by Julie Cassar
The King held his right arm high in the air again and began the countdown from three. His arm lowered quickly as he finally shouted, “One!” Freya and I dove into the frigid water, and I watched in awe as her legs transformed into a huge, emerald green tail. She torpedoed, at lightning speed, ahead of me. The water wasn’t as quite of a shock to my system as the first time, but it still stung and burned until all I felt was a numbing tingle throughout my body. I fought to keep up with Freya. As I approached the bottom of the lake, I began wildly searching for the three golden rings. I tried not to swim too fast, so as not to miss any of them. I saw a glimmer of a golden ring and raced to get it. As I grabbed the ring (which was heavier than I expected), I noticed Freya already had one dangling on her arm and was busily searching for another among the boat wrecks, sea weed and boulders strewn about. I slipped the ring on my arm, as Freya had done, allowing me to continue to search. I saw another glimmer of gold, but as I went to go for it, I realized my lungs were at their full capacity and I needed air. I had no other choice but to swim back up to the platform, drop the first ring, and head back down to retrieve the second one. Dammit! This was going to cost me valuable time. Anya was right, having to swim back to the surface could cost me this Challenge. The Mermaid had the advantage over me here. My chest was heavy and my lungs felt as if they were about to explode as I jetted myself back to the surface. I knew not to panic though. Bursting to the surface I gulped a huge breath of air and flung my ring onto the platform. Jeremy hooted and hollered. He started doing the cabbage-patch dance as part of his happy celebration while he chanted, once again, “Ruby Blue, Comin’ on through! Toss those rings, chuggachiggachoo!” He sang it more than shouted it this time. I think he was being a little more careful since he was precariously balancing on a small wooden platform floating in the middle of Lake Superior. I was barely out of the water for five seconds, but I caught a glimpse of Anya and Brennan’s furrowed brows, as if they were scolding me for coming up for air so soon. I swam back down and I concentrated on speaking to them with my Fairy telepathy, “What?! I needed air! So sue me!”
Brennan’s voice roared between my ears, “You did not! Now shut up and concentrate Ruby! Just get back down there and get the other rings.” I shook off his scolding and gritted my teeth as I sped through the water to the spot where I had seen the ring. I grabbed the second ring and began frantically swimming around to find the third. I caught a glimpse of Freya, and she had two rings already too. I swam in and around the boat wreckage, then I circled back around a section of boulders and I saw it – the third ring. I went to grab it but it was wedged between two of the rocks. As I was wrestling the golden ring free, I saw Freya’s tail shooting upwards, leaving a trail of bubbles behind. It’s now or never! I have to get this damn ring! I pulled with all of my might, and the ring broke free. I slipped it on my arm and swam after the Mermaid. Chasing her tail up the darkened, but magically lit cold water, was disheartening. I had to overtake her. I closed the gap between us to just a mere three or four feet. Just a little more and I would be there. I could see as she broke the surface, and my heart sank in my chest. I did everything I could think of doing, but it was no use. She was at the platform, and I was sucking her bubbles. I exploded through the water a second after her, gasping for air and hanging on the side of the platform for dear life. Anya and Brennan were quick to my aid and hoisted me up onto the platform. Exhaustion from the swim settled into every bone. Jeremy, Anya and Brennan knelt protectively beside me, and I caught Anya’s sympathetic shoulder shrug. I knew she wanted to say “I told you so,” but she was too nice to say it. Besides, I was thinking it already anyway. Simon, Brennan’s guard, stood protectively near our small huddled group. As I laid there feeling defeated and exhausted, the King stood proudly, puffing out his chest and announced loudly, “I declare the winner of this challenge to be the Water Court.” The Queen stood at his side and held his elbow. I sat up and looked at the other spectators on the platform. Grobel stood stony as ever, and the nondescript Simon seemed unaffected as well, but Bexin and Celestine had worry etched into their faces and they had their hands locked in a death-grip, as if they held onto each other as tightly as possible, they wouldn’t be broken apart.
