by Gwyneth Rees
“Why are you taking so much stuff ?” asked Kai.
“Ah, well ...That’s the trouble with having a huge brain like mine – one thinks of so many things to pack.” He sighed as he readjusted some of his bags.
“I didn’t know your sister lived on the wreck,” Rani said.
“Oh, yes. Flora works there as a hairdresser,” Octavius told her.
“Maybe we’ll ask her to do our hair for the party,” Rani’s mother said, as she swam over to make sure they were ready. “Now, have you girls got your seaweed belts tied nice and tightly?”
Rani and Kai nodded. They each had a packed lunch tied to their belts, and a little purse containing the jewellery and hair decorations they were going to wear at the party.
“We’d better get going,” said Murdoch.
“Bye-bye, Pearl,” the girls said, rushing to give their baby sister a final hug. “We wish you were coming with us.”
“Pearl will be just fine with me,” Morva reassured them, as Pearl beamed happily at everybody from Morva’s arms.
Just as they were leaving, Morva fastened a gold-coloured shell to Rani’s belt. “The sea-spell is inside,” Morva whispered. “And remember – it can only be used once, so don’t use it unless you really have to!”
Rani promised that she wouldn’t, as she gave Morva a goodbye hug.
They swam through the Deep Blue for a long time, with Murdoch leading the way. Rani and Kai swam behind him, with Octavius and Miriam swimming behind the girls. Every time Roscoe got tired he grabbed hold of one of the mermaids’ hair and caught a ride with them for a while until he felt like swimming again.
The water in the Deep Blue was darker and colder than the water in Tingle Reef. The further out they swam, the more strange the plants and rocks that surrounded them. Rani and Kai, who had never been this far out in the Deep Blue before, couldn’t stop pointing things out to each other.
“Look!” gasped Kai, as a shoal of enormous fish swam by. Murdoch explained that a lot of the fish in the Deep Blue were bigger than the ones they were used to seeing at home.
“Octavius, what have you got in those bags?” Kai asked the octopus, as they rested at the bottom of a large rock to eat their packed lunches. Murdoch was sitting on top of the rock acting as lookout.
“I have brought some of my famous stew for the party,” Octavius said grandly, “since I know how much everyone likes it.”
“Yes, but you don’t eat stew at a party,” Kai pointed out. “You eat mer-cakes and sea-trifle and—”
“What’s that noise?” her mother interrupted.
There was a definite banging noise that seemed to be coming from very close by.
“Murdoch!” Miriam called up to him, anxiously. “Can you come down here?”
“What’s wrong?” Murdoch asked, swimming down to join them. Then he heard the noise too.
“There’s a creature inside that rock. I can sense it,” Rani said, frowning. Rani’s magical powers often helped her to sense the presence of other creatures before they appeared.
Her family looked at her in disbelief. How could a creature be inside a rock? “I’m going to have a look,” Rani said, swimming away from the others before they could stop her.
As she swam round to the other side of the rock she noticed a bush growing out of it. The bush was swishing from side to side even though the water here was quite calm.
“Rani!” Her father appeared by her side just as a huge fish with sharp fins, a jagged tail, a huge mouth and very sharp teeth indeed, swam out from behind the bush.
“SHARK ! “yelled Murdoch, pulling Rani behind him.
Rani started to fumble for the little golden shell that Morva had fastened to her belt – the shell with the sea-spell. But in her panic, the shell slipped from her fingers and floated away from her.
The huge shark was heading straight towards them, its white teeth flashing. Then it seemed to sniff something it liked better. It batted Murdoch and Rani to one side and swam past them, heading straight for the others.
Rani and her father yelled out a warning, but it was too late. The shark had already trapped Miriam, Kai, Octavius and Roscoe. As they trembled against the rock face, the shark’s evil black eyes glinted in pleasure at the prospect of such a yummy dinner.
