Betina Krahn (46 page)

Fortunately, when Harold and Ollie were brought in, they had been tipping a bit of ale—having just been sacked—and were in no mood to verify their former employer’s story.

“But you saw them,” Bentley charged, pointing at the Atlanteans.

Harold turned on Bentley with a sneer. “I ain’t n’er seen them b’fore in my life.”

“Me, neither,” hulking Ollie declared.

“Tell the truth, damn you!” Bentley roared.

“We jus’ did. I don’t remember none o’ them,” Harold said vengefully. “I jus’ remember that ye sacked me an’ Ol-lie.”

“But … but …” Bentley wheeled on the sergeant, thinking desperately. “The hearses! You saw the hearses they used to carry the dolphins.”

“We checked into that,” the sergeant said with a hint of pleasure. “The mortuary owner said they were borrowed by his son. Some harmless prank, he said, on some of the lad’s friends from the university.”

With no witnesses and no physical evidence of stolen property, the sergeant was forced to declare that “person or persons unknown” must have stolen Bentley’s dolphins … if indeed they had been stolen. He flatly refused to reopen his investigation of the matter, stating that he had wasted far too much of his and the professor’s valuable time. He released Celeste and Titus and the Atlanteans with an official apology for inconveniencing them.

Bentley stormed out of the constabulary and they exited close behind. Once on the street, Celeste called to Bentley, and after a volatile moment, he turned to face her.

“You think you’ve won,” he declared coldly.

“I
know
I’ve won, Mr. Bentley,” she said with a calm smile.

“I’ll only find more dolphins.”

“I doubt you’ll do anything quite so foolish,” she said firmly, “and I’ll tell you why. You’re far too practical a man to pursue vengeance at the expense of profit. Dolphins don’t do well in captivity, Mr. Bentley. They’re ocean creatures … they need room and they need to feed and migrate and explore in order to thrive. If you capture more, they’ll only get sick and die on you, just as my dolphins would have if we hadn’t rescued them. Let me give you a piece of advice.”

He bristled. “I don’t need your advice, Miss Ashton.”

“Import something from your own country to exhibit,” she said anyway. “Bring over some of your ‘cowboys’ … hire some of your American sharpshooters and trick riders.
Or ship over some of those ‘buffaloes’ we hear about. At least those creatures are all native to land. And I doubt they’ll give you half the trouble you’ll get from us if you attempt to exhibit dolphins again.”

Bentley stood glaring at them as they climbed into cabs and headed back to the hotel. When they were out of sight, he turned and walked purposefully back toward the Clarendon Hotel, muttering: “Cowboys and Indians … sharpshooters … the Wild, Wild West … and
buffaloes
…”

THE SUN WAS WARM
, the sky was a pristine blue, the cove was tranquil, and the old house was filled to capacity with guests and laughter and joyful expectation. Two weeks had passed since their daring dolphin rescue, and Celeste and Titus were being married that afternoon in a beachside ceremony. Nana was in her element, directing preparations and enjoying the energy generated by such life-giving happenings in the house. The Atlanteans were bustling about, setting tables and arranging flowers and seeing to the needs and entertainment of the guests who had arrived yesterday from Oxford.

Titus was the first Cardinal College faculty member to marry since the university rescinded its prohibition on marriage for dons. The old boys of Cardinal College had canceled classes and tutorial sessions in honor of the nuptials and had traveled
en masse
to the south coast to be present for the wedding.

Celeste and Titus spent the morning showing the old professors their dolphins and demonstrating a wide variety of dolphin behaviors. The professors were especially taken with little Titan, who followed Titus around whenever he was in the water. And even old Sir Isaac got into their borrowed
boat and rowed out into the cove with them to greet the dolphins firsthand.

“Marvelous. Simply wonderful. You make me a proud man, Titus,” Sir Parthenay said, putting his arm around Titus’s shoulders as they followed the others up the path to the house to get ready for the ceremony. Ahead of them, Celeste was helping Sir Isaac up the cliff steps and coping diplomatically with the old boy’s frisky behavior.

“She is truly a wonder, your Miss Ashton. And this place …” He turned to look out over the cove. “It’s almost magical. I can see why you fell in love with them both.” After a moment, he chuckled. “I must be getting old, Thorny, I’m starting to talk like a poet.”

As they proceeded up the path, Titus chuckled, too. “If you live to be a hundred, you’ll never be as old as I was before I met Celeste. Have you given any thought to what we spoke about last night?”

“Your idea for a program in marine science and conservation?” Sir Parthenay nodded. “I’ll have to take it up with the faculty council and the other college heads, but I think it’s a marvelous idea. A program of studies that joins lecture and laboratory with field experiences here on the coast … I think after today I could even get Reggie Witherspoon to vote to make your Celeste an adjunct professor!”

In a few hours, just as the sun was beginning to set, filling the sky with a palette of delicate roses, reds, and golds, they proceeded back down those cliff steps to the beach. Titus and his Oxonians went first, then Edgar Cherrybottom, who had arrived less than an hour before, and Maria and old Stephan descended the steps. There was a pause, then voices floated out over the beach … singing of the glories of the sea and the beauty of the union of earth and sea. The Atlanteans appeared, dressed in their best togas, once again carrying their standards and garlands.