Scratch that. More like I wouldn’t be able to break them apart…with my lackluster show of holding my breath and swimming. How lame. I felt guilt wash over me and, once again, I felt sick to my stomach. Thankfully, I was pretty sure it was empty now, so I couldn’t imagine I’d barf again.
Not to be considered a poor loser, I slowly got up and walked over to Freya to offer a handshake of congratulations. She took my hand and smiled. “You rocked it out, Freya,” I managed to smile. She politely nodded and turned to get congratulations from the King and Queen. I turned to face my friends, and Jeremy spoke up, grabbing both of my hands, “It’s okay, girl. You’ve got the next one. You’re not out of this yet Ruby, honey. Ma’lady Blue will come through! I just know it!” His smile and warm eyes were comforting. I smiled at Jeremy’s pep talk, but I wasn’t so sure.
Chapter 26
The King announced to us that we had to travel to yet a third location hidden on the lake for the third and final Challenge. After the Queen extinguished all of the torches, we once again settled into the superfast, all-white speed boat to head to the last site. Silence hung heavily in the warm, black summer night. It all came down to this. Win or lose, two lovers’ fates would be decided. And it was all on my shoulders. My breathing was shallow and fast, and I could feel my pulse quickening, knowing that I was speeding closer and closer to the final showdown. I noticed Brennan whispering to Simon, but couldn’t hear what they were saying. I probably didn’t want to know anyway. I’m sure they were discussing how they were going to handle everything once I lost this challenge for them. Ugh.
I felt the boat slowing down and realized we must have reached our destination. I squinted in the darkness to see where we were. Again, it looked as if we were in the middle of nowhere. Dark, black waters disappeared against the star-sprinkled sky for as far as I could see. The land wasn’t visible, and I had no idea if we were closer to Canada, Michigan or Wisconsin. The boat came to a halt, and once again, there was a floating wooden platform. Our little motley crew exited the boat and watched as the Queen went through her torch lighting ceremony again. When the water was eerily lit from above again, I got my first view through the watery window to the torture that was waiting for me below. The usually dark, foggy water was now lit up brightly and we had a crystal clear view all the way to the bottom. My eyes got wide and my breath caught when I saw what was down there.
To the far left were some rock formations that looked like a series of tunnels and caves. The rocks looked ominous, dark and sharp. My brain was racing, and I flashbacked to those awful moments when I was trapped under the boulders and nearly drowned. I glanced up and gave the brazen-looking Troll, Grobel, a dirty look. He caught my gaze and simply looked away.
Next to the rocks and seemingly in the middle of our course, was a huge bed of seaweed and grasses…it looked like a corn field underwater, except all of the corn was green, and there wasn’t actually any corn. To the far right was perhaps the coolest and eeriest thing I had ever seen…It was a giant sunken ship, broken into two pieces. Brennan leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Graveyard of the Great Lakes…Superior never gives up her dead. It’s Big Fitz,” he edged his chin forward, as if pointing to the huge broken freighter below us. I gulped. I knew what Big Fitz was. You couldn’t be from around here and not know. Big Fitz was the affectionate term for the 729-foot ship, the Edmund Fitzgerald. Back in 1975, she sunk – split in half – about 17 miles from the entrance of White Fish Bay. The freighter was leaving Superior, Wisconsin headed for a steel mill near Detroit, Michigan when she was caught in a massive winter storm, with almost hurricane-force winds. Waves on the Great Lake reached 35 feet high, and the ship sank in Canadian waters, at a depth of over 500 feet. I had grown up hearing tales about the Fitzgerald
from my dad and just about every teacher I’d ever had in school. All 29 crewmembers died, and none of their bodies were ever recovered. Living so close to so much water, I had learned early on through all my swim classes and boat safety courses that bacteria feeds on a sunken decaying body, which generates gas, and causes the body to float to the surface…but not here. The water in Lake Superior is so cold all year round that bacteria doesn’t grow. So, if you drown in Superior, you tend to sink and never resurface. It was a graveyard, alright. More ships have been lost in the Whitefish Point area than any other part of Lake Superior. It was like our own personal Bermuda Triangle. Some people referred to it as Shipwreck Coast…Well, at least now I knew where we were. We were near the southern shores, between Grand Marais, Michigan and Whitefish Point. Not that it mattered, but, having a better sense of where I was made me feel a bit calmer. I felt like I wasn’t just in the middle of nowhere anymore. Nope, I was in the middle of the Graveyard of the Great Lakes…and I’d literally soon be swimming among the dead. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. A creepy-crawly feeling started running through my body, giving me the chills. Boy, what my dad wouldn’t give to see Big Fitz here, illuminated clearly, in the eerie silence of this warm summer night. I stared in awe at the humongous broken ship that lay before me. Her two halves looked to be at least 100-150 feet apart from each other. I imagined it was a lot like looking at the Titanic from above.
