Mermaid Reef

by Rosie Banks

  Just then, she noticed Trixi and Rosie swimming beside the girls and smiled. “Trixi! How lovely to see you again. Is King Merry with you? He promised to come and watch the Sound of the Sea Competition.”

  “I’m afraid not, Lady Merlana,” Trixi replied. “But I’m sure he’ll arrive soon.” She turned to the girls. “This is Summer, Ellie, and Jasmine. They’re the human girls who have been helping to stop Queen Malice’s mean magic. I’m afraid we think she’s going to try and wreck the Sound of the Sea Competition.”

  “We found one of her thunderbolts in the castle hall,” added Ellie.

  “Has anything gone wrong yet?” Jasmine asked.

  Lady Merlana shook her head, looking confused. “No, everything’s going fine. The rehearsals went well and the show is almost ready to begin.”

  The girls looked at one another worriedly. Queen Malice’s nasty thunderbolts had always caused trouble before. The horrid queen was sure to be up to something.

  “Maybe we should see if the other judges have noticed anything funny,” Lady Merlana suggested. “I’ll give them a call.” She picked up a conch shell from her dressing table and put it up to her ear.

  “We use those shells to hear the sea in our world!” exclaimed Ellie as Lady Merlana murmured into the shell.

  “They work even better underwater,” Trixi said. “You can hear from one shell to another. The merpeople use them to talk to one another.”

  “Just like a telephone!” Jasmine said.

  “They’ll be here in a minute,” Lady Merlana told them as she put the conch shell down. “I was just about to have some sweet seaweed tea and some sea cucumber sandwiches,” she continued. “Would you like some?” She pointed at a cockleshell tray laden with tiny shell cups and little triangular sandwiches.

  “I’m not sure I’d like seaweed tea,” Ellie whispered to Jasmine and Summer.

  “Me neither,” murmured Jasmine.

  Summer saw Lady Merlana watching, so she politely picked up a sandwich. It was made with real sand!

  “Don’t worry,” Rosie whispered with a giggle. “It tastes great!”

  Summer took a tiny bite out of the sandwich. It was sweet and crunchy, and it tasted delicious! “Scrumptious!” She nodded, her mouth full.

  “Oh, good,” Jasmine cried, taking a sandwich eagerly. “I’m starving. We never had a chance to finish lunch!”

  A couple of minutes later, two breathtakingly beautiful mermaids and a handsome merman arrived. The mermaids’ long hair tumbled down onto their shoulders and their bikinis were made from oyster shells.

  One of them had a golden tail and the other’s was a shimmering lilac color. The merman had black hair, dark brown eyes, and a green tail. When he smiled he revealed a set of dazzling pearl-white teeth.

  “Girls, this is Cordelia, Meredith, and Zale,” Lady Merlana said as she pointed to the two mermaids and the merman.

  “Nice to meet you,” Summer said with a smile.

  “Judges, this is Summer, Jasmine, and Ellie,” Lady Merlana continued, nodding at each girl in turn. “They’re humans!” she added in a loud whisper to the judges.

  “My goodness, just look at their legs!” squealed Cordelia as she swam over to meet them.

  The girls all felt a bit awkward in front of such glamorous merfolk, especially when they were still in their school uniforms, but the merpeople seemed delighted to meet them.

  “I’ve always wanted to see a real-life human!” exclaimed Meredith.

  “Wonderful to meet you.” Zale beamed.

  Cordelia and Meredith swam forward to hug Summer and Jasmine, and Zale floated over to shake Ellie’s hand.

  Cordelia was very excited, and kept comparing her tail to Summer’s legs, looking at her feet, and touching her shoes.

  Summer giggled and shyly reached out to touch the mermaid’s lilac tail. It was covered with tiny scales, just like a fish, but it was smooth and sleek. She bent down to feel one of Cordelia’s big, broad fins, but suddenly there was a loud clap of thunder, and the mermaid disappeared in a cloud of bubbles!

  “Oh no!” Summer cried. “What did I do?”

  “It wasn’t you,” Trixi reassured her, looking around the room. “The other judges have vanished, too!”

