Ariel, wait for me!"
I glanced back at Fletcher, who struggled to unstick his feet from the sand pulling at our toes. I grinned widely and darted my hands up to sign, Fletcher, hurry up!
"You know I can't wade that fast." He grumbled, pulling harder until he came unstuck and his momentum flung him toward"s the sandbar I stood on, sending little splashes of water up onto my thighs. Even standing on higher ground than I, he was a head and a half shorter than me.
I pointed towards a jumble of litter under the water, really no more than a dark impression in the river. There. Isn't it fantastic?
His face went pale. In order to reach the trash, we'd have to dive under the mucky water. "Yeah… sure… it-it's great. Now let's get outta here."
You're not getting cold feet now, are you? I teased, smirking over my wriggling fingers.
"Who, me?" Fletcher scoffed. "No way. It's just, it, err… it looks dark down there. Yeah. And I think I may be coming down with something. Yeah, I've got this cough." He coughed unconvincingly into one fist.
I sighed, acting dejected but resigned. All right, fine. I'm going down. You can just stay here and watch for piranhas. I made to step off of the sandbar into deeper water.
Fletcher let out a sighing breath. "Okay. Yeah, you go. I'll stay and- wait, what? Piranhas?!" In a moment, he was beside me, breathing heavily as he treaded water to stay afloat. He gave me one last nervous look. "Safety in numbers, right? They always go for the bigger prey… right?!"
You're almost thirteen, Fletcher. Don't be such a wimp.
He snorted. "Me? Yeah, ri-" Whatever he was about to say was cut off as I dove under and paddled down to where the trash stuck in some water plants. The bright sunlight outside was barely enough to shine down into the darkness in shimmering waves, illuminating a collection of man-made odds and ends. I felt a tug on my foot just as I reached for an old rusty fork and spun around, my heart in my throat. Fletcher motioned frantically to me, then pointed to the left, where shadows lurked beyond our gaze. Fish! He signed three times, then swam out and away.
I rolled my eyes at his foolishness and followed him.
I popped up beside Flounder, whose face was ashen beneath his blonde hair. "Can we go, Ariel?! I swear I saw something just then."
No, you didn't. There aren't any piranhas here. I rubbed the fork I picked up between my fingers, scrubbing rust off the utensil in flakes. A mermaid, carved in lightweight silver, twirled around the handle with her tail flicking. You think Scuttle will buy this one?
"Maybe. Probably. I don't know! Let's get out of here already!"
I sighed and stuck the fork into my netted bag, which I bought for this exact reason. It clicked against my lucky pink conch. Alright, I signed. But you're picking up lunch if I don't have a chance to dry before I put my shorts back on.
…
I yanked my thick red hair back into a ponytail as I slid into the bar at Scuttle's, the local cafe tourists oohed and aahed over and my friend Skylar Scuttle happened to own. His daughter, Ursa, gave my purple bikini top a dirty look as she dashed between tables, taking orders.
Scuttle made his way out of the kitchen when he noticed me, his massive girth knocking into every possible door and counter as he walked to where Fletcher and I lounged.
"Woah! Could it be? The elusive fish-girl, come into port?" He smiled good-naturedly and stuck a hand in his white apron. "Ariel, how you doin' kid?"
I was used to his antics and dove right into the subject at hand (pun be forgiven), pulling the old fork out of my bag. Scuttle, look what we found. Scuttle didn't know much sign language, so Fletcher translated for me, then added, "Yeah, we went into the middle of the river. It was really creepy."
"More diving stuff, eh? Hey, lemme see." He plucked the fork from my grasp and held it up to his ear, flicking the metal with one fingernail. A peal like a bell rang out. "Look at this… wow- this is special- this is very, very unusual."
Really?! I tried to hide the wide grin that split my face, but it escaped me anyway.
Scuttle sighed, handing the fork back to me. "No. Rather ordinary, actually. Pretty, for sure, and the tone's-"
My heart stopped. Tone? Music! I turned to Fletcher with wide eyes. The concert! Oh my gosh, Father's going to kill me!
His mouth fell open. "The concert was to today?"
Scuttle was still examining the fork. "Perhaps you could make a little comb out of it or somethin'."
Fletcher and I lept from our seats; I stuffed the fork back into my bag. I signed, Gotta go, thank you, Scuttle! and ran out, Fletcher close behind. He tossed my words over his shoulder.
Scuttle chuckled. "Anytime, sweetie, anytime."
Ursa watched Fletcher and I go, grumbling under her breath. She squeezed her pencil so hard it snapped in half and hit her customer on the brow.
…
My father paced in front of me, his suit in sharp contrast to my dripping hair and ripped jean shorts. My violin dangled haphazardly by the neck in his hand. Right behind him was Sebastian, my tutor and my father's oldest friend. He looked down at me from beneath thin spectacles, his cheeks ruddy with indignation.
