CH 47
Joan was happy because she was sure she'd dispelled any rumors about 'real' mermaids in their lake. That was until Cameron called her downstairs.
Joan came down into the living room where her parents were watching the news. "Yes, Mom?"
"Just watch," John said.
"And here is the censored video of that mermaid performance," the news anchor man said.
An underwater view showed Joan swimming by, bare back. She turned to look up, dark censor blots covered her chest, then Joan turned back over and dove fast, shot to the side and faded from view. The next on showed Joan (with a bra on this time) flying past over the water to dive in.
"While the footage is verified as original, and this girl is wearing a mermaid tail, the photographer, and us are wondering how she can duplicate deep dives and jumps only sea mammals can accomplish. Due to being under age, the name of the girl in the video cannot be given out until permission has been obtained from the parents, which we are yet to find."
"Care to explain?" Cameron asked in a heavy tone.
"I was watching the bottom when I was swimming, I didn't see the boat," Joan complained. "I ruined my bra by accident, I was going to Allison's house to get it fixed."
"Everyone was told that biology trip was coming," Cameron stated.
"I forgot! And it's not my fault they were taking video," Joan cried.
"But you were on TV," John said flatly. "And you did a nice big jump for the cameras."
"I went back after I got my bra fixed so they could see I was a girl wearing a tail, and not think I was a real mermaid, Dad," Joan explained.
Cameron looked at John. "How many days grounding this time, do you think?"
"Mom, no please!" Joan begged.
John frowned in thought. "Well Joan did say it was an accident, and she did let them know she wasn't a real mermaid … I'm thinking the embarrassment might be enough to teach her a lesson. This time."
Cameron pondered it briefly, then said, "Fine, no grounding this time for flaunting yourself."
"Mom!"
"Did you want to be grounded?"
"No, I mean, it won't happen again!"
"Good," Cameron said with a nod.
.
Going back to school, everyone now knew there was a mermaid that swam topless. Bob suddenly had a bunch of 'buddies' that wanted to go fishing with him.
Besides the 'mermaid' news, the biology department determined that the small lake was one of the most ecologically health lakes in the area. The invasive little water rats called 'Nutria' were barely there, and had not taken over due to the fact alligators were eating them in the water and snakes were eating them on land. Around this lake also, there were few if any wild pigs for the same reason.
John was called down to a town meeting about possible transferring wildlife, namely alligators, gar and bass to the large lake. The sheriff listened as eco-nuts, who wanted the large lake to have these populations. The proprietors for the large lake wanted the bass for fishing, but not the alligators or gar, due to people swimming there.
When John 's turn came to speak, he said, "No. If Mr. Hanson and Mr. Jeffries want fish, they can get fish from the game commission stocking program. We've found the alligators on our lake have been DNA modified by an unauthorized group of college students. Until we can determine what this change in them has really done to them, it isn't safe for those gators OR people to be around them that we cannot control. Our lake has stable populations, and we are not going to deplete it to help a commercial enterprise."
The woman for the eco-nuts asked, "Are those alligators more dangerous to people?"
"We don't know," John told her. "The possibility is there. Those people from that college wanted to make them more aggressive to combat pythons in Florida. Did the changes they tried stick? I don't know. Will it make them more aggressive towards things other than snakes? Your guess is as good as mine. For the moment, we haven't seen such. The only way to get an idea, by a professor's opinion, is to want a few generations. That will take time. For the moment, I don't want any alligators taken out of our lake until we do know."
"If they have been modified to be more aggressive, then they need to be destroyed!" the woman said.
"No, we don't know if they are. Before we upset the balance, we need to find out," John stated. "So far, we are figuring out that at least one alligator has become ... protective over our daughter. She feeds it, it swims with her. If this change can make alligators more friendly, that is a bad thing also. It will diminish their survival instinct. That will be bad if this change gets into other populations."
"Mr. Connor is correct," the sheriff stated. "No alligators should be taken out of that lake."
"We're done here then," the proprietors said, got up and left.
The Eco-nut woman asked, "Mr. Connor, may I see this alligator?"
"No. Although my daughters seem to be safe around it, it has moved to attack others that were near them. Thankfully, Joan stopped it. It did destroy the lawn mower she was using," John explained.
"How big is this alligator?"
"It's an eight foot female."
"And she stopped it from attacking?"
"She picked it up and put it back in the water. Joan's pretty strong."
"I guess so!"
John itched his head. "Sheriff, we done?"
"With this discussion." he said. "I do have another matter I'd like to discuss."
The woman let out a sigh. "I was only here to try and get more wildlife into the big lake." She wandered out.
After she left, the sheriff asked, "By that news video, your daughters swim deep?"
"They do."
"Have they found ... other residents in the lake?" the sheriff asked, eyeing him.
John nodded. "They have, which is another reason we cannot diminish the fish populations of the lake. Needed food. I take it you know?"
"I have for the last 25 years," the sheriff told him. "A body was brought in. A fisherman snagged it and hauled it up. I convinced people it was a hoax, with the help of some ... government assistance. That population needs to be protected also."
"It does," John agreed. "Can you guess how many there are?"
"Don't want to know. If anyone, I think you could get a handle on that. I just want to know if they are healthy."
John grinned. "From what I've seen, they are."
"Good, let me know if you need any assistance, Mr. Connor."
"Thank you, sheriff."
"Have a good day, Mr. Connor."
"You too, sheriff."
The sheriff sat back, pleased. He was after all in charge of all the resident's safety, no matter what they were.
.
In another week, the temperature dropped and it snowed. It didn't stick, but it did snow. This brought a grumble from many people. Cameron and Delilah used it to go take a swim themselves while the kids were at school.
Moving along through the water, they found most lake residents had gone deeper. Fish, turtles hung near the warmer bottom, muskrats had gone to burrow. Alligators were lethargic and stayed at the shorelines. It was easy to grab a few fish by the gills and take them to the cave Joan had found. Cameron wasn't going to go visiting without a gift to the occupants.
The cave they went in was about a hundred yards long. It slanted up into a cavern. The water level inside the cavern was about at lake level. Surfacing, they got stares from the flat areas and the shallows the cavern pool. A quick count showed 37 mers from adult to small children. Cameron held her two fish up, so did Delilah. When offered, the adults took the fish.
What looked like younger men came closer, eyeing Cameron and Delilah. In a section of the pool that was shallow enough to stand shoulder deep in, the two terminators stayed still and let the men look them over.
"Air