by Debbie Dadey
Rocky held a spotted reef crab in front of Pearl’s face. “I thought you’d like it,” he said with a grin. “It’s kind of pretty.”
Echo knew Rocky was just being silly; he didn’t really think Pearl liked crabs. Everyone knew she hated anything slimy or dirty.
Pearl took another look at the light-brown crab with its large red spots and knocked the creature away. “Ew! I don’t like things with claws,” she said.
The crab soared through the water—right onto Echo’s head. “Ahhh!” she squealed. “Get it off me!”
Mrs. Karp quickly lifted the crab off Echo’s head and frowned at Pearl. Pearl turned her pointy nose up in the water and sniffed before dipping her orange sea pen in octopus ink to continue sketching.
“Yuck! Hey, Mrs. Karp, do crabs give you warts if they touch your head?” Rocky asked.
Echo gasped, but Mrs. Karp reassured her. “No, you do not get warts from crabs or any other sea creature.”
Echo was relieved. She wasn’t exactly sure what warts were, but they didn’t sound good.
“Mrs. Karp, look!” Kiki said. “I think the crab eggs that Rocky and Echo found are hatching.”
Mrs. Karp smiled. “Oh, how wonderful. Let’s all watch.”
The entire merclass gathered at the back of the classroom around the glass jar.
Mrs. Karp squinted through her glasses. “Up close these crab eggs look different from others I’ve seen,” she said. “Where did you find them, Rocky and Echo?”
“In MerPark,” Rocky told her. “There were some zoea floating nearby.”
Mrs. Karp didn’t say anything, but when the first egg cracked open, she held her arms out and gently pushed the students away from the jar. “Class, please back up. These are not crab eggs.”
“What are they?” Shelly asked.
“They are Sloane’s viperfish,” Mrs. Karp said. The class gasped. Every merkid knew to stay away from viperfish and their barbed teeth.
Pearl took one look at the tiny newly hatched viperfish and screamed. “Oh my Neptune! Rocky and Echo are trying to kill us! Save me!”
Accidentally
YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN IT! This whole school of viperfish almost ripped my head off !” Pearl waved her hands in the water as she told a group of fourth graders in the cafeteria all about her near-death experience.
“No wavy way!” Echo muttered as she sat at her usual corner table. “Did Pearl really think that a baby viperfish was going to eat her up?”
Shelly put her tray down and slid her blue tail under the polished granite table with the gold Trident Academy logo in the center. “I’m pretty sure they don’t eat merpeople.”
Kiki took a seat beside her merfriends. “But they are kind of creepy-looking. Echo, how did you mistake viperfish eggs for crab eggs?”
Echo shrugged. “I was in a hurry to get to Tail Flippers practice, and Rocky was late for Shell Wars practice,” she said. “Anybody could have done it. It was an innocent mistake.”
Shelly swallowed a big bite of her boxfish burger before nodding. “Just like accidentally taking your sister’s treasure was a mistake.”
“It’s not her treasure! It’s mine!” Echo snapped. Shelly was starting to make Echo mad. “Besides, Crystal is always bossing me around. She thinks she’s so much better than me, just because she’s older. And I never have anything that’s my very own. If you had a sister, you’d understand.”
Shelly didn’t say anything. She just took another bite of her burger. Echo felt a tiny bit bad. She knew that Shelly had always wanted a brother or a sister, and Echo hoped she hadn’t hurt her friend’s feelings.
“But I don’t have any sisters either,” Kiki told Echo. “And while what you say might be true, I am pretty sure that if you want to get that treasure back, you’re going to have to tell your sister you’re sorry.”
“But I don’t have anything to be sorry for!” Echo said loudly.
“Maybe not,” Kiki said, “but your mom is never going to give you back your treasure if you guys aren’t getting along.”
Echo thought about that while she munched on yellow splash lichen chips. Maybe Kiki had a point.
And perhaps Echo didn’t really have to be sorry. Maybe she just had to pretend she was sorry. She was willing to do almost anything to get that treasure back!
