Hannah's Tale (The Novel) Part Three, Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen: The Sea is Calling Us Home

It was difficult, but Skye and I managed to drag Alex up onto a nearby beach. We had no idea where we were or what island we were on.

"How 'bout I climb to the top of that dune and see what I can see?" said Skye.

"OK. I'll stay here with Alex. Keep in sight."

Skye bounded over the sand like a cross between a seal and a squirrel. I laid next to Alex and put my arms around him. It was a warm night and the sand still had some heat in it. I had nearly fallen asleep when he coughed and groaned.

"How do you feel?" I asked him.

"Terrible."

"Where does it hurt?"

"Best ask where doesn't it," he smiled. "I have cracked ribs, broken collar bone, bruises and a knot on my head the size of a goose egg. Not to mention the wrist, of course. Pretty sure I'll live though."

Relief and gratitude flooded my being.

"There's something else, I feel really weird, not quite right." He lifted his tail and gawked at it. "Well, that explains the weird feeling."

I buried my face in his good shoulder. "I'm so very sorry."

"Sorry? For saving my life? For allowing me to spend more of it with my favorite person?" He flapped his fin and chuckled. "Can I breathe water too?"

"That was sorta the whole point."

"Cool!"

"But what about..."

"What about what?"

"Walking."

He tried to shrug but winced instead. "I think the only thing I'll really miss is carrying you around. Seriously, if I'd known you could do this, I'd have asked for it."

I laughed through my tears, "You had to drown first, silly!"

Skye half crawled, half slid down the dune, scattering sand everywhere. "There's some houses about a quarter-mile up the beach. Oh, is he awake? How is he?"

"Give me a few days and I'll race you," said Alex.

"Great!" She looked at me and added quietly. "Does he know about..." she waggled her fin.

I nodded.

"And he's cool with it?"

"Yes, I'm cool with it." he said.

"That's neat!" she bounced on her tail. "Should I swim down to those houses? Somebody down there's bound to have a phone."

"Sure," I said. "Make sure it's full daylight before you knock on any doors. You'll give them enough of a start as it is."

"OK, I'm on my way!" She bounded down to the surf and jumped in.

"Where does she get the energy?" I asked. "She's only crawled through sewers, been shipwrecked twice and threatened with a horrible fate several times since yesterday."

"All in a day's work for a ten-year-old Mermaid," said Alex. "Sometimes I think kids are tougher than adults."

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Skye swam along the beach, popping up every now and then to check her progress. When she saw rooftops over the barrier dune, she body surfed in and crawled onto the sand. She then climbed a wooden stair over the dune, thump, thump, thump; but hesitated at the top. Going down a flight of stairs is one of the most difficult things you can do with a tail. She decided to go off the boardwalk and crawl/slide down the back of the dune instead. On the way down, she slid through a tall patch of salt grass right into a pair of children playing in the sand.

"I'm sorry, you-all OK?" Skye sat up and curled her tail around herself.

"Hey! You smashed our mound!" Complained the boy, who was about eight and wore shorts and a plain tee-shirt.

The girl squealed, "It's a mermaid!" She was about Skye's age and wore an out-sized Disney World shirt over her swimsuit.

"Yep!" said the young Mer proudly.

"Can't be. She's just wearing a fake tail," grumped the boy.

In answer, Skye uncurled said tail and let it flop in front of her.

"Oooo. See Donnie, It's real! Can I touch it?"

"Sure. My name's Skye, by the way."

"Cooool!" she gingerly poked the tail. "I'm Cameron, Cammie for short. That's my brother Donnie." she indicated the sandy-haired skeptic. "Where did you come from?"

"Orlando, but I was born in Tampa."

Cammie's eyes widened, "Are you one of those Xanadu people?"

"Uh-huh."

"Mom says not to talk to strangers," said Donnie. He was starting to irritate Skye.

"I think she only means grown-ups."

"Actually, I need to talk to your mom. A couple of my friends are up the beach a ways, one of them's hurt. Do you-all have a phone?"

"Sure, come with us. Are they mermaids too?" said Cammie.

"Yes, well, one of them's a guy, a Merman. He's a Jedi too." The two siblings walked on either side as Skye crawled between them toward the house.

"Do you have to crawl like that?" said Donnie.

"Don't be so rude! Can't you see she doesn't have legs?"

"Can't fly neither, cuz I don't have wings, but my sister does. Do you?" Skye was OK with not walking, but that didn't mean some snooty little boy could rub her nose in it. "She lets me ride on her back." So there!

Skye thumped up the steps and into the living room, where she twisted around and lifted herself onto the couch.

"I'll go get my mom, she's usually not up this early," said Cammie.

Donnie sat on the opposite end of the couch and stared at Skye, which made her nervous. She brushed down her tail with her hands, as though smoothing a nonexistent skirt. Instead, she knocked sand onto the carpet. Oops!

"Do you have to bounce like that?" Donnie asked.

Skye looked down; she had been nervously bouncing on the couch.

"You're doing just like Tigger!"

She finally had enough, "Why can't humans eat their young, like we do?" she bared her teeth and hissed at the young pest. Her teeth weren't pointed, like some Mers, but it had the desired effect. Donnie turned pale and backed away.

Skye heard a gasp and looked up to see a woman in night gown and robe with her mouth gaping open.

"Oh...Hi! I'm Skye Walker. Can I use your phone?"

"See mommie, I told you there was a mermaid in our living room!"

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I helped Alex sit up and we watched the sun rise over the sea.

"You know I would have never left you, no matter how much time I would have had to spend on land."

"I know," he said. "It was never that. I just didn't want to put you through all that discomfort for me."

"That's sweet of you, but we're still gonna have to spend a lot of time on land," I patted my belly. "There are no Mer OB-doctors. And, as I'm probably the first pregnant Mermaid, we're even ignorant of what might go wrong. We'll have to have our baby in a hospital and that means on land. I guess, if all goes well, I'll be the model for any other Mer who wants to try it."

"Yeah, they'll want to follow your progress every step of the way. There may come a point when you'll want to run...er swim screaming from all the questions and probing. It could get quite intrusive."

I poked his good shoulder, "Leave it to you to think of that! But you're right; we'll have to set limits."

"Might not be that easy. Once the researchers get their hands on us, they might not want to let go." he frowned as he idly flipped sand with his fin. "We'll need friends, allies...and a place of refuge, under the sea."

"A home under the sea!" I giggled. "Maybe I'll get you a crown and trident. Do it up proper!"

"I'm serious!"

"I know! And you're right. Just having a bit of fun." I hugged him, gently.

"Well, I'm going to lie down and meditate both on this and to speed up healing."

"Sleep tight; don't let the sand crabs bite."

Alex was soon breathing quietly. I took the opportunity to look over his tail in daylight. It was silver and turquoise, like mine but with large splotches of the latter color instead of bands. His fin was gold and swallow-tail shaped, with two large violet spots. There was also violet around its fringe. His tail was also slightly shorter and thicker than mine. There were in addition golden frills down each side. Something about these frills actually turned me on. That must be a specifically male Mer characteristic, fascinating! Hmn, I wonder...

Don't even think about it.

Think about what?

What you were going to do next.

How did you know...?

Jedi.

Oh.

About that time, a Mermaid crawled out of the surf. It was Chrissie.

"Hey! I found you!" she said in her clipped New England accent. "And you're OK...whoa! Is that Alex?"

"Yep, it's me."

"How?"

"It's a side effect of a Mer saving a human from drowning," I said as she came up and sat next to us.

"And I'm cool with it," said Alex. He sat up.

"Where are the rest of us?" I asked.

"All over the place," said Chrissie. "We got separated hunting for you. Where's Skye?"

"She went to find a phone," I said. "She should be back directly."

"Maybe I should go check on her," said the raven-haired purple-tailed Mer. "Which way did she go?"

"That way," I pointed down the beach. "She..." I was interrupted by a shrill little-girl scream. We all jumped, but it was immediately followed by laughter. Skye was body-surfing in on a big wave. She soon went head over tailfin and crawled the rest of the way in to shore, her hair full of sand.

She sat next to me. "Bahamian Air/Sea Rescue are on their way!" She spat some more sand and pulled a wayward seashell out of her top.

Two more Mers emerged from the surf, Edna and Angeline. "Hello! Are you-all OK?" Shouted Edna. "Is that Alex?" said Angeline.

"Yes! And I'm cool with having a tail." Alex never liked being the center of attention, but there he was the object of curiosity for a growing crowd of finny females.

"Alex is banged up, Edna, but he'll be fine." I said.

"Edna?" Alex looked confused.

"More Mer magic," I explained. "We don't really understand it ourselves."

Aurora, Jackie and Elena were next.

"Yes, I'm Alex. I have a tail and it's just fine with me!"

Finally, all of the Mers from the Rapid Anne except Maddie were present and gathered around on the beach.

"I'm Alex! I have a tail! And I'm ecstatic!"

This was all in fun, with a lot of laughing and hugging, but I eventually shooed them away to give Alex some space. It did make me wonder, how will we build a viable underwater settlement with so few males? Will Skye, Angeline or our own child have to go back to the land to find their future mates? Or, will we become like the Sirens of legend, luring men in to drown them into suitable lovers? Of course, I'm sure some guys would volunteer. Well, that's enough; I'm starting to worry like Alex.

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"We should have a party, like a clam bake or something," suggested Julia.

"I don't know about the bake, but I could sure use some clams," said Skye.

"Me too!" said Aurora.

Soon, several Mermaids volunteered to go into the water to forage. It didn't take long for them to come back with an assortment including fish, crab and seaweed. It was all combined together into a seaside picnic.

We were just finishing up and burying the shells and bones when we heard the sound of beating wings. At first, I thought it was a helicopter, but it didn't sound like it.

"It's Wynd!" shouted Skye. Then, over the dunes flew a great winged centauress. She wheeled into a snap turn over the water then made a gentle landing, hardly a tail-length from Skye.

"Is that Wynd?" I asked, amazed. The last time I saw her, she was a pegasus, not a winged centauress.

"Yes! She's beautiful, isn't she." Skye was in awe.

Wynd reached down and scooped her sister up into her arms. "How ya doin' pipsqueak!" she said.

There was something in her sister's manner and tone however that worried Skye. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Wynd put her down gently and said, "I have to say good bye."

"Good bye? Why? Where are you going?"

"I can't say."

"You can't say! It's always 'I can't say.' 'I can't tell.' with you now!" She raised herself on her tail. "I'm sick of it! What is going on?" Skye wiggled, trying to keep her balance, but had to sit back down.

Wynd put her hands over her face and sobbed, "I can't say because I don't know."

"I'm keeping no more secrets!" shouted Skye. "What did you promise and WHAT WAS THAT SHADOW?"

"It was I." The voice came from nowhere. After a moment, a smoke like substance began to coalesce out of nothing into a vague, human-like thing that stood next to Wynd. Eyes wide with fear, the centauress shied away from the transparent form.

Unintimidated, Skye sat with her hands on her hips, tail fin twitching. "Who are you and what are you doing with MY SISTER!"

"Skye!" said Alex. "Take care! It's very old and powerful, whatever it is. Don't piss it off!"

"I am a servant of the Trickster, the Raven." It said. The more it spoke, the more familiar that voice sounded.

"The Raven? Do you mean Eric Winters?" I said.

It seemed to shake its head. "His time is yet to come."

It means THE Trickster. thought Alex.

"Whatever! You're too powerful to be bullying teenaged centaurs!" Insisted Skye.

"We had to be certain she was trustworthy. Your sister is being given a great responsibility."

"What?" said Skye. Wynd's ears perked up a bit.

"You are very brave, little one. One might think we chose the wrong sister." the Shadow seemed to smile. "But your fate lies in another direction."

Careful, thought Alex. You can't take this being or its master at face value.

It lies? I thought back.

If it suits. Remember, even the truth can be a trick.

"So." I said. "You're leaving intimidation for flattery?"

It turned to me. "Greetings, First-Mother of the Mer."

Wow, she's laying it on kinda thick. I thought. SHE, that's it!

"You're Amy!" I said aloud.

She turned to me, the smile became plainer, "Indeed, that was once my name."

Who's Amy? thought Alex.

Remember, she was the make-up artist and costumer for all of us Darknight people. She made my tail before it became my tail.

"What do you mean by 'given a great responsibility'?" Asked Skye, clearly skeptical.

"She is to be our messenger." said the being who had been Amy. "Don't fret. You will see your sister again, unharmed."

Alex, is she lying?

I don't know. I can't read her intent!

Damn! What can we do?

Not a hell of a lot, frankly.

"Do YOU promise? How trustworthy are YOU?" asked Skye.

Amy smiled, "I understand, but you will just have to trust us. However, we will leave a token of our sincerity, just for you. You will understand when you see it." She turned to Wynd. "We will not force you to come and we will not take your new form away. What will you do?"

"I can come back and see my family?"

"Yes, from time to time. Only you are bound never to reveal any message you may have carried. Can you do that?"

Wynd stepped forward. "Yes." She turned, picked up Skye and hugged her. "I really do want to do this. It would be an adventure!"

"OK." said the young Mermaid. She hugged her sister back, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Come back soon, please!"

A few moments later Wynd was galloping down the beach, her hair and tail flowing. Suddenly, she spread her wings and launched into the air. She circled once, waved and was gone.

"If there is any part of the old Amy left, you will hold to your word," I said.

She nodded, "There is more of me left than you may suspect." At that the shadow dispersed into the breeze. A few minutes later the sound of beating wings returned. This time they belonged to a rescue helicopter.