Promise Bound

by Anne Greenwood Brown

  “Of course I have a plan,” I heard Daniel say. “It’s just that the time went quicker than I thought it would. No one in Cornucopia even knows I have a girlfriend.”

  “You don’t have a girlfriend,” Lily said. “I’m telling you, keep it up with the girlfriend talk and you’re going to end up dead, just like Jack Pettit. In fact, if Pavati doesn’t take you down, I might. So knock it off.”

  There was another prolonged moment of silence on the other end. Although Daniel had once prematurely assumed Lily was a mermaid, he was now fully informed when it came to the Hancock family. I knew Lily was bluffing when she talked about murder, but Daniel had every reason to take her at her word. She was strong, and he knew she could do enough damage to make her point.

  Daniel whispered, “I haven’t said anything to anyone.”

  I butted into the conversation, speaking only to Lily but loud enough for Daniel to hear. “Tell him he should have thought about the consequences before he took off with Pavati.”

  Lily waved at me to shut up.

  Daniel groaned. “How was I supposed to say no to her? You can’t imagine how amaz—”

  “Spare me the gruesome details!” I yelled, and Lily rolled her eyes. She’d heard Daniel’s account of his mermaid hookup at least a dozen times. She agreed with me that Daniel Catron had been a supreme idiot, but she assured me it was only a symptom of Pavati-itis, and that he hadn’t always been so dense.

  I was going to need more convincing. As it stood, I gave Daniel three months. By that time, I was pretty sure he’d either stick the baby with us, or he’d go in search of Pavati. And even an idiot knew how that would work out.

  “Be at the fishing pier in fifteen minutes,” Lily said again. “You are coming, right?”

  There was silence on the other end. I mouthed his unspoken answer to Lily: Nope.

  She scooped up my car keys from the kitchen counter and tossed them to me, saying, “You better be there, Daniel Catron, or so help me.” Then she hung up. He would be a fool not to show.

  But just as I expected, when Lily and I got to the fishing pier, there was no sign of Daniel. The adjacent playground was abandoned, save for one mother and her toddler, who was climbing a pink and blue dragon made out of old semitruck tires. We walked to the pier and took our places alongside the splintered rail, leaning against it, smelling the fresh clarity of springtime in the air. We all needed a new beginning.

  I took Lily’s hand and absentmindedly rubbed my thumb over her ring finger. If she’d only be convinced to set up a new home, with me, somewhere else, far away … Lily squeezed my hand, and for a second, I had an unfamiliar flash of optimism.

  But then she fidgeted and worry darkened the small bit of human light that still radiated from her body. I was thankful for even that glimmer of her humanity. I clung to it as it clung to her.

  “He’ll come,” I said, hoping my reassurance would refresh her aura to its former raspberry glow.

  “What time is it?” she asked.

  “Twelve oh two.”

  She turned away from me and walked to the swing set, taking a seat in one of the black rubber slings. She hung there, barely swaying, picking at a loose thread on her leg warmers.

  “Do you think this is going to work out?” she asked as I came up behind her.

  “Are you asking me if I think Daniel Catron can raise a baby for a year, or are you asking me if I think there will be a problem at the end of the year?”

  “Both.”

  I sat down on the ground in front of her swing and picked up a handful of wood chips. “From what I know of Daniel Catron, he wants Pavati. Nothing more. I’m more concerned about him not showing up than I am about him not giving the baby back next spring. When Tom Hancock … when your grandfather refused to return your dad, that was unheard of. At least, I should say Mother never expected it. Daniel seems like the least likely candidate to … well … shall we call it ‘pull a Hancock’?”

  “What time is it now?” she asked.

  Before I could answer, a blue VW Bug wheeled into one of the many empty parking spots, and Daniel jumped out, slamming the door behind him. “I don’t even have a car seat,” he moaned. “I think I’m supposed to have one of those.”

  “Would you settle down?” I said, chucking a wood chip in his direction. “Just tell people you found the baby on the side of the road. No one will expect you to have the necessary baby equipment.”

  Daniel’s face brightened at my suggestion.

  “He’s kidding,” Lily said.

  “No, I’m not.”

