by S McCoy
The
Mermaid
Daughters
of the
Mountain Lake Kingdom
By S. McCoy
Dedication
This book is written for my two wonderful sons. They are my greatest pride and joy and the two most amazing blessings in my life.
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I give a big thank you to Sarah for her encouragement with all my artistic endeavors. Additionally, I thank Mermaid Linden for introducing me to the modern mermaid world full of wonder and possibilities. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the late great C.S. Lewis for his masterful style of writing. His creative writing style has served as a powerful inspiration for me with his unique use of allegories within fictional environments that have produced countless literary masterpieces that all ages can enjoy…
Introduction
My hope in writing this book was to create a fun and entertaining family fairytale, featuring mermaid twin daughters and their loving father in order to tell a story of unconditional love, forgiveness, and restoration. I chose the well-known background of the majestic and rugged California Eastern Sierra Mountains with their crystal-blue lakes as the location to tell the story and I set the time of the story during the “Wild West” era of California’s early “Gold Rush.”
I would like to greatly thank you for your consideration in choosing to spend time reading my book, and I hope you are entertained, immersed, and hopefully inspired! Now please enjoy The Mermaid Daughters of The Mountain Lake Kingdom!
S. McCoy
Chapter 1
Once upon a time, there was a very honorable and just Merman King named George. His Kingdom was very far away from humans in a beautiful, majestic mountain lake that is towered by a magnificent mountain peak made of sparkling crystal. The King’s lake overlooked a wonderful forest, full of tall green pine trees, breathtaking giant granite rocks, and rushing mountain rivers that connected to many other smaller crystal-blue lakes. These crystal-blue lakes were inhabited by all different kinds of interesting and colorful mountain fish, like rainbow trout, redeye bass, and pink salmon. The surrounding lake’s forests were full of charming wildlife, little fuzzy tailed chipmunks, swift foxes, and strong and courageous bears. The clean and crisp mountain skies over the lakes were populated with vibrant multicolored birds such as blue jays, redheaded woodpeckers, and mighty eagles. All the living creatures in the Mountain Lake Kingdom respected and admired King George, because of his fairness, kindness, and justice as their King. George had two very smart and beautiful twin mermaid daughters that he loved and adored named Mary and Mamie. His daughters were the apple of his eye and they brought him great joy, and they all lived very happily together in this majestic mountain paradise until one day…
As the 21st first birthday approached for Mary and Mamie they became very excited with anticipation, because mermaid tradition is on your 21st birthday the King would give his offspring a portion of their inheritance so they could start establishing their own kingdoms. Mary, who was the older of the twins (by just one minute) was excited to follow in her father’s footsteps and hoped her inheritance would be one of the crystal-blue lakes that were connected to the King’s Lake by the rushing mountain rivers. She dreamed that one day she could be Queen of her own small lake kingdom, because like her father, Mary greatly enjoyed looking after and caring for the animals in her father’s Kingdom. Mamie on the other hand, was more interested in a portion of the royal treasure that was secretly hidden in the deep waters of the King’s Lake. Mamie loved the beautiful jewelry that was part of the King’s Royal Treasure, and it was made up of sparkling diamonds, rosy-red rubies, and deep blue sapphires that made spectacular rings, bracelets, and necklaces. Mamie would go there without the King’s permission sometimes and try on the jewelry and dream of the day that this jewelry would be all hers. However, she did not care as much for the many pieces of large gold that were in the King’s treasure because she could not wear the gold pieces, so she thought to herself that one day that portion could just go to her sister Mary. That way she could have all the beautiful jewelry for herself someday.
After waiting what seemed to be a very long time for the mermaid twins, their 21st birthdays finally arrived. They were so excited to see what their father would give them. There was a big celebration, and all the water, air, and land animals of the kingdom were invited. Everyone had a great time and enjoyed themselves at the twin’s birthday celebration. Afterwards, George told Mary what her portion of her inheritance would be. She was given the big crystal-blue lake that was right next to the King’s Lake, and he ordered the lake be called “Lake Mary.” Mary was so happy and excited that her dreams had come true, and she would be Queen of her own lake kingdom! Additionally, this lake was connected to her father’s lake by a beautiful rushing river so she could come and go quickly and easily to her father’s magnificent crystal-blue lake right next to hers.
Next, it was time for Mamie to receive her portion of her inheritance from her father. She was so eager to hear, and she desperately wanted some of the royal treasure so she could finally wear the beautiful jewelry for everyone to see. However, to Mamie’s surprise, the King gave her a beautiful crystal-blue lake that was right next to “Lake Mary,” and this lake was also connected by a rushing mountain river, and he ordered it named “Lake Mamie.” Mamie was disappointed and was so sad she did not receive the royal jewelry she wanted. So, she boldly asked her father if she could have the royal jewelry instead of the lake. Her father was taken back by her request a bit at first, then he thought about her request for a minute. Shortly after George told his daughter he loved her but said no to her request for the royal jewelry. He told Mamie, that portion of her inheritance would be for another time in the future.
