“This isn’t good.” I checked my phone, then placed it back on the coffee table and snuck a glance through the den door to the kitchen window. It was still a little light out, but it would be completely dark in half an hour or so. I turned to Dad. “Let’s go, too. The more people looking for Bridget, the better.”
“No, it’s not going to help to have everyone roaming around.” Dad looked at me and rubbed his head. “Eddie and Daniel are doing everything they can.”
“Here, Jade. Help me with the cutlery.” Gran handed me a box of plastic knives and forks.
“Oh, and by the way, Dally, that was Wilma on the phone. She said Principal Reamer needs Serena’s records by Monday or else Serena won’t be able to keep coming to school for insurance reasons. Any idea when those will magically appear?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.” Dad got up and closed the den door, shutting us off from the rest of the house—the rest of the world for that matter—in his foil-lined looney bin.
“I guess that’s the least of our worries, huh?” Luke whispered to me. “No use planning anything beyond Tidal Law, isn’t that what you said?”
That was what I had said during our completely discombobulated Fall Folly conversation. Urg. I smiled weakly.
“Well, then,” Gran called out and cut into the steaming lasagna before I could reply. “Let’s eat!”
Amazingly, I’d just lost my appetite.
• • •
By 8:30 p.m., there was still no word on Bridget. With all the windows covered and the door closed, we had no way to tell how dark it was outside. But the bonging noise reverberating through my body was proof enough that the moon was out in full force.
“I haven’t gotten a text from Daniel for half an hour,” Coach Laurena said as she rubbed her throat. “Something is wrong.”
Luke sat next to me on the couch. We hadn’t really talked since his comment about not planning anything past Tidal Law. He’d only picked at his food, but he kept sucking on a piece of garlic bread as if trying to get all the taste out.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, jumping up. “Just got to get the salt shaker from the kitchen.”
“No!” Dad stood by the door to stop him. “Nobody who’s ever had a tail gets to leave this room until tomorrow morning.”
Coach Laurena pulled out her inhaler, shook it, and took a few puffs.
“Asthma still bothering you?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she answered, taking off her sweater. She coughed a few times and cleared her throat. “Wow, it’s warm in here, huh?”
“Hotter than hot,” I replied, standing up from the couch and crossing the room to see if I could find a pocket of cool air away from the crowd.
“Luke!” Mrs. Martin called from behind me.
I heard a thud and turned. Luke was on the floor, shaking all over.
“What’s happening?” I cried, rushing to his side.
“He’s been acting strangely for days,” his mom said, handing him another piece of garlic toast from the coffee table. He took it in his hands and sucked on it hungrily. “It’s like he’s hypoglycemic but for salt instead of sugar. I don’t know what’s going on with him.”
Luke’s dad came over to help, too, and everyone started tripping over each other, trying to get around in the small space.
Meanwhile, Coach Laurena sat on the couch, her hands braced against her knees. Her breath came out in wheezy gasps, and her eyes were vacant like she was in a trance. That’s when I noticed Mom staring over Dad’s shoulder, her eyes red and swollen.
“It’s Tidal Law,” I said under my breath, trying to piece everything together.
“What do you mean?” Dad asked.
I glanced from Luke to Mom to Coach Laurena and could feel them slipping away from us one by one.
“It’s affecting everyone differently. Luke with his salt cravings, Laurena with her asthma, and Mom with her eyes,” I replied. “I’m just not sure why I don’t feel any different.”
“Maybe since you weren’t born a mer,” Cori chimed in.
“But that doesn’t explain why Serena—” I began but was interrupted when Luke jumped up and lunged for the door. “He’s trying to get out!”
Dad and Mr. Martin grabbed Luke but he flailed against them, trying to break free. Mom and Laurena were next, and soon it was a mer-versus-human struggle to keep Mom, Laurena, and Luke from breaking down the door.
