Mermaids in the Backyard

by Catherine Hapka

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2013 by Catherine Hapka

  Cover art and interior illustrations copyright © 2013 by Patricia Castelao

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Hapka, Cathy.

  Mermaids in the backyard / Catherine Hapka; illustrated by Patricia Castelao. — 1st ed.

  p. cm. — (A Stepping Stone Book)

  Summary: When her family moves from Chicago to an island in South Carolina, Lindy is sure she will be unhappy until she makes a surprising discovery in the backyard of their beach house.

  eISBN: 978-0-307-97638-3

  [1. Mermaids—Fiction. 2. Ocean—Fiction. 3. Moving, Household—Fiction.]

  I. Castelao, Patricia, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.H1996Mer 2013 [E]—dc23 2012002297

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  v3.1

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Prologue

  1. The Bug House

  2. Sharks and Sparks

  3. A Stormy Surprise

  4. Mermaids Are Real!

  5. A Special Secret

  6. Good-bye for Good?

  7. The Trade

  8. Another Rescue

  9. Lost at Sea

  10. Fins Forever

  About the Author

  Prologue

  “What should we do today?” Coral asked her sister, Sealily.

  It was a peaceful morning under the sea. The sisters were floating out of their family’s cave with their pet sea horse, Finneus. Bright sunlight shone all the way to the seafloor from far overhead. The light made the water sparkle. It brought out coppery glints in Coral’s hair and silvery ones in Sealily’s.

  “Let’s go look for sea stars in the shallows,” Sealily said with a swish of her tail. Her lavender and green scales glittered like jewels.

  Coral shook her head. “You know we’re not allowed to go to the shallows. Besides, Pelagos says there’s going to be a storm soon. Let’s find some dolphins instead.”

  Sealily floated in place and thought about that. She loved grabbing a ride on a friendly dolphin.

  But they had gone dolphin riding three days ago. Sealily wanted to do something different. She loved swimming when fierce storms raged overhead in the Drylands. Most of all, she loved surfing the wind-whipped water along the surface.

  She knew she’d get in big trouble if her parents ever found out. Merpeople weren’t supposed to go above the surface. Never, ever. It was the strictest rule under the sea.

  But Sealily couldn’t resist, no matter how much Coral scolded. Coral was much more careful than Sealily. Yet she never tattled on her. Never, ever. Sealily was happy that Coral was her big sister.

  “Okay,” she said. “We can go dolphin riding today.”

  “Good.” Coral looked relieved.

  Sealily smiled. “But tomorrow we’re going to the shallows,” she added. “Whether grumpy old Pelagos likes it or not.”

  “We’ll see.” Coral shot upward. A school of minnows parted to let her pass, bubbling busily. Finneus squeaked and darted after her.

  Yes, Coral could be way too careful. But she was crazy about anything to do with Drylanders. Sealily knew they would be heading toward the shore tomorrow, no matter what worries Coral might have about breaking the rules.

  “Race you to the kelp forest,” Sealily cried. Flicking her tail, she zipped after her sister.

  “No way,” Lindy Michaels said, staring through the car window. “We’re going to live here?”

  “Isn’t it adorable?” her mom said.

  Lindy didn’t know what to say. The house looked like a giant bug. It was tall and narrow and stood on stilts. She could see right underneath it to the ocean. There were three floors above the stilts. The first two floors each had a white slatted porch sticking out at a different angle. Windows of every shape and size stared in all directions. Grayish-blue shingles covered everything in between.

  Even the yard was weird. It was June, but there was no normal green grass in sight—just tall yellowish grass that waved in the sea breeze and looked as if it would cut Lindy’s hand if she touched it. And lots of rocks and sand and scrubby-looking palms.

  Behind the crazy stilt-bug house, the ground sloped down to the water’s edge. A huge tree with wide, spreading branches stood at the front corner of the house. It looked as if the tree was trying to push the whole house down the hill into the sea.

  Lindy’s father steered the car into the driveway. At least Lindy guessed it was a driveway. It wasn’t anything like their driveway in Chicago. That one was paved and smooth, with tidy shrubs lining both sides.

  This one was made of bumpy gravel and broken seashells. It curved sharply to go around a big clump of boulders. Finally Mr. Michaels stopped the car.

  “Come on, dear,” Lindy’s mom said. “We’ll show you your room.”

  Lindy climbed out of the car as slowly as she could. Whatever room they were about to show her, it wasn’t her room. Her room was back home in Chicago. The only room she’d known for her entire nine years of life.

  Her parents had always talked about leaving the city and their office jobs someday. They wanted to live on the beach and run a nice little tourist business. They’d planned to wait until after Lindy went away to college.

  Then Lindy’s aunt had vacationed in South Carolina and noticed a boat business for sale. Lindy’s parents had decided it was fate. It was time to follow their dreams—now.

  Lindy tugged on a strand of her dark hair. Her best friend, Tara, liked to tease her about that habit. She said Lindy would pull out all her hair and end up as bald as Mr. Dann, their third-grade math teacher.

  Thinking about Tara—and even about Mr. Dann—made Lindy sad. What was Tara doing right now? Was she wearing the bracelet Lindy had made her as a good-bye present?