  “What’s happened?” gasped Lady Merlana. “Where have they gone?”

  “Have they made themselves invisible?” Jasmine asked.

  Lady Merlana shook her head. “No, I’d still be able to see them if they had. They’ve completely disappeared!”

  “I’ll try to magic them back,” Trixi said. She tapped her ring, but nothing happened. She shook her head sadly. “If my magic won’t work, this definitely has something to do with the queen’s thunderbolt.”

  “But the competition is due to start any minute!” Lady Merlana cried. She flicked her tail anxiously. “What am I going to do without my judges?”

  Just then a line of bubbles started streaming out of the conch shell. Lady Merlana picked it up and put it against her ear. She listened for a second, then turned to the girls. “There’s a funny-looking ship outside the castle,” she told them. “Maybe that has something to do with Queen Malice’s thunderbolt?”

  “Let’s go and check,” Jasmine said, swimming over to the window, which was made of big bubbles instead of glass.

  As they peered out, they saw a blue-and-white polka-dotted submarine moving backward over the sand. Through the porthole they could see a small, round man with white hair and a long beard sitting inside. He was peering through the boat’s periscope with a confused look on his face.

  “It’s only King Merry!” Summer sighed in relief.

  “Look!” Ellie grinned. “The submarine’s periscope is coming out of the bottom, not the top!”

  Trixi smiled. “Another of his wonky inventions,” she whispered.

  Trixi tapped her ring, and in a flash the periscope was the right way around and King Merry could see them all waving at him.

  The submarine came to a halt, and the king swam out, his half-moon spectacles perched crookedly on his nose. He was wearing a royal-blue wet suit with a golden crown pattern on it. His real crown was balanced on top of a large, round diver’s helmet that looked like an upside-down goldfish bowl.

  Trixi floated across to him and helped him take his helmet off, then burst some purple bubbles over him so that he could breathe.

  King Merry sneezed so hard that his glasses blew off his nose and onto the sand.

  Lady Merlana scooped them up and gave them back to him. “Welcome to Mermaid Reef, Your Majesty,” she said. “We’re very pleased that you’ve come to watch the show.”

  “I’m looking forward to it,” King Merry replied as he put his glasses back on. “Hello, girls,” he said, smiling at Ellie, Summer, and Jasmine. “Have you come to see the show, too?”

  “They’ve come to find another one of Queen Malice’s thunderbolts,” said Trixi. “And there might not be a show unless we find the judges! The thunderbolt has made them disappear.”

  “Oh dear.” King Merry sighed, looking very worried.

  “Where should we start searching?” asked Ellie.

  “I don’t know if we should look for them—” Summer started to say, then blushed as everyone stared at her. “I mean … well … at Unicorn Valley and Cloud Island, things went back to normal once we’d broken Queen Malice’s spell,” she pointed out. “And now she’s trying to spoil the Sound of the Sea Competition. So if we make sure her nasty magic doesn’t wreck it, then the judges should appear again.”

  “Hey, you’re right,” agreed Ellie.

  “Anyway, the judges could be anywhere in the Secret Kingdom,” added Jasmine. “It would take us ages to search the whole island.”

  Trixi nodded. “That makes sense. Queen Malice just wants to keep them out of the way so the competition will be ruined.”

  “But it will be ruined if the judges aren’t here,” replied Lady Merlana sadly.

  “Couldn’t someone else judge th
e acts?” asked Ellie. “What about King Merry?”

  “Well … er … I’d love to help, of course,” the king stammered. “But I don’t think I’d be of much use. I’m tone-deaf and I don’t know anything about singing!”

  “But I know someone who does,” suggested Trixi. “Jasmine! And Ellie makes fantastic clothes, so she can judge the costumes. And Summer is brilliant with words, so she can judge the songwriting.”

  The girls all stared at her with their mouths wide open.

  “Us?” Summer squeaked.

  “Why not?” asked Trixi. “You’d be perfect!” King Merry and Rosie nodded their heads in agreement.

  “What a splendid idea,” Lady Merlana said approvingly. “And just in time, as the competition is about to begin! Will you help us?”

