glasgow we stand in a line on the deck, looking out for dolphins and seals. Nonna is wrapped up in a woollen coat and kitted in a hat and scarf, drawing a few amused glances from the tourists in shorts and t-shirts. When my Italian family come over to Eilean, they always look like they’re going on an Arctic expedition.
Uncle Alistair is standing a bit away from us, making phone calls. The wind is blowing hard on the deck, so I can’t hear what he’s saying.
“He’s spending a lot of time on the phone,” I say to Valentina. She shrugs.
“You just never know what he’s up to!” she replies philosophically.
***
Glasgow is busier than ever, this lovely summer evening. On the way to the hotel, my mum and Nonna are beside themselves with excitement, planning all they’re going to do tomorrow in the big city, and I’m enthralled at the hustle and bustle of the streets in the evening. The shops are open, the sky is still light and it seems that half the city are out enjoying themselves.
Valentina and I are so excited to be staying in a hotel. We stay up as long as we can, chatting with Camilla, but soon we’re too tired to stay awake. I’m in deep sleep when a sudden noise wakes me with a jolt.
“LUCA! WAKE UP!”
I sit up at once. Uncle Alistair is in our room, and he’s standing beside my bed, fully clothed, with his big black clunking bag in one hand and his phone in the other.
“What is it?” I groan.
“Time to go. Come on, get dressed. I’ll help you downstairs.”
“Eurgh…” I’m really tired after the long day. Valentina must be too, but she shows no sign of it, getting dressed quickly, her eyes shining in anticipation.
My head spins from the rude awakening as we head out. I hope and pray that Mum and Nonna won’t notice we’re gone, or we’ll be in the worst trouble of our lives.
We drive to the river in our blue van. The night is warm and windless; the city is now deserted, except for occasional late-night party-goers. Orange light from the lamp-posts reflects on the black streets, and the sky is tinged with orange too, not like our beautiful black velvety sky on Eilean.
We get to the river-bank. The Clyde is grey, flowing slowly, its waters completely opaque. I can’t see how we’ll ever find the mermaids. Do we just sit here and hope they appear?
We watch intently while Uncle Alistair opens his huge clunky bag and takes out a few blue-ish bottles – they’re the ones I’d seen in his fridge! He lines them up on the pavement, carefully, one by one.
Next out of the bag is something that looks like a whistle. Uncle Alistair puts it in his pocket, ready for use. Finally, he presses a button on his phone. The screen glows green in the darkness.
“We’re here. Ok,” says Uncle Alistair in what he thinks is a whisper, but is really quite loud. It’s so funny when he tries to speak quietly.
A few minutes of silence. We stand, waiting.
Then, all of a sudden, we’re blinded by a strong white light. It’s so bright that I can’t make out any shapes, though I shade my eyes with my hands. Slowly, as I get used to the glare, I make out the shape of a van, a black one, three times the size of ours. Two shadows appear, silhouetted against the light. I blink, over and over again. It’s a boy and a girl, and they’re walking towards us.
Uncle Alistair greets them, his arms outstretched.
“Sorley! Mairi!” he exclaims, hugging them.
“Alistair, great to see you again,” says Sorley.
“These are Vally and Luca, my niece and nephew.”
“Cool, nice to meet you.” Sorley smiles.
“Nice to meet you, guys,” echoes Mairi.
“Wow!” whispers Valentina in an awed voice.
“Wow!” echoes Camilla. They’re mesmerised by Mairi.
She’s about fifteen and has bright red hair tied back in a ponytail and huge shiny grey eyes. She’s wearing jeans tucked into big boots, a waterproof jacket, and she has all sorts of equipment hanging off her: binoculars around her neck, a rope under her arm and a walkie-talkie around her wrist. She looks exactly like the action heroine Valentina and Camilla long to be, and her outfit is like one they’d invent on Valentina’s DS. No wonder they’re gazing at her like they’re dreaming.
