Chapter Nine: Go Fish
Wendy's heart leapt, putting a lump in her throat.
A dark V, formed by a stream of ripples, sliced toward her through the waves. Uncertain, Wendy stood still, water licking the hem of her nightgown. The V approached. Could it be?
"Hello?"
Splash! A fin, glittering in the deep-blue dawn. Splash! A head. Wendy's face lit like the morning sun. Although the early morning light was scarce, she was sure it had been a dark head slashing over the water.
Reaching shallower ground, the V slowed, receding to a turbulent eddy. Unable to contain her anticipation, Wendy picked her way through the waves. She waded, most unlady like, until her dress floated above her ankles.
Water reflections wrinkled the black form as it crept through the shallow water toward the girl. Wendy smiled, hands on knees, as the figure lifted from the dark ocean, "I…I didn't get a chance to thank y—"
A fit of giggles washed over Wendy as she was showered with seawater. Stunned by the sudden cold, Wendy stepped back and tripped over something long and slimy. Slapping against the water, the girl's neck cracked as the back of her head collided with the hard sand.
For a moment, Wendy's vision was broken into fuzzy shapes and shadows. Water lapped the inside of her ears, chopping up the noises around her. Wendy might have panicked had she not been preoccupied by something walking up her legs and around her torso.
Blinking hard, the girl willed her vision to return. Slowly the color of the sky brightened and the clouds regained their billowy shape. Lifting her head to her chest, Wendy stared at the body over hers.
"You!"
Sweetly, the red head mermaid smiled. Her grin was more radiant than ever, augmented by the beautiful tiara glittering on her head. The multihued gemstones were so shinny, they stung Wendy's eyes. Leaning forward, the mermaid's hands pressed against Wendy's arms. The girl's elbows sunk into the sand.
"Hello Dearie. Did you miss us?"
Wendy was suddenly aware they were not alone. From five more jets of water, five beautiful heads appeared. Recognizing two, the ebony and the golden haired mermaids, Wendy started to squirm.
"Let me go!"
"Let me go! Let me go!" mocked an unfamiliar mermaid. Wendy was so frightened and so determined to wriggle free, she did not notice the pink jellyfish tendrils curling animatedly in the newcomer's hair.
"Please!" Wendy begged, as the mermaids crawled forward on their hands. Terrible, horrible thoughts of drowning rushed into Wendy's head. "Please! Let me go!"
"I thought you wanted to thank me," teased the redhead. She frowned as Wendy's arm slipped free. The sand beneath Wendy shifted. Had the blonde mermaid—fascinated by her reflection in Wendy's blue irises—not pressed the girl's head back into the sand, Wendy could have freed herself.
"Come now Dearie," said the redhead. Frustrated and diadem slipping, she tried to still the girl, "Stop moving! We can't have you rescued again this time, can we?"
Unprepared for the impromptu comment, Wendy paused. "Rescued? So there was a merma-oh!"
She gasped. The mermaid had seized the intermission as an opportunity to shove Wendy deeper into the sand. As the shore gave beneath her, the tide rushed in, pouring water into the girl's throat. Caught off-guard, Wendy spluttered.
"What-" Wendy coughed as the mermaids laughed, spraying water into her open mouth, "What do you want with me? Please, just leave me alone!"
The redhead puckered her lower lip in exaggerated sympathy, "Poor little Dearie. She doesn't like to play with the big girls."
"Because she is so flat," giggled the black haired mermaid, sprinkling strings of slimy kelp over Wendy's face, "Flat like a piece of seaweed. That's why Peter left her to drown."
"No please," Wendy's face flushed brilliant red, "That's not why he-I don't want-I only-"
"Oh come, come Dearie. Peter—" the redhead paused as the tide entered, filling Wendy's ears and mouth. "Peter does not care for you alive," she continued as the girl choked, "You are like a broken toy. He'll have his fun when you are new, but throw you away for new toys….better toys…"smugly the mermaid tossed her long red hair, "prettier toys."
Wendy was deathly quiet. The mermaid smiled and spurred the girl's silent thoughts. "You remember, don't you Dearie? Listen. Can't you hear him laughing? Laughing at you?"
Again, the tide rushed over Wendy. Underwater, the current pulled tears from her eyes.
After a longer gap, the tide withdrew. Wendy gulped the cold morning air as the mermaid's bickered on the surest ways to kill a human victim.
"How shall we kill you Dearie? Feeding you to the crocodile did not work the first time."
Wendy's chest squeezed as the blonde mermaid bounced up and down, jogging the girl's forehead. "Ooooo please, please, please, please this time let me poke out her eyes! I want-
"—Yes," interrupted the redhead tartly, "you want them, we know."
"Sting her with eels!"
"Skewer her with a swordfish!"
"Let's undo the button on her belly." Cruelly, the black haired mermaid prodded Wendy's navel, her fingers digging into the soft skin.
"Yesssss!" squealed the mermaid with jellyfish in her hair. Joining her sisters, the mermaid took Wendy's nightgown and made a delicate tear at the hem.
The pink tendrils curled. "We could open her up," she said, slowly splitting the blue fabric, "and eat her like a lobster. Just..."
Tear.
"Like."
Tear.
"This."
Tear.
Unable to block the gruesome vision, Wendy couldn't stop from crying. Tears streaming, she kicked out, trying to push the mermaid from her.
Cheered, the jellyfish maiden gave a final, hard rip. "Open her all the way up!" The mermaids laughed as the night gown split across the girl's thigh. "Oooo I think she fancies that idea the best!"
Imperially, the redhead shook her head. The magnificent diadem flashed. "It's a scrumptious idea, but I have one more delicious."
Maliciously, the redhead leaned forward. Wendy felt the sand ease away beneath her. Saltwater stung the corners of her eyes. The mermaid was so close, Wendy could see her own terrified reflection in the unkind eyes.
The mermaid hissed. "I am going to burry you here in the sand and watch you drown in the tide."
On cue, the tide flushed over the girl's face. The mermaid smiled and drove Wendy deeper into the sand. She waited, eager to see the little girl cry.
But those plans did not conspire.
When the girl reemerged she stared at the mermaid.
Then, Wendy spit into the mermaid's face.
The mermaid screeched, throwing her head back in disgust. Both hands flew to her eyes as the diadem tumbled out of her hair and into her sisters' outstretched hands.
Twisting, Wendy freed her legs. Reaching up, she yanked the first fistful of blonde hair she could find. As the blonde wailed, Wendy scrambled through the water.
Dress heavy and mermaids clawing at her ankles, Wendy stumbled toward shore. Her breathing came in rasps and the mermaids shrieked. However, as she ran, Wendy heard two distinctly different voices.
The first was low, evil laughter echoing across the ocean.
Over that, Wendy heard someone calling her name.
"Peter!" cried the mermaids.