The King cleared his throat and spoke loudly to us, “And now, the third and final Challenge…the Obstacle Course. Our competitors will begin at the sunken ship to our right. You will enter through the bow, continue through onto the other half, and emerge from the stern. Then you will make your way through the maze of seaweed plants and, finally, through the rock formation arches and caverns to your left. Each entry point and exit point shall be lit with an illuminator. (When he said this, he opened his palm and an orb of glowing white light appeared.) The first competitor back on this platform will be announced the winner of this Challenge and the Champion of the Grá mo Chroí Dúshlán shall be so determined.”
The King threw the orb of light down into the water, and I watched it move like an underwater shooting star. It was beautiful. It settled at the bow of Big Fitz, and then the King flung out several more orbs of white light to the other entry and exit points of the obstacles on the course.
When he finished throwing the illuminated orbs, the King turned to look at all of us standing on the platform and authoritatively spoke again in his clear, booming voice, “Competitors, on my mark, you will begin. Please, for the last time, ready yourselves.” He looked at Freya, his face full of determination and hope, as if willing her to win this last Challenge.
I was worried. I knew the longest I had ever stayed under water was 21 minutes. (Although, Anya insisted I could stay under much longer, I wasn’t so sure.) Yeah, I could swim with lightning fast speed now…so that would work to my advantage…but what if some of these obstacles took me longer to get through? If I needed to come up for air in between, I would surely lose. My only option was to swim as fast as I possibly could and hope for the best. Freya and I stepped to the edge of the platform and assumed our diving positions. My pulse was racing, but I tried to take big, gulping deep breaths of air, knowing it would be the last breaths I might take for the next 21 minutes. My nerves were on high-alert and all of my senses were acutely aware of everything around me. I felt the slight breeze on my skin. My nose was filled with the fresh, wet smell of the cold water and the smell of green. People don’t always get what I mean when I say things “smell green.” It’s the smell of fresh pine or grass, of everything green and in bloom around me. Lake Superior was surrounded by green. The smells infiltrated my nose, and I breathed them in deep, sucking in every ounce of earth I could keep stored in my lungs. I blocked out all of the background noise in my head so that all I could hear was the sound of my breaths and the beating of my heart echoing in my ears. Even the water seemed quiet. I listened to the sounds of the waves slowly lapping the sides of the boat that was tied up nearby. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a dragonfly. I smiled. Good luck.