Sorley is slightly older – he must be about eighteen. He looks so cool, like he should be on TV, or in a music video. He’s wearing skinny jeans, a zip-up fleece and yellow baseball boots. His black hair is long and windswept, and his eyes are a deep ocean-blue. When I grow up, I want to be exactly like him.
He’s carrying a big black bag under his arm, and he’s smiling brightly. He seems delighted to see us. Mairi, instead, is scowling a bit. She’s not giving anything away, which, in a way, makes her even cooler.
“Bait ready, then.” Sorley puts his bag down on the concrete carefully, just beside Uncle Alistair’s bottles.
Bait, I think, remembering that was what Uncle Alistair said to me when I asked him about the fish he got from Donald.
“The best fish juice in the Western Isles. With a touch of… something else,” Uncle Alistair replies. Sorley smiles and nods. He knows what Uncle Alistair is talking about. Some secret ingredient, probably.
The next ten minutes rush by amid frantic activity. Valentina, Camilla and I stand fascinated, watching them work. Sorley zips open his bag and takes out a wetsuit. He quickly takes his clothes off, revealing trunks underneath, and slips the wetsuit on. He disappears into the van, re-emerging with two oxygen tanks and a mask. Meanwhile, Mairi is standing at the edge of the concrete wall with her arm raised. The thing around her wrist, which I thought was a walkie-talkie, starts beeping: a rhythmic, quiet beep.
“What is that?” whispers Camilla.
“I don’t know, but I want one!” sighs Valentina.
“There they are,” whispers Mairi, as the beeping gets louder. They? Is that the mermaids?
“What’s that at your wrist, Mairi?” I ask.
“A radar,” she replies, without looking at me.
Sorley opens the sliding door at the side of the van, while Mairi disappears into the driving cabin.
“She’s driving! She’s DRIVING THE VAN!” Valentina is beside herself. “I’m SO going to ask Uncle Alistair to teach me to drive.”
“He certainly will!” exclaims Camilla. Yeah, right, I think to myself.
They stand close to each other, admiring Mairi as she pulls and lifts and presses buttons in the cabin.
There’s a small metallic whirr, and something like a forklift folds out inside the van. Sorley and Uncle Alistair jump in and slide something square and transparent onto the metal arms. Another whirr, and the arms slide out and come to rest slowly on the pavement, then retreat.
The big square object looks like a huge aquarium. I’m getting a clearer idea of what’s about to happen.
Mairi turns off the lights, and for a second everything is dark again, until she jumps down from the van with a hand torch.
“Camilla!” whispers Uncle Alistair, and gives her a nod. Camilla knows what to do. She floats down towards the black waters, her translucent little body becoming smaller and smaller as she glides downriver.
“Whenever you’re ready,” says Sorley to my uncle.
“Luca, Vally?”
“YES!” says Valentina excitedly. She’s so delighted to be called upo
n, that she’s nearly jumping up and down.
“Pour the bottles into the water.”
We kneel down, and pour the contents of the bottles into the black river, one by one. The liquid coming out is blue-ish, viscous and smells strongly of seaweed. Yes, if anything looks – and smells – like mermaid bait, this does.
From my kneeling position I see Sorley’s black-clad, wet-suited feet beside me, and I gasp slightly when he sits on the bank and jumps into the water.
Mairi is standing on the edge again, her arm raised and her radar beeping steadily. Uncle Alistair is by her side, blowing his metal whistle. No sound is coming out of it.
A few minutes pass when everybody is still. Silence, but for the rhythmic beeping of Mairi’s radar. Uncle Alistair keeps blowing the whistle noiselessly. A little fluorescent light, marking Sorley’s position, is floating on the still waters.
Suddenly, I can make out a silver glow in the distance, coming closer. It’s Camilla on her way back.
“They’re nearly here!” she announces.
We hold our breath. The radar on Mairi’s wrist is beeping faster, faster, faster, until the beeps merge into a thin, high-pitched sound. At that point, she switches it off, and she switches her torch off too. Sorley’s light has also disappeared. Everything is dark and still and quiet.
“Look!” mouths Uncle Alistair.
