Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings

by Helene Boudreau

  Did the Martins have a boat like that? I wondered. I couldn’t imagine living in such a small space for six months. How would I survive without my pillow-top bed and thirty-minute showers? But Luke didn’t seem to mind. He even said it wasn’t that bad. I thought back to our conversation at Bridget’s when he’d told me I seemed different. What did he mean by that? But Luke seemed to have changed too. Did it happen while he was away?

  Argh. There Luke was, slipping into my thoughts again. You’d think transforming into a mermaid would be the only thing occupying my mind right then. So why couldn’t I stop thinking about Luke? Was I actually falling for him?

  I shook my head. Even if I was, I had too much going on to obsess over some guy. And I may as well forget about him, especially with Lainey on the scene. That girl had the laws of attraction down to a science. I popped the last Wigwag into my mouth and chucked the empty box into the trash can.

  As the sailboat disappeared around the point toward the open lake, another rush of thoughts overwhelmed me. I remembered the last time I had been on a boat. My stomach balled up in a tight knot, remembering how Gran’s rowboat had shifted below my feet, tipsy and unsure. The memory flashed through my mind like short movie clips.

  Me, fumbling with the rope to get it untied from the mooring.

  Mom thrashing in the water.

  Dad diving in.

  Gran yelling into her cell phone at the edge of the dock.

  Mom calling for me one last time before she disappeared underwater.

  We dove and dove, looking for her. By the time the rescue team managed to maneuver the backcountry roads of Dundee it was too late, too dark, too large a lake. And soon, too many days had passed. I shuddered and shifted on the bench, trying to loosen the memory from my mind.

  No wonder I’d had the sweats, trying on bathing suits at the mall. The mere thought of swimming was enough to make me wanna puke. What was I thinking, telling Cori I’d go to her pool party?

  I had to do something, go somewhere, and get my mind tracking in another direction. My watch showed 3:40. I should just go, maybe meet the gang at the skate park. But did I really want to put myself through more cringe-worthy chats with Luke? Especially with Lainey there?

  I could go home and study. Final exams were just a few weeks away, though my ears had started ringing again and I could really use a nap.

  Pillow-top. Nap. Much better idea.

  I stood and turned to go, but noticed something splashing in the water, close to the bridge, out of the corner of my eye. A trout? No. Bigger. Maybe a bass. I turned and willed the image to reappear. It reminded me of looking for the first star in the night sky when Mom used to tuck me into bed. There one minute, gone the next.

  Splash.

  But there it was again. Only this time, a shining flicker of black surfaced for a second then continued underwater, marking its path with a trail of ripples. It moved toward the boat lock as the massive metal gate screeched to a close.

  I tugged at my ears as the ringing grew to an annoying thump like music from a passing car full of high school kids. Meanwhile, two other ribbons of current appeared, twenty feet or so offshore. Trout or bass, all three trails seemed to be on a full-on course for the lock’s gate.

  The ringing in my ears stepped up a couple of decibels. I winced and kept watch for the flicks and splashes as the fish seemed to congregate below the surface of the water. The gate clunked shut.

  Then, a piercing ring impaled my brain with a sound so loud it made me gasp.

  “Jade!”

  Was Eddie calling from his control tower? Had Cori come looking for me? I looked up, but Eddie was turned the other way, fiddling with something on the console inside his little hut. I glanced through the trees up the bank to the road. The barrier lifted for the cars to cross the bridge, but no Cori.

  I turned back to the lake. Something broke the surface of the water. Not a trout. Not a bass. This was much too large.

  Dark strands of hair. Pale flesh. I caught the edges of the image. A rubber band tightened around my heart and squeezed with all its might.

  “Mom?” My breath sucked in so fiercely, it felt like a spear stabbing through my chest.

  Then the image disappeared. I shook my head and covered my mouth with my hand. It couldn’t be Mom. Mom was dead. What the heck was wrong with me?

  Another splash. The figure returned.

  “Jade!” I saw the outline of her perfect mouth hidden behind matted strands of ebony hair. Soon, her whole head broke the surface of the water.

