The Shore-Searchers
Chapter One
"Merida, do you want to come over to my sleepover?" Julie asked.
"Me? You're asking me?"
"Who else would I be asking? There's no one else at this school named Merida. That I know of."
Merida had suspected as much. Her name had a Scottish origin. Though she did not know who her parents were, for she had been found at an orphanage when she was four. Or so she was told.
Sometimes she hated her parents. Who would leave their daughter abandoned at an orphanage? But maybe it was a lie she was told to hide the truth from her, that her birth parents had died and she had no family to take her in.
Now she was adopted, and the Harriers were really good people. But they weren't Scottish, and no matter how much Merida liked them, she could never bring herself to call them "Mom" and "Dad."
In school, she hadn't really been noticed. That is, she had been "noticed" in the sense that people stared at her hair whenever she walked by. It was crazy hair that went out everywhere it could find a place to go. Merida liked it that way. But Staci and Liz, two girls at her school, did not.
Staci and Liz were the leaders of a group of popular girls at Allifirst Middle School. They would rule the roost at
"Merida, that hair…you know, you really ought to take a trip to Hollywood and get a new stylist. Oh that's right, you can't afford one."
Liz had said that just a few minutes before, and Merida had wanted to punch her. So she did.
Merida's fist came flying at Liz but one of the other girls in Liz' gang took the hit.
She fell to the ground, and Merida's anger was expended.
"Molly, are you all right?" Merida asked.
The girl on the ground nodded her head. Staci pulled her to her feet.
"We will report this, Merida," Liz said. "You can count on it."
Merida knew she would be in detention for seven weeks straight when she began high school. But still, Liz knew she was dangerous now, and that's how Merida liked it.
Julie Corky had come up shortly after that to invite her to a sleepover.
"Sure, I'll go," Merida said.
"Good. It begins at eight," Julie said, handing her an invitation card.
Merida took it with glee and showed it to Charlene when she arrived.
"Very cool," said Charlene. "Of course I'll take you. If you finish mowing the lawn first."
Merida didn't want to mow the lawn. Sometimes she thought that her adoptive parents had taken her in just to do chores. Their own daughter didn't seem to do as much. Vanessa, who was only ten, was never asked to mow the lawn or dust the bookshelves.
"Why doesn't Vanessa have to do all this stuff?"
"Because she's only ten. She needs to find her niche in the world."
"What about my niche?"
"When you get to college."
That was Charlene's answer for everything. "When you get to college." Merida wondered if she would ever get to college. She knew it would only be four years from now, but the tasks at home made that four years seem like a long wait.
Merida's adoptive father, Heinz, was in the garage when she went in there to get the lawnmower.
"Honey, you don't want to use that," Heinz said. "I've just removed a few parts for a new inator."
"What's an inator?"
"Something I'm going to use to take over the entire tri-state area. Nothing to bother your head about."
"But how am I supposed to mow the lawn?"
"The lawn? It doesn't need mowing. I mean, sure the grass is nearly eight feet tall, but…no, best to not mow the lawn."
"Charlene might not like it when she sees the lawn unmowed."
"Don't worry about Charlene. I'll tell her that the city has a new regulation for tall grass and it doesn't need to be cut until it's as tall as the house. Yeah, that's what I'll do."
"She won't drive me to the sleepover if the lawn isn't cut."
"I'll take you," Heinz said, patting her on the shoulder. "Just go pack your sleeping bag and your hairbrush and whatever else you girls need for sleepovers."
Merida went to her room, where she had fanmade posters downloaded from DeviantArt, which showed the Chudley Cannons and the Holyhead Hatpiess respectively.
She hated real sports and thought Quiiditch the only worthwhile one. With one exception: archery.
When the 2004 Olympics began in the summer, she would only watch the archery e vent. She did not care about swimming or gymnastics or pole-jumping. Only archery mattered, the bow, the arrow, the target. If she could represent America in the archery event at the Olympics someday…
But right now she was a fourteen-year-old girl with a sleepover to attend.
She packed her bags and read a bit of Scottish legends for awhile. They always seemed to make her blood boil with anticipation. She didn't know what incited such feeling in her. It just was there.
Then she went down to dinner. Perfect Vanessa was wearing her ballet costume at the table. Vanessa winked at Merida in a way that she didn't like.
When Merida brought her spoon to her mouth with the applesauce in it, she tasted something on the spoon. She figured it had not gone through the dishwasher properly and proceeded to the steak and asparagus on her plate, which she could eat with a fork.
The fork had just as much of a nasty thing on it, and Merida pushed her chair back feom the table. "I'm going to get new silverware."
"You will use the silverware that Vanessa has laid out for you," Charlene said.
"Oh, Vanessa laid it out for me," Merida said, looking at her adoptive sister. "Sweet, sweet Vanessa."
