“Miss Tangle said there’s only one way out,” gasped Orla, her eyes wide with terror. “This many of us will NEVER fit through one exit. Mermaids are going to get squashed, or we’ll get caught by the human!”
Marnie grabbed Orla’s hand. “Orla, calm down,” she said. “We have to find Lady Sealia. There’s another exit somewhere. Lady Sealia told Miss Tangle, but Miss Tangle couldn’t remember what it was. Come on!”
Marnie glimpsed a gleaming wrap and necklace in the middle of the terrified crowds. Lady Sealia seemed to be shouting something about needing her pearls, although that didn’t make sense. The headmistress was covered in almost as many pearls as the stage curtains.
The panic was causing a whirlpool, and it was impossible to swim in a straight line. Dilys twirled past uncontrollably. The current was pushing everyone toward the roof of the grotto.
“We’ll never reach Lady Sealia against this current,” wailed Orla.
Marnie spun around, bumping against the rushing tails and fins of the crowd. There is another way out, Miss Tangle had said. It’s only ever used in the face of absolute and total disaster though, or discovery by humans . . . But where was it? The coral walls loomed on three sides, solid and unbroken by any windows or other doors. There was no way out through the great curved shell that formed the back of the Clamshell Stage either.
Pearl swam up beside Marnie with her hair blowing in a wild red tangle around her head. “I should have tried the lowest notes on the rock tuba when I had the chance,” she panted as they fought through the water. “Now we’ll never know if they really do make the grotto collapse.”
Marnie stared at Pearl, and everything clicked into place.
“The rock tuba!” she gasped. “THAT’S the other way out! Lady Sealia wasn’t saying ‘pearls’ just now. She was saying ‘Pearl.’ She needs you to play the rock tuba, Pearl! You play the low notes to open up another exit. Play them as loud as you can!”
Pearl looked excited. “OK! But we’ll never get past everyone and back to the rock tuba. It’s all the way down there!”
They were above the chandelier now. Phosphorescent fish swam around them in glowing circles. Putting out a hand to stop herself from banging into the rocky ceiling, Marnie saw what looked like a large, dark cave tucked into a shadowy corner of the roof. She peered inside. It was a tunnel, snaking away and down and out of sight.
“Not ALL of the rock tuba is down there,” she said suddenly. “Follow me!”
She flipped her tail and dived right into the rock tuba’s great stone mouth. WHOOSH! Down she went, tumbling through the stony funnel, whizzing and bumping and swooshing along. Up, and around, and along, and down. Faster and faster with Pearl and Orla close behind her.
Marnie shot into the orchestra pit. Orla was next. Pearl was last. Flinging out an arm, Pearl seized one of the rock tuba’s stone coils. Pressing her finger to the fattest, lowest limpet button, she pulled herself close to the mouthpiece and blew as hard as she could.
There was a thundering creak. Everything shook. Bits of rock fell off the walls and ceiling. The great wavy lips of the Clamshell Stage seemed to tremble.
“More!” screamed Marnie. “MORE!”
Pearl heaved another enormous breath and blew again.
“It’s working,” shouted Orla.
Veerrry slowly, the mighty Clamshell Stage began to close.
“CHRISTABEL!” Arthur shouted, pulling out his mouthpiece again as he fought through the current. “It’s me! It’s Arthur!”
Suddenly, she was there, her violet eyes wide and startled. A tiny goldfish darted through her long blonde hair as it blew about in the current. Arthur beamed.
“I’ve come back,” he shouted in a big whoosh of bubbles.
Christabel peered into his mask.
“Blubbering barracudas, Arthur,” she said. “Are you out of your mind?”
There was a space behind the Clamshell Stage now, where Marnie could see the dark waters of the lagoon. The top half of the great shell formed the entire back wall of the grotto. As it closed, it provided the perfect way out. Hundreds of mermaids poured through the gap in a flickering shoal and vanished into the night.
“Where’s the human?” cried Orla.
A little pink in the face from blowing the rock tuba, Pearl pointed. Marnie frowned. The human was bobbing around in front of Christabel in the Big Blue Show’s broadcasting box. It looked like they were actually having a conversation . . .
