The Mermaid Girl

by Xequina

  “They’re playing music, hoping to attract the mermaid,” the old lady said.

  A man leaning against the column rolled his eyes. “I think they’re really advertising the symphony.” You could tell he didn’t believe in mermaids. Mermary loved music and I knew she probably was there, listening. I just hoped no one would see her by accident.

  “I’m going to let Mermary see me so she’ll know we’re here,” I whispered to Reggie. I went to the side and all around by the edge of the landing, and I stuck my thumb up in the direction we were going to go. She would probably guess I meant Dragon Tree Point. Then I slipped back to Reggie.

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  “You saw her?”

  “No, but I know she saw me. Come on.”

  We started pulling the cart away when that bossy girl Helen from my school, came over and stood in front of our cart.

  “What does this mean?” she asked. She made the same sign I had made to Mermary. “Is it mermaid for ‘come here’?”

  I didn’t know what to say, I just stood there with my mouth open.

  “You were signaling to the mermaid, weren’t you,” she said. She looked at the cart and bucket. “What are you up to?”

  “None of your beeswax,” Reggie said. “Who are you, anyway?”

  Helen glanced at Reggie, then back at me. “What are you doing with that bucket?” She grabbed the cloth away and looked inside. “Is that what you’re feeding the mermaid?”

  I just kept staring at her, frozen.

  “My brother told me about you,” she said.

  “Your brother?” I asked.

  “Hello-o? Michael Crisp? Your classmate?” Of course, Michael. He had freckles and glasses and black hair, and he was the smartest boy in our class. “He said you’re a mermaid expert, and that you come to the lake every day. He didn’t know why, but I figured it out. You hang out with the mermaid, don’t you?”

  I was really scared. She was talking loudly, and people were listening.

  “How do you know so much about mermaids?” she demanded.

  “I read about them,” I said.

  “Sure you do,” she said. “You better tell me about that mermaid.”

  Reggie butted in. “What are you, eleven?”

  Helen looked offended. “I’m almost thirteen. Why?”

  “Aren’t you a little old to believe in mermaids? I bet you still believe in the Easter Bunny and Santie Claus.”

  “I do not.”

  “Come on,” Reggie said to me, grabbing the cloth back from Helen. “We have to get these cuttings home to my parents.” She pushed Helen out of the way and we pulled the cart after us.

  “What a nosy girl,” Reggie said. “How do you know her?”

  “She’s some brat from my school,” I said.

  “You’re the brat,” we heard Helen say and Reggie snickered nastily.

  We started heading in the direction of Dragon Tree Point, but I looked back and saw Helen was watching us.

  “We can’t go to the other place I meet Mermary because that girl is still watching us.”

  Reggie didn’t look back, just kept walking and pushing the cart. “Then we’ll keep walking and find another place. Don’t look back anymore. Don’t even look at the lake. It makes us look guilty.”

  So we kept walking and didn’t go to Dragon Tree Point at all, but cut across the grass to the pathway that ran alongside the lake. I made the signal for Mermary to follow. We passed the Point.

  “This wouldn’t have been a good place to get Mermary anyway. It’s too high off the water. We need a place where we can get down to the water, but where no one can see us.”

  “Hmmm,” Reggie said. “Let me think where would be a good place.” So we walked along and were quiet.

  “I know where we can go,” Reggie said. “You know that beach, where they have that big, yellow sculpture kids climb around on?”

  “You mean The Monster? But that area is wide open. People will see us.”

  “No, next to that. The trees grow down to the lake and hang over the water. I used to play hide and seek there with my brother. The trees will provide cover from all directions.”

  She was right, that was a great idea. We continued walking on past the ranger’s building, then past the bird sanctuary area. I didn’t look back anymore, even though it was really hard. But Reggie was right, it would make us look guilty.

  There were a lot of people everywhere because it was turning out to be a nice day. I was so glad Reggie was helping me. She was smart and brave, plus she knew how to talk to people like Helen. All of a sudden Reggie stopped.