Mamie pleaded with her father and said, “But Daddy, my lake is much smaller than Mary’s, and this is unfair!”
George replied calmly and lovingly, “Mamie, but your lake is very special! It has the underground river that the new fish swim up, so you get to see all the new members of the Mountain Lake Kingdom and greet them as they arrive at their new home. However, Mamie it is very important to remember that the underground river leads to ‘The Great Barrier Chasm’ that mermaids are forbidden to cross. If any mermaid crosses it, they will lose their ability to swim back the same way and will have entered the domain of the Human Kingdom!”
Then, Mamie realizing she could not change her father’s mind, she slowly nodded in agreement but was still very disappointed. However, she was a little happy at least her lake had something special that Mary’s did not have. Then she slowly swam away still a little sad, but now interested in investigating her new lake more closely.
Chapter 2
In the meantime, far across the mountains in the Human Kingdom and locked in a jail cell in a town called Carson, was a sneaking convict named Slick, who had recently been arrested for bank robbery. Slick was a tall, very thin, and handsome man with slicked-back black hair, and he had sneaky shady eyes. Slick was also very smart; unfortunately, he did not use his intelligence for good things. On the contrary, he spent most of his time planning and scheming new ways to steal money and gold from good innocent folks. He had a partner in crime with who he currently shared a jail cell, and his name was Derby.
Derby was a short and stocky man who wore a brown derby to make himself look taller. He ran away from home at an early age, and he never practiced the good hygiene that his parents tried to teach him. Therefore, he was always a little stinky and often times, had flies buzzing around him from not taki
ng a bath. He also never took good care of his teeth, so now he was missing a few. Derby dropped out of school at an early age, and he admired Slick because he thought Slick was very smart and he liked his devious mind.
Slick was whispering his latest scheme to Derby so the guard could not hear his plans. He told Derby about a story he had heard from his cousin Jimbo, who works in a nearby goldmine. This story was about a secret lake on the other side of the mountains. This secret lake had a sparkling crystal peak behind it and hidden in the lake was outlaw gold. Slick went on to say, a few years ago some outlaws were on the run after robbing a gold-filled train, and they had to quickly hide their stolen gold, and leave it behind because they were being chased by The Revered Federal Marshall McCoy. Legend has it, that this lake was surrounded by fierce wild animals and the treasure was being guarded in the lake by creatures that were half-man and half-fish. Derby, after hearing the story seemed to be confused and a little scared about the fierce wild animals and lake creatures, so he asked Slick how he planned on getting that gold since that was a secret lake over the mountains, and they were both currently locked up in jail.
Slick told him the plan, “We will wait until midnight tonight when the moon is full. Then, my cousin Jimbo will come to this jail and break us out!”
Derby asked, “How’s he going to do that Slick?”
Slick went on to tell him, “Jimbo is very big, strong, and full of muscles from working in the goldmines, and he can bend these window bars with his bare hands quietly, so the guards won’t hear. Jimbo is bringing a horse-drawn wagon full of hay, we will hide underneath the hay until we’re far out of Carson. Then we will ride day and night through the old miner’s mountain passes until we find that secret lake full of gold.”
“What about the fierce wild animals and the half-man and half-fish that are guarding the gold treasure?” Derby asked as his voice begin to shake.
Slick replied “Jimbo is bringing torches and dynamite that he stole from the goldmine. We will use the torches to scare away the fierce wild animals and bring the dynamite in case we have any trouble getting to the treasure.”
“Wow, you’re so smart Slick,” Derby said, “but I think you forgot about one thing, ‘The Revered Marshall McCoy!’ I’m sure they will send him after us.”
Slick replied, “Don’t you worry about him, I have a special trap planned for him,” as Slick belted out an evil laugh and a devious smile crept over his face.
Chapter 3
Meanwhile back at the beautiful crystal-blue mountain lakes, a few days had passed since the twin’s birthday celebration. Mary and Mamie were enjoying their new lakes and were spending time meeting all the fish that lived in them. The King had a new request that day for the twins, that a census be taken in “Lake Mary” and “Lake Mamie” to determine how many fish lived in each lake. Mary went right to work, she always respected her father’s requests and always tried to do her best job because she loved and admired him greatly. Mamie on the other hand was not always so eager to listen to her father’s requests and often times questioned him on why she had to do particular tasks. Even though she loved and admired her father, she often thought she knew what was best.
So, instead of taking the census of her lake like her father had requested her to do, she spent the day swimming and lounging around the lake and listening to local fish gossip. She also went swimming near the underground river that led to “The Great Barrier Chasm” and was listening to the fish stories from the newly arriving fish families that were swimming up from the underground river. There was one fish story that was particularly interesting to Mamie. It was about the shining gold objects that the fish said they had seen in the lake in the Human Kingdom just before they swam up the underground river. Mamie asked the fish if the shiny objects looked like jewelry. They replied yes, the fish said they looked like dangly gold earrings or a necklace with charms. This was very intriguing to Mamie because she still did not have any gold jewelry from the Kings Royal Treasure, and as the day went on, she became more and more curious about the underground river, and the lake in the Human Kingdom full of jewelry and thought perhaps there was more and different kinds of treasure in that lake.