  “Mom!”

  I ran across the shore, the rough gravel piercing my bare feet. Mom’s face dipped in and out of the water. It was her! She hadn’t drowned! She wasn’t dead! I splashed into the lake until I was waist deep.

  “I’m here!” A tremor rippled across the water as car tires rumbled across the bridge’s metal grating overhead. I reached out for her. “Swim to me!”

  Could Mom hear me? Could she see me? I took a few more steps until the water reached my chest.

  “Jade…out the…water!” Mom’s voice came out as a gurgle as she appeared then disappeared below surface.

  “No! Come!” I wasn’t getting out. Still, a familiar sense of dread closed in on me. This was the deepest I’d been in the water since the summer before. Even though Mom was there, just a few dozen feet away, the same paralyzing fear gripped me. Then, another terrifying thought crossed my mind. What if I turned into a mermaid again?

  My breath quickened. Why wouldn’t she just come?

  “Swim to me, Mom! I’ll get Dad. He’s never going to believe…”

  But before I could finish my sentence, four hands emerged from the inky water around Mom’s head. My whole body shook with terror as the gleaming white fingers reached up and grabbed her.

  “No!” I forgot my fears and dove in.

  Mom thrashed in the water, tangled in weeds and matted hair. The gnarled, glistening fingers tried to clutch any part of her.

  “I’m coming!” I yelled between mouthfuls of water. A rush of heat coursed through my legs as I swam.

  “Go back!” Mom called as she bucked and flailed to fight them off.

  “I’m almost there!”

  But I hadn’t even bridged half the distance between us when one of the hands grabbed a fistful of Mom’s hair. Her eyes grew wide as her head flew back. She opened her mouth to scream but the sound dissolved in a gurgle as the hands pulled her underwater.

  Then she was gone.

  “No!”

  I treaded water, sculling my hands just below the surface. My eyes darted from side to side for any sign of her—a ripple, a splash, a flicker—anything to give me a clue where she was. But the only thing left was a circle of waves radiating from the spot where the three figures had just disappeared.

  “Mom!” I called again, but my voice got lost in the sound of rumbling cars still making their way across the bridge overhead.

  I blinked, trying to keep my eyes from blurring over with tears so I could see Mom if she resurfaced. My tongue stung with a familiar taste.

  Salt!

  I swung my head around. The lock. The salt water from the ocean to the lake. What if it was the salt that made me turn into a mermaid? I reached down to my legs and felt for scales forming on my skin, but there was nothing.

  Then, something brushed my foot.

  “Ah!” I hurled my body toward shore and pulled at the water with all my might.

  The thing brushed my foot again and again as I swam, like the feeling of wispy seaweed waving below the surface. But with each kick, the wisps turned into something more solid. Like fingers.

  They were after me!

  The fingers grasped my ankles.

  “No!”

  I tried to scream but my mouth filled with water as I was dragged below the surface. My T-shirt billowed around me as I sunk deeper and deeper into the lake. I gagged and gasped for air. But there was no air, just water, everywhere around me and inside me. It shot pa
st my throat to my lungs, forcing a fizz of bubbles from my mouth.

  A big, red panic button tripped off in my brain. Was I drowning? What about Mom? I needed to get to her. What about Dad? Losing us both would destroy him!

  Air! I needed air!

  Without thinking, I inhaled a gulp of water as I struggled to get away from the vice-like grip around my ankles. I braced myself to gag, but amazingly, the suffocating feeling disappeared. What should have been a relief turned to a sickening horror as I reached for my legs and felt the uneven scales forming on my skin. My thighs began to fuse.

  Not again!

  I tried to kick the feeling away but suddenly, I heard a ripping sound and a humongous blast shot me through the water, forcing the hands to let go.

  My hair swirled around my face as I landed against the bottom of the lake. A cloud of dirt kicked up from the lake floor, making it hard to see. I could tell I still had my shirt and skirt on, so I was pretty sure the ripping sound came from the familiar white bits of cloth floating up to the lake’s surface. Sure enough, the dust cleared and my granny panties were gone, along with my legs.