Water! All three of them kept ringing in their mer voices, as if in a trance. Coach Laurena’s breathing was completely out of whack, and from what I could see amid the struggle, Mom’s eyes had swollen shut, and Luke had resorted to licking people’s faces for our salty sweat.
Charming.
Water! they continued.
“I really thought the Faraday room would help, but the force of the moon is too strong,” Dad yelled. “They’re being compelled to the ocean.”
“What are we supposed to do?” I yelled over the commotion. “We can’t let them get anywhere near the coast.”
Dad and Mr. Martin still had Luke by the arms, but it was getting harder to hold him still. Trey and I grasped Mom, and Mrs. Martin helped Cori hold Coach Laurena back while Gran did her best to clear any furniture hazards.
With seven of us and three of them, we were able to control them, but I wasn’t sure for how long.
Seconds after the thought crossed my mind, Luke broke free and grabbed for the door. He escaped and headed outside but not before grabbing the keys to his parents’ car from the hallway table.
“Luke, no!” I ran after him and out the door. The sheer size of the supermoon made me stop for a split second at the top of the porch steps. It formed a perfect white circle and gleamed like a huge pearl against a black velvet backdrop.
I heard the car start and the taillights flickered on.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” The car was already rolling down the driveway by the time I reached for the handle of the passenger door. I opened it and launched myself inside.
Ocean! Water!
“Are you out of your mind? The ocean is miles away! And you don’t even have a license!” How did he think he was ever going to make it to Port Toulouse without ending up dead in a ditch?
Water! Luke rang.
“I should have thrown you in the lake with Serena when I had the chance!” That’s when it hit me.
I grabbed the steering wheel and turned it toward the lake with all my might.
Water! Luke rang even louder than before, struggling against me. But little did he know, I came from very sturdy stock. I elbowed him in the nose and gripped the wheel.
Ow! Water! he repeated.
“Oh, you’re going to get water, all right,” I said between gritted teeth as I reached my foot over to the driver’s side, feeling for the accelerator. I kept manhandling the steering wheel as Luke fought against me. I finally jammed my foot over his to put the pedal to the metal. We careened down the bank toward Gran’s dock, and the car launched into the air when we hit the end of the deck.
“Dive! Dive! Dive!” I yelled for the split second we were airborne, which seemed like an appropriate chant for drowning your boyfriend. I found the down button for the passenger side window and waited for impact.
We hit the water in spectacular fashion and sank to the bottom of Talisman Lake.
Okay, so I didn’t exactly drown Luke, but I hoped that escaping from a car at the bottom of Talisman Lake would take enough time to kinda drown Luke—or at least trap him underwater long enough so he could change into a mer-boy.
Are you crazy? Luke rang through the water as he tried to get past me to escape through my open window.
Trust me! Just take a deep breath, I rang back.
I blocked his way and felt a final glub of car air escape around me as it made its way to the surface. Lake water flooded my nostrils and throat.
No, I need ocean water, Luke cried in anguish as if I were denying him a drink in a barren desert.
I’l
l get you to the bridge once you change. There’s more salt water there, but at least the lock will keep you from getting dragged into the ocean. I held out my arms and wrestled him into a hug.
Luke fell into my arms and went limp, as if not knowing what else to do. I felt him take a deep breath so I sucked in some lake water, and within seconds the car shuddered with the force of our tail transformations.
Come on. I helped Luke out the open passenger-side window and swam out into the lake, away from the car. The whiteness of the moon shimmered overhead through the water.
Feel better? I asked as we swam away.
That depends on what my mom and dad say once they realize I just drove their car into the lake, Luke replied.
Thankfully, lake water seemed to have taken some of the edge off, and Luke was a little less out of it. Still, with the moon and the bonging noise still in full force, he was jittery and nervous looking and was having trouble catching his breath in the fresh water—the way I felt when I was low on my recommended daily allowance of chocolate-covered WigWags. Okay, so maybe Luke was a little worse off than that.