“Please leave, Arthur,” Christabel said. “Can’t you see how much trouble you’ve caused?”
“Don’t you love me?” Arthur asked, pulling out his mouthpiece. He batted away the goldfish nibbling on his air hose. “These past ten years have been so lonely without you. Don’t you feel the same?”
“You know it’s impossible,” Christabel said. “You’re a human and I’m a mermaid!”
“We can work it out,” bubbled Arthur with confidence. “There has to be a way.”
“We can’t even talk to each other properly, Arthur,” Christabel pointed out. “Above water, I have no voice. Down here, you can hardly hear me. It’s hopeless!”
“But I still love you!” bubbled Arthur.
Garbo hurtled into Marnie’s arms as she approached her aunt.
“Are you OK, Aunt Christabel?” Marnie asked, stroking the little goldfish and trying not to stare at the human. Orla and Pearl bobbed a safe distance away.
Christabel pulled a large seaweed handkerchief out of her pocket and wiped her eyes.
“I’m fine, darling,” she said.
Marnie peeked at the human again. He looked very odd with his two dangly legs and his weird face mask. What was he doing here? Why was he talking to Christabel?
“Am I imagining things,” said Christabel, “or is the Clamshell Stage closing?”
Marnie blushed. “Remember the rumors about bringing down the whole grotto if you played the low notes on the rock tuba?” she said. “Pearl played the notes.”
“It was Marnie’s idea,” Pearl said.
“Bravo!” Christabel smiled. “You stopped a swimpede!”
“Christabel Blue! I should have known!”
A furious Lady Sealia was swimming across the empty Clamshell Grotto, Dilys clamped under one arm. Her gleaming pearl wrap made a glowing trail behind her. Two mermen with large black beards followed.
Dilys wriggled free and sniffed the human’s feet.
“WHO is this and WHAT is he doing here?” Lady Sealia shrieked.
Christabel sighed.
“This is Arthur, Lady Sealia,” she said. “And he was just leaving.”
Cuddling Garbo, Marnie exchanged a startled glance with Orla and Pearl.
Arthur?
Arthur was a human?
Lady Sealia’s eyes narrowed. “How is it possible, Christabel, that you KNOW a human?”
Christabel lifted her chin. “We met ten years ago. I told him never to—”
“Our worlds cannot meet!” snapped Lady Sealia. “You know the rules.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“We’ll discuss the consequences at another time,” Lady Sealia said ominously.
The two mermen grabbed Arthur’s arms.
“My husband’s guards will escort you to the surface, human,” Lady Sealia said. “You may not return. If you try to, I will curse you. If you ever tell anyone what you saw today, I will send a sea monster to eat you. The Kraken is a close friend.”
Arthur spat out his mouthpiece. “I love you, Christabel!” he bubbled as the mermen pulled him away. “I won’t give up!”
“Try and forget me, Arthur!” Christabel called after him. “It’s for the best!”
“Never!”
“Tragic true love,” Pearl sighed when the mermen and Arthur were out of sight. “I told you it was the best kind.”
Marnie couldn’t see anything good about it at all. All she could see was the way her aunt’s eyes had gone red and puffy again. She let go of Garbo and
squeezed Christabel’s hand.
Lady Sealia raised her voice. “The human has left and will not be coming back. It’s safe to come out now!”
A trembling Miss Tangle emerged from a crevice. Ms. Mullet popped up from under one of the sea-moss seats, followed by Mr. Splendid and Mr. Scampi, the lobster oceanography teacher. The Clamshell Show cast and orchestra peeked from behind the pearl curtains. Merfolk began swimming back through the open wall and gathering on top of the shuttered Clamshell Stage. Sam and Sheela came out from behind the chandelier and swam down to the Big Blue Show’s broadcasting box.
“A human!” Miss Tangle wailed, wringing her tentacles. “A human found us and will tell the world about us! It’s a catfishtastrophe!”
“I threatened him with a sea monster if he breathed a word,” said Lady Sealia, still glaring at Christabel. “He wouldn’t dare.”
“But our annual extravaganza is ruined!” Miss Tangle moaned. “All that hard work, for nothing!”