  “Let’s get some hotdogs,” she said as we reached the concession stand behind the boathouse. I looked at her.

  “Are you serious?” I asked. I was too anxious to eat. I just wanted our “science project” to be over with.

  “I have a reason,” she said. “I’ll get hotdogs. You stay with the cart.”

  She got in line and bought two hotdogs. She put mustard and catsup on hers. “What do you want on yours?” she called over to me.

  “I’m not hungry,” I said.

  “Just mustard?” She acted as if she hadn’t heard me and put mustard on the second hot dog. Then she came over to me. “Let’s sit up there.”

  She pointed at the same bench we had sat on when we had our excursion several weeks ago. It was up a little rise. From there we had a view of the lake, the back of the boathouse which was in front of us, and the bird sanctuary on our left. She told me where to sit, then sat on the opposite end of the bench so she was facing the way we had just come.

  “Okay, just act normal, and don’t look back, no matter what. Just look at me.” She started eating her hotdog and talking with her mouth full.

  “Blah, blah, blah, blah,” she said, and turned her head this way and that. And pointing out at the lake. I looked where she was pointing, but I didn’t know why she was pointing. “At least pretend to eat your hotdog.”

  I took a bite. What in the world was Reggie doing? She finished her hotdog.

  “I thought so,” she said, leaning back and stretching her arms out across the back of the bench to get some sun.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I’ll tell you, but don’t look around, okay? Just keep your head turned this way . . . that girl’s following us. What’s her name, Hellish? Right now she’s by the bird pen, pretending like she’s looking at the birds, but she’s got her eye on us.”

  “Oh no. What are we going to do?”

  “We just have to wait her out.”

  Reggie went to get a soft drink and I ate the rest of my hot dog. I didn’t look back at all. Reggie shared her soft drink with me. We must have wasted at least twenty minutes.

  “I think she’s gone,” Reggie said. “I saw her walking back the way we came a few minutes ago, but she could be trying to trick us.” She threw our trash in a receptacle and looked around. “We’re going to make a detour, just in case. Come on, this way.”

  She headed up a path away from the lake, to a section of the park that was gated. Inside was a big garden area, with different areas like a Japanese garden, a cactus garden, an herb garden, and several vegetable patches where people were working. We went over there.

  “My mother brought me here a few times. She gets cuttings, or asks for gardening advice, so I know some of the people here. You watch the gate for old what’s her name.”

  Reggie talked to some of the gardeners. A nice old man gave us kale and collards. I stood across from Reggie and faced the gate, keeping watch for Helen.

  “Is she back there?” Reggie asked.

  I shook my head.

  She turned to take a long look. “Okay, let’s go.”

  But instead of going out the way we came in, she headed through the garden plots to the back of the fenced area, where there was a gardeners’ building. On the side of it was a big yard with vehicles that had the city logo, and at the far end was another entrance where cars came and
went.

  “We’re going out this way,” Reggie said. “So if Helen is hiding, we can give her the slip.”

  We got to the back entrance, stuck our heads out, and looked around. There weren’t very many people. There was a wide open space with a road. On the far side there were trees that hid the lake from view. Reggie pointed to the right of us.

  “Okay. The beach and that yellow sculpture are over to the right, down beyond those trees. Our destination is there,” she said, pointing directly across from us. “There’s a path that runs along the edge of the trees. We’re going over there, and then climb down the side to the water. We’re almost there. Here’s the thing, Cam. It’ll take us a minute to cross, and we won’t have any cover. We’ll be sitting ducks if Helen comes around that corner. If that happens, we’ll have to give up for today.”

  My shoulders slumped. I didn’t think I could wait another week.

  “It’s okay, Cam. If that happens, just think of today as a practice run. Are you ready?”

  I closed my eyes and said a prayer to Our Lady of the Lake. It made me feel like I had more courage, so I nodded.

  “Okay, let’s go.”

  We headed out the back gate and crossed the road and over the grass to the trees.