I’m pretty sure I was the one who elbowed you in the face so I’ll take the rap, I rang, spinning around in the water, trying to make sense of which way the cottage was, when I spotted a light off in the distance. Wait here a sec.
I took a big breath of water before popping my head out into the night air.
“Jade!” I could hear Dad and Mr. Martin’s frantic calls as they stumbled down the hill in the dark. “Luke!”
“I’m okay! We’re both okay!” I hollered back. “Bring Mom and Laurena to the dock!”
I dove again to catch my breath underwater and resurfaced.
“And fair warning, you’re all about to get very wet!”
• • •
It broke my heart into a million pieces, helping Dad hold Mom underwater as she struggled against us while Trey and Mr. Martin did the same with Laurena. They were both so out of it, crazed by the forces of Tidal Law trying to lure them back in the ocean, that it was impossible to explain what we were trying to do.
Mom flailed her arms and struggled against us as we held her down. Snippets of memory from when Mom disappeared in almost that same spot last year flashed through my mind. I’d cursed Finalin and Medora so many times for forcing Mom underwater against her will and there I was, doing the same thing.
I felt the rush of current from Laurena’s transformation first, and a few seconds later, Mom slipped from my grip as she did the same.
I popped my head out to let Dad in on my plan. “The water is way too fresh here, but I’ll swim them back to the lock where the water is saltier.”
“What should we do?” Dad asked frantically. “Should we go to the bridge and meet you there? Maybe the Martins and I should help look for Bridget, and Trey and Cori can stay with Gran.”
The moon shone on Dad’s wet face, reminding me of the time we’d rescued Mom and Serena from the tidal pool behind Port Toulouse Mall. All Dad had wanted back then was to get his family back on solid ground, and here we were a few weeks later, trapped just like before.
Worse than before.
I took a minute to catch my breath underwater before facing Dad again. But before I could resurface I saw a tailed figure swimming toward us through the dark waters.
Serena? What are you doing back here? I asked. And why are you crying?
• • •
It was pretty much pandemonium underwater as I tried to figure out what was wrong with Serena while Mom swam blindly underwater now that her glasses were long gone. Coach Laurena continued to wheeze for breath, and Luke still shook like crazy from lack of salt.
“Here!” Cori yelled from the dock, passing me a plastic bag full of water in the moonlight. She’d remembered how the box of salt had helped Luke the last time we rescued him from Talisman Lake. Trey had the bright idea of pouring some of the salt in a bag full of lake water so Luke could breathe in and out of it like the paper bag Coach Higgins had given me the time I overdid it and hyperventilated on Sports Day.
Luke took a few deep breaths from the bag and his whole body seemed to sigh in relief.
“Thanks, Cori. I think it’s helping,” I said as I handed bags through the water to Mom and Laurena, too.
“Don’t mention it,” she said, grasping my arm. “Just…well, you know.”
I nodded and dove back in. The salt water didn’t fix Mom’s eyesight or Laurena’s breathing, but they could at least think a little more clearly compared to the trance they’d been in back in the cottage.
I took advantage of the break in the action and pulled Serena aside.
So, what happened? I asked. I thought you’d be with your mom and dad and the rest of the Freshies by the bridge by now.
I went there, Serena replied in Mermish, but Mother and Father are gone.
Gone where? I asked.
They took the Howsers’ canoe, just like you suspected, Serena said, and filled it with salty water from near the bridge. Their plan was to try to swim the whole length of the lake to the northern passage.
I thought for a second. Finalin probably got the canoe idea from when I transported Mom from Dundee to the locks at the beginning of the summer. But no Freshie had ever been further than Dundee because of the freshness of the water in the middle of the lake. A canoe full of salt water might be their ticket out of there, though.
How do your mom and dad know about Folly’s Passage? I asked slowly.