That’s when Rani heard the shark’s thoughts floating towards her through the water. Rani’s magic meant that she could often hear the thoughts of other sea creatures.The shark was smelling a mixture of mermaids and ...
“Octavius! Throw him your stew!” Rani shouted. “That’s what he can smell!”
Octavius hastily untied his arms and pushed all the containers of stew towards the shark’s open mouth. As the shark started to crunch it up greedily, Octavius and the others slipped past to join Murdoch and Rani.
“Quick!” said Murdoch urgently. “It won’t take him long to get through that lot.”
“Where’s Rani going?” Kai asked suddenly.
Rani was swimming away from them, back towards the bush which had concealed the entrance to the shark’s cave. “I have to get Morva’s shell!” she called back. “You go on. I’ll catch up with you in a minute!”
Rani spotted the shell straight away, gleaming up at her from a bunch of dark green seaweed. She picked it up and fastened it securely to her belt just as Murdoch caught up with her. He grabbed her firmly by the arm.
“I’m sorry, Father, but this shell is important,” Rani said.
“So are you!” snapped her father. “Now, just swim! Before that shark realizes that the stew he’s munching doesn’t contain any mermaids at all!”
Chapter Three
“It’s not far now,” Miriam said, when Rani and Kai started to protest that they were getting tired. As they swam over a sandy opening in the rocks where lots of colourful fish darted about, Miriam became excited. “I recognize where we are! We’re nearly there.” She started to swim faster. “Look.” She pointed ahead. “There it is!”
Rani and Kai looked ahead of them and couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Even the descriptions their mother had given them hadn’t prepared them for this.
Towering up from the seabed was the strangest structure they had ever seen. As they swam closer they saw that it was white because it was totally covered in limpet shells. There were many openings along the sides of the vessel – entrances to individual homes with colourful plants and flowers growing around the doorways.On top was a massive roof garden which stretched out over the whole area of the wreck. The garden was filled with all sorts of flowering shrubs and plants. Seaweed hammocks, strung up between the bushes, were swinging in the gentle current and there were lots of rock seats dotted here and there amongst the greenery. Some mermaids, who were relaxing in the garden, smiled and waved to them.
“It’s beautiful!” gasped Kai and Rani together, as they waved back.
“Miriam!” someone called.
They turned to see an old mermaid with white hair swimming towards them.
“Mother!” cried Miriam, rushing forward.
The girls swam forward too, and soon their grandmother was hugging them tightly as she stroked their hair and told them how much they’d grown.
As everyone swam inside, Octavius asked about his sister Flora.
“She’s very busy doing everyone’s hair for the party tonight. Come with me and I’ll show you where we’re having it.” Rani’s grandmother led the way along narrow corridors until they reached a huge room with a tall ceiling and large openings on both sides so that you could see out into the Deep Blue in both directions.
“It looks wonderful!” enthused Miriam.
Rani thought it did too. A stone table along one side of the room was piled high with shell-dishes in readiness for the party. In one corner, a stage had been erected for the band. Purple and red seaweed decorations swung from the ceiling and the floor was sprinkled with glitter-sand.
“Hmm,” murmured Octavius, who had swum up to inspect the ceiling and was now p
oking at it with the ends of his wriggly arms. “This ceiling is sagging.”
“I don’t see it,” said Rani’s grandmother sharply.
“Well, it is,” said Octavius soberly. “You realize that if the ceiling collapsed, the whole roof garden would fall on top of us.” He paused so that everyone could imagine being crushed by the roof garden, before adding, “Of course, I expect it’s safe enough for the time being.” He swam down to join them. “Now, I really must go and see my sister.”
“Ask her if she’ll do our hair too,” Rani’s mother called after him.
Octavius waved one arm at her to show that he would, as he swam off muttering under his breath. Really, it was hopeless trying to get mermaids to think about anything but their hair! They meant well, but they were such silly, scatty creatures. Still, he supposed it wasn’t really their fault they had such tiny brains – unlike his which felt so heavy these days that he was beginning to wonder if it was growing! He must ask Flora what she thought. Now ... where was she? He couldn’t wait to see the surprise on her face when she saw him!