  “Is it okay if I look?” I asked.

  “Yeah, it doesn’t matter now.”

  I didn’t see Helen.

  We made it to the path next to the trees. We checked for Helen one last time, but still didn’t see her.

  “Okay, this is it,” Reggie said.

  We started making our way down through the trees and bushes to the lake. We had to lift and carry the cart. Reggie got at the bottom and I held the handle. About halfway down I stopped. The trees and shrubs were pretty thick, so I didn’t think anyone would be able to see us from the path above. Reggie had been right, it was a perfect spot.

  “Wait here,” I told Reggie. “Mermary won’t come out unless I tell her it’s safe. Keep watch, and let me know if anyone’s coming. I’ll call you when it’s okay.”

  “All right,” Reggie said. “If anyone comes, I’ll whistle like a bird.”

  Reggie sat down next to the cart to wait.

  Chapter 59

  Her Last Moments in the Lake

  I made my way down to the water and then continued a little ways away from where Reggie was. I looked around. There were people on the far side of the lake, and some people on a gondola but they weren’t looking our way at all. I took a breath and sang the two-note call and waited a few minutes. It seemed to take forever and I started worrying, but finally the water stirred and Mermary surfaced.

  “Hi, Cammie! I saw you down by the music and followed like you signaled me to, then I wondered where you were. Is that your friend Reggie with you?”

  “Yes. I had to tell her about you. Our Lady of the Lake sent me a dream and told me Reggie would help me get you to the ocean. ”

  “You’re taking me to the ocean? Today?”

  I nodded, because a lump was forming in my throat.

  “Yeay!” she said. She leapt out of the water and did a somersault in the air. She surfaced again and said, “Can we go now?”

  I nodded again. Tears were coming up, but Mermary didn’t notice because she was leaping and swimming in fast circles excitedly.

  “I can’t wait! I can’t wait!” she said.

  I couldn’t remember ever seeing her so happy. I had to be brave, and I reminded myself the ocean was where she belonged.

  “Let’s go meet Reggie now, okay?” I said, finally.

  I made my way back to where Reggie was, halfway down the incline. “You can come down now, Reggie. Bring the bucket.”

  Reggie took the bucket out of the cart and climbed the rest of the way down to the water. I called Mermary. She popped up.

  “Hello, Reggie!” she said. “Camile told me all about you.”

  “Wow,” Reggie said. Her eyes were big as sand dollars. “I mean, hello Mermary!” She squatted down by the water’s edge. “A real mermaid!”

  “Another person!” Mermary said, and we all laughed.

  Reggie held out her hand. Mermary reached out and grasped two of Reggie’s fingers. “Hey, she’s got three fingers! No wonder you drew mermaids like that.”

  I nodded. “When I teach people how to draw mermaids, I tell them mermaids only need three fingers. I never told them how I knew that, and no one ever asked.”

  Mermary dove into the lake, and after a couple of minutes she came up and gave Reggie a spoon. It was old and crusted from being in the lake a long time, but you could still see the unusual shape of the bowl part and flowers on the handle.

  “Mermary finds lots of things at the bottom of the lake,” I said. “You know my collection of old bottles and stuff in my room? Mermary found them in the lake.”

  “Wow,” Reggie said again. “Thank you, Mermary!”

  She asked her lots of questions. Then she got a stick and held it parallel to the water.

  “Mermary, can you jump over this?”

  Mermary jumped over it easily. Reggie moved the stick higher and higher for Mermary to jump. She loved it. I hadn’t known Mermary could jump so high. I wished we could hang out and play for hours, and that the day would never end.

  “Mermary, are you ready to get into the bucket and go to the ocean?” I asked.

  “Yes! Yes! I can’t wait!”

  “Do you need to get anything from your cave?”

  She shook her head. She was wearing the knife I had given her, and she certainly didn’t need to take any of the junk she had in there. I took the vegetables and branches out, and we tipped the bucket most of the way sideways. Mermary leapt in and splashed in the water. She was so long now, she had to draw her tail in the rest of the way.