She sat down again, wanting to scream. This probably wasn't the time to say, "I punched a girl today at school."
After dinner, Merida and Vanessa were left to clear the table. "You spit on my silverware, didn't you?" Merida said.
"Yes, dear. And I'll do it again. I know how much you enjoy it."
"You're so evil."
"No, Dad is the one who's evil. He makes all these crazy inventions but whenever I call Mom to see them, they're gone."
"They're gone because they're hall-luce-in-nations."
"They are not!" Vanessa said, stomping on Merida's toes and running from the room.
"You will pay for that," Merida muttered under her breath. She put the dishes in the sink and went toward the living room.
"Ready to go to the sleepover?" Charlene asked.
"Yes."
"I'll just check on the lawn first," Charlene said, heading toward the window.
"Charlene, Vanessa's crying her heart out and she won't tell daddy what's wrong," Heinz said, entering the room from the staircase.
"I'm supposed to drive Merida to a sleepover."
"Do you care more about your adoptive daughter or your birth one?"
Merida scowled at this.
"You're right," Charlene said, heading toward the staircase and running upstairs.
"I'm sorry about that comment, my dear Merida. It was the only way to keep her from checking the lawn."
"Thanks," Merida said, hugging him.
She dashed upstairs and got her bags, going past Vanessa's room, where Charlene was struggling to get Vanessa to stop crying and tell her what was wrong. This was the keep-it-going-as-long-as-possible-to-make-them-think-you're-really-upset maneuver. It always worked. Vanessa never failed to get her way.
Merida hurried down to join her adoptive father. Then she saw the vehicle he had parked at the end of the driveway.
"You're taking me to the sleepover…in a tractor?"
"It was either this or a bulldozer."
Heinz placed her backs in the floorboard of the tractor. She climbed up on the ledge and got it. Then the tractor clamored down the street and out of the neighborhood onto the road.
People gave them funny looks on the road, and Merida saw Liz driving a car next to the tractor for a bit. Liz smirked at Merida, rolling down her window and saying, "Nice ride."
"Do you know her from school?" Heinz asked.
"Yes," Merida hissed, but in such a way that Heinz didn't know it was hissing.
"She's pretty nice. Is she going to be at the sleepover?"
"I bloody well hope not."
"I'm glad we don't live in the United Kingdom, or I shouldn't like your choice of words, young lady," Heinz said.
"Watch it, there's a red light!"
Heinz slammed on the breaks and the light turned green.
"Hope we make it their alive," Merida said.
"This tractor is safe-proof. The guy who lent it to me said so."
"That's what I was afraid of," Merida said in a low voice.
"What was that?"
"Nothing. The address is 964 Tree Branch Hive."
"We've got to take the turnpike? Or maybe we just go around?"
"I need to be there by eight."
"Come on. Let's take the turnpike and stop at the mall. I'll buy you a dress, just in case you go to a dance or something."
"It's a sleepover. I'm not going anywhere. And Charlene doesn't like me dating."
"Going to a dance is not 'dating.' And no one's going to tell Charlene. You need a dress."
Merida did not have the heart to tell him that she hated dresses. They made her feel stuffy and they were so restraining. Heinz was the adoptive parent that she liked the most. Offending him just wouldn't be good when he was the only person in the household who seemed to care about her at all.
They went to the mall and Heinz bought her a robin's egg blue dress. She didn't care for it much and thought it was better for kindling a fire. But Merida took it anyway. Heinz was so eager to see her with it and when she came out of the dressing room, twirling about, he lavished such praise upon her that she felt it would be a shame to not get it.
Then they went on to Julie's house and Merida jumped down and pulled her packages out.
"Do you want me to help you carry everything?" Heinz asked.
"That's not necessary."
"I'll do it anyway," Heinz said, coming around the tractor and taking her suitcase and mattress, leaving her with just her purse and the bag from the shopping mall which contained the dress.
Heinz knocked loudly on the door.
It was opened by a large man wearing a blue overshirt and a white shirt to cover his girth.
"Hello," the man said.
"I'm Heinz Doofenschmirtz and this is my daughter Merida."
"Oh yes, the red-head," the man said, smiling. "Julie told me about you."
Merida hoped that what Julie had said were positive things.
"You don't mind her being late, do you? We had some last minute shopping to take care of."
"Not a problem at all," the man said, letting Merida past. Then he noticed the vehicle that Heinz had come in. "Hey, is that a tractor?"
"It was either that or a bulldozer."
"If you had come on my property with a bulldozer, I might have had to shoot you down," the man joked.
Heinz knew his adoptive daughter was in safe hands. The large man could proably take on a bear and win. Though he didn't look like much of a fighter. But you never can tell.