Christabel let go of Marnie’s hand. “Don’t be silly, Miss Tangle,” she said briskly. “Haven’t you heard the expression, ‘The show must go on’?”
Sam flipped a switch on the Big Blue Show’s recording equipment. Christabel leaned in to the large sea-sponge microphone. Her voice traveled around the auditorium and out into the lagoon.
“Good news, Lagooners! The human has left the building and won’t be coming back. He was perfectly harmless. Quite handsome too, if I say so myself.”
Marnie smiled at Christabel. Her aunt gave her half a smile in return.
“So what are you waiting for?” Christabel continued. “Not even a human can stop the glittering glamour of our annual show. Head on back to Clamshell Grotto and let the magic happen. Curtain up at half past the evening starfish. Stay tuned, tuna fish. We are BACK!”
“How do we open the stage again, Miss Tangle?” Pearl asked.
“Try the opposite of whatever you did to shut it down,” panted Miss Tangle as she rushed past, her tentacles full of driftwood batons. “Backstage, cast! Return to your instruments, orchestra! Quickly!”
The seats were already filling up as Pearl played the highest note on the rock tuba and the Clamshell Stage opened again with a shuddering groan. Everyone applauded as the great curved shell sealed itself back into the wall.
“See you onstage!” said Eddy, hurrying past Marnie in Prince Cobalt’s blue and gold costume.
They still hadn’t decided who was going to play Queen Maretta yet. Marnie raced to the dressing room.
Orla was waiting beside the sparkly pink-and-green dress. As they stared at each other, Marnie thought about Christabel’s puffy eyes and the difficult choice that her aunt had made. She didn’t want to choose between her friend and her singing. Not now.
“You can play Queen Maretta if you want,” she said.
“I think you should play Queen Maretta,” Orla said at the same time.
Marnie blinked. “Leaping lobsters,” she said. “Really?”
Orla’s cheeks turned pink. “I was thinking about what was important when everyone was panicking and no one knew how to get out,” she said. “The way you worked out the thing about the rock tuba, and how you shut the Clamshell Stage and saved everyone from squishing each other . . . You’re important, Marnie. And you deserve the part. I’m sorry I’ve been so horrible about it.”
Marnie felt a great weight lift off her shoulders. “Let’s share it,” she said. “You sing the first half and I’ll sing the second.”
“You mean it?” Orla gasped.
Marnie laughed. “Queen Maretta gets an even better dress after the interval.”
“You’re the best, Marnie!” Orla squealed.
“No,” Marnie said, hugging her best friend tightly. “WE’RE the best.”
Marnie wanted to hold on to every moment. Everything was magical. Exactly as she’d always imagined. Algie’s beautiful razor-clam flute duet with the coral clarinets. The stomping, shouting storm sprites. Orla in the pink and green dress. And in the second act, Marnie wore blue and gold and twirled around the stage with Prince Cobalt in the grand finale, singing and meaning every word.
“The song of the sea, for you and for me,
The love in the air that all of us share,
A storm is a gift, the sea needs a change,
The seasons will shift, it isn’t so strange,
Storm sprites and merfolk must now make amends,
Let’s sing and let’s dance and let’s always be friends.
Let’s al-ways be friends!”
The audience threw sea roses that drifted onto the stage. And the whole auditorium echoed with cheers and applause as Marnie and Eddy took their bow together.
After the show, the compliments flowed like seaweed in a strong current. Marnie smoothed down her blue and gold dress and shook hands and smiled until her face hurt. Right beside her, Orla was doing the same. Miss Tangle was shaking eight hands at a time.
“Good work, your majesties,” said Eddy with a silly bow.
“You too, Eddy!” said Marnie happily.
“Thrills and gills, Marnie, you did great!” Marnie’s mom had lost one of her mussel earrings and her face was pink with excitement. “I’m as proud as a pufferfish!”
“Thanks, Mom,” said Marnie, hugging her tightly.
“Marvelous work. Really wonderful.” A mermaid with a thick rope of black pearls twisted through her ebony hair was smiling at Marnie and Orla. “I’m Lavinia Freshwater,” she said. “Excellent teamwork tonight.”
Feeling a little dazed, Marnie shook the hand of one of the most famous music agents in Mermaid Lagoon.
