Not Quite a Mermaid (5 page)

‘Me neither,' Splash said bravely. But then he gave an alarmed whistle as another sea snake came wriggling round the corner – and
this
one was

massive, at least as long as three grown-up mermaids. It had a nasty, hungry look in its beady black eyes. ‘I
am
scared of that, though!' he exclaimed.

‘It must be the baby's mum!' Electra gasped. ‘Swim, everyone!'

The mother sea snake suddenly caught sight of them. Eyes gleaming hungrily, she swam straight towards them!

Yelling in alarm, Electra and the others turned round and began to swim as fast as they could. Electra grabbed Splash's fin. She kicked hard, her heart pounding as he plunged through the water. The mother sea snake was huge
and judging by her skinny body she was very hungry too!

‘This must be why the caves were empty,' Electra gasped to Splash. ‘All the fish must be hiding from the sea snakes!'

‘I wish I was hiding too!' Splash said, swerving through the water as fast as he could go.

Luckily, although sea snakes could swim very quickly, mermaids and dolphins were even quicker.

Electra glanced behind her. The mother sea snake seemed to be giving up. She was definitely slowing down. ‘Phew!' Electra called. ‘I think she's given up chasing us.'

‘Thank goodness!' Sasha exclaimed.

The mother sea snake stopped.

‘I just want to get out of here,' said Sam.

They were passing a cave. Electra glanced inside. A sea mouse was swimming around inside it, its pointed

nose nudging along the floor, its bright eyes looking round the cave. ‘Wait, Splash!' Electra exclaimed, remembering why they had come to the caves in the first place. ‘Look! There's a sea mouse. Let's see if it wants to come with us.'

‘What about the snake?' Splash demanded.

‘It's given up. It's not chasing us
any more,' Electra said. ‘It'll only take a second to get the mouse.'

Splash dived into the cave.

‘What are you doing?' Sam shouted after them.

‘Getting a sea mouse. We'll catch up with you in a minute!' Electra called.

Letting go of Splash's fin, she swam to the floor of the cave and crouched down
in front of the sea mouse. It looked at her inquisitively. ‘Hello, I'm Electra,' she told it. ‘Would you like to come with us and be Gran's new pet? I know she'll look after you really well and she'll love you very much. She really likes sea mice.'

The sea mouse hesitated. Its whiskers twitched.

‘Isn't it cute?' Electra said to Splash.

‘Yes,' Splash agreed. ‘But we should go soon.'

Just then the mouse looked towards the cave entrance, gave a terrified squeak and shot out of Electra's hands
and into a nearby patch of anemones. Electra swung round. Her heart missed a beat. ‘Splash! Look!'

The mother and the baby sea snake were wriggling in the entrance to the cave. The mother hadn't given up at all! She'd just been waiting for the baby to catch up with her!

‘What do we do?' Electra gasped to Splash.

‘I don't know,' he replied.

The mother sea snake opened her mouth and gave a wicked hiss. She and her baby started to swim into the cave.

‘Help!' Splash cried. He and Electra swam back until they reached the cave wall and stopped. There was no escape! They were trapped!

‘Electra! Splash!'

It was Sam and Sasha. They had swum back to the cave entrance. They stared in horror at the two hissing snakes wriggling towards Electra and Splash.

‘Get back!' Electra shouted

to them. ‘Swim away before the snakes see you!'

But it was too late. The mother snake swung round and saw the twins.

Sam and Sasha hesitated and, for a moment, Electra thought they were going to do the sensible thing and swim away but then Sam dived forward. ‘Go away!' he shouted bravely to the snakes. ‘Leave our friends alone!'

Looking terrified, Sasha joined him. ‘You're horrid!' she exclaimed. Electra could hear her voice shaking. ‘Horrid, horrid, horrid!'

The snake's eyes gleamed and she
shot through the water towards Sam and Sasha. Sam dived out of the way but, to Electra's horror, Sasha just seemed to freeze with fear.

‘Swim, Sasha!' Electra yelled.

But Sasha didn't move. Her mouth opened and shut. Her green eyes were wide with terror. The snake reared up in front of her and opened its mouth.

Electra couldn't bear it any longer. ‘No!' she shrieked. She looked around desperately for a weapon but the only thing she had was her mermaid bag. It would have to do! She hoisted it up to bash the snake with. It was
very heavy.
The burnt cake bits!
Electra realized.

She had an idea. Opening her bag, she grabbed one of the burnt pieces of cake. She threw it as hard as she could at the mother snake.

The cake bounced off the snake's back. The snake swung round.

Electra threw another piece of cake. This time the snake instinctively opened her jaws. She snapped the cake up and bit hard.

‘She's eating it!' Splash exclaimed.

Electra chucked another piece of cake. The snake gobbled it up so fast she didn't even seem to taste it.

‘I think she likes it!' Splash said.

Electra began to throw all the remaining pieces out of the bag. They fell through the water like stones. Both snakes chased the pieces through the water, snapping them up in quick bites.

‘Quick!' Electra said to Splash. ‘Let's escape while they're busy eating.'

They plunged over the snakes' heads and raced to the entrance.

‘Come on!' Sam cried.

Electra glanced over her shoulder. The snakes' skinny bodies were full of lumps now, where the cake they had gobbled up had stuck. The mother snake hesitated by the last piece of cake and then looked round at the lump in its tummy. She swayed suddenly and shut her eyes. The baby snake flopped to the ground.

‘They don't look very well!' said Splash.

The snakes' scales began to turn a greenish colour and their tummies bulged even more. The mother snake
opened her mouth and gave a weak hiss. Her tummy rumbled like a volcano.

A grin caught at the corner of Electra's mouth. She reached in her bag. There was just one piece of cake left. She threw it towards the mother snake. ‘Here, Snaky, have some cake!' The snake looked at the cake in horror and then turned and raced out of the cave. The baby followed her.

‘They've gone!' Sasha exclaimed.