Once again, the King held his right arm high in the air, and began the countdown for the last time. His arm dropped as he bellowed the last number. It was like a gun shot rang through the air and my brain was set to sizzle. I dove into the icy water, this time, focusing only on my own descent. I broke through the glacier-cold surface, and it felt like shards of glass stinging at every inch of my skin. The cold-numbing feeling instantly took over and then the heat from my brain sent waves of warmth down through my arms and legs. It was as if I was channeling some inner power…I didn’t dare look to see where Freya was. I focused my eyes straight at the sunken freighter, zoning in on the small orb of light illuminating the entryway at the bow. I saw Freya enter and realized that I was just a few seconds behind her. I used my arms and propelled myself quickly through the sunken ship, barely looking at the brown, rusted, algae-covered wreck. But, as I made my way past the port side, I inwardly cringed and felt the faint hint of stomach acid work its way up to my throat, almost causing me to gag, when I caught sight of a man’s body. Although I sped quickly by, I saw the bright orange life jacket. Thankfully, he was face-down in the sediment. I tried to block out any other glimpses of orange after that quick view. I was hot on the Mermaid’s tail as we entered into the second half of the broken ship and came out the stern side. Now swimming free toward the grassy maze of seaweed, I used my arms to their full abilities. I glided past the Mermaid in three strokes (as she was, yet again, not really using her arms to swim, but merely swishing her huge tail and moving her body fluidly) and beat her into the maze of grasses. I was hit with a wave of cool slimy tickles as the seaweed brushed over my body. My vision was clouded for a split second as the greens wavered in front of my face, poking me in the eyes and tickling my ears. Gah-ross! I slightly shuddered as I wove myself through the giant weed garden. The seaweed tickled and zinged on my skin, like little lightning bugs fluttering on every inch of my body. I kept my arms in front of me and tried to use them not only to clear my path, but to block the slimy weeds from hitting me in the face. Although it only took me a few minutes to wind my way through the seaweed maze, I felt somehow energized, as if touching all of the plants somehow gave me more strength, more power. Perhaps my connection to the Earthen Court helped me draw energy from them? I had no time to ponder this thought though, and I scolded myself for losing concentration. There is a race to be won here. My arms pulled me through the water like never before. I entered the rocky caverns at the small glowing orb and could sense that Freya was hot on my tail. (Or…legs.) I swam into the dark cave and immediately had to slow down. It was narrow, and the walls were sharp and jagged, with rocks jutting out at strange angles. I carefully wove my way around corners and curves, and then I felt a sharp scraping pain on my right shoulder. I glanced down and saw the bloody scrape. No time to be concerned about it. While I was distracted looking at my shoulder, I suddenly became aware of a whistling sound. The whistling quickly turned into a low rumble, and the rocks around me started shaking. The rumbling noise became louder and louder. I didn’t know what was happening, but I needed to get out of this cavern. I began swimming faster, becoming more careless about hitting the sides of the stabbing rocks. I felt myself getting cut up, but as the rocks shook more, and the rumbling sounds turned into a horrible roaring noise, I just wanted to get the hell out of there. The thundering sound of rushing water and what sounded like hurricane-like high-pitched, whistling winds shook my insides to the very core. Water and bubbles were rushing around me, and I was quickly losing my sense of up and down. Rocks were breaking loose and tumbling through the water as if they were on a spin cycle in a washing machine. I didn’t know what was happening, but it felt like a bomb went off, or an underwater landslide and I was stuck right in the middle of it. I saw the faint white light of the exit orb up ahead and pushed myself towards it. I jetted out of the rocky cavern and
began to head back up to the surface. That was when I heard it. I heard a high-pitched wailing sound that sent chills up my spine. Although I had never heard the sound before, I knew what it was. It could be nothing else.
It was the screeching cry of a Mermaid.
Chapter 27 I turned back around and headed into the cave of shaking destruction. I must be crazy. But that screaming cry…it was haunting. It sent a chill through my veins colder than the frigid water I was in. I knew something was wrong, and I knew I had to go back. Competition or no competition, I couldn’t ignore her cries. The shaking and roaring had settled down a bit. I just hoped whatever it was didn’t happen again. I saw Freya stuck between crevices in the rocks. Her turquoise hair was flowing wildly around her face and terror filled her purple eyes. Her horrified gaze burned into my eyes, silently pleading for help. She was struggling and madly swishing her tail back and forth. Her left arm was wedged under a rock, and she couldn’t seem to break free. The walls around us were still shaking, and the roaring sound, although diminished, was still pouring through our ears. Who knew if the cave would come crumbling down, perhaps sealing us in our watery graves.