Chapter 8: Nowhere's Middle

The last millimetre of moon disappeared beneath the horizon. The storm calmed. Darkness faded into light.

And Emma woke from her trance.

Fuzzy pictures flashed through her mind like an old film-reel, each one lasting for no more than a second before the next appeared. The images were accompanied by a string of incomprehensible words.

The first rational thought she had was: Where am I?

This question was not as easily answered as one might think. Yes, she was floating in the sea. But which sea? And why was she here?

The former question, she didn't have an answer to. If nowhere had a middle, this was definitely it. But perhaps she could have a go at the second - yesterday had been a full moon. Now that she thought about yesterday, she could remember Ash asking her to cool down his glass of mineral water. "I can't remember anything after that, so that must have been when I saw the full moon," she said out loud. "And then I swam out here."

Presently she looked around. The sky was cloudy and all she could see was water in every direction. Even if there was land anywhere near, she wouldn't be able to see it because of the haze covering the horizon. The clouds and haze were indicators that there had been a storm. "Probably caused by me," she said, again out loud, because there was obviously no one around.

Emma dove down below the surface. Here, the water was very deep. Bright tropical-looking fish swam past in schools and once or twice she saw a shark in among the colourful coral formations. She didn't know how long she stayed down there, but eventually Emma found herself rising back up after what seemed like hours. The water was much colder here than at Mako, and she didn't need her rumbling stomach to remind her that she was growing hungry.

"How am I ever going to get back?" she asked herself, begging her mind to come up with a solution. She didn't think she could stand another hour of this, let alone a day or a week. For a while she thought without really thinking as gentle waves billowed up and down around her. Then, she had an idea. She studied the ripples of water. They were all heading in one direction!

"If I follow them, I'll end up on land," she said to herself, quite sensibly.

What if you don't? What if you're stuck out here forever, a nasty little voice in the back of her head said.

"Well, then, nothing will have changed from now," she told herself, and made to set off. Before she left, she raised her hand up to the sky, creating a storm. The clouds darkened and swelled seemingly immediately. Maybe if the others are looking for me, they'll track this storm, she thought, the idea reassuring her immediately and filling her with hope.

Every once in while, she stopped to check her direction and strengthen her storm. However she could feel her own strength slowly failing her, the last meal she'd eaten having been breakfast twenty-four hours ago. But thinking about Ash and the others filled her up in the meantime. Hopefully, they would follow her path. If not, she forced herself not to think about it.


Cleo woke slowly and reluctantly to the voice of a news reporter. She couldn't tell which one. That was what was bad about TV news; all the reporters sounded the same. She stretched out her arms and tried to get up; groaning, she went back down, realising she still had not transformed back to her human self. She twisted herself in her sleeping bag as well she could until she was facing in the opposite direction, towards Rikki's sleeping bag rather than Lewis' empty one. As she had expected, Rikki was still dead to the world, though it seemed everyone else was up. Cleo reached over and tapped the top of Rikki's head, the only part of her body visible.

"Go 'way, I'm asleep," was the mumbled response from beneath the covers.

"Which is why you're talking," Cleo said as a rejoinder. "Besides, all I want to know is, are you a mermaid?"

"Are you crazy? Duh, I'm a mermaid Cleo. So are you, remember?" came from Rikki, who had not even moved an inch from her position in her sleeping bag.

"Oops," Cleo said, ignoring Rikki's remark. "I meant, are you in your mermaid form right now?"

"Oh," Rikki said. "Let's see." The bottom of her sleeping bag rose up for a few seconds before falling down again. "Yup," she asserted, sounding not even the slightest bit bothered.

Lewis came in through the kitchen door. "Morning, Cleo," he said, "Rikki. I heard you girls were up."

"Ah! Can't a girl get any sleep in this town?" Rikki complained. Lewis either didn't hear her, or chose not to reply. "Cleo, are you all right? Tail still there?"

"Yes," Cleo said in response to his second question. She didn't know how to answer his first. Was she OK?

"Hmm. Interesting," Lewis nod, looking as though he might soon do some serious thinking on the matter, because that was just how he was.

Ash was sitting on the couch with a stony look on his face. The news reporter had been replaced by a weather person. "Australia's East Coast was ravaged by a freak weather event last night. The thunderstorm travelled down from the Gold Coast, damaging houses and felling trees all through the night. Atmospheric scientists are mystified as to why this storm is occurring and are wondering whether it has any connection to a similar freak storm at Mako Island six months ago. The bad weather waned at dawn, but the storm has again picked up and though this has not been predicted by scientists it currently seems to be heading towards Mermaid's Cove, near Sydney."

"It is Emma, isn't it?" Cleo said, expecting Lewis to answer her.

"Yes, it's Emma," Ash replied. "I can feel it," he added before anyone asked him why he seemed so sure.

Everyone had been listening to the weather reporter. Even Rikki's head had now been revealed from under her covers. "Mermaid's Cove, there's a coincidence," she laughed.

"Or not," Lewis said knowingly. As soon as Lewis had heard the words 'Mermaid's Cove', he had opened up an Internet search on his laptop.

Zane came up behind Lewis, his curiosity getting the better of him, and read out loud.

"Mermaid's Cove is a beach south of Sydney, known for its plentiful fishing and beautiful white sands. Originally it was a part of the adjoining Crystal Waters beach, but its name was changed when fifty years ago, a group of fishermen reported seeing a mermaid in the waters of the cove. This sighting was never verified as fact but from then on the area was called Mermaid's Cove by the local people and over the years the name has become much more common and became the official name ten years ago."

"Interesting," Lewis said.

"I wonder what that all means?" Cleo asked, surprised at what she had just heard. "Maybe there were more than three mermaids fifty years ago," she said.

"Maybe Julia or Louise or Gracie swam down there. It could have been one of them," Rikki pointed out.

"But they gave up their mermaid powers," Cleo said. "How could it have been one of them?"

"It doesn't say it happened exactly fifty years ago. By then they had given up their powers. So it could have happened during the year they were mermaids, before the fifty-year full moon," she worked out. "I don't really like the idea of there being more than three mermaids at a time," she admitted.

"Right," Cleo said nodding. "I get it. Imagine there being other mermaids around somewhere right now. But ugh," Cleo exclaimed, "whoever it was, they were seen! How did they manage to cover it up, and get to land without being spotted?"

"I have an idea," Lewis said, after looking like he was thinking hard. "We should call Miss Chatham."

"Who's Miss Chatham?" Ash asked, speaking for only the second time this morning.

"She's an old lady who was one of the three original mermaids, fifty years ago," Lewis explained. "She could tell us what happened at Mermaid's Cove fifty years ago, and how they managed to get back here," he said, looking at Cleo, since she was the one who'd expressed an interest in finding out that. "And how to get Emma back too, hopefully."

"Yeah," Cleo said nodding. "I think it's a good idea. And we haven't see Miss Chatham for ages," she added. "What do you think?" she asked looking sideways at Rikki.

"Hmm," Rikki said. "We haven't seen her for months, not since that lunar eclipse. I'd like to talk to her. But I know a better way to get Emma back."


Thanks for reading! Please review! Um, I was wondering, does anybody have a suggestion as to a new name for the 50 year full moon because that sounds pretty stupid to me. (Not that I can think of anything else, it's what all people seem to be using.) If you can think up something good, maybe I'll reward you by letting you read a chapter before anyone else, or something like that. So, thinking hats on, people!