I told them after I saw that map in the school office. Serena looked away as if she’d betrayed a secret. I told them about the rebellion, too. And about voting and elections and democracy. I should have known that would make Father and Mother want to escape more than ever.
Finalin was just crazy enough to try to make it to Folly’s Passage.
Now Mother and Father are risking their lives to fight the Mermish Council, Serena continued. All they’ve ever wanted was freedom for me. For everybody.
Something shifted inside my head. I thought about Mr. Chamberlain and how evil I thought he was with all his shady construction deals. Yet he sponsored all those Safe 2 Swim events and worked for a ton of charities. I didn’t exactly agree with his methods, but deep down, maybe his heart was in the right place.
What if Finalin and Medora weren’t totally the bad guys here? Sure, they’d done some pretty nasty things, like vandalizing boats on the lake and pulling Mom underwater last summer, but that was mostly to buy freedom for their daughter and to figure out a way to escape. And what about all the other mers who were imprisoned and whose only crime had been to stand up for themselves against the Mermish Council? Didn’t they deserve their freedom?
But was that really my problem? I was a human first and a mer second, wasn’t I? Why couldn’t I just go back to being a normal teen girl trying to get over her fear of awkward dancing long enough to ask a boy to her first formal?
What if Mother and Father never make it? Serena continued. What if they end up with Folly, shipwrecked at the bottom of the lake?
I looked around. At Luke, who was breathing into the bag of salty water and trying to stop from shaking. At Coach Laurena, who was still gasping for breath. At Mom, who kept blinking, trying to clear her vision. The Mermish Council had caused all this.
I popped my head out of the water and called for Gran.
“How far is Folly’s Passage compared to the bridge in Port Toulouse?” I asked.
“The bridge is about three miles south, and I’d say the passage is about five or six miles to the north.” Gran looked up and down the lake and waved her hand as she spoke. “Why?”
“Just working on a plan,” I said before diving again.
Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. I waved Mom, Laurena, and Luke toward Serena and me and went over my loosey-goosey plan, but the more I talked it out, the clearer it became.
Mom, Laurena, and Luke, I continued, you guys each take a bag of salt water and swim to the bridge.
Wait, what are you planning to do? Mom blinked, trying to focus on my face underwater.
I’m going to help Serena find her parents at the other end of the lake.
No, Mom said. If that’s the plan, I think we should stick together and all go north.
You’re kidding, right? I asked. You can barely see. Laurena can barely breathe, and Luke is shaking like a jackhammer salesman. It will be better if you guys stay safe behind the locks of the bridge.
But you’ve never been any farther north than here, Mom said. What if you get lost?
I popped my head out of the water.
“Dad, can you guys get the Martins’ boat to lead Serena and me to Folly’s Passage so she can find her parents?” I asked.
“I guess…” Dad said slowly. “As long as it’s okay with your mother.”
So it’s settled? I asked Mom as I resubmerged.
I see what you did there, Mom said with a wry smile. Still, though—
Serena is much more used to fresh water than any of us, and I feel fine, I assured her. I’ll get Dad to load the boat with some more bags of salt water. Trey and Cori will help him.
Luke took a huge breath of salt water from his bag and looked me straight in the eye. The salt water must have done the trick because his gaze was steady and straight.
I’m coming with you.
Yeah, right, I rang. We just spent all night trying to keep you from the ocean, and now you want swim right into it?
Look, Luke said. I feel fine and it’s like I said back at Bridget’s Diner: the Mermish Council might force me into the water with all this Tidal Law crap, but there’s no way I’m going to become one of their puppets.
If you’re sure, I rang slowly, hoping I wouldn’t regret it.
I’m sure, he replied. Are you?
We were like two royal caravans heading off in different directions as Dad, Cori, and Trey accompanied us northward, feeding us bags of salty water through the freshest part of the lake, while Mr. and Mrs. Martin rowed Gran’s rowboat to keep an eye on Mom and Coach Laurena on the way to the lock.
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