  “Of course!” the girls cried together.

  Lady Merlana smiled and led them over to the stage.

  “I can’t believe I’m going to judge a mermaid singing competition!” Jasmine squealed.

  But when they saw all the merpeople waiting for the show to begin, even Jasmine began to feel nervous.

  “I’m not sure about this,” Summer whispered to Ellie. “The merpeople are expecting to see three glamorous judges. What are they going to think of us in our school uniforms?”

  “I can fix that,” Trixi said. She tapped her ring and instantly their school uniforms were transformed into beautiful outfits. Summer had on a long yellow dress decorated with silver sequins, Jasmine wore a sparkly pink top with black leggings and silver ankle boots, and Ellie had on a shimmery emerald-green dress with purple swirls on it. The jewels on their tiaras glittered beautifully, reflecting the colors of their outfits.

  “There you go!” Trixi said, looking very pleased with herself.

  “You all look beautiful,” Rosie told them shyly.

  Jasmine, Ellie, and Summer were delighted. Now they couldn’t wait for the show to start! They treaded water backstage while Trixi, Rosie, and King Merry floated over to find their seats among the merpeople in the audience.

  Finally the shell curtains opened and Lady Merlana swam onto the stage. “Mermaids and mermen,” she announced. “We have some very special guests to judge the Sound of the Sea Competition this year, all the way from the Other Realm.”

  There were gasps and cries from the audience. Lady Merlana turned and beckoned for the girls to join her. “Presenting … Summer, Jasmine, and Ellie!”

  The girls grinned with excitement. It was time for the contest to begin!

  The audience murmured as the girls swam out and the curtains closed.

  “They don’t have tails!” one merman whispered, sounding shocked.

  “People from the Other Realm have legs instead, silly,” replied the mermaid sitting next to him.

  Summer, Jasmine, and Ellie felt very important as the merpeople whispered and stared, some of them floating up off their seats so they could get a better look at the humans’ legs.

  The girls smiled and waved as they took their places in front of the stage.

  As soon as they sat down, the shell-curtains opened again and Lady Merlana announced the first contestant, a golden-haired mermaid named Nerissa, who was wearing a pretty seaweed bikini dress that draped over her shiny blue tail. For a moment Nerissa hesitated nervously, and Summer felt sorry for her. She smiled encouragingly and the mermaid smiled back, then started to sing.

  Nerissa sang a haunting song about a lonely old sea witch. As she sang, tears started to roll down her cheeks, transforming into beautiful pearls that floated around her. When the song ended the pearls glowed, changing color from white to pink to gold before disappearing in a flash.

  The audience clapped and cheered, thumping their tails down on the seabed. Summer, Jasmine, and Ellie jumped up to give Nerissa a standing ovation.

  The mermaid waved and blew kisses to the audience before she swam offstage.

  “That was fantastic!” exclaimed Ellie as they sat back down again. “Her costume was gorgeous!”

  “She sang so beautifully it made me cry, too,” sniffed Summer, wiping the tears from her eyes.

  “It was an excellent performance,” agreed Jasmine, who was taking her judging responsibilities very seriously.

  Next, Lady Merlana announced Atlanta, a red-haired mermaid with a shimmering lilac tail and a blue seaweed top. She was joined by four white angelfish with long tails, which were tied with cute purple bows. They danced around her as she sang a soft melody about a little fish that couldn’t find its way home and was finally rescued by a mermaid.

  Summer loved watching the angelfish dancing in time to the gentle song, and cheered extra loudly as they bowed.

  Next up was a handsome merman named Orcan, with blond hair and a dashing silver tail. He sang a soulful song that made the sea seem calmer. Halfway through the performance, the girls heard the distant sound of whale song, as if a whale was answering the merman.

  The girls listened in wonder as the whale song got louder. There was a ripple of excitement around the room.

  Then Jasmine turned around and caught her breath — through the window she could see an enormous eye!

  It was a gigantic blue whale, who had joined in with Orcan’s song, turning it into a magical duet.

  “That was incredible!” Summer gasped, clapping in delight as the gentle whale grinned at her.