  Lindy reached into the car and grabbed her pink backpack. Her going-away gift from Tara was inside. Lindy wanted to unzip the flap so she could touch it. But she didn’t want her parents to see.

  “Your room is on the top floor,” Lindy’s mom said. “Isn’t that cool? You’ll be able to see the whole island.”

  “And the ocean,” Mr. Michaels said with a wink. “You can watch for sea monsters and pirate ships from up there.”

  Usually Lindy loved her dad’s goofy sense of humor. He could almost always make her laugh.

  She wasn’t in the mood to laugh right now, though. She felt more like crying. She blinked her eyes very fast to stop the tears from coming. When she looked at her parents to see if they’d noticed, they were staring in the other direction.

  “Well, hello there!” her father called out cheerfully. Mrs. Michaels waved and smiled.

  They were looking toward the left side of the house. It was very rocky over there. Stones of all shapes and sizes covered a steep slope, down from the sandy side yard. At the bottom, a row of craggy gray boulde
rs stood at the edge of the water, holding back the waves. The boulders looked like a line of hunched-over old men. There was even bright green moss on some that looked like hair.

  A boy around Lindy’s age was on the near side of the boulders. He was standing in a large puddle in the rocky ground. Scrambling out of the water, he sloshed along a narrow, sandy path up the hill. The path led toward Lindy and her parents.

  Lindy watched the boy. He had messy brown hair that looked like it should have a bird nesting in it. His shoulders were sunburned, and he wore faded board shorts and flip-flops. Dangling from one hand was a slimy-looking orange starfish.

  “Hi,” he said when he reached them. “Are you the new people on the island?”

  “Yes, we are,” Lindy’s mom said. “We’re the Michaels family. We’re moving in today.”

  “I’m Matthew. I live over there.” Matthew waved the starfish toward some scrubby trees to the right of the bug house.

  “Matthew!” a new voice called. “Where are you?”

  A girl hurried into sight between the trees. She was about twelve years old and had light brown hair with sunny blond streaks. She was carrying a baby dressed in a sparkly green bathing suit with a mermaid’s tail.

  Matthew made a face and pointed at the baby. “That’s one of my little sisters,” he said.

  “There you are!” the older girl said when she saw him. “I thought you were going to help me watch the babies so they could play in the water.” Then she noticed the others. “Oh! Hello. You must be the Michaels family.”

  “That’s right,” Lindy’s dad said with a smile. “Are you Matthew’s sister?”

  “No way!” Matthew said quickly. “She’s Jessica. She lives down the road.”

  Jessica laughed. “I’m Jessica Trenton. Welcome to Little Hermit’s Cove.”

  “Thank you, Jessica. It’s lovely to meet you,” Lindy’s mom said. “And you and your sister, too, Matthew.”

  “He has two more little sisters. They’re triplets.” Jessica shifted the baby she was holding to her other hip. “Isn’t that cool?”

  Matthew rolled his eyes. “Only if you don’t have to smell their stinky diapers,” he said.

  “Gross,” Lindy muttered. Her parents chuckled.

  “This is our daughter,” Mr. Michaels said. “Lindy, say hello to Jessica and Matthew.”

  Lindy guessed that someone Jessica’s age probably didn’t care about meeting someone her age. And she could already tell Matthew was the kind of boy she wouldn’t like. Loud, messy, and annoying.

  Jessica gave her a friendly smile. “Hi, Lindy,” she said. “You’re going to love living here. Little Hermit’s Island is the coolest place in the world.”

  “Hi.” Lindy couldn’t think of anything else to say. Sure, the island seemed kind of cool. It would be a nice place to visit on vacation. But how would she ever get used to living there?

  “This is it.” Mr. Michaels spread out his arms and turned in a circle. He had a big smile on his face. “Our new office! Isn’t it great?”

  The Michaels family, Jessica, and Matthew were standing on a wooden pier. Small waves lapped against the pillars. Boats tied to the pier bumped gently against one another as the water rocked them back and forth. Overhead, seagulls circled and swooped, letting out a chorus of noisy cries. Everything smelled like salt and seaweed. At least Lindy guessed it was seaweed.

  “What do you think, Lindy?” Mrs. Michaels asked. “With a little luck, your father and I will turn this place into the best boat dock in South Carolina!”

  “The dock used to be really popular with tourists,” Jessica said. “Then Mr. Lewis got sick and moved to the mainland. Nobody wanted to take it over until you guys bought it.”

  Jessica had left the mermaid-suited baby with Matthew’s dad so she could show Mr. and Mrs. Michaels a shortcut from the bug house to the dock. Matthew had tossed his starfish back in the water and tagged along.

  The boat dock was about a quarter of a mile from the house. They could walk there on the road, or they could take Jessica’s shortcut, a twisty, sandy path along the edge of the cove.

  Now here they were. Lindy looked around. The sun was so bright she had to squint. The dock was right in the middle of the cove, a blobby inlet cutting into one end of the island. Houses lined the shore of the cove. A cluster of shops and restaurants stood just south of the dock. People strolled around looking sunburned and happy. More people were swimming in the shallows off a narrow strip of pale sand. Half a dozen boats floated on the sparkling, sunlit water. One was a big sailboat heading toward the open sea beyond the cove, and another was a rowboat with a pair of kids rowing it.