  She rolled her eyes at me. “If Danny says he found a baby on the side of the road, someone’s going to call social services. That’s not exactly ideal.”

  “Can’t I just keep the baby at your house?” Daniel asked Lily.

  Lily paled. “First of all, I’m not going to do anything with the baby. This is all on you. Second of all, what about my mom?”

  “Your mom at least has a clue about all of this mermaid stuff,” Danny said.

  “No way. My mom is in no shape to be raising a baby.”

  “Think of it as babysitting,” Daniel pressed.

  “At seven dollars an hour? For a year?” Lily whipped out her phone and did the calculation. “That’s … sixty-one thousand three hundred twenty dollars. Cough it up. I get paid in advance.”

  “Be serious,” Daniel said.

  “I couldn’t be more serious,” Lily said. “I’m eighteen. If I wanted a baby, I could get married and have one of my own.”

  A flash fire of adrenaline burned through my body, and I quickly looked away. As much time as I’d spent thinking about a future with Lily, a family of our own had never occurred to me. That wasn’t supposed to be possible for mermen, but then again … Lily was living proof that that bit of mermaid canon law was seriously flawed. The mere possibility of having a baby with Lily made my insides crawl with a combination of anticipation and terror.

  “Oh my God,” Daniel said, “if my parents find out about this, they’ll kill me.”

  I picked myself up off the ground and brushed the dirt and wood chips from my pants. “Agreed. And I think we can also agree that if you screw this up, they will, too.” I gestured toward the parking lot, and Lily and Daniel both turned to look. “Figure it out quick, lover boy. Maris and Pavati just pulled up.”

  Even at this distance I could read Maris’s and Pavati’s faces through the windshield. Their jaws were set, their lips tight. My money was on them sharing my anxiety about history repeating itself.

  A new voice boomed through the tense silence. “They here yet?” Jason asked, striding toward us from the parking lot, his view of Maris and Pavati blocked by blue shrink-wrapped sailboats on drydock.

  “Dad!” Lily cried out. “What are you doing here?”

  “I thought it was about time I met my sisters. I was never able to hear them in the lake.” He turned toward me. “You said that was probably because I’d never heard their voices on land. Time to fix that, wouldn’t you say?”

  Lily looked at me in panic.

  “Maybe you’re right,” I said, as I studied Maris and Pavati for a second longer. “And it’s always good to have the numbers.”

  “You don’t think they’re dangerous anymore, do you?” asked Jason. “To us, anyway.”

  I could only speculate based on my years of living with Maris and Pavati, but I felt confident in my answer. “Lily fulfilled your family’s promise to my mother, and Jack paid the price for Tallulah’s death. So, no. I don’t think they’re a danger to you or Lily anymore.”

  But I turned to Daniel less certainly. “You, on the other hand … Word of advice, Daniel: Make it quick. The last time we saw them they were severely weakened. They’re at full physical strength now, but their emotional tanks are getting low. Don’t get any closer to the water than you are right now. They need you alive for the baby’s sake, but you don’t want to pose any unnecessary temptation. This should be a quick handoff; then
get out of here.”

  5

  LILY

  So Calder didn’t think Maris and Pavati were a danger to me and Dad anymore? It was nice to know there was at least one perk to my transformation. Besides, they were my aunts, my father’s sisters. I knew what Calder would say about that: they always had been, and that hadn’t stopped their murderous intentions. But still, now that they weren’t trying to kill Dad, or me, now that we knew they weren’t behind the nightmare of last summer, they couldn’t be so bad.

  Maris and Pavati climbed gracefully out of a silver sedan—Maris in faded jeans and a black tank top; Pavati in a pink floral dress that was thin enough for her long, toned legs to show through when the sun hit it right. Okay. Truth was, they still gave me the creeps. Especially now when they looked so healthy. I could only imagine at what cost.

  Danny let out a long, low whistle and when I glanced over his blue eyes were sparkling. “Have you ever seen anyone so beautiful?” he said to my dad, then caught me staring him down.

  “You’re not going to throw yourself at Pavati,” I said. “You’re going to stand by me and man up. She’s not going to have much time for you anyway. Her focus is going to be on giving you the baby and getting herself in the lake. Don’t take it personally.”

  “I thought you said you didn’t know anything about this,” Danny said.