  In their place? A disgusting, slimy tail.

  No! The sound of my voice rang all around me.

  This couldn’t be happening! I didn’t want to be a mermaid. I didn’t know how to be a mermaid. I could barely remember how to swim. But I couldn’t waste time freaking out. I had to find Mom and escape from this whacked-out underwater world!

  I searched around, trying to get my bearings. The water was tinted a murky brown like the color of old tea. It tasted worse as it passed through my mouth with each breath. Of water! How was that even possible?

  The surface of the lake loomed high overhead. I could make out the boat lock’s large metal gate a few dozen feet away. Fish darted in and out of clumps of swaying reeds. A rusted bicycle, partly covered in green algae, rested at the bottom of the lake.

  Mom and the scary-handed water freaks, though, were nowhere in sight. Where did they go?

  My body bobbed in the flowing current of the lake. I hung on to a large rock and wiggled the tail to keep from being swept away. The ringing in my ears was still there but it seemed more like a mixture of sounds, each with its own tone, like a group of people talking at a party.

  Something moved near the bicycle. My whole body tensed as my eyesight adjusted to the surroundings. A face. An arm. A tail. Piece by piece, a mermaid’s body materialized from the mossy rocks and swaying reeds.

  But not Mom.

  A few feet away, closer to the lock, the same thing happened. This time a merman. I turned and saw more of them. One by one, like a massive underwater game of Where’s Waldo, mer-people appeared all around me. Four…seven…eleven, maybe? They huddled in groups, sneaking glances at me, whispering in the same annoying ring I’d been hearing, off and on, for the past few days.

  Holy crap!

  Gran’s phony curse words just weren’t cutting it this time. First of all, I was sporting a tail at the bottom of a lake, breathing water. Plus, I was surrounded by mythical aquatic creatures and had a sinking feeling I was just about to become shark bait!

  But Mom?!

  Where is she?! My voice came out as a ring too, like I’d tuned into some kind of mer frequency. Was this how they communicated? Obviously I’d need a Mermish/English universal translator, because no one seemed to understand me judging by the glazed over looks I was getting.

  That’s when I saw him.

  The ugliest, meanest looking merman on the face of the planet. (Though, I looked working from the shallow end of the gene pool.) His face looked like soggy bread, covered with a scraggly beard. Beside him, another mermaid had Mom by the hair and was dragging her away. Mom turned her head toward me.

  Stop! My voice rang out. I let go of the rock and wriggled the tail to try to swim her way.

  Ugly sneered and screeched a series of rings, setting the group into action. The mer-dudes broke from their huddles and began to roll large rocks along the bottom of the lake toward the base of the boat lock’s metal gate. Ugly grasped a large rock and heaved it onto the growing pile.

  What were they doing? Were they trying to block the lock from opening?

  I turned back to Mom and whipped the tail to go faster. Ugly motioned for two other mermen and nodded at me. Mom rang back a sound I didn’t understand. The mermen hesitated, but Ugly raised another rock toward them. He was obviously the alpha-male of the joint because the mermen snapped to attention and swam my way.

  I flicked the tail to the right to try to avoid them and kept heading for Mom, but they caught up to me in seconds, making my pathetic attempt at swimming look like the mermaid doggie paddle. One of them grabbed my arm and spun me around, scratching my face in the process. I swung my free hand and connected with something I hoped was a jaw.

  Hisss…

  Someone didn’t like that. He grasped my wrists.

  Ugly laughed.

  Things kind of went downhill from there.

  Chapter Nine

  MY SCALP ACHED FROM being dragged through the lake by Ugly’s henchman. What was it with those guys and hair? They shoved me into a creek a short swim away and stood guard while Ugly and another mermaid waved the other rubbernecking mer-dudes back to the rock pile. Obviously, they didn’t want an audience for whatever brand of torture they were planning.

