It was nothing like the old days.
In the old days, I was swimming out to meet my best friend; now I didn’t even know if I still had one. Shona would have been by my side on an adventure like this. My chest hurt as I pushed myself to swim harder, swim away from the painful thoughts. The water grew colder and darker. I picked my way out toward the ship, praying there was no current around this side of the island.
After a while, I stopped to scan the horizon. Two dim lights, facing me. It was a long way out, but definitely inside the Triangle. I couldn’t even see the island anymore. Just blackness, except — what was that? Something flashed through the water. A boat? I held my breath while I watched. Nothing. It must have just been the moon’s reflection.
I swam on toward the ship. I had to stop it from finding us, get it away from the island. I had to buy some time.
Eventually, I was close enough to study it: a cruise liner with three levels of portholes and balconies, all lit up with lamps. The sides rose steeply out of the water.
I swam all around it, looking for a way in. There was a rope ladder hanging down at the back. I tried to make a grab for it but missed by inches. I heaved and jumped up in the water. No good — it was just out of reach.
I swam around again, looking for something else. And right at the front, I found it. The anchor!
Gripping the chains, I pulled myself out of the water. My tail dangled and flapped in the sea. Panting and gritting my teeth, I managed to inch my way up. Eventually, I’d done it. I clung onto the chain like a koala, my body clear of the water. Within moments, I got that tingly sensation I knew so well. My legs had come back.
I hooked my feet into the loops, then slowly and carefully climbed up to the ship’s deck.
Hauling myself over the metal rail, I landed heavily on the deck. A quick look around. No one. Just me and the darkness and a row of deck chairs. I dried myself on a towel someone had left on one of them and pulled on the shorts I’d brought with me. Then I went to look for some signs of life.
It didn’t take long.
Halfway down the side of the ship, I found some stairs and a door that led inside. There were sounds, somewhere near. I followed the noise, almost sniffing my way toward it. Music. Laughter.
Soon I came out of the narrow corridor into an open space with a few people dotted around. I tried to saunter in casually, as though I belonged there, even though I knew I’d be spotted in a second.
But I wasn’t. Some kids were playing in a tiny arcade on one side; on the other, a couple of men were drinking at a small bar. A man and woman behind the bar laughed together. No one even looked up.
A flight of stairs led up toward where the real noise was coming from. Okay, you can do it. I took a deep breath, twirled my hair a few times, nibbled on my thumbnails — and went upstairs.
It wasn’t till I saw all the food that I realized I was starving! I’d hardly eaten all day.
I grabbed a paper plate and joined the line behind a girl who looked about my age. Maybe she’d know something.
“It’s great, this vacation, isn’t it?” I said as we shuffled along the food table, shoving tiny sausages and crackers and chips onto our plates.
“Mm,” the girl replied through a pizza slice.
“Wonder how long before we shove off,” I said casually.
She swallowed her bite of pizza. “My mom says we’re not even supposed to be here. She thinks we’ve gone off course. Doesn’t matter though, if we see it.”
See it?
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” I said, trying to stay calm. I popped a mini sausage into my mouth. “So has anyone seen it yet?”
The girl put her plate down. “Don’t you know?”
“Oh, I, um — I forget. Remind me?”
“That’s why we’re here! Mom says more than half the passengers canceled at the last minute. That’s how we got our places. I bet Carefree Cruises is totally fed up with that captain!”
What was she going on about?
“Yeah, I bet,” I said seriously. “What did he do again?” I asked, quickly turning away to grab another handful of chips.
“How can you not know? He saw Triggy, of course! First sighting in absolutely YEARS!”
A chip got stuck halfway down my throat. “Triggy?” I asked, swallowing hard.
“Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of Triggy.”
I tried a lighthearted shrug and a frown.
“Triggy! The Triangle Monster! I’ve always believed in it. Mom said it was just a silly fairy tale, but now she’s not so sure. I hope we see it, don’t you?”
I couldn’t reply. I couldn’t do anything. I tried. I opened my mouth, even moved my lips a little, I think. But nothing came out. Triggy? It sounded like a cartoon character. She had no idea! I thought of the slimy tentacles racing down the tunnel toward me, the suckers all along it, grabbing at the walls, the way it extended out, the hairy tapered end touching me.
The bones.
Now these people were hunting it down. Which either meant it wouldn’t be long before they found us — or they’d be its next victims.
“I — I’ve got to go now,” I said eventually. I staggered away from the food table.
“See you in the morning,” she called before going back to the table.
“Yeah.” Whatever.
I stumbled back down the stairs. At the bottom, I took a turn that I thought led back to the corridor I’d come down earlier. But I emerged into another open space. I was about to turn back when I noticed a shop just ahead of me. It was closed now, but there was a poster in the window. I went over to take a closer look.
It was the front page of a newspaper: the Newlando Times.
BRAVE CAPTAIN TELLS OF HORROR AT SEA the headline screamed across the top of the page. I read on.
The old myth of Triggy the Triangle Monster rose up again today when Captain Jimmy Olsthwaite was rescued from stormy seas by a local fisherman.