Behind them, Celeste appeared at the top of the cliff, dressed in sheer flowing silks, styled on the order of the classical Greeks. Nana and Anabelle had labored for more
than a week to make certain Celeste’s wedding dress would be worthy of her exalted status as the Lady of the New Age of Humankind. And she was radiant … crowned in flowers, carrying a wreath of blossoms for her beloved’s head. The sea breeze billowed her airy garments, making it seem that she floated down the side of the cliff to join Titus on the beach.

There, at the edge of the water, the Reverend Altarbright waited in his best clerical garb, eager to perform the ceremony. Nana took the matron of honor’s place beside Celeste and Sir Parthenay took the best man’s place beside Titus. And as the sun bathed the cove in golden light, the Man of Earth and the Woman of Sea exchanged eternal vows of love and hope and peace. There wasn’t a dry eye in the place as the reverend spoke of their love, their joy, and their unique destiny to care for and protect the sea and its marvelous creatures.

But just as everyone dabbed their eyes and the reverend prepared to pronounce them husband and wife … there was a sudden motion behind them in the cove and a sleek silver-gray body shot high up out of the water and landed with a tremendous splash in the shallows. Water sprayed everywhere and sent the guests and bridal pair scrambling back from the water’s edge. Celeste lifted her head from the shelter of Titus’s chest, glowering at the ill-mannered dolphin who had dared interrupt her wedding.

Then she straightened and pushed from Titus’s arms, staring, listening to that mischievous laugh.
Ha, ha
…
ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha
… She spotted the scar on the jaw … the one over the eye … and her heart lurched.

“Prospero! It’s Prospero—he’s come back!”

She grabbed Titus by the hand and together they rushed out into the water, wedding clothes and all, to greet their beloved old friend. Soon they were waist-deep in the water, stroking Prospero and making a fuss over him, laughing with him. Farther out in the cove, little Titan leaped out of the
water with another dolphin, and they realized Ariel was back in the cove as well.

After the excitement settled a bit, Titus pulled Celeste against his side and turned her toward the reverend.

“You’d better finish quickly, Reverend, before something else happens.” With a chuckle, he looked down at Celeste’s rosy, beaming face. “I’ve got a mermaid on the hook and I don’t intend to let her get away.”

The reverend pronounced them husband and wife and instructed Titus that he might kiss Celeste. They stood in waist-deep water, kissing to the collective “ahhh,” of their guests, until they were forcibly parted by a sleek gray beak and head. Prospero seemed determined to be the first in line to kiss the bride.

Afterward, the dolphins led by Prospero put on an ebullient display of jumps and aerial acrobatics. And then Prospero came into the shallows to serenade Celeste and Titus, ending with a repeated series of yips and screeches that stunned the bride and groom.

They looked around them at the guests, who were applauding and happily talking to each other … completely unaware that the dolphin had just spoken to all of them … in plain English.

“Did you hear that?” Celeste asked urgently, staring up at Titus.

“You heard it, too? Thank God—I thought I was losing my mind!” Titus wilted with relief. “He said ‘happy … happy … happy … people.’ ”

“He did not,” she said, bewildered by her new husband’s faulty hearing. “He said ‘many … many … many … babies.’ ”

Titus looked at her in horror. “He did not.”

“Did, too.”

“Did not.”

“Did, too.” She stepped back and looked at him through playfully narrowed eyes. “I see Nana still hasn’t told you the rest of the prophecy …”

When she turned with a twinkle in her eye and headed up onto the beach to greet their friends, Titus stiffened and headed after her. “What prophecy? What’s all this about babies? Good Lord—many babies?
Celeste
—”

I
N THE WEE HOURS
of the next morning, as Titus and Celeste lay together in their marriage bed, wrapped in warmth and each other’s arms, Titus slid into a familiar dream. He was in water … lovely blue water that seemed warm and deliciously caressing. Suddenly, out of the distance came a veritable wall of fish of all sizes, shapes, and descriptions. They were coming straight at him and he braced, knowing what they intended and telling himself that he probably deserved it. But when they surrounded him and closed in, they began to smile … sunny, adoring smiles that melted the tension in him. And when they turned their tails this time, it was to stroke and caress him. Then the little fish parted to admit a newcomer … an old friend … his big fish with the marvelous tail.

As it swam toward him its face transformed into a human one, its scales became long hair, and its fins became soft, graceful arms. His fish was really a rather familiar-looking mermaid, who wasn’t wearing anything but a few scales. He stood in awe, watching her stop in front of him, watching her sultry blue-eyed smile, feeling her silky hair floating and wrapping around him.

When she unbuttoned his shirt, he let it slide down his arms. When she sank before him and unbuttoned his trousers, he had some difficulty stepping out of them. He looked down at himself and saw scales all over his lower half … and a tail, a beautiful multicolored tail like hers. Then she pulled him along and he found himself swimming with her, exerting only the slightest effort.

When they came to a beautiful place of blue water and colorful fish and coral, he pulled her into his arms and luxuriated in the sensation of her warm breasts pressed against his
chest in the cool water. When he kissed her, she tasted like salty honey, warm and vibrant …

He opened his eyes a moment later and found himself kissing that very mermaid in real life. Her bare breasts were pressed against him, her mouth did indeed taste like salt and honey. He suddenly groaned, broke that kiss, and quickly threw back the covers to stare at his lower half. There were his belly and legs and the evidence of his rising passions, all in reassuringly human form.

“Oh, thank God,” he said, dropping his head back.

“Titus?” she said, laughing. “What’s gotten into you?”

His face reddened, but he pulled her over him bodily, relishing the feel of her legs against his. “You know, there is something to be said for
not
having your dreams come true.”