“You both look lovely,” Rani’s grandmother said, as she watched her two granddaughters get dressed up for the party. “Now ... I have a surprise for you.”
The girls gasped as she opened the lid of an old wooden box to reveal all sorts of necklaces and bracelets and rings.
“This is my treasure chest,” said their grandmother. “Whatever you choose from it to wear tonight is yours to keep, so choose carefully.”
“Oh, Grandmother!” cried Rani, her eyes shining with excitement. “They’re all beautiful.”
“Especially this,” said Kai, picking out a necklace of aquamarine that matched her eyes. “May I really have it?”
Her grandmother nodded. “And what about you, Rani? What will you choose?”
Rani’s gaze fell on a simple pendant made out of a large amber stone. She picked it up.
“Ah, the amber pendant ...” said her grandmother. “I found that one day when I was out looking for some special plants to make up some medicines. It was just lying there on the seabed. And the same day, Pat, the dolphin arrived and told me that your mother and father had found a baby that morning, inside a Giant Clam-Shell.”
“So we both got found on the same day!” Rani said, carefully fastening the pendant round her neck.
“It’s glowing!” Kai gasped.
Rani looked down at the pendant. The amber stone really did seem to be lit from the inside now that it was touching Rani’s skin.
“Let me try it on,” Kai said.
The girls swapped necklaces but for some reason the pendant looked quite dull and ordinary on Kai.
“I like mine better,” said Kai, quickly swapping back.
“Ah, here comes our hairdresser,” said their grandmother, as a loud jangling noise attracted her attention.
Sure enough, the noise was Octavius’s sister, Flora, who wore several bangles on each arm which clinked against each other as she moved about.
“Did Octavius find you?” Rani asked, excitedly. “I bet you weren’t expecting him, were you? Did you get a lovely surprise when you saw him?”
“No, I certainly wasn’t expecting him,” said Flora, creasing her large forehead into a very wrinkly frown. “I’ve never been so—” She gave a polite cough as Octavius followed her into the room,“... so surprised in my life!”
“Nobody minds if I watch, do they?” Octavius asked, settling himself on the most comfortable-looking rock.
Since Flora had eight arms to work with, she could do marvellous things with mermaids’ hair, very quickly indeed. Even Octavius was forced to admire the speed with which his sister combed and curled and crimped the long mermaid strands.
“If only I didn’t have red hair,” Rani sighed, as she waited for Flora to finish. Flora was using some of her arms as curlers in Kai’s hair, so she only had three arms free to work on Rani. Octavius was suggesting ways his sister could use her arms even more efficiently as she wove Rani’s hair into a long plait.
“I’ve only ever seen one other mermaid before who looked like you,” Flora said, as she fixed Rani’s shell-clasp in place. “She had hair the same colour as yours and she was very beautiful. She told me she came from a secret place a long way away.”
“You’re talking about Morva,” Octavius interrupted impatiently. “We all know her.”
“This wasn’t Morva,” Flora said. “Morva’s ancient. This was a young mermaid. She had eyes just like yours, Rani, and she wore a pendant just like that one. She was resting in a cave because she was about to have a baby. Her husband had gone to look for food.I offered to do her hair for her.I couldn’t resist – it was so beautiful.”
“Where did you see her?” Rani gasped. “When was this? Did she tell you her name? Did she—”
“Oh, I can’t remember the details,” Flora interrupted. “It was about ten years ago. It was out in the Deep Blue somewhere.”
“Flora – you’ve never told me any of this before!” Octavius said crossly. “This is very important information. How can you forget to mention something like this?”
Flora started to jangle her bangles in an irritated manner. “I probably wasn’t speaking to you at the time,” she snapped back. “Since you were just as much of a know-all ten years ago as you are now!”
