Secrets of the Deep (14 page)

Sapphira swallowed hard, striving for clarity amid her dread. Landers were mysterious creatures, and these ones must have powerful magic, indeed, to have a boat that looked like a whale and traveled underwater.

Unanswered questions swirled in her head like a sardine run, but Sapphira steadied herself and decided to go and try to find the intruders.

Before she bothered digging through the rubble to find the orb—which could take forever—she had better make sure those landers hadn’t stolen it first. Obviously, these invaders had gone into the temple, considering they had been on their way
out
of it when they had run her over. If they had seen the orb, then they had probably taken it.

Because that’s what landers do.
Their kind always take whatever they want.

Scanning the murky blue waters around her, Sapphira saw no sign of their strange metal whale now.
Where did you go, you meddling fiends?
Sound traveled very well underwater, so she closed her eyes instead and listened hard for a moment.

There. Northwest.
Over the distant rumble of the
Flying Dutchman’s
broadsides, she could just make out the sound of a rhythmic mechanical puttering that she just
knew
had to be the humans’ strange underwater boat.

Pushing off the bottom, she followed, swimming painfully, feeling rather bruised and battered from the crash. The battle sounds faded behind her as she progressed with wary strokes toward the edge of Sicily.

She limped along through the water following it only for about half a mile before the clanking mechanical puttering stopped.

Ever so cautiously, Sapphira lifted her head above the water a safe distance from the white powder beach. She took care to keep a low profile in between the waves to avoid being seen.

Sure enough, she saw the contraption run aground like a beached whale lying on the sand.
Then a large blowhole of some sort opened on its back, and she winced at the disturbing sight of people climbing out.

The first was a tall, black-haired boy—admittedly rather handsome, for a human. He turned and helped the next one emerge: a girl about Sapphira’s own age, with sunny golden ringlets.

These two marched down the beach a bit, as if for privacy. Even from this distance, she could tell that they were arguing: the girl folded her arms across her chest, while the boy planted his hands on his hips. She could not hear what they were saying, but meanwhile, more juvenile humans kept getting out of the whale. At least they weren’t full-grown ones, she thought, somewhat relieved.

The next boy was slightly smaller than the first, with a sandy-blond forelock hanging over one eye. He vaulted out of the whale, landed nimbly on the sand, and then Sapphira drew in her breath.
He’s got it!

The blond boy was carrying her orb under one arm as he turned to help the next girl down; she was smaller still, with shoulder-length red hair like the autumn sunset. They, too, were arguing.

Apparently, young humans argued a lot, Sapphira concluded.

She swam closer, eavesdropping; she had to hear what they were saying, since it might be important to getting her orb back.

As she approached, she was relieved to see that at least the orb wasn’t damaged. That meant there was still hope of getting Lil back safe.

So maybe their stealing it wasn’t a
total
disaster…

The blond boy swaggered off, and Sapphira stifled a yelp when he started tossing the Atlantean artifact of unimaginable power into the air and catching it like an ordinary ball, the sort you’d use to entertain your pet seal.

“Won’t you ever change your ways?” the red-haired girl scolded as she marched after him. “You had no business stealing that, Jake.”

“Aw, come on! If I hadn’t, it would’ve been crushed under all that mess. I’ve saved it for posterity.”

“You just
wanted
it. You said so yourself, you barmy thief.”

Humph! She’s right,
thought Sapphira.

“You don’t even know what it is!” the girl added.

“Aye, but you have to admit it’s pretty neat, though. Look.” The carefree blond boy tossed it to her, and Sapphira froze when the girl nearly missed it.

“Jake!”

Jake laughed. “Don’t break it, Dani,” he chided with a grin. “It’s probably worth a fortune to some ratty old museum.”

Dani thrust it back into his hands, shoving it at his stomach. “Never mind the stupid thing! What are we going to do about that poor dolphin we ran over?”

They both turned to gaze toward the sea; Sapphira ducked down behind a wave.