"I just don't know what we're going to do with you, young lady." Father said, his voice gravelly. Fletcher grasped at my wrist in fright.
I shook him off and signed, Daddy, I'm sorry, close to tears. I just forgot, I-
He looked away from me and I stopped signing, frustrated as much as upset. I had no way to talk to him if he refused to read my hands. "As a result of your careless behaviour-"
"Careless and reckless behaviour!" Sebastian cut in, waving his arms in disgust. He looked like a stick bug in his waistcoat, and I amused myself for a moment by imaging the older man perched on the side of a branch, his dark reddish brown hair spiked into two antenna.
Father attempted to regain his momentum, but his train of thought had been interrupted and he only managed "-the entire celebration was, er-" before Sebastian jumped in again, groaning, "Well, it was ruined! That's all. Completely destroyed! This concert was to be the pinnacle of my distinguished career. Now thanks to you I am the laughing stock of the entire music community!"
"But it wasn't her fault!" Fletcher crept out from behind me long enough to say, then he seemed to realize he'd spoken and shrunk back into himself, blushing. "Ah- well- first, I thought there was a piranha- yeah- yeah! And we tried to- but we couldn't- and- ahhhhhhh- and- and we- whoooooaaaaa- oh, but then we were safe. But then she had this fork and this cafe came, and it was this is this, and that it that, and-" He stopped and hid behind me again.
If possible, Daddy's face got even more purple and mottled. "Cafe?" He bellowed. "Oh, I suppose you went into the square again, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?"
My hands were hesitant to respond. I understood their sentiment. Nothing happened…
"Oh, Ariel, how many times must we go through this? You couldn't been recognized, by some heathen," He shuddered. "You could've been hurt!"
Daddy, they're not heathens.
"They're dangerous. Do you think I want to see my youngest daughter snared by a serial kidnapper?"
I'm eighteen years old, I was screaming it in my head, and my fingers moved quickly and angrily. I'm not a child anymore!
"Don't you talk back to me, young lady. as long as you live in my house, you'll obey my rules!"
But if you would just listen! I pleaded.
"Not another word." Father growled through clenched teeth. Sebastian sniffed and crossed his arms, looking pleased with himself. "And I am never, never to hear of you going into town again. Is that clear?"
I curled my hands into fists and marched out of the room, fighting back furious tears. I hardly noticed when Fletcher followed me out of the house and down into the garden. We worked our way into the back of the maze, something we did almost daily (and I certainly did), and I unlocked the doors to the abandoned barn set beside an ancient oak.
I'd patched up the ceiling and opened up a lot of the boarded windows, as well as decorated the old building with shelves, statues, paintings, and other odds-and-ends that Father had long ago forbidden in the house. I pulled the fork from my bag and placed it on the shelf directly beside the door, in a ray of sunshine that filtered down from one window on the far side of the barn. Fletcher folded himself into one of the beanbags.
"Ariel?" He asked, his small face twisted with concern. "Are you okay?"
I sighed and looked away from him as I settled across from him, my fingers already dancing with a thousand words I couldn't say. If only I could make him understand. I don't see things the way he does. I bit my tongue to stop the tears pooling in my eyes from falling. You've been my only friend since the accident, Fletcher. I know you're five years younger than me, and sometimes that feels like an awful lot, but you understand me so much more than any of my sisters do, and certainly more than Sebastian, or Father. He doesn't get it. He doesn't get how painful it is to see everyone else grow up and make friends and fall in love while I'm stuck as the fifteen-year-old with no voice and no mother.
"At least you're getting away," He muttered in reply, his voice subdued. "Off to Juliard in a month." I sighed and picked at the rug with my toes, staring off at one of the windchimes I'd hung around the low roof.
I guess. I just- A crack outside the door startled Fletcher and me, sending us scrambling. I reached the doorway in time to see a sheepish Sebastian trying to sneak away. Sebastian?
As he was oft to do, Sebastian transformed his embarrassment into an attack on someone else- me. He pointed indignantly at the dreamcatcher hanging above the door. "Ariel- are you mad?! How could you- what is all this?" My fingers flew with explanation, but he refused to watch them. "If your father knew about this place, he'd-"
"You're not gonna tell him, are you?" Fletcher squeaked, his expression a mixture of frightened and angry. I jumped right in, begging. Oh, please, Sebastian! He'd never understand.
"Ariel," My tutor's voice grew more kind and patient. "I realize you're under a lot of pressure. Come with me, I'll take you to the kitchen and get you something warm to drink."
A loud noise over the wall behind the barn caught my attention, and I was suddenly unable (or unwilling) to listen to Sebastian drone any longer. I turned my back on him and motioned quickly to Fletcher. What do you suppose?
"Ariel?" I ignored Sebastian and slipped around the barn, pushing aside brambles until I found the rickety ladder Fletcher and I had put there two years before. Without a backward glance, I shimmied over the wall and dropped to the pavement beyond.