Captain Olsthwaite lost his boat when it was attacked by what he described as “a monster beyond imagining. The size of a dinosaur! And a dozen tentacles that wrapped around the boat.”
His story has horrified and delighted tourists in equal measure.
Katie Hartnett was among those setting sail today with Carefree Cruises. “It’s so exciting,” she told the Newlando Times. “My parents used to tell me stories about the Triangle Monster when I was little — but we never thought it might exist for real!”
Others have canceled in droves. Retiree Harold Winters was among them. “We wanted a peaceful trip, not the fright of our lives,” he said.
The captain’s sighting has not been confirmed. The coast guard is warning that it could be a case of delirium brought on by his traumatic capsize and rescue.
Three others were believed to be onboard the boat with the captain. Neither they nor the boat have yet been recovered.
The boat was owned by a company called Mermaid Tours.
I stumbled away from the shop. I was in one of those nightmares where you’re stuck somewhere, trying every exit, but there’s no way out and every step takes you deeper into the horror. It had happened already. The monster had attacked a ship, all because of me. My head swirled with nausea and panic.
I found myself out on the deck again. I leaned over the railing, and my stomach heaved. My mouth tasted like iron. I looked down at the sea, deep navy in the darkness. Little bright flecks sparkled white as the water lapped and splashed against the ship. There was another boat down there. I could just make out its shape. A small yacht. It looked as if it was coming toward us. Maybe they were checking to see if their lifeboats were working or something. Well, they’d be needing them soon, unless I could come up with a miracle.
I had to do something! I couldn’t just stand here staring at the sea.
Then it came to me.
I ran up steps, down ladders, along corridors, banged on doors, called through open windows: “TRIGGY! THE MONSTER!”
People e
merged from their rooms. Dressing gowns were pulled around bare bellies and boxer shorts; women came out of their cabins in silk nighties, kids in twisted-up pajamas.
“Triggy!” I shouted at everyone I saw. “The monster! I’ve seen it!”
“Where?” Open-mouthed gasps.
“Over there!” I pointed — away from the island. I pointed and pointed. “Tell everyone. Tell the crew!” I ran on as everyone I spoke to gathered along one side of the boat: all gazing out to sea, desperate for a sighting of something I wished with all my heart I would never see again.
I had to find the captain.
I ran on, down more corridors — until I barged slap-bang into someone.
“Hey, what’s all this?” It was a woman in a uniform. She grabbed hold of my elbows, holding me at arms’ length.
“I need to find the captain,” I gasped. “I’ve seen the monster!”
The woman frowned. “Yes, dear. I’m sure you have. Now, come on, why don’t you —”
“I have!” I burst out. “I can prove it. It’s — it’s —” I gulped. The memory of it took the breath out of me for a second. I started again. “It’s enormous, and it’s got tentacles.”
“We’ve all seen the papers, sweetheart,” the woman said, smiling. “Now, if you want an excuse to visit the captain, you can just say so. He’s always happy for you kids to have a quick look around the cabin.”
Bingo! “Okay!”
The woman gently shook her head as she pointed toward some stairs. “It’s up there. Turn right at the top, straight on to the end, and it’s through the door ahead of you. But knock first. He doesn’t take kindly to being barged in on.”
“Thanks!” I took the stairs three at a time.
I bashed on the door. Come on, come on!
No one answered. Come on! No time for politeness. I tried the door. It swung open.
“I need to talk to the captain,” I said breathlessly as I burst into the room.
Two men were sitting in front of a load of dials drinking coffee. One of them swiveled around. “Now, hang on. What’s the —”
“Are you the captain?”
“I certainly am,” he said, “and you can’t just —”
“I’ve seen the sea monster!”
The captain leaned forward in his seat. “The sea monster?”
I nodded.
His face relaxed into a slight smile. “Now, listen, you want me to tell you something about this sea monster?” he asked. I swallowed, and nodded again.
He lowered his voice. “It doesn’t exist.”
I held his eyes. “It does! I’ve seen it.”
The captain leaned back in his seat. “Okay, let’s have it, then. Big thing with tentacles, was it?”
“Yes! That’s exactly what it was!”
“Right.” He was smiling, laughing at me. I had to convince him.
“It’s — it’s enormous!”
“Mm-hm. Anything else?” the captain asked in a bored voice.
“The tentacles — they’re tapered at the end.”
He turned back to his tea. I racked my brain. What else — what else?
“And hairy! And they’ve got huge great suckers all along them!” I blurted.
The captain put his cup down. “They what?” he asked, his face suddenly hard, and focused on mine.
“And they’re — they’re green, and gray underneath, and warty . . .” My voice trailed away as I remembered the sight of it. My teeth chattered.
The captain turned to the other man. “That’s exactly what my friend at the coast guard said.”
“Sir, the newspaper report —”
The captain shook his head. “Those things weren’t in there. Come on, man. Face the facts. You saw the dials. You know we’ve been stuck here, spinning on the spot like a child’s top.”
“Yes, but you said yourself that if we made a mammoth effort, we could get out of it.”