“Do you think it’s dead?” Dani asked bluntly.

“Nah,” said Jake.

“I feel terrible about this.”

“Me too. So does Archie.”

“And Isabelle, most of all. It’s really her fault, since she was trying to call them.”

“You can’t blame Isabelle,” Jake protested, glancing toward the golden-haired girl.

“I know… Still, we’ve got to help it somehow.”

“What do you suggest? I don’t fancy goin’ back out there at the moment, considering we nearly got killed. Besides, how are we supposed to find one hurt dolphin in the whole sea? That thing could be anywhere right now.”

“Aye, bleeding! Which’ll attract sharks to come and eat it!” Dani shook her head. “It’s too horrible to think about.”

Sapphira realized abruptly they were talking about her.
Dolphin?
She sniggered at their mistake, but this was no time for offended royal pride. It was better all around that they had
not
got a good look at her.

Humans were not supposed to be
allowed
to start believing in the merfolk. It was safer for her kind to remain a legend.

She was rather intrigued, though, that the landers at least seemed to care about hitting the “dolphin.” It was an encouraging sign, but it surprised her.

“Isabelle, where are you going?” the black-haired boy demanded as the blonde suddenly marched off into the surf, heading for the small sailboat anchored on the beach. “You don’t even know how to sail that thing!”

“I’ll figure it out!” she belted back, sounding on the verge of angry tears. “You don’t have to help if you don’t want to, Maddox! I’ll do it myself!”

The black-haired boy, Maddox, apparently, dropped his head back and stared at the sky, as though counting to ten for patience, while Isabelle waded out to the sailboat.

Just then, an elegant lady appeared at the stone railing of the terrace above the beach. It was attached to an opulent villa.

“Children! There you are! Where on earth have you been? It’s past time to start getting ready for the party! The guests begin arriving in an hour!”

“Coming, Miss Helena!” Dani called back.

Hmm, party?
Sapphira thought with a crafty gleam in her eyes.

Blond Jake rapped his fist on the side of the whale. “Arch! Nix! Come on, we’ve got to get ready. We’d better go in and humor them before Aunt Ramona starts asking questions.”

Two more land kids climbed out of the metal whale: the boy she had seen driving the thing, and a scrawny, very pale girl with onyx hair.

Watching them from this closer distance, Sapphira was suddenly able to make out the name painted on the hull. She scoffed.
That doesn’t look anything like a sea turtle.

“Chop, chop!” The lady up on the terrace clapped her hands sharply at the youths and then swept back inside.

Maddox trudged wearily out to the sailboat, into which Isabelle had just climbed. “Go on, get ready for the party. You’re needed. I’ll go.”

Isabelle looked at him in misery, but Dani suddenly shouted from the beach, “Wait, you two! I have an idea!”

Sapphira watched intently. Though a few years older than her sister, there was a cheerful spunk about the red-haired girl that reminded her of Lil, renewing her heartache.

“Isabelle! Just summon more dolphins and ask them to go out and look for the one that’s hurt! Tell them to bring him back here so we can help him.”

Isabelle can talk to dolphins?
Sapphira was impressed. Maybe this blond human girl had a little mer-blood somewhere in her ancestry.

“Once they bring the hurt one here, then Jake could use one of Red’s healing feathers on him. It should work on a dolphin, shouldn’t it? Since it’s a mammal, not a fish?” Dani said breathlessly.

“It might,” Jake said, nodding.

“And that way, Maddox can come to the party, too!” Dani finished.

“Honestly, I’d rather go find the dolphin,” Maddox muttered.

Gathering around, they seemed to have worked out their plan—and likewise, Sapphira decided on hers.

Hopefully, they wouldn’t notice an extra guest at their party tonight.

Then she could simply slip into the villa and steal back her orb from these thieves.

It could work.

Of course, the thought of having to undergo the harrowing Landwalker’s spell to trade in her lovely blue tail for pale, awkward human legs and disgusting human feet made her grimace.