But she didn’t tell her friends that. They probably wouldn’t understand how she felt about Crystal, since they didn’t have sisters of their own. Instead Echo said, “You may be right, but Crystal is really mad. What can I do to show my mom that Crystal and I are friends again?”
Shelly put her burger down. “What if you made a special treat for Crystal? Sometimes when I’m grumpy my grandfather will make me some cup coral candy to cheer me up.”
“If that doesn’t work, maybe you could clean her room or buy her a gift,” Kiki said. “My brothers get mad at each other a lot, and sometimes that’s how they make up.”
Echo nodded. She knew Kiki had seventeen brothers. At least some of them were probably mad at one another at any given time.
Echo stuffed a whole handful of chips into her mouth and crunched. The more she thought about it, the simpler it seemed. As long as she showed her mother that she was doing her best to get along with Crystal, Mrs. Reef would be so impressed with her behavior that she would give the object back to Echo. Crystal wouldn’t be able to touch it!
“Those are great ideas,” Echo said. “Do you want to help me after school?” She smiled as her friends nodded their heads.
Echo could hardly wait to get home! It was a great plan. What could possibly go wrong?
Crystal’s Mess
YOU GUYS ARE TRUE FRIENDS for helping me today,” Echo told Kiki and Shelly. “I’m just lucky that Coach Barnacle canceled Tail Flippers practice. Plus, Crystal won’t be home until later, so we have time to put our plan into action.”
Kiki and Shelly grinned as they floated into Echo’s shell. “We’re here to help,” Kiki said. “Do you want to make her a treat? I just learned how to make cup coral candy.”
Echo shook her head. “No, my mom said I’m not allowed in the kitchen today. Crystal and I made a mess in there yesterday.”
Shelly plopped onto a big barrel sponge couch in Echo’s living room. “What else do you want to do for Crystal? What if you make her a nice seaweed ‘I’m sorry’ card?”
“I liked Kiki’s idea about cleaning Crystal’s room,” Echo said. “Her room is always really messy. Come on, I’ll show you.”
“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” Shelly whispered as the girls floated down the hallway.
Shelly, Echo, and Kiki squeezed into Crystal’s room and looked around. Dirty shells and crumpled seaweed littered the floor. Clothes were piled in every corner and on the end of her bed. Crystal was one of Trident Academy’s best artists, so half-finished art projects lined one wall and big chunks of clay were thrown about the floor, ready to be made into sculptures.
“Shelly might be right,” Kiki said. “Should we really be touching Crystal’s stuff?”
“But she hates to clean her room,” Echo said. “My mom is always nagging her about it. Crystal will be so happy if we do it for her.” What Echo really meant was that their mom would be happy with Echo. And that meant she could get her treasure back. At least, she hoped so.
Kiki shook her head. “Crystal is even messier than Wanda.” Kiki had been Wanda’s roommate in the dorm at the beginning of the school year.
“Let’s bubble down and do this, then,” Shelly said, scrunching her nose at the stinky shells.
In two tail shakes, the mergirls had Crystal’s clothes folded and a stack of shells to take to the kitchen. Art projects were placed neatly on a shelf, and all the crumpled seaweed schoolwork was straightened into a nice, tidy mound.
“What should we do with these lumps of clay?” Kiki asked, pointing to the heaps scattered across the room.
“Let’s pile them up in that corner,” Echo suggested.
“Are you sure?” Shelly asked. “Do you think she’s making something with them? Maybe we shouldn’t touch them.”
Echo waved the idea away. “I’m sure it’s fine. They’re only bits of clay, after all.” Echo just wanted to finish so she could have her treasure back. She stacked the clay into neat piles in a corner, one on top of the other. The big pieces stuck together easily, so Crystal’s room looked much nicer.
It took them a few merminutes, but finally the three friends stopped working and smiled at one another.
“This is the cleanest room in the entire merkingdom!” Shelly announced.
“Crystal is going to be so happy,” Kiki agreed.
Just then Crystal floated into the room.
“Surprise!” Echo yelled. She crossed her fingers and her tail fins behind her back. “I’m sorry for taking your treasure, so I decided to clean your room for you! And Kiki and Shelly helped.”
