Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings

by Helene Boudreau

  Oh, Jade. Mom stroked my arm. I wish I could have been there to help. How did Dad take it?

  Actually, he was really cool about it, I said quietly.

  And you were able to change back? Mom’s face seemed to reflect five different feelings at once: happiness, sadness, regret, fear, and maybe a teensy bit of hope. I couldn’t let that hope fade away.

  At first we thought it was the salt, but I think it has something to do with breathing air or water. What I can’t figure out is; why now? It’s not like it’s the first time I ever swallowed water. What about the time I almost drowned at that hotel in Ottawa?

  I remembered how the chlorine had stung my throat as I tried to find the surface, so far above me. I finally struggled to the side of the pool, gagging and gasping for air. Mom dragged me out. I’d hurled.

  Oh, Jade. Mom continued stroking my arm. Your first period must have triggered it and the salt may have given everything a boost, but you’re right: breathing air or water forces the change back and forth. That’s what happened when I first became human. I changed back when Finalin and Medora pulled me underwater last summer.

  I could hear their high-pitched rings on the other side of the dam.

  They did this to you? My fear turned into a seething, ugly hatred. But Dad told me it was the Mermish Council that let you become human in the first place. Why did they change their minds?

  Mom looked past the dam and shook her head. Finalin and Medora aren’t part of the Mermish Council. The Council lives out in the ocean with the rest of the mer-world. Those mers out there are inmates. The Council uses Talisman Lake as a prison.

  I remembered the screeching sound of the large metal gates of the boat lock. My whole body shivered with the truth. You mean, they’re criminals?

  Mom nodded. They call themselves Freshies. And believe me, there’s no way I would have set foot in this lake if I had known the Council was locking up criminals behind the boat lock. Especially with my toes.

  That’s when it clicked. I gasped. Our webbed toes? That’s how they knew?

  Mom nodded. Every mer hears the story of the Webbed Ones growing up, but none of us ever believed that becoming human was possible. I didn’t, until it happened to me. And now, Finalin and Medora are determined to get the secret out of me.

  So they can break out of here? I could only imagine the havoc that would cause in Port Toulouse.

  I can’t blame them. Fresh water is no place for a mer, Mom said. That’s why most of the Freshies hang out by the lock where the salty ocean water spills in. Finalin and Medora have been here the longest so they’ve had a few more years to get used to it. It’s much harder for us though, especially if they move us farther up the lake where the water is fresher.

  I couldn’t stand to see the strain of the past year in the thinness of Mom’s arms and the dark circles under her eyes. I had to get her out of there. I swam to the creek bank.

  So let’s escape while we can!

  Jade, wait! Mom rang out and grabbed my hand. She brushed my hair back. It’s different for me. I didn’t start off being human, like you. I can be out of the water for a little bit at a time, but I can’t just crawl out. If it were that easy, all those guys out there would be walking around town by now.

  But how did you finally become human? I asked.

  There’s a tidal pool on the ocean side. Mom motioned through the water to the bridge. The tides in the pool kept me in and out of the water, breathing air and water for the right combination of time to make the change safely. Otherwise, I’d suffocate. The tidal pool is the only way.

  I tried to line everything up in my head, but it didn’t come close to seeming real. And earlier…when the lock was open…you were trying to escape to the ocean to find it…

  Yes. I’ve been waiting all winter for the lock to reopen.

  And then I came and ruined things…The possibility of Mom ever becoming human again seemed to get farther and farther away from me.

  Someone began to pull back the branches from the dam.

  It was a long shot anyway. Mom spoke quickly, keeping an eye on the mouth of the creek. No one has ever gotten past the armed sentries at the end of the canal. But I thought if I could just talk to them…tell them how I got in here…

  Finalin’s voice rang out.

  What’s he saying? I whispered.

  Seems your arrival has kicked things into high gear. He’s more determined than ever to find out my secret. That’s why they’re piling rocks to block the boat lock, so we won’t try to escape. She sagged in the water, exhausted.

  I’d made things worse. I should have stayed out of the water like Mom asked. But then, how would I have finally seen her and made sure she was safe?