Two heads and two silvery tails appear and disappear rhythmically in the black waters, swimming closer and closer to us. They are now against the concrete wall, dipping their heads into the pools of Uncle Alistair’s blue liquid, lapping it up. Their long hair floats on the water like seaweed. It’s too dark to make out their faces.
Then Sorley switches his underwater torch back on, and I see them.
14. WHERE I NEARLY DROWN
Alistair Grant’s Scottish Paranormal Database
Entry Number 823: Mysterious song
Type: Unknown
Location: All over Scotland
Date: Various
Details: There are innumerable accounts of a mysterious song being heard out at sea, causing sailors and seamen to fall into a near-trance with hallucinations or a sleep-like, daydreaming state. Some believe the mysterious song is sung by the merpeople, but some – including this author – believe it’s someone else, or something else, that nobody has ever seen. Merpeople’s songs are clearly recognisable. They often have words, and have no damaging effects. The mysterious song is strikingly different: it’s extremely highpitched, it has no words and has (at a minimum) a disorientating effect on listeners. (See Podcasts and Recordings, file number 3; to compare merpeople’s song, see Podcasts and Recordings, file number 17. CAUTION: Listening to Podcast number 3 can cause adverse reactions, and at times may even prove fatal.)
The mermaids turn towards Sorley, who’s floating in the soft light of his underwater torch. Their skin has a light blue-green hue; their hair looks like seaweed and it’s all tangled up. Their eyes are deep, deep black, and full of fear. They have beautiful faces – human in every way, but with elongated eyes and full lips that are vaguely fish-like.
“Don’t worry,” says Sorley kindly. “We’re not going to hurt you.” The mermaids seem to be listening intently. One of them tips her head on one side. Sorley’s tone is warm and soothing: “It’s dangerous here. The river is very busy. You’ll end up hurt. If you come with us, we’ll take you somewhere safe.”
The mermaids look at each other, and then disappear underwater. Valentina and I gasp.
“They’ve gone!” whispers Valentina, alarmed.
“They’re just talking it over.” Mairi’s tone suggests this is obvious and we don’t know anything.
And indeed, after a few minutes, the mermaids re-emerge and swim near Sorley, warily. I think they’re coming round.
“We’ll get you up on land,” Sorley starts explaining, when a low buzzing interrupts him. I barely register the sound, but Mairi gasps softly in the darkness, and then Uncle Alistair shouts at the top of his voice:
“WATCH OUT!”
Two searing white lights are bouncing over the water at full throttle. It’s a speedboat, fast and deadly, swallowing mile after mile of river – there’s nothing we can do, there’s nothing Sorley can do – it’s upon them. It cuts through the river right where they were floating, leaving behind only darkness and the low buzzing sound fading away. Mairi is the first to shake herself.
“Sorley! SORLEY!” she screams, bending over the parapet.
“Mairi…” Uncle Alistair has a hand on her shoulder. My heart is beating so fast I think my chest will explode.
“Sorley!” she calls again, and her voice sounds hoarse and broken. It can’t be. It can’t be…
We all peer in the black waters. They’re terribly, terribly still. I can hear Valentina’s ragged breath, and Mairi’s soft sobs.
“Uncle Alistair! What are we going to do? Surely there’s something we can do…” I ask, and then, seeing his stricken expression, I realise that things are bad. Really, really bad.
Then a squeak, a strange sound – something between a dolphin’s voice and the deep alien song of a whale – breaks the silence. It’s a mermaid.
“I’m hurt,” she’s saying.
Wait a minute.
I understand their language?
“The mermaids!” shouts Uncle Alistair.
“Sorley! Sorley!” call Mairi and Valentina, their hope rekindled.
“Stupid light! It went off!” A human voice comes from the water. It’s Sorley! He’s alive!
“Sorley!” I can see tears shining on Mairi’s cheeks.
“I’m fine! Phew, that was close! I’m going to look for the mermaids,” he calls, waving his hand in the semi-darkness. I can barely make out his floating shape; the speedboat must have broken his torch.