  “Hey,” Reggie said. “She has that knife you bought, the one you said was for your mother.”

  “Sorry, I fibbed about that too,” I said. “At least I won’t have to lie anymore. I was lying all the time to protect Mermary.”

  “It’s okay. I totally get why you had to do it.”

  Mermary curled her tail up so it fit in the bottom of the bucket. She kept leaping up and pulling herself up on the side of the bucket, all the way to her waist so she could see out.

  “Mermary, you’re too visible that way. Stay down. We have plants to help disguise you, in case anyone looks in,” I said.

  Reggie and I tucked the branches and vegetables around her.

  “Are you comfortable, little mermaid?” Reggie asked.

  “Yes, let’s go! Let’s go to the ocean!” she sang.

  “Aren’t you sad to be leaving the lake?” I asked.

  “Sad? Why? It will always be here, and I’ll always remember it.”

  But I didn’t know how to explain sadness. I just put the cloth over the branches and the top of the bucket. The bucket was much heavier now, of course. Together Reggie and I lifted it a few feet then set it down to rest, and bit by bit, we got to the trail at the top of the little rise. Before coming out of the bushes, we checked to see if Helen was nearby. There were a few other people around, but no Helen.

  “Wait with Mermary, I’ll get the cart,” I said.

  I dragged it up the rest of the way and back onto the path. We both lifted the bucket inside, and I covered the top of the branches with the cloth. Finally we were ready for the last and most difficult part of the journey.

  Chapter 60

  Journey to the Beach

  We started pushing the cart toward the park exit. Mermary jumped up the side of the bucket and pulled on the rag, clinging to the edge with her little hands and looking over the side.

  “I want to watch where we’re going!” she said.

  “But someone might see you!” I said anxiously.

  “No they won’t. I’ll see them first, and I’ll duck and hide.”

  “Here,” Reggie said. We stopped and she arranged the branches at the sides of the bucket, draped the rag over them, then folded back
the rag so it made a little doorway so Mermary could see out. We passed a lot of people and each time, Mermary disappeared like she said she would, but hardly anyone looked at the cart or bucket. We reached the sidewalk outside the park and stopped for a rest.

  “It’s that way, that way!” Mermary cried, pointing toward the ocean.

  “You’re right,” Reggie said. “That’s west, and that’s where the beach is.”

  Then she told her each of the directions, pointing so Mermary would know which was which.

  “I know the directions in my body,” Mermary said. “I can feel them. Now I know what they’re called.”

  That was something else I could put in my mermaid journal. Probably the last thing.

  Reggie looked at me. “I guess it’s about one good mile to the ocean.” She looked at her phone. “It’s after one. This will probably take an hour. Are you ready?”

  She was asking me, but Mermary said, “Yes! Yes! I’m ready!”

  I nodded and didn’t look at Reggie because the knot was back in my throat. We started off. Mermary kept asking “what’s that?” and Reggie and I would tell her. We passed people with baby carriages, lots of bicyclists, and a man in a wheelchair. Each time we pulled to the side to let them pass so we wouldn’t draw attention to ourselves. That slowed us up some, but I didn’t mind. We were really careful when we crossed streets, especially the busy ones. I saw some kids from school across the boulevard and we waved at each other, but I worried about running into someone we knew on our same side. They would probably want to know what was in the bucket. If they did, I hoped they wouldn’t look too carefully.

  Mermary munched on the vegetables and berries in the bucket. Reggie kept asking her if she was okay, if she needed anything, and pointing out sights of interest to her, like a funny looking bald dog and a Model T car. Mermary splashed water on herself now and then.

  “Cool!” Reggie said, watching her. “I still can’t believe I’m seeing a real mermaid.”

  I was still afraid Helen might be following us. What would happen if we made it all the way to the beach, and it turned out she was following us the whole time? Reggie noticed.

  “Why do you keep looking back?”