  “Hey! Earth to New Girl.”

  Lindy blinked. Matthew was waving his hand in front of her face. There was dirt under his fingernails and a grubby Band-Aid on one thumb. It looked like it had been there for at least a month.

  Lindy’s parents were walking farther down the pier, checking out the boats. She hoped they wouldn’t fall in. “Are there sharks out there?” she asked.

  Jessica smiled. “Don’t worry. Sharks hardly ever come into the cove. At least not the big ones.”

  “You’ll probably see some by your house, though,” Matthew said. “You’re right at the mouth of the cove. There are tons of sharks out on the ocean side.” He smirked. “So don’t go swimming alone, or you might come back with one leg missing.”

  “That’s not funny!” Lindy shivered.

  “He’s just trying to scare you,” Jessica said in a soothing voice. “Still, you probably shouldn’t swim in the ocean. Not until you get used to being near the water, anyway.”

  “I am used to being near the water,” Lindy said. “Chicago is right on Lake Michigan. That’s a huge lake. Like, really huge.”

  Jessica didn’t look very impressed. “Okay. But the ocean is different. You’ll see once you’ve been here awhile.”

  Lindy didn’t answer. Instead, she walked a little farther out on the pier.

  “Ow!” she cried as her toe caught on a loose board. She stumbled forward. When she put out her hands to catch herself, she realized she was falling straight toward the water! Just in time, she staggered sideways onto her other foot.

  “Are you okay?” Jessica asked.

  Matthew laughed. “If you want to go swimming, just say so!”

  “Shut up.” Lindy scowled at him. She was sensitive about being clumsy. Even Tara would never tease her about it.

  Then she stared out at the water. The waves seemed to dance, throwing sparks from the sun. It was hard to see clearly. But Lindy thought she spotted something near the mouth of the cove. Was it—could it be a person’s head popping up from the water? She squinted, taking a step forward.

  “Careful,” Matthew said. “You don’t want to fall in for real this time. The sharks might get you.”

  Lindy ignored him. “Do you see that?”

  “See what?” Jessica asked.

  “It looks like somebody’s out there! Right by those big rocks and trees and stuff.”

  “That’s where your house is,” Matthew said. “If the trees weren’t there, you could see it from here.”

  Lindy glanced over at the shore. Sure enough, the shrubby trees looked familiar. When she looked back out at the water, there was no sign of anything other than waves.

  “Oh,” she said. “They’re gone. What if it was somebody drowning? Shouldn’t we tell someone?” She looked toward the lifeguard chair on the beach.

  Jessica chuckled. “I’m sure there’s no one there. Just your eyes playing tricks on you because of the bright sun shining on the water.”

  Before Lindy could answer, her parents came walking back. They looked happy and excited. Her mother’s hair had mostly escaped from its bun and was blowing around in the breeze. Her father’s feet were hairy and ghostly pale in his brand-new sandals.

  “Well, kids?” Mr. Michaels said. “Want to take one of these babies out for a spin?” He waved toward the boats tied to the
pier.

  “Sure!” Matthew said. “We have our own motorboat. So I can totally show you how to drive one.”

  Jessica checked her watch. “I’ll come, too, thanks. Can you please drop me off at Matthew’s house? They have a dock.”

  “Absolutely.” Mr. Michaels beamed. “Come on, Lindy. All aboard!”

  Lindy smiled weakly. Her parents seemed really excited to start their new life in Little Hermit’s Cove. But she was afraid that she’d never, ever fit in.

  Lindy stared out the living room window. Rain ran rivers down the panes. Out on the ocean, the waves seemed confused. Instead of lapping gently and evenly against the shore, they crashed against one another, sending white spray everywhere. Watching them made Lindy nervous.

  She looked down at the old-man boulders. The ocean was already halfway up their backs. Every few seconds a wave crashed against them. Each time, more water flowed over the tops of the boulders. Some of it splashed into the tide pool where Matthew had found that starfish the day before. The rest splattered onto the rocky ground or got mixed up with the rain.

  Lightning cracked the sky in two. Thunder snarled like a giant, belching monster. The sound made the whole house shake. Lindy wished her parents would hurry home. It was too stormy to go to the dock that day, so they’d taken the ferry to the mainland to shop for supplies.

  An even bigger crash of thunder rattled the windows. A second later the phone rang, making Lindy jump. She hurried to answer it.

  “Hello, Lindy?” Her mother’s voice sounded crackly and far away. “Can you hear me?”

  “Where are you?” Lindy asked. “Are you going to be home soon?”

  “I’m afraid not.” The phone crackled again, making it impossible for Lindy to hear the next few words. Then it cut back in. “… and they said it’s not safe to take the ferry out until the storm passes. So we’re stuck on the mainland for a while.”

  “What?” Lindy tightened her grip on the phone.

  “Don’t worry—your father is on his cell right now talking to Jessica. She’s going to run over and sit with you.”