“We heard one calling!” Uncle Alistair shouts in Sorley’s direction. And she’s hurt, I want to say, but how can I explain I actually understood her words? I look at Uncle Alistair sideways. Would he know that I might understand the mermaids?
“There they are!” whispers Mairi, pointing down to the water. Two green heads are swimming towards Sorley, very close to each other.
And again, the pitiful sad cry of the injured one. “Help!” she’s imploring. She’s holding onto her friend, arms around her neck.
“Are you hurt?” Sorley asks. And then, louder: “Mairi! Get the first aid kit!”
“Sure!” Mairi calls back, with an edge to her voice that makes me think she’s actually saying, “Thank goodness you’re alive!”
“Please let us help you. Let us take you up on land and see to your wounds.” Sorley reaches out to them. “You’ll still be in the water, and we’ll take you somewhere with no motorboats and no human beings. Well, just a few. A few like us.”
The mermaids look at him for a long still minute, the injured one resting her head on her friend’s shoulder. They confer briefly, in voices so low that I can’t make out what they’re saying. But they seem to decide to trust us; they float closer to Sorley.
“Yes. We’ll come with you,” they say.
I heard that!
I can’t help gasping.
“You ok?” Valentina nudges me.
“Yes. Yes. It’s just that…”
“Shhhh!” Uncle Alistair scolds, and I have to be quiet.
Sorley waves with his outstretched arms, and Mairi and Uncle Alistair spring into action. The aquarium has wheels, so it’s relatively easy to move, and they manage to get it to the river wall. It’s secured with a thick rope to a hoist inside the van.
Then everything happens very fast. Mairi and Uncle Alistair push the aquarium over the edge and, using a pulley, gently lower it. I’m standing in the wrong place. The rope hits my arm, I lose my balance, and I fall into the black water.
Water is everywhere – in my nose, in my mouth, over and around me. It’s so dark, and so cold, I can’t see anything and I can’t breathe. I feel like my heart has stopped.
“LUCAAAAAA!”
I hear distant voices but they’re too muffled to grasp words, apart from my name. I come to the surface briefly, gasping for air, and I’m underwater again – breathing in water, suffocating… I feel a big splash, and there’s someone beside me – I open my eyes underwater – it’s Valentina! We’ll both drown! I splash and writhe, trying to stay afloat – I can swim, but the water is so icy, so black. Panic hits me. Valentina throws her arms out to meet mine, and we hold hands… I’m running out of air. I can’t see, I can’t think… My lungs are full of water – will I breathe again?
And then two strong arms embrace me. They’re cold, and a bit slippery. I feel seaweed on my face, on my neck, on my hands – but it’s not seaweed, it’s the mermaid’s hair. I can make out her face, her scaly skin, her black eyes. She’s singing for me. I think she’s trying to reassure me. We look at each other for an instant. It’s beautiful and surreal.
“Valentina…” I try to tell them, but when I open my mouth I just swallow more water, and it all goes black. I feel the mermaid tying her arms around my waist, and holding me close to her face. She puts her lips on mine, and blows air into my waterlogged lungs. Then she lets me go… and I can breathe!
I can breathe underwater! My lungs are full of air again. Oxygen makes its way back into my system and I can see. I turn frantically left and right, looking for my sister. Why, oh why did she jump after me? She’s nowhere! A few silvery fish dart in front of my face, and seaweed wraps around my arms. I try to hold the mermaid’s hand, but it’s so slippery, and she’s not looking at me anymore, she’s looking up to the surface, where a bright light is shining.
Valentina…
Suddenly I make out a small shape, emerging from the darkness right in front of me. It’s her! Her eyes are closed, and her face is so white… I hold her close, and I can’t feel her chest rising, I can’t feel her breathing. She’s not breathing!
“Don’t worry. We’ll help you,” the mermaid whispers.
I try to reply, but water enters my lungs again. The mermaid’s kiss has lost its effect. I can no longer breathe underwater. I’m drifting away…
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