Cleo, Rikki, and Emma are just beginning to enjoy their lives as mermaids, when a local fisherman spots one of them near Mako Island. When he starts a mermaid hunt the three girls are stuck on land until the whole thing blows over. Then when a new girl comes to school things begin to get complicated when she endangers the girl's secrets with a secret of her own.
Land and Sea Chapter 1
The three mermaids raced through the water at high speeds careful not to run into the nearby dolphins and sharks. They all made it to the moon pool at Mako island in record time, with the red haired girl being the first one there. The other two girls bobbed out of the water minutes after her.
"I win again," the red haired girl stated.
"Wonderful, Emma," said the blonde haired girl. "You always win. I think you have an unfair advantage anyway."
"Like what, Rikki?" Emma asked.
"Like the fact that you have been training to be a swimmer since you where six years old," said the brown haired girl.
"That was before I turned into a mermaid, Cleo," said Emma. "Besides, I can't swim for the swim team anymore. Not unless I want them to find out what I really am."
"It still give you an advantage," said Rikki, whipping her tail towards the red head.
"Want a rematch?" Emma asked.
"Your on," Rikki replied.
"Count me out," said Cleo, sitting up at the nearest rock. "I'm exhausted. I'll be surprised if I can even make it home."
"How can you be tired already?" Rikki asked.
"I've been afraid of the water since I was little," said Cleo. "Swimming is something I used to never do, you had been swimming as mermaids long before me. It takes a bit more getting used to."
"Suit yourself," said Rikki. "You're missing out on all of the fun and you won't be there when I beat Emma."
"Not likely," said Emma. "See you at the beach, Cleo."
Cleo smiled at her two friends as they dived under the water and began to race back. She looked up through the top of the volcano. It wasn't that long ago when they became mermaids. Cleo, Rikki, and Emma had never thought that a bit of moonlight in the middle of a pool of water could do anything significant, until they touched water after that night. At first Cleo was upset about it. She had been afraid of water since she was little and now even the slightest bit of water would cause her to grow a tail.
They all had gotten used to it by now. Each of them were careful when they were around water and they didn't have too many problems living a normal life otherwise. Despite the fact that they couldn't tell their parents, Cleo was glad that there was one person they could trust with their secret. Her friend Lewis had been their for them since he figured out what they were at a pool party. Cleo gave one last look around the moon pool then dived under the water herself, taking her time to get back to the beach.
Cleo swam out of the moon pool and went straight to the top of the water, gazing upon the now dormant volcano. She swam slowly through the water letting her tail rest on the surface. The nearby sharks never payed attention to her, Rikki, and Emma when they swam near the island and Cleo was happy about that. She closed her eyes, enjoyed the feel of the ocean water when she heard someone yell. Cleo opened her eyes and glanced behind her too see a small fishing boat and a man staring at her. She turned her back to him hoping he didn't see anything.
"A mermaid," she heard the man say.
Cleo dove back under the water and began to swim away from the man on the boat. She knew that this was something the man would not let go and that her and her friends were going to be in trouble. Cleo raced back to the beach where they had met as fast as she could. Rikki and Emma were not going to be happy about how careless she was, but she knew that they would find out eventually.
Cleo got back to the beach faster than she intended to and noticed that Rikki and Emma appeared to have just got there. Lewis was sitting up on the rocks staring down at his mermaid friends laughing.
"I told you that you couldn't beat me," said Emma to Rikki.
"I will one of these days," said Rikki.
"Cleo?" said Lewis when he saw his friend out on the water.
Cleo swam in slowly, unsure about telling her friends about the man after all.
"Cleo how did you get here so fast?" Rikki asked. "We left long before you."
"Someone saw me," Cleo blurted out.
"What?" Emma asked. "Who?"
"I don't know," said Cleo. "A man in a fishing boat. I didn't expect anybody to be so close to Mako island."
"Did he see your face?" Rikki asked.
"I don't' think so," Cleo stated.
"Cleo, this is bad," said Emma. "You remember what happened when Zane saw me and that was when he was underwater almost drowning and scuba diving. This guy won't have a reason to be seeing things."
"I know," said Cleo. "I'm sorry."
"Look, there's nothing we can do about it now," said Lewis climbing down from the rocks. "What's done is done and until this guy comes forward, we won't know for sure how much he saw. It's best just to wait it out and we'll see what happens from there."
"Is suppose your right," said Emma.
"I'm sorry," Cleo apologized again.
"We all make mistakes, Cleo," said Emma reassuring. "I've been seen before too. Hopefully this will blow over fast. I can't imagine too many people would believe there are mermaids out here."
"True," said Rikki. "Let's get dry and head home. You're parents will be wondering where you are and I think it is best we don't tell anybody we were at the beach. Just in case suspicion is thrown our way."
"Good idea," said Emma, turning to Cleo who still looked upset. "Don't worry about it, Cleo. Everything will be fine."
"I hope your right," she replied, staring out across the ocean. She had a feeling that this man was not going to let this go easily.