Deep Trouble (8 page)

I held my breath and waited. Would the mermaids understand me? Would they be
able to help us—somehow?

The mermaids chattered and whistled to one another. Then one of them—a
dark-haired mermaid with an extra-long tail—moved to the head of the group.

She began whistling and clicking to the other mermaids. She seemed to be
giving orders.

The three of us stared in amazement as the mermaids began to form a long
line, one mermaid after the other, stretching far out to sea.

“Do you think they’re going to lead us to the kidnappers?” I asked.

“Maybe,” Dr. D. replied thoughtfully. “But how will the mermaids find the
boat?” He rubbed his chin. “I know. I’ll bet they’ll use their sonar. I wish I
had time to really listen to those sounds they’re making—”

“Look, Dr. D!” Sheena interrupted. “The mermaids are swimming away!”

We watched the dark figures slide away through the rolling black waters.

“Quick!” I cried. “We’ve got to follow them.”

“Too dangerous,” Dr. D. replied, sighing. “We can’t fight Alexander and four
big masked men by ourselves!”

He paced back and forth on the narrow deck. “We should call the island
police,” he said finally. “But what would we say? That we’re chasing after a
kidnapped mermaid? No one would believe us.”

“Dr. D., we have to follow them. Please!” I pleaded. “The mermaids are
swimming out of sight!”

He stared at me for a long moment. “Okay. Let’s get going,” he said finally.

I hurried to the stern to untie the dinghy. Dr. D. dropped it into the water
and jumped in. Sheena and I followed. Dr. D. started the motor—and we raced
after the shimmering line of mermaids.

The mermaids glided so quickly through the rolling waters, it was hard for
the small boat to keep up with them.

About fifteen or twenty minutes later, we found ourselves in a small,
deserted cove. The moon drifted out of the clouds. It cast pale light on a dark
boat anchored near the shore.

Dr. D. cut the motor so the kidnappers wouldn’t hear us approaching.

“They must be asleep,” he whispered.

“How can Alexander sleep after what he did to us?” said Sheena. “He left us
to drown!”

“Money can make people do terrible things,” Dr. D. replied sadly. “But it’s
good they think we’re dead. They won’t be expecting us.”

“But where’s the mermaid?” I whispered, staring at the dark boat, bobbing
gently under the misty moonlight.

We drifted silently toward the darkened boat.

Well, we’ve found the kidnappers, I thought, holding on to the side of the
dinghy as we drew near.

There’s just one problem.

What do we do next?

The air became very still. The kidnappers’ boat sat gently on the calm,
glassy waters of the cove.

“What happened to all the mermaids?” Sheena whispered.

I shrugged. There was no sign of them. I imagined them swimming way down
below the surface, hiding.

Suddenly, at the side of the kidnappers’ boat, I saw ripples in the water.

Slowly, silently, our dinghy glided toward the boat. I stared at the ripples,
trying to see what was making them. Then I saw a flash of blond hair in the
moonlight.

“The mermaid!” I whispered. “There she is!”

She was floating in the water, tied to the back of the kidnappers’ boat.

“They must not have a tank to keep her in,” Dr. D. whispered excitedly.
“Lucky for us.”

Suddenly, we saw other figures rippling the water. Mermaids arched up,
circling the captured mermaid. I saw tail fins raised like giant fans. I saw hands reach around the
mermaid, hands tugging at the rope that held her.

The waters tossed quietly as the figures worked.

“The mermaids are setting her free,” I whispered.

“What are we going to do?” Sheena asked.

“We’ll just make sure she gets away safely,” Dr. D. replied. “Then we’ll slip
away. The kidnappers will never know we were here.”

We watched the mermaids struggle with the rope as our dinghy washed up
against the kidnappers’ boat.

“Come on, mermaids!” Sheena urged under her breath. “Hurry!”

“Maybe they need some help,” I said.

Dr. D. began to steer toward the mermaids.

I gasped as a light flared on the kidnappers’ boat. A match set flame to a
torch.

An angry voice boomed, “What do you think you’re doing?”

I ducked away as the flaming torch was thrust in my face.

Behind the torch, I could see the kidnapper glaring down at me. He had
quickly pulled on his black mask. It covered only the top of his face.

I heard a clambering sound, cries of surprise. Alexander and the other three
kidnappers appeared on the deck.