  More rocks and branches disappeared from the top of the dam. We shrank back.

  Just tell me where the pool is! Dad and I will find it and come back to get you.

  Mom pulled me close and shook her head. The Council blindfolded me; I have no idea where it is.

  Try, Mom! You must have walked away from the pool afterward. Was it near anything?

  Mom closed her eyes. I’m sorry, Jade. I wasn’t in the best shape when it was all over.

  It was no use. She didn’t remember. So I’ll just stay here with you. I clung to her as more of the dam got pulled away. We’ll figure out how to escape together.

  Jade, listen to me. It won’t do us any good if we’re both captured. You need to get out of here! Mom pushed me toward the creek’s bank with more force than I thought she could muster.

  I can’t just leave you!

  Finalin and Medora’s heads appeared over the shrinking pile of rocks and branches.

  You have to! She shoved me up the bank. Go, Jade. Tell Dad I’m okay and that I love him. I love you too!

  My face broke the surface of the water.

  “No!” I wailed. But the sound came out with a mouthful of water. My lungs sucked back a breath. I panted, shocked by the air burning its way through my lungs, sick at the thought of leaving Mom behind.

  Go! Mom’s voice rang through the water. She was right. I was more help to her on land than in there. I’d get Dad. Together we’d figure out how to rescue her!

  Sharp stones pierced the skin of my elbows as I heaved myself up the creek’s bank. My fingernails dug into the earth as I grabbed at the roots to pull myself up. Something connected with the tail I dragged behind me. I whipped it up, out of the water and rolled onto dry land. A hand lunged for me again and again, but by then I’d managed to work my way up the bank, out of reach, beside a patch of bushes. I looked back to the water. Whatever had been chasing me flipped back and disappeared with a splash.

  But Mom. Where was she? Was she okay?

  I collapsed against a mound of dirt as the scales on the tail glistened and began to glow. The pain grabbed hold and clenched my body with a powerful force. The agony didn’t creep up on me with a warning like it had the time before. This time, it came all at once, in one huge, body-wracking, breath-robbing, skin-searing wallop.

  “Mom…” I gasped. My whole body shook with sobs.

  I tried to look back to the creek, wishing I could just roll back into the water to be with her no matter what, but I couldn’t tell up from down or left from right as my head spun with swirling images.

  The water, the ugly hands, the screeching metal lock, the swaying reeds, the rocks, the branches.

  The pain…the horrible, terrifying, mind numbing pain…

  That must have been when I passed out.

  Chapter Ten

  I WOKE UP SHIVERING.

  Every cell in my body screamed as I sat up and pulled my knees to my chest.

  Knees! That was good sign. I shook with a mixture of cold and relief. No tail, no scales, just my normal, beautiful, pudgy knees and stubbly legs in desperate need of shaving.

  The bridge drew long shadows across the inky depths of Talisman Lake. A cool evening wind swept up the canal from the ocean, transforming the aspens lining the lake-
shore into trembling shadow-makers.

  How long was I passed out? I wondered. Long enough for my T-shirt and jean skirt to dry into crunchy, stiff versions of their former selves, apparently. But, just as I expected, my underwear was gone. This mermaid thing could wreak havoc on a girl’s wardrobe.

  I struggled to my feet and pulled on my hoodie, welcoming its warmth, and tried to remember the string of events that had me down for the count behind a couple of scruffy bushes by the creek. That’s when the terrifying memory of hands emerging from the water cleared the brain fog from my thoughts.

  “Mom…” I rasped.

  I shivered and stumbled over rocks and tree roots, trying to follow the creek as the bushes scraped my legs. A powerful waft of fried foods attacked my nostrils. I must have been getting close to Bridget’s Diner.

  “Mom?” I strained my ears to hear over the noise of the trees and passing cars but the ringing sound was gone. My head spun with questions. If the ring was gone, did that mean Mom was gone too? I ran up and down the creek, but she wasn’t there. Where had they taken her?

  My throat burned. I must have swallowed a gallon of water because the inside of my stomach roiled like a snake trying to escape from a burlap sack.