At the end of the day before nightfall, Mary swam to the King’s Lake and gave the King her census report of the number of fish in “Lake Mary,” but Mamie never arrived at the King’s Lake to give her report. The King was concerned for Mamie and asked Mary if she would swim down to “Lake Mamie” and check on her sister and retrieve the census and then report back to him. She agreed and then quickly swam off to find her sister.
After swimming to “Lake Mamie,” she found her sister lounging around the edge of the lake and Mamie told her that she had not had time to complete the census and was not sure when she would have time to do it. Mary told Mamie she had already completed her census and there should have been plenty of time to complete her report as well because her lake was even smaller and less populated than Mary’s.
This made Mamie upset and a little jealous of Mary’s bigger lake, so she snapped at her, “You are such a goodie, goodie, single-fin! You always do just what father asks without ever thinking for yourself. Why should we have to report our census to him anyway? It’s just unnecessary busy work for us! You know Mary, father is not telling us the whole story about that underground river and the lake in the Human Kingdom. I heard it’s full of shiny gold jewelry and treasure.”
Then Mary responded, “You know that’s not true! Who did you hear that nonsense from anyways?”
Mamie fired back, “I heard it from the fish families that swam up the underground river from the lake in the Human Kingdom!”
“Oh, Mamie,” Mary said, “That is just a fish story! Sometimes those fish like to exaggerate their stories and gossip about things that are not true. That shiny jewelry is probably just fish lures and fish traps they are seeing. Besides, that has nothing to do with us anyway. That’s the Human Kingdom down there and that stuff belongs to them and is dangerous!”
Mamie thought about what Mary had said then she replied, “Maybe, but maybe there is beautiful jewelry down in that lake. I think we should swim down the underground river and see for ourselves, and if it is a real jewelry, we can have it for our own lake kingdoms.”
“Oh no!” Mary replied. “You know what father told us about the underground river. We must never, never go down it! It is for the fish only and it leads to ‘The Great Barrier Chasm,’ and if a mermaid cross over it, we will not be able to swim back the same way!”
Then Mamie said, “Well then how come the fish can swim up the river then, and we can’t?”
Mary replied, “You know what father said, there is only a small rock tunnel that fish can fit through, but mermaids are way too big to pass through it. You need to stop thinking about that stuff and please just get back to completing your census as father asked.”
Mamie paused for a moment, then said “Okay, tell father I’ll have his precious census for him tomorrow.” Then she swam away to be alone and to pout a bit.
Chapter 4
In the Meantime, Slick and Derby had successfully escaped the jail cell as planned with the help of Jimbo and were several days away from Carson now. They were riding on the old mining trails heading towards the mountain lakes. However, they were not exactly sure where the secret mountain lake with the outlaw gold was. Jimbo was driving the horse-drawn wagon and knew the mining trails very well. Jimbo is a big and tall man with a big unshaven scruffy black-beard and wore an old beaten-up miner’s hat with old tore-up overalls. Jimbo had been in and out of jail several times mostly for stealing, and unfortunately every time he got out of jail it never seemed to take him too long before he got himself back into trouble again with the law.
Jimbo just had a general idea of the mountain lake area from the story he had heard about in the goldmine, and they were heading in that general direction. However, the trio was getting ti
red from riding day and night after escaping from the jail. Then, Slick had an idea; he knew of a lake nearby and close to the mountains that were used now and then by outlaws like them that were hiding from the law. It was surrounded by steep mountain rocks and forests, and it had only one way in and one way out, so they would not be surprised by a local sheriff posse. The best part was this lake was connected to another lake by an underground river and it had plenty of fish that they could catch and eat. So, the three convicts decided to go hideout there for a while, until they could figure out where the secret mountain lake full of outlaw gold was located.
As expected, The Revered Federal Marshall McCoy was summoned to Carson to find the escaped convicts. Marshall McCoy is a tall and handsome man with dark hair, and he wore a big black cowboy hat. He is a great experienced investigator with keen senses and these abilities he uses to track down escaped convicts. He patrols “The Great Wild West” on a big strong Palomino horse he called Buddy, and he mostly works tracking down the worst of the worst outlaws and escaped convicts. He is greatly feared by those outlaws and convicts because he is like a bloodhound, that slowly tracks down those outlaws and convicts and eventually, he always finds them and brings them to justice.
On this day, he started his investigation at the jail cell and quickly determined the two convicts had escaped by a horse-drawn wagon with the help of a third man with size 15 boots. He knew this because of the big footprint he left outside of the jail cell. The horse-drawn wagon had two horses and was quite heavy, probably loaded with supplies, the three men, and most likely dynamite. He knew the wagon was heavily loaded due to the deep wheel-marks the wagon wheels left behind and the wagon was heading southwest towards the mining trails. He knew those old mining trails very well because it always seemed that the convicts had a thirst for gold and were usually trying to steal it from good hardworking folks and goldmines. He called for his horse Buddy, and the two rode off following the trail of the convicts.