“Thank you, Ms. Freshwater,” she stammered. “I’m Marnie Blue, and this is my friend, Orla Finnegan.”
“Any time you or Orla need advice, Marnie, send me a scallop,” Lavinia said. “You both have a great future ahead of you.”
“Neptune’s knickers,” Orla said as Lavinia Freshwater swam away. “Did that just happen?”
Christabel beamed. “Well done, darlings.” Garbo darted around in flickering gold loops as Christabel hugged Marnie and Orla. “Lavinia Freshwater is very hard to impress.”
Marnie suddenly saw Gilly and Jet huddled beside the pearl curtains with Lady Sealia.
“SUCH a shame you didn’t sing tonight,” Lady Sealia was saying as she stroked Dilys’s whiskers. “Lavinia Freshwater was MOST disappointed not to hear you.”
“Why aren’t those two off recording their album?’ Pearl said, swimming over with a glass of sparkling seawater.
Sheela put her arm around Orla’s waist. “Probably because there IS no album.”
“What?” said Orla and Marnie at the same time.
Sheela grinned. “It was a test. Flip and I set it up.” She waved across the stage at Flip. He waved back, his gold tooth flashing through his blue beard.
Marnie gaped at Sheela. “So it was Flip I saw Gilly and Jet talking to in that box?”
“There was no recording contract?” Pearl said.
“You tricked them?” said Orla.
“They tricked themselves,” Sheela said. “Flip only told them that he could record an album for them—which is technically true. They imagined the rest. Gilly and Jet didn’t HAVE to abandon the show. They CHOSE to.”
“Why did you do it?” asked Pearl.
Sheela shrugged. “They needed to learn a lesson about fame the hard way. And they annoyed me.”
Orla laughed and Marnie decided then and there never to annoy Sheela Finnegan.
“That’s him!” Gilly’s wail rose over the chatter. She pointed at Flip. “That’s the guy! He said he’d record an album for us but no one was at the studio and now everything’s gone wrong!”
Lady Sealia sighed. “Dilys was SO looking forward to hearing you. Now we have to wait until next year’s Clamshell Show.”
A song blasted out across the grotto. All the party guests stopped chatting and started wiggling to the music. Pearl zoomed past with Algie. Edd
y twirled with Orla. Marnie’s mom was dancing very carefully with Len the librarian. Ms. Mullet and Mr. Scampi scuttled past, doing some kind of shellfish tango.
But Christabel was at the side of the stage, stroking the pearl curtains with a faraway look on her face. It wasn’t hard to guess what she was thinking about.
“Are you OK?” Marnie asked, swimming over.
Christabel lifted her elegant shoulders. “I chose my life in Mermaid Lagoon ten years ago. I couldn’t leave you all behind then, and I can’t leave you behind now. So until we work out how a human and a mermaid can be together, I’ll have to be OK about Arthur.”
“And what about Lady Sealia?” asked Marnie.
Christabel snorted.
“She doesn’t scare me! Everything will be fine, Marnie. Don’t you worry.”
Marnie looked up at her aunt and smiled. “You’re amazing.”
Christabel tossed her long blonde hair. “Tell me something I don’t know, shrimp.” She grinned. “And you’re pretty special yourself.”
The mermen escorted Arthur most of the way back to the surface. Arthur thought about fighting them off and swimming back, but they looked pretty strong. There was also the small matter of the curse . . .
Thoughts of a sea monster biting his feet made Arthur swim the last few feet to the boat extremely fast. He spluttered and coughed as the first mate pulled him aboard. His air tank was almost out of oxygen. He lay on the deck, breathing deeply and enjoying the sun on his face.
“Anything down there?”
Large violet eyes, Arthur thought. Long blonde hair.
“Perhaps,” he said.
“Worth another look?” asked the first mate.
Arthur sighed. “Let’s go home for now.”
About the Author
Lucy Courtenay has worked on a number of series for young readers, as well as books for young adults. When not writing, she enjoys singing, reading, and traveling. She lives in Farnham, England, with her husband, her two sons, and a cat named Crumbles.
About the Illustrator
The Clamshell Show Page 5