“Exactly, and we need to do that now. There’s something going on and it’s time we faced up to it.”
He moved his chair closer to mine and leaned toward me. “Okay, then,” he said. “You’d better tell me exactly where you saw the sea monster. . . .”
I’d done it! The ship had changed direction and we were heading directly away from the island.
I sneaked along the empty deck. Every single person on the ship must have been crowded on the other side, peering into the darkness for a sight of something they thought would make their vacation. I thought of its flailing tentacles, the floor littered with bones, and I shivered. If only they knew. I hoped for their sake that they never would.
I had to get back to the island. Maybe I could confess, after all. If I told Neptune what I’d done here, how I’d stopped a whole cruise ship full of people from discovering us, he might even forgive me.
I checked around one final time to make sure no one could see me. Then I slipped back into the water.
Moments later, the familiar warm feeling spread through my legs as they turned back into my tail. It shone bright in the moonlight.
Fish around me seemed to be dancing. I could make out their shapes in the darkness. They must have been happy for me. Maybe it was a sign. Everything was going to be all right. I swam along, lost in my hopes that I could somehow make up for everything that had happened over the last couple of weeks. Perhaps Shona and I would be best friends again and the island would be safe. The kraken might even go away and our lives in our new home could really start.
“EMILY!”
I started and looked back, twisting around in the water. Two people were leaning out over a balcony on the cruise ship, waving frantically. Why weren’t they on the other side with everyone else? I edged back toward the boat.
That’s when I saw who it was. Mom! Thin and wiry with wild hair, waving her arms. Someone was with her. Larger than life in a black cape. Millie! What the heck were —
“Emily!” Mom screamed again.
I swam closer to the ship, but it was picking up speed. I could hardly keep up.
“Watch the propellers!” Mom screeched. “Don’t come too close!”
Millie had sunk into a deck chair next to her, her head in her hands. A small yacht was moored on a buoy, near where the ship had been only moments ago. The one I’d seen coming toward us. I recognized it now: it was our old boat! They’d followed me!
“Mom! What are you doing there?”
“We came to find you, but you’d just jumped off! It was Millie’s idea. The vision, the boat. She’d seen you on it.”
“What? You never told me that.”
Millie got up and stumbled across to clutch onto the railing. “I kept it to myself,” she wailed. “I thought it would have sounded crazy. I’ve heard what people say about me.” She leaned out over the railing. “I’m sorry, Emily. I was too busy worrying about my reputation.”
“We didn’t think they’d get going again tonight.” Mom called.
Oh no. My fault again. I’d made things worse again. The ship was only on the move because of me. And now it was moving faster and faster away — and taking my mom with it!
“Mom!” I tried to keep up. She was shouting something, but I couldn’t hear her anymore. I could hardly even see her as the ship picked up speed.
“MOM!” I yelled again, uselessly, into the darkness.
As the ship slipped away, I let the current carry me along. No energy left. I drifted away from the ship, from the island, from everything that mattered. Tears streamed down my face as I howled in the darkness.
And then —
Noise.
Clattering — shuffling. What was happening? I mopped my cheeks with my palms.
I’d got caught in — what? Seaweed? I flapped and scratched at it. Please, not the monster. I looked around me.
A net! I was trapped in a net! A man was holding it, pulling at a piece of rope, dragging me through the water, propelling himself along with flippers.
Flapping my tail, I tried to push my
self away, but he was too strong. I struggled and fought, biting at the net, pulling at it with my fingers, cutting my hands, scraping myself all over. It was like wire. There was no way I could get through it. I scratched and screamed as he drew me through the sea.
Soon the water grew warmer and shallower. We were at a tiny island: a little sandy bay with a few palm trees, a small boat moored to a pole, and a makeshift lantern propped on the beach. The man tied my net to the pole.
He pushed his mask and snorkel onto the top of his head. I couldn’t make out his face properly in the shadowy light. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said, panting from swimming so hard. “Trust me.”
I didn’t say anything.
“Do — you — speak — English?” he asked in a very loud voice. I ignored him.
“Stay here,” he said, as though I had a choice. He disappeared up the beach as I scraped and scratched at the net, trying to get out. Moments later, he was back with someone.
“Dad, you are completely obsessed,” a girl’s voice was saying. “It’s the middle of the night!” The voice sounded familiar. But it couldn’t be.
“I said, didn’t I?” the man replied as they came closer. “I told you — I TOLD you! Now do you believe me?” He pointed in my direction. The other person waded toward me and peered at me in the darkness. As she came closer, I could just make out her face from the lantern’s light.
It was —
It was —
I gasped and jerked backward against the net, my mouth stupidly open. It couldn’t be! How —?
It was someone I knew. Someone I knew well. Someone I’d thought I would never ever have to see again.
Dad’s caught a fish at last.
Hallelujah.
He’s screaming and yelling at me to come and see it. You’d think no one had ever caught a fish in the sea before.
But it’s not a fish. He’s got someone with him.
“I told you! I told you!” he’s yelling. “I said I’d catch a mermaid, didn’t I? Do you believe me now?”