But Crystal looked horrified. “ECHO!” she screeched, rushing over to the lumps of clay in the corner. “You ruined my project for Parent Night!”
Destroyed
I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU DESTROYED my sculpture,” Crystal said between sobs.
“I’m so sorry,” Echo said. “I didn’t mean to do it. I was only trying to make you happy by cleaning your room.” And make Mom happy by being nice to you, she thought.
“It’s true,” Shelly said, putting a hand on Echo’s shoulder.
“Actually, it was my fault we ruined your project,” Kiki said.
“Mine too. Kiki and I told Echo to pile the clay in the corner like that,” Shelly chimed in. “We didn’t know it was for Parent Night.”
Echo looked at her friends. She couldn’t believe they were trying to take the blame for her. There was no wavy way she’d let them!
“No, it was my fault,” Echo said, shaking her head. “I suggested that we stack them up. I thought they were just lumps of clay.”
“What am I going to do? I’ll flunk art class for sure!” Crystal moaned.
Echo felt horrible. Despite the fact that she really did want the treasure all for herself, she hadn’t meant for this to happen.
Then she realized something that made her feel even worse. Her parents would never give her back the object if they found out that she had ruined Crystal’s art project. Echo had to do something—and fast!
She shook her head. “You won’t flunk class. Since the whole thing was my fault, I’ll help you fix it.”
“But Parent Night is tomorrow!” Crystal said with a sob. “And Mom and Dad put me in charge of supper tonight. There’s no way I’ll finish everything in time!”
“Shelly and I can make supper for you,” Kiki offered. Echo gave her friends a grateful smile.
“And we can work all evening and after school tomorrow,” Echo said. “Don’t worry, we’ll do it together.” Echo might not always get along with Crystal, but she hated to see her sister cry.
Crystal wiped her tears. “Do you really think so?”
Echo held her arms out to her sister. “I’m not as talented an artist as you, but Miss Haniver says I do have potential.”
Crystal shrugged. “Okay, I guess we can give it a try.”
In just a few minutes, Shelly and Kiki were hard at work on dinner in the kitchen while Echo and her sister sat on the floor of Crystal’s room.
“This is what you should do,” Crystal explained. She showed Echo how to use her hands to smooth the outside of a big lump of clay. When Echo tried it, hers didn’t look half as good as Crystal’s.
Crystal glanced up from the clay she was shaping. “Hmmm,” she told Echo. “Try holding your hands like this.”
After they had been shaping and smoothing for a while, Crystal took several of the smooth lumps and put them together. Echo’s eyes grew wide.
“No wavy way!” Echo squealed. “Are you making a megamouth shark?”
Crystal smiled and rubbed a muddy hand on her nose. “Yep!”
“It’s totally wavy,” Echo said truthfully. “You’re really good at this, Crystal.”
“Thanks.” Crystal smiled. “You’re becoming a pretty great artist yourself!”
After only an hour, Echo and Crystal were covered in clay. Even their tails changed from bright pink to a muddy, dull coral color. By suppertime, Echo’s arms ached and she was hungry for the delicious meal that Kiki and Shelly had left on the table.
“What in the ocean have you two been up to?” Echo’s father asked when he saw his merdaughters covered in clay.
Echo froze. She didn’t want to explain what had happened to Crystal’s art project. Her mom and dad would be mad if they found out what she’d done.
She waited for Crystal to tell them the whole story, but her sister just said, “Echo is helping me with a sculpture. It’s for Parent Night.”
Echo’s mother smiled. “I’m so happy you two are getting along. If this continues, then perhaps we can discuss the return of your find.”
Though she was dogfish tired from working so hard, the mention of the treasure made Echo’s heart race.
“This is the best dinner I’ve ever tasted,” Mrs. Reef exclaimed.
Echo started to explain that Kiki and Shelly had made it, but Mr. Reef chimed in. “Since you girls have been working so hard, I will take your turn at cleanup tonight.” Crystal and Echo exchanged smiles.
When they were finished eating, Crystal said, “Come on, Echo. Let’s get back to work.”
“Thank you for not telling Dad that I messed up your project,” Echo told Crystal when they were in Crystal’s room.