  “Shut up and be quiet,” I said. “And while we’re at it, get that lovesick-puppy expression off your face, or so help me, I’m going to slap you.”

  He swallowed hard. “Right. No puppies.”

  Pavati reached into the backseat of the sedan and straightened up, holding a massive bundle of fuzzy blue blankets. Somewhere from inside the jumble, I heard a tiny mewing sound. Intuitively, I squeezed Danny’s hand to hold him in place. Dad placed his hand on my shoulder, while Calder—despite his earlier assurances—moved one shoulder in front of mine in a defensive posture.

  Maris and Pavati strode toward us. Pavati kept her pointy elbows slightly ahead of Maris’s arms, as if positioning herself as the new leader of their small band, but Maris did not look resigned to a subservient rank. Seeing the controlled hostility in their expressions, my back stiffened out of habit. I searched their faces to see if the malice was directed toward any one of us, but that did not appear to be the case.

  Maris and Pavati had both returned to their natural beauty. Gone was the emaciated, graying look that Jack Pettit had forced upon them. They were both well fed, emotionally and physically. I could see that clearly in the shimmer of light at the corners of their mouths, and in the buoyant way they walked. Maris’s white-blond hair shone in the sun, and Pavati’s thick chocolaty curls bounced against her shoulders. Their arms were soft and supple, and their collarbones no longer jutted out in dangerous angles. They showed no sign of memory or distress about what had transpired here only ten months ago.

  The mermaid sisters broke into matching smiles of serenity that gave me a creepy-crawly feeling up the backs of my legs. Danny’s hand softened in mine, and I dug in my nails.

  “Thank you for coming,” Maris said. Her eyes were hard and all on my dad.

  “It’s so good to see you,” Pavati said, looking first at me, and then glancing quickly at Danny, who sucked in his breath at her brief acknowledgment. Neither Maris nor Pavati spoke to Calder.

  I wasn’t sure what to say. Their greeting seemed genuine, yet Calder’s guarded posture made me suspicious of the pleasantries. I did my best not to make eye contact with either of them, unless I should succumb to unwanted hypnosis.

  Maris said, “Jason Hancock, I presume?”

  “Maris,” he replied.

  She looked him up and down. “You look old.”

  Pavati held out the pile of blue blankets like she was offering a serving tray in a banquet hall. I elbowed Danny, and he reached out tentatively. I could practically feel his mind’s wheels turning, trying to think of the perfect thing to say. I spoke so he wouldn’t.

  “Blue blankets,” I said. “Does this mean—”

  Pavati nodded, her pride apparent. “The most beautiful boy.”

  Only then did I realize how much I’d hoped it was a girl. Our fear of history repeating itself seemed even more justified with a boy.

  Danny held the bundle awkwardly, uncertain if he was doing it right, and I peeled back the blanket, revealing a small cherubic face. The baby had dark hair and caramel-colored skin, just like his parents, and when he opened his eyes to blink at the sun, they were the same brilliant blue as Danny’s. A thick fringe of black lashes lay softly against his cheeks. His lips pouted into the shape of a berry.

  An image of Nadia leaning over my infant father flashed in my head as Danny curled his body to shield Pavati’s baby from the sun.

  “You will take care of him,” Pavati said, touching the baby under the chin, while a curl of trepidation wormed its way into my stomach.

  Danny nodded. “Will you visit?”

  “Maybe.” Pavati looked out at the lake, her hands trembling.

  “You look good, Lily,” Maris said, and when I steeled myself to look at her I saw that her eyes, too, were on the water. “How did the winter go? I was concerned you three might not make it.”

  She was concerned? I didn’t know what to make of that.

  “It was no picnic,” Dad said.

  This time it was Maris’s turn to laugh. “I can’t imagine.” She touched my dad’s arm lightly, and both he and Calder braced against it.

  She said to Dad and me, “I am glad you both came to the pier today. If we’re going to be sharing the lake, it’s about time we got to know each other better.”

  “Um … yeah,” I said. “We should hang out sometime.” And Maris laughed again. Weird.

  “Sophie is well?” Pavati asked. “Has she …?”

  “No,” I said. My shoulders relaxed at her question. “She’s still the same little girl as before.”