  “Au-augh…” The snake escaped. All over the ground.

  Ew.

  Waffle fries and Wigwags did not make such a great combination in their semi-digested state. I spit the bitterness that hung on my tongue and wiped my mouth on the sleeve of my hoodie, then stumbled to the base of the bridge to find my flip-flops near the bench where I’d kicked them off earlier. I looked back to the bushes by the creek. What if someone had found me there?

  My hands shook as I pulled my cell from the pocket of my skirt to call Dad. I jabbed the buttons. Nothing. The water must have killed the phone when I was in the lake. What was I supposed to do now?

  I hugged myself and looked up to the bridge. The streetlights were already lit. A lone car meandered across, heading downtown. Pedestrians strolled along Main Street past the bridge, looking in the shop windows. A couple entered the thrift shop like it was just another Saturday in Port Toulouse.

  But this wasn’t just any old day. Something had happened. Something important. My mom was alive! Though what would anyone think if they found me along the shores of Talisman Lake screaming about my dead mother? I could imagine all the billable hours it would take Dr. Becker to deal with that!

  I needed to get to a phone to call Dad. He was going to go nuts when he found out what just happened. I scrambled up the bank to the road. Cars pulled into the parking lot at Bridget’s. Could it be the dinner rush already? Was it really that late?

  “Hiya, Jade.” Bridget looked up from a table full of customers as I pushed through the door of the diner. I must have looked as wrecked as I felt, cause her face went from its usual cheery expression to creased concerned. “You okay, hon?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” I waved and hurried to the dark hallway that led to the restrooms where an old pay phone hung on the wall. My whole body shook from cold and shock. I fished into the pocket of my jean skirt and found some change.

  One ring. Two rings. Why wasn’t Dad home? I hung up after the fifth ring before the machine picked up and jammed the quarters back in the slot to try his cell. Maybe he popped out to Home Depot for his latest DIY project. I checked my watch. The glass pane blurred with a fine mist. Geesh. I knew no good ever came from swimming. First my cell, now my watch. My whole repertoire of personal technology was now soggier than a three day-old diaper.

  Pick up, Dad, pick up! I willed him to answer his cell but I knew chances were slim due to Engineer rule #1. If Dad couldn’t walk and chew gum at the same time, how did I expect him to drive and talk on the phone? I left a message.

  “Dad.” I glanced around the diner to make sure no one heard. “I’m at Bridget’s. You’re never going to believe what just happened.” I lowered my voice as much as I dared. “It’s Mom. She’s alive. She’s in Talisman Lake. Just come quick, okay?”

  I hung up and rested my head against the cool molded plastic of the pay phone. My useless watch clicked-clicked, ticking off the same second over and over. Seconds lost without Mom. Would we ever see her again?

  Headlights flashed across the diner’s back wall as a car turned into the parking lot.

  “Dad?” I turned to the window.

  Pickup truck. Not Dad. Plus, Dad had yellow fog lights. I’d laughed when he told me he’d paid $280 to get the safety lights installed, especially when he insisted on using them even on clear days. But the yellow lights were nowhere in sight.

  The sun hung low over the ocean bay at the end of the canal. Half an hour, tops, and it would be dark. Should I go back to the lake to try to find Mom myself? Scary mer-dudes or not, going back to the lake was the only thing left to do without Dad there.

  I tied my hoodie around my waist for extra security, given that I was going commando under my skirt, thanks to my wardrobe malfunction back in Talisman Lake. Once I’d managed to arrange my scraggly hair around my face, I walked back out into the diner.

  Oh. Shaky Eddie.

  I’d been on such a mission to get to a phone, I’d missed him on the way in. He sat at his usual spot, trembling mug of coffee in hand. He glanced my way. His eyes squinted in a smile as he brought the mug to his lips. I forced a smile back and tightened the hoodie around my waist, but something niggled at me. What would have happened if I hadn’t seen Eddie there earlier? I would never have gone to the lake like he’d suggested.

  I would never have seen Mom.

  Then it hit me. The hoodie! I’d put it on the bench at the base of the bridge. How did it get draped over me, a hundred feet away by the creek where I’d passed out? The only person who knew I was down there was Eddie. Had he…

  “Jade! Where were you?”