Crystal shrugged. “Sisters have to stick together. And I never did thank you for cleaning my room. It looks great!”
“Shelly and Kiki helped too,” Echo explained. “I’m just sorry that I ruined your sculpture.”
Crystal nodded. “I had everything in a rough form. There was no way for you to know.”
“I’m glad I can help fix it,” Echo said.
Crystal smiled and the two girls got back to work, with Crystal shaping and Echo smoothing. To Echo’s surprise, it was a lot of fun. Crystal told stories about the silly merboys in her art class, and Echo told Crystal how Rocky had eaten the crab eggs. The sisters giggled until their fins ached. It was just like when they had played together as small fry.
Finally the shark’s head was completed. “We still have a lot of work left to do,” Crystal announced. “Tomorrow afternoon we’ll work on the body. I just hope we can finish in time.”
“Don’t worry,” Echo said. “I won’t let you down.”
Star
PEARL WAS GIGGLING IN THE cafeteria the next day. “I’m going to be the star of Parent Night,” she bragged to the mergirls at her lunch table. “I’ve been practicing my Tail Flippers routine like crazy. Watch this.”
Pearl did the unthinkable. She did a Scale Dropper right in the middle of the cafeteria. Only she didn’t quite get the difficult flip-and-spin combination just right. She did more spinning than flipping and managed to smack into a cart filled with bottles of kelp juice. Juice and shells soared everywhere. A large bucket of juice even landed on Mr. Fangtooth’s bald head. The cafeteria worker had never looked more angry . . . and he was known for being grumpy.
Rocky and his table full of merboys roared with laughter. “Pearl is a flipping disaster!” Rocky teased.
“Oh no!” Shelly gasped. “Should we help Pearl?”
But the mergirls didn’t get the chance. Mr. Fangtooth removed the bucket and handed Pearl a magnificent feather duster worm. “Clean this mess up,” he growled.
Pearl frowned at the fluffy worm before taking it between two fingers. “Ick! My mother wouldn’t like me touching this creature.”
Mr. Fangtooth glared at Pearl. “Would you like me to ask your mother?”
Pearl quickly shook her head. “No, I’ll wipe it up.” She held the feather duster as far from her body as possible and cleaned up the kelp juice with the worm’s fluffy tentacles.
Ki
ki took a bite of her yellow splash lichen chips and shook her head. “I think Pearl has some more practicing to do before Parent Night tonight.”
“Oh no!” Echo gasped. “I totally forgot! If I don’t go to Tail Flippers practice today, I won’t be able to perform at Parent Night.”
“I thought you were helping Crystal finish her art project after school,” Kiki said after taking a sip of kelp juice.
“Well, I’m supposed to,” Echo said sadly. “If I don’t help her, there’s no way she’ll finish in time. But that means I won’t be able to perform tonight. I just hope Coach Barnacle won’t kick me off the team!”
Shelly and Kiki looked at each other. “But you practiced so much,” Shelly said. “There must be something you can do.”
Echo shook her head. She took a bite of her hagfish jelly sandwich, but it was hard to swallow. “I promised Crystal I would help her. And a promise is a promise.”
“Plus, if you help Crystal, you still might get your human object back,” Kiki suggested.
Echo brightened a little. “You’re right,” she agreed, taking a sip of kelp juice. She knew Kiki was trying to cheer her up, but Echo’s heart was broken. She had really wanted her parents to see her perform.
“Shelly and I should go to the People Museum after school,” Kiki said, changing the subject.
“Why?” Shelly asked.
“To see if we can figure out what Echo and Crystal found. Maybe it’s not even human,” Kiki said. “Shelly, you saw it, right?”
Shelly nodded. “Yes.”
Echo sipped her kelp drink. Whatever it was, if she had to miss performing with the Tail Flippers, she really hoped she could have that object back.
A Promise
BE CAREFUL! DON’T DROP IT!” Crystal cried later that evening. Echo and her sister carried an enormous megamouth shark sculpture into the big entrance hall to Trident Academy.
“I’m being careful,” Echo said.
“Sorry,” Crystal said. “I shouldn’t have snapped. I’m just really tired.”