  “I see how it is,” Pavati said as she drew her conclusion: the consequence of a merman father was that the gene did not pass down to all the heirs. I didn’t know if she was right. Only time would tell.

  Pavati looked anxiously at the lake. “Now, Maris?”

  “Yes,” Maris said. “If you’ll excuse us, Lily. Jason.” Dad’s name still sounded hard for her to say. She didn’t acknowledge Calder or Danny at all. “We need to go.” Maris headed for the trees, but despite her own apparent eagerness, Pavati held back.

  Calder and Dad headed toward the parking lot.

  “Already?” Danny asked, looking up from the baby’s face. “But you just—”

  Pavati’s eyes grew glossy, then thick with tears that she refused to let fall. She dropped a quick kiss onto the baby’s forehead without a word to Danny. To me, she said, “You got my letter?”

  “I did,” I whispered, casting a nervous glance in Calder’s direction. He had to be listening, even from his distance.

  “And?” Pavati asked.

  I shook my head infinitesimally. Just my luck she’d bring that up with Calder in earshot.

  “We’ll talk later,” she said, and with that she followed Maris into the trees. I pulled at Danny’s arm. He didn’t need to watch them stripping down. In fact, I was pretty sure that would be a really bad idea.

  “Wait,” Danny called out to Pavati. “You didn’t tell me his name.”

  “Come on,” I said, tugging harder on his elbow, pulling him in Calder’s direction. “We can figure all that out later.”

  “He needs to have a name,” Danny said.

  There were two clean splashes as Maris and Pavati entered the lake, their migration complete. Danny and I turned at the sound. We watched for some last sign of them, but the lake had returned to a glassy sheet.

  “Come on,” I said. “Let’s go back to our house.”

  Danny fumbled the bundle of blankets as he readjusted his grip. Calder hit the horn lightly and I waved at him to be patient.

  “You okay?” Dad asked. He had his car door op
en and he stood just inside it, with one arm resting on the roof. “You want me to take the baby?”

  Danny sighed and looked down at the face of his sleeping son. “No. I’m okay for now. He’s”—Danny swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing—“he’s mine. I’ve got him.”

  6

  CALDER

  As I drove back to the Hancock house with Lily in the passenger seat, I watched Daniel Catron’s car in my rearview mirror. What speed was he going? Fifteen miles an hour? I slowed down so I didn’t get too far ahead of him. The kid was twitchy, and he made me nervous. Was he slowing down again? The boy had slipped into protective father mode more easily than I had feared.

  Lily played with her pendant, rolling it around in her fingers as she stared out the window. She said, “Y’know, Maris wasn’t actually that bad. Is it possible you’ve misjudged her all these years?”

  At first I thought Lily was joking and I laughed out loud, but she kept her serious expression, so I had to level her with reason. “Maybe you’ve forgotten. She used your little sister as bait, knocked me unconscious, trapped me in a fishing net, had Tallulah lure you to your death, then made us risk our lives by going into Copper Falls.”

  “Okay, okay, I get it,” she said.

  “Don’t tell me I’ve misjudged her.”

  “But still,” Lily persisted. “It is possible she’s changed.”

  “You’re generous to a fault,” I said.

  “Maris said she wants us all to share the lake in peace.”

  I pulled into the Hancocks’ driveway and parked in Jason’s usual spot. Daniel pulled in beside us. “Only because she knows you, me, and Jason aren’t competition.”

  “Competition?” Lily asked.

  Why hadn’t I kept my mouth shut? I looked down at my hands, still on the steering wheel, and said, “We won’t interfere with her hunting schedule. She won’t have to factor us in when she figures out the pacing and rationing for the summer.”

  “Oh,” Lily said, because what more could she say.

  I turned to face her, taking in her innocent expression. Her gray eyes, now tinted with silver. Her auburn hair fanned out across her shoulders. She still looked so very human. Her transformation hadn’t brought on many mer-characteristics: no silver ring around her neck, no ability to see emotion, no electrical impulse. She couldn’t even breathe underwater, though she could now hold her breath for nearly an hour. The thought that she might not escape the worst of our traits—that she might one day feel the need to hunt—filled me with dread.