“Well, really,” Octavius snorted, and the two octopuses started to bicker loudly.
Rani was stunned. Flora had met a red-haired mermaid with a pendant just like hers! And that mermaid had been about to have a baby – a baby who would be Rani’s age by now! What if ... What if ... What if the mermaid Flora had met had been Rani’s true mother?
Chapter Four
There was no time to ask Flora any more questions because by the time she had finished arguing with Octavius, it was almost time for the party to begin. But she promised to come and find Rani later so they could talk some more.
As the mermaids gathered together in the big hall, chattering excitedly, Rani thought that they all looked beautiful. Their long hair had been dressed up by Flora and decorated with shell-combs and flowers, and they all wore lovely jewellery made from shells or precious stones. The mermen looked very handsome too, with garlands of twisted leaves on their heads and colourful seaweed belts.
The band was the biggest Rani had ever seen. Mermaids and mermen were playing shell-horns, flutes and drums of all different kinds. There was even a harp with bind-weed strings. But Rani’s favourite thing was the glocken-shell – an instrument made up of lots of different-sized shells, each one sounding a different note when it was played.
Rani was scanning the room for Flora. Flora had said she was coming to the party too, when she had finished doing everyone’s hair. Where was she?
“First, everyone must have a turn at singing,” announced Rani’s grandmother.
Mermaids were known for their beautiful voices and most of them loved to sing, but Rani had always felt far too shy to sing in front of other people.
Rani’s mother sang first. She had a particularly lovely voice and everyone had tears in their eyes as they listened. Rani really wished that she could sing like that. As the other mermaids took their turns Rani started to feel nervous. She had to be the only mermaid whose voice always trembled whenever she tried to sing. What would the others think of her?
“Rani, it’s your turn now!” her grandmother said.
Rani was about to make an excuse when she happened to glance down at her pendant. It made her happy just to look at it and suddenly she felt like she could do anything if she really wanted to! She swam up on to the stage and – much to her amazement – found herself able to sing after all. In fact, she sang so beautifully that the whole room clapped and cheered when she had finished.
“I never knew you could sing like that,” whispered Kai afterwards.
“Neither did I,” gasped Rani, touching the pendant in awe. She was about to say more about it to Kai when their grandmother announced that it was time
to have supper.
Rani and Kai swam to the table to choose what they wanted from the delicious spread of mer-cakes and sea-trifles and ocean-fruits. The grown-up mermaids were drinking lots of mer-wine and getting very merry indeed.
“This is yummy. Not a bit of seaweed in sight!” laughed Kai, who was always being told off for not eating her greens.
“And no stew either!” laughed Rani. Suddenly she spotted Flora across the other side of the room. “I’ll be back in a minute,” she told her sister.
“Wait, Rani! Where’s your necklace?” asked Kai, seeing that it was gone from Rani’s neck.
Rani looked down. “Oh, no! It must have fallen off.”
At that moment, Rani was surrounded by a group of mermaids who demanded that she sing for them again. Rani protested that she had to find her necklace first, but the others were very excited and wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Don’t be a spoilsport, Rani!” her grandmother called out from the other side of the room.
Rani didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t tell her grandmother that she had lost the necklace, but how else could she explain that she didn’t want to sing without it?
“I’ll look for it,” offered Kai. “Give them one song and then come and help me. Don’t worry. It’s got to be here somewhere. It must be.”
Reluctantly, Rani agreed but as she took her place on the stage again, she had a horrible thought. What if it was the pendant that had given her the ability to sing before? What if now – without it – she was just as hopeless as ever? Rani’s throat felt tight. Her stomach started to churn. She was sure that her voice would come out totally shaky and everyone would laugh at her. She quickly mumbled something about a sore throat and left the stage.
“I can’t sing without my pendant,” she told Kai.
“Maybe it fell off when you went to get your food,” Kai said.