Some merfolk enjoyed using that old sea-magic spell to sneak ashore and mingle in disguise among the humans. She had a wild and glamorous older cousin, Angelina, aged twenty. She and her pod of fun-loving friends loved to don the appearance of human girls and sneak ashore to flirt with human boys.

“They’re so gullible, they believe anything you tell them!”
she had said, laughing. Of course, Angelina was very beautiful, but apparently, human males could not resist the little dash of sea magic every mermaid possessed.

“But what if you get caught?”
Sapphira had asked her cousin in concern.

“Oh, I don’t worry about that,”
Angelina had said, admiring herself in her mirror.
“If you get into any trouble, all you have to do is sing a bit, and it puts them in a trance for a few minutes. Then you can get away, if need be. They’ll do anything you say in that state. It’s so amusing! The only thing you really have to watch out for on land is not to get splashed with salt water—or then, you’re cooked.”

Angelina pooh-poohed the risks of visiting the human world, but as crown princess, Sapphira could not have gone gallivanting about in the human world even if she wanted to.

Which she didn’t.

Because the transformation involved in undergoing the Landwalker’s spell was painful, scary, and unpleasant. The most terrifying part was the transition from having water glide easily and naturally through her gills to breathing air through her mouth and nose. It always felt like she was dying at first, choking to death…

Not to mention she was terrible at walking. Her body felt so heavy on land. Dragging her full weight around on every step made her back hurt, and if human feet weren’t icky enough in themselves, the bizarre coverings they wore on them—“shoes”—usually gave her blisters.

Unfortunately, her little sister’s life was at stake. Besides, it was just one quick visit to the dry world.

If Davy Jones didn’t get his orb, she might never see her poor Barnacle alive again. Indeed, for all she knew, the mad pirate might destroy the whole kingdom in a temper tantrum if he didn’t get what he wanted.

To the party, then,
she thought grimly.

Committing the villa’s location to memory, she slipped back underwater, then somersaulted in the waves to head back out to sea. No doubt the Coral Palace was still in chaos, but she had no intention of going there. She didn’t dare face Father until she had fixed this. Sooner or later, the king would figure out she was the one who had caused all the trouble, as usual. It pained her to wonder, too, what her tutor would say when he found out she had directly disobeyed his instructions and more or less lied to him.

But a full catastrophe could still be averted, as long as she got the orb back.

She hurried first to the old shipwreck to pick out a dress from one of the many antique traveling trunks scattered across the seabed. Once she had found something suitable to wear, she went to visit the dotty old sea-witch in her apothecary cave.

There she purchased the long strands of the slimy magical seaweed that she’d have to wrap around her lower body to change her tail into human limbs. That mysterious seaweed was rare and expensive, and since she had fled the palace without a single sand dollar, she had to put it on credit.

Not that that was a problem, for the old sea-hag knew exactly who she was. She had recognized her from the moment she had swum into her cave. It was one of the drawbacks of being royalty.

“Good luck, dear,” the old siren said.

“Please don’t tell anyone you saw me,” Sapphira implored her.

“As you wish, Your Highness.” The sea-witch drifted to the edge of her cave, watching Sapphira swim off.

Her plan was moving right along.

With any luck, she’d have the orb back by tonight, and her sister safe at home again by tomorrow morning.

PART II

CHAPTER 7

Bellissima!

B
y evening, the villa was flooded with guests. Tables draped in crisp white linen and adorned with bright centerpiece bouquets were set up throughout the huge Mediterranean-style drawing room, the grand oval parlor, and outside, along the terrace, as well. They had enjoyed a fine meal, and now people were on their feet, chatting and mingling over the sweets course.

Archie had finally settled down after that harrowing ordeal, but he had been distracted throughout the whole party because of his dismay.

Sweet Bacon, it had been a close thing, that. Usually it was Jake nearly getting them killed, not him! He did not even want to think about how close he had come to taking Jake and Dani—and Nixie!—and Maddox and his dear sister all down to a watery grave.
Egads
.