“How did you get here?” demanded the man with the torch. “Why aren’t you
dead?”

“We’ve come for the mermaid,” Dr. D. called up to him. “You can’t keep her
here!”

The torch swung past my head. I stood up in the dinghy and took a swipe at
it, trying to knock it into the water.

“Billy, no!” cried Dr. D.

The kidnapper pulled the torch away. I fell forward in the dinghy, toppling
over on Sheena.

“Give us back the mermaid!” Dr. D. demanded.

“Finders, keepers,” the kidnapper muttered. “You’ve made a long trip for
nothing. And now look—your boat is on fire.”

He lowered the torch to the dinghy and set it aflame.

The flames flared up, bright orange and yellow against the blue-black sky.
They spread quickly across the front of the dinghy.

Sheena uttered a terrified scream and tried to back away from the flames.

In a panic, she started to leap into the water—but Dr. D. pulled her back.
“Don’t leave the boat! You’ll drown!”

The fire crackled. The bright flames shot higher.

Dr. D. grabbed a yellow life jacket from the bottom of the dinghy and started
frantically beating out the fire.

“Billy—get a life jacket!” he yelled. “Sheena—find the bucket. Throw
water on the flames—hurry!”

I found a life jacket and beat at the flames. Sheena dumped seawater on them
as fast as she could.

Over the crackling flames, I heard Alexander shout, “Get the mermaid aboard. Let’s get out of here!”

“Dr. D.!” I cried. “They’re getting away!”

Then I heard the kidnappers yelling. “The mermaid! Where’s the mermaid?”

I turned to the side of the boat. The mermaid was gone. Her friends had freed
her.

One of the kidnappers reached down from his boat and grabbed me. “What did
you do with the mermaid?” he demanded.

“Let him go!” shouted Dr. D.

I tried to squirm away from the kidnapper. He held me tight. Then I saw
another kidnapper swing a club at Dr. D.’s head.

Dr. D. dodged the club. The kidnapper tried to hit him in the stomach. Dr. D.
dodged again.

I kicked and squirmed. Sheena tugged at the kidnapper’s hands, trying to help
me escape.

The third kidnapper picked her up by the wrists and threw her to the floor of
the dinghy.

“Let go of the kids!” pleaded Dr. D. “Alexander! Help us!”

Alexander didn’t move from his spot on the deck. He stood with his brawny
arms crossed in front of him, calmly watching the fight.

The flames had nearly been quenched, but they suddenly flared up again.

“Sheena—the fire!” I cried. “Put out the fire!”

She grabbed the bucket and poured seawater everywhere.

One of the kidnappers kicked the bucket from her hands. It landed in the
water with a splash.

Sheena picked up a life jacket and beat the last of the flames out.

“Drop down into their boat and toss them in the water!” I heard a kidnapper
shout up above.

A man started to lower himself to our dinghy. But suddenly he lurched
forward, his arms flailing. He let out a cry of surprise as his boat began to
rock violently to the left. It looked as if it had been slammed by a huge wave.

The kidnappers cried out as their boat began to rock back and forth. Slowly
at first. Then violently. Gripping the sides of the dinghy, I watched them
clinging to the rail, screaming in confusion and surprise.

Dr. D. slowly stood up, trying to see what was happening.

The boat tossed violently, as if bucking tall waves.

The mermaids. I could see them now.

They had surrounded the kidnappers’ ship and were rocking it hard.

Hard. Harder. The kidnappers hung on helplessly.

“Mission accomplished!” Dr. D. cried happily. He started up the motor and we
roared off.

Turning back, I could see the boat tilting and rocking in the water. And I
could see our mermaid swimming free, behind the other mermaids in the shimmering waves.

“She got away!” I cried. “She’s free!”

“I hope she’ll be all right,” said Sheena.

“We’ll look for her tomorrow,” said Dr. D. as he steered us back to the sea
lab. “We know where to find her now.”

Sheena glanced at me. I glanced back.

Oh, no, I thought. After all this, it can’t be true.

Is Dr. D. going to catch the mermaid again—and give her to the zoo?

Sheena and I met in the galley the next morning. Since Alexander was gone, we
had to fix our own breakfasts.

“Do you think the mermaid went back to the lagoon?” asked Sheena.