  “Oh!” I jumped and turned to see Cori enter the diner with Lainey at her side. Luke and Trey hung back, deep in conversation.

  “Don’t tell me you’ve been here this whole time?”

  “Hi, uh, me? No…I went home.” I worked to get my heart back into my chest cavity as my head swirled with thoughts.

  “Why didn’t you come over to the skate park?” Cori brought a hand up to my cheek. “What happened to your face?”

  The scratch from the mer-jerk. I reached for her hand and pulled it down, laughing.

  “Ha-ha. You know me. I can be such a dork.” I needed to come up with an excuse. Something believable. Something quick. Not like I could admit I just spent the last couple of hours, out cold, beside Talisman Lake recovering from tail-like symptoms.

  Think. Think.

  “I just…well, I had to catch up on studying.” Weak. I pulled at my damp hair, trying to pad my story. “Then I grabbed a shower and I guess I was still a bit woozy from being sick all week because I slipped in the tub and whacked my face on the towel bar. Brutal, huh?”

  I could feel my nerve endings fray with each lie. I felt like pond scum, misleading Cori like that. This was worse than the Lie. This was the Lie to End All Lies.

  “Aw, that’s too bad. You gonna be okay?” Cori asked.

  “Oh, yeah. I’m fine.” But I wasn’t fine. I was standing in the middle of Bridget’s Diner, trying to find my dad because my mom was being held captive by criminal mer-people at the bottom of Talisman Lake.

  I was anything but fine.

  Lainey let out an impatient sigh and flicked her hair over her shoulder to glance back at Luke. She turned and looked me over. I caught a glimpse of a sneer. No doubt she’d noticed that I had the same clothes on as earlier, pre-supposed-shower. I hoped there weren’t mud or grass stains to give me away.

  “Well, we missed you,” Cori continued. “And, oh, skateboarding gave me the best idea! I was thinking I could design a whole skater kind of look. What do you think?” She moved her hands side to side and narrowed her eyes like she was attacking a half pipe. “Kind of an edgy, urban-chic skater vibe?”

  “You could
definitely pull it off with those fierce moves.” I laughed, but meanwhile I wondered how I could put an end to our conversation and get out of there. Every minute spent talking meant another minute lost trying to find Mom. Plus, I had to talk to Eddie. I stole a glance at the counter. It was empty. Where did he go?

  I caught Trey giving Luke a warning kind of glance when they looked up from their conversation. What was that all about?

  “Well, we’ve gotta bounce, so see you guys later!” Trey gave Luke a brotherly jab to the arm. “Come on, bro.”

  “You mind walking me home, Luke?” Lainey followed and grasped his arm. She turned back. “You coming, Cori?”

  Finally. Even though I still felt the urge to pluck out Lainey’s eyelashes, I could feel my whole body sigh.

  “I dunno,” Cori said. “What about you, Jade? You wanna come over to my house?”

  “Oh, no thanks! I’m gonna head home.”

  “You sure?” she asked quietly.

  “Yeah. My dad’s picking me up.” I looked past her, through the window. The streetlights spanning the bridge were already lit. Was Dad on his way home? Should I try him on his cell again?

  “Hey.” Cori gave me a nudge. “Feel better, ’kay?” she whispered and gave me a quick hug. I smiled to try to reassure her, but her eyes searched my face. I could tell she knew something was up, though I doubted “mermaid” and “risen from the dead” were on her radar.

  “I’m fine. Don’t worry.” Another lie. They piled one on top of another in an ugly heap. I caught a glimpse of Luke as they all turned for the door. His face had an expression that was hard to read. Did he think I was being a flake, blowing them off twice in one day? Could he see through me too?

  Oh, I should tell him about his cell…but he was gone. Again.

  I couldn’t think of that just then. I couldn’t think of Dad driving somewhere along the streets of Port Toulouse, his message light flashing on his cell, or of Cori heading home, worried about her best friend. I couldn’t wonder why Eddie disappeared or imagine Luke and Lainey walking off into the sunset.