  The audience was thrilled. Once again they cheered and thumped their tails down on the seabed as the merman bowed, then left the stage.

  “Amazing!” declared Jasmine. “Everyone’s so good I don’t know how we’re going to choose a winner.”

  Finally the last contestant, Nerin, came onto the stage. She was a tiny mermaid dressed in an enormous red silk gown that almost covered her tail completely.

  To everyone’s amazement, her voice was so powerful that it made the waves lash wildly above the castle. As the notes became higher and higher, the movement of the waves crashed through the water in the hall, rocking everyone from side to side.

  “Ooh, I feel seasick!” gasped Ellie, clinging to her seat.

  “Her voice must be very powerful to make the waves crash like that,” Jasmine said admiringly.

  Suddenly the sea seemed to go dark.

  “That’s not the singing, is it?” Jasmine whispered to Ellie, who shook her head.

  Nerin’s voice trailed off as the water got darker and blacker.

  “Wh-what’s that?” Summer asked, pointing out the bubble windows.

  A dark shape was creeping into view overhead. As it got closer, the girls saw that it was a large black boat with an anchor shaped like a thunderbolt.

  “It’s Queen Malice’s yacht!” King Merry cried in alarm.

  Summer felt a chill run through her as a shadowy figure with spiky hair and batlike wings dropped out of the yacht and down into the water. Then another and another.

  “Oh no!” she shouted in horror. “It’s the Storm Sprites!”

  When the merpeople saw the Storm Sprites, they all started to panic.

  “I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about,” Lady Merlana reassured everyone. “Please stay calm and don’t get your tails in a twist!”

  The sprites were all wearing diving masks and snorkels, and they had flippers over their feet and hands. They swam along awkwardly, their leathery wings struggling through the water, as they headed toward the arch at the entrance to the reef.

  “They’re after the wishing pearl!” Summer realized with a gasp.

  “Don’t worry, everyone,” said Lady Merlana confidently. “My octopus guard will stop them.”

  Sure enough, as the Storm Sprites approached, the octopus appeared at the top of the gateway and wrapped its tentacles protectively around the oyster shell. The merpeople breathed a sigh of relief.

  But suddenly a thunderbolt burst out from Queen Malice’s yacht like a torpedo. A loud crash echoed through the water and the octopus disappeared in a cloud of bubbles, just like the judges had.

  Lady M
erlana cried out and started swimming toward the arch, her powerful tail propelling her along quickly. Trixi and the girls set off behind her as King Merry and Rosie watched in horror.

  The girls swam as quickly as they could, but their legs couldn’t keep up with Lady Merlana’s fins.

  “She’s not going to reach the pearl in time!” Jasmine shouted to the others as they swam. “The sprites are too close to it already!”

  “That pearl is very powerful,” Trixi said, flying her leaf through the water frantically. “If Queen Malice gets hold of it, she’ll be able to wish for all kinds of horrible things!”

  Ellie stopped swimming. “We’ll never catch up,” she cried. “But we have to do something!”

  The others gathered around and treaded water while they tried to think of what to do.

  “Could you magic up a big wave to wash the sprites away?” Summer asked Trixi.

  “Too dangerous,” the little pixie replied. “It might wash the pearl away, too.”

  “How about trapping them?” Jasmine suggested. “Could you magic up a shell or a big bubble?”

  “That might work,” Trixi said excitedly.

  “Quick!” shouted Ellie as the lead sprite reached out his spiky fingers for the pearl. “You have to do it now!”

  Trixi tapped her ring and suddenly each sprite was surrounded by the shimmering walls of a sparkling bubble. The bubbles floated up and down in the current as the Storm Sprites shouted and banged their flippers against the walls.

  “That should stop them long enough for Lady Merlana to get the pearl,” Trixi said. “Come on!”

  Lady Merlana swam past the bubbles, looking at the sprites inside in amazement. Then, with a flick of her tail, she floated up to the wishing pearl, which was still lying in the giant oyster shell at the top of the gateway.

  “We’ve got to hurry!” gasped Summer, swimming up behind her. “They won’t be trapped for long. We have to hide the pearl!”