“Probably,” I replied. “That’s where she lives.”

She spooned some cereal into her mouth and chewed with a thoughtful look on
her face.

“Sheena,” I said, “if someone gave you a million dollars, would you show them
where the mermaid lives?”

“No,” Sheena replied. “Not if they wanted to capture her.”

“Me, neither,” I said. “That’s what I don’t get. Dr. D. is a great guy. I
just can’t believe he’d—”

I stopped. I heard a noise. The sound of a motor.

Sheena listened. She heard it, too.

We dropped our spoons and ran up on deck.

Dr. D. was standing on the deck, staring out to sea.

A boat was approaching. A white boat with Marina Zoo stenciled on the side in
large letters.

“The zoo people!” I said to Sheena. “They’re here!”

What would our uncle do? I wondered with growing dread. Would he tell them
where the mermaid was? Would he accept the million dollars?

Sheena and I ducked behind the cockpit. We watched the Marina Zoo boat tie up
beside the
Cassandra.
I recognized Mr. Showalter and Ms. Wickman.

Mr. Showalter tossed a rope to Dr. D. Ms. Wickman jumped aboard.

The zoo people smiled and shook Dr. D.’s hand. He nodded at them solemnly.

“We had word from the fishermen on Santa Anita that you found the mermaid,”
Mr. Showalter said. “We’re ready to take her with us now.”

Ms. Wickman opened her briefcase and pulled out a slender envelope. “Here is
a check for one million dollars, Dr. Deep,” she said, smiling. “We’ve made it
out to you and the
Cassandra
Research Lab.”

She held out the check to my uncle.

I peered out from behind the cockpit.
Please don’t take it, Dr. D.,
I
pleaded silently.
Please don’t take the check.

“Thank you very much,” my uncle said. He reached out a hand and took the
check from her.

“A million dollars means a great deal to me and my work,” Dr. D. said. “Your
zoo has been very generous. That’s why I’m sorry I have to do this.”

He raised the envelope and tore it in half.

The two zoo people gasped in surprise.

“I can’t take the money,” Dr. D. said.

“Just what are you saying, Dr. Deep?” Mr. Showalter demanded.

“You sent me on a wild goose chase,” my uncle replied. “I have searched these
waters thoroughly ever since you left. With my equipment, I searched every inch
of the lagoon and all the surrounding waters. I am now more convinced than ever
before that mermaids do not exist.”

“Yaaaay!” I screamed to myself. I wanted to jump up and down and cheer my
head off—but I stayed hidden with Sheena behind the cockpit.

“But what about the fishermen’s stories?” Ms. Wickman protested.

“The local fishermen have told mermaid stories for years,” Dr. D. told her. “I think they believe they’ve really seen
mermaids rising through the mist on foggy days. But what they have seen are only
fish, or dolphins, or manatees, or even swimmers. Because mermaids don’t exist.
They’re fantasy creatures.”

Mr. Showalter and Ms. Wickman both sighed in disappointment.

“Are you sure about this?” Mr. Showalter asked.

“Completely sure,” my uncle replied firmly. “My equipment is very sensitive.
It can pick up the tiniest minnow.”

“We respect your opinion, Dr. Deep,” Mr. Showalter said with some sadness.
“You’re the leading expert on exotic sea creatures. That’s why we came to you in
the first place.”

“Thank you,” said Dr. D. “Then I hope you’ll take my advice and drop your
hunt for a mermaid.”

“I guess we’ll have to,” said Ms. Wickman. “Thank you for trying, Dr. Deep.”

They all shook hands. Then the zoo people got back on their boat and motored
away.

The coast was clear. Sheena and I came bursting out of our hiding place.

“Dr. D.!” cried Sheena, throwing her arms around him. “You’re the greatest!”

A wide grin spread over Dr. D.’s face. “Thanks, guys,” he said. “From now on,
none of us will say anything to anyone about mermaids. Is it a deal?”

“It’s a deal,” Sheena instantly agreed.

“Deal,” I said. We all shook hands. The mermaid was our secret.

I swore I’d never mention the mermaid to anyone. But I wanted to see her one
last time. I wanted to say good-bye.

After lunch, Sheena and Dr. D. went to their cabins to nap. We had been up
for most of the night, after all. I pretended to take a nap, too.