  I cowered behind a submerged moss-covered log and tried to catch my breath, which, underwater, was a completely different skill set compared to breathing air. Plus, the fresh water in the creek seemed thin and suffocating, like trying to breathe at the top of a mountain.

  Ugly jabbered away at the mouth of the creek, barking at the others. What were they planning to do? Kill me? Stuff me like a brook trout so they could hang me over their mantle like a fishing trophy?

  I looked down at the tail, still attached to my lower half. It flicked back and forth in the flowing water, as involuntary as blinking. Even when I worked to keep it still, a small shift in the current set it off again. How had this disgusting thing become so much a part of me in such a short amount of time? I didn’t want this. I never wanted this! But I was beyond freaking out. Seeing Mom being yanked away like that had transformed my shock into a desperate fear. I needed to figure out a way to help her!

  I turned, trying to get my bearings. The water in the creek was only a couple of feet deep. I could make out a hill, sloping upward, through the rippling water. The bridge was about a hundred feet away, past clumps of brush lining the bank. I must have been in the creek Cori and I had waded through a million times when we were little, looking for pollywogs.

  I eyed the bank a short swim away. It would hurt like crazy, but maybe I could crawl out of the water and escape. The tail would transform back into legs, wouldn’t it? I could run and get Dad. But then, how would I ever find Mom again?

  What had they done with her anyway?

  Seconds later, my question was answered. A huge wave surged toward me and I saw them heave Mom into the creek. She sunk like a rag doll.

  Mom…I gasped and pulled her into a hug. My hand tangled in her hair and I drank in her smell, expecting the peach scent of her shampoo. Instead, the water around her tasted like an aquarium left too long between cleanings, her skin felt swollen and uneven. I shrunk back, without thinking, and instantly regretted it. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…

  Shh…Mom put a finger to her lips. She nodded to the three mermen and mermaid at the mouth of the creek as they screeched at each other in rings and tones.

  Ugly looked our way for a second. He took the mermaid by the arm and swam away, out of earshot, no doubt to plot our demise. His henchmen piled branches and rocks at the creek’s opening to block us in.

  I can’t believe you’ve been alive all this time! I blurted, once they’d moved away from the mer-made dam. My heart still hadn’t settled from the shock of seeing her. I thought…me and Dad thought…

  Oh, Jade. Mom hugged me, but her arms were weak and limp. I missed y
ou so much.

  Can they understand what we’re saying? I stole a glance past the dam.

  Mom shook her head. No, but we don’t have much time. They’re planning to move us farther up the lake.

  Are you okay?

  Mom’s cheekbones jutted out over her sunken cheeks. Her eyes sagged in the corners. But she was still beautiful. Always beautiful.

  I’ll be okay. She smiled weakly. But you?

  Mom, how can this be real? How can I be breathing underwater like this, talking to you? Speaking in rings and tones felt like Spanish class. How could Mom even understand what I was saying?

  Jade…I never meant for them to do this to you…

  She reached out and took my hand but each word was heavy with effort.

  Who are those jerks? I whispered. That ugly guy and the mermaid…did they do this to you?

  That’s Finalin and his wife, Medora. The others just do as they’re told. Mom stroked my face. Oh, Jade. There’s so much I need to tell you before they come back.

  I tugged her arm. Well, they’re not here right now. Let’s just crawl out of the water, sprout legs, and make a break for it. I’ll call Dad. We’ll take you home.

  Mom pulled me back. No, Jade. I can’t do that.

  Her words stabbed through my heart.

  Yes, you can. My tears were immediate. Though, crying underwater probably lost a bit of its effect. It hurts like crazy, but that’s what happened to me the other night when I was a mermaid for the first time.

  Mom brought a hand to her mouth. You’ve changed before? That must be why you finally heard me today. I’ve been calling your name for months, each time I saw you cross the bridge.

  I remembered the ringing in my ears and hearing my name earlier that day.

  That was you!

  Yes! Mom replied. What happened when you changed?

  I thought of all the things that had led to the transformation. I told her about the Epsom salt and getting my first period and how I’d fallen asleep in the bath tub and slipped underwater.