Lucy and the Magic Crystal (4 page)

As they sang, the look on the boy's face changed from fear to delight.

“I knew it,” he breathed. “I knew Dad was right all the time. There really are mermaids!”

“Yes,” said Scarlett severely, “and there really are little boys who take boats that don't belong to them. What are you doing in John's boat?”

“John Roberts is my dad,” said the boy proudly. “And you must be Scarlett. You're the one Dad caught, aren't you?” He looked around at the friends as they bobbed up and down in the water near his storm-scarred boat. “The kind-looking mermaid with the red hair must be Lucy,” he added. “Dad told me all your names.”

“He told you our names?” spluttered Sophie. “But we put a Forgetting Charm on him so that he wouldn't remember seeing us!”

“I suppose you didn't make it strong enough for him.” Jack grinned. “Anyway, last night he came into my room to tell me a bedtime story. He said he'd had a strange dream about the Merfolk. He told me all about taking you to Cauldron Cliff. Then he said, ‘But remember son, it was only a dream.'”

“We should have made that Forgetting Charm much stronger,” muttered Holly under her breath.

“I wanted it to be true so much,” Jack continued, “that I couldn't sleep at all. So I crept out of our cottage on Sandy Bay Island this morning, before anyone had woken up. I took Dad's boat and rowed out West to look for you. That's where he said the kingdom of the Merfolk lay hidden. And I'm so glad I did.”

His face shone as he looked at Lucy and her friends.

“Dad thinks I'm going to be a fisherman when I grow up, but I'm not. I'm going to be an underwater explorer, to find out all about the sea and protect it.” Then he remembered something and his sunny smile dimmed. “Dad will be so worried, though. The boat was damaged in that strange storm that blew up from nowhere,
and I've lost the oars overboard. I don't know how I'm going to get back!”

Lucy thought about John, anxiously waiting for his boy at home. It made her think longingly about her own parents, worrying over her in Coral Kingdom.

“We'll try and get you home,” she said softly. “Somehow …”

“I don't think we can, Lucy,” interrupted Scarlett. “We can't waste any time rescuing humans right now.”

“Don't be too hard on him, Scarlett,” pleaded Lucy. “He only came out here to see the Merfolk, after all.”

“It is sort of our fault, in a way,” added Misty. “If we had put a better Forgetting Charm on John, this might not have happened.”

“But what can we do?” asked Sophie, swishing her tail impatiently. “We have to swim straight home. The battle is over and the sunset is only a few hours away.”

“You see, Jack,” said Lucy, swimming closer to him, “we're on an urgent mission for Queen Neptuna. Look!”

She shyly showed her crystal to the eager young boy. The sun's rays reflected from it, like sparks of fire.

Wonderingly, Jack held out his sunburned hand over the edge of the boat. Lucy carefully lowered the crystal into his outstretched palm, where it seemed to shine brighter than ever. The other mermaids watched in surprise.

“Can you feel the strong young magic in it, Jack?” Lucy whispered solemnly. “We must get the crystals to Coral Kingdom before sunset, or the power of the Merfolk will fade forever.”

“Then go right now,” Jack cried, giving the precious crystal back to her. “Leave me here—I don't mind. I'll get home somehow. You can't let your powers die because of me!”

Then the mermaids heard the beating of wings overhead.

They looked up to see Chad wheeling above them in the blue sky.

“Mantora and her army have fled,” he
called. “Yerik and his sharks were too much for them. None of our friends were badly hurt, and they are returning to their homes. And you must race right away to your home in Coral Kingdom.”

“Can you help us one more time, Chad?” Lucy asked quickly. “This human boy is a friend of ours. How can we get him back to Sandy Bay Island?”

Chad swooped down and settled on the prow of the little boat.

“He could swim home with the dolphins who were fighting alongside us,” he said, tipping his head on one side to see Jack better. “They'll take care of him.”

“Swim with the dolphins!” cried Jack. “That would be wonderful. Thank you so much.” He leaned over the side of the boat and looked solemnly into Lucy's eyes. “This has been the most magical thing that ever happened to me. I'll never forget you.”

“Forget!” exclaimed Misty. “Haven't we forgotten something? We're supposed to put a Forgetting Charm on him!”

The mermaids held hands and formed a circle in the water around the boat, ready to start singing the Forgetting Charm. But Lucy suddenly dropped her hands and said, “I don't think we should do this.”

The others looked at her in amazement. Quiet, shy Lucy had been so bold today! They had never seen her look so determined.

“Why not, Lucy?” asked Holly. “You
know it's one of the Merfolk's laws. All humans who accidentally meet any mermaids have to be made to forget all about it.”

“I know,” said Lucy, “But Jack is different. He doesn't want to harm us or catch us.”

“Even if we can trust Jack,” said Ellie, “we can't break the Merfolk law.”

“Why not?” replied Lucy stubbornly. “The law was made to protect us, not imprison us. I've always been timid and afraid. This adventure has taught me that it's sometimes good to take a risk. Even Queen Neptuna did that when she sent us young mermaids to collect the crystals.”

“That's true,” said Sophie, looking around at the others hovering in the water.

“I think we should take a risk on Jack,” Lucy continued. “If he remembers us, it will inspire him to look after the sea himself one day, like he said. And he can ask the other human children to care for the sea creatures that we love.”

“Then so be it,” said Holly. “But we must be a secret, Jack.”

“I won't tell anyone else,” he promised. “Not even Dad.”

Lucy quickly searched in her S.O.S. Kit and found her pearly Mermaid Comb. She pushed it into Jack's hands.

“Then farewell,” said the mermaids kindly. “Don't forget us.”

Then Lucy turned to look at the sun. It
had started to climb down the afternoon sky, slipping closer and closer to its bed in the sea.

“The sunset isn't very far away,” she cried. “We have to go!”

The mermaids had outwitted Mantora's army and rescued Jack. Now they had to put all their energy into racing home with the crystals.

“Mermaid S.O.S.!”
they cried, one last time. The brave young Crystal Keepers dived under the waves. Then they streamed away toward Coral Kingdom, on and on through the last precious hours of the day.

The friends passed silver shoals of mackerel, squirming squid, and clouds of tiny shrimps, as they raced through the glimmering sea. They spotted a gray whale and her calf gliding in the cool depths beneath them. They saw mottled green turtles floating near the sundrenched surface. Still the mermaids swam on without daring to stop or speak or rest. Just when Lucy thought she couldn't move
her arms and tail one more time, she saw the beautiful reef that marked the entrance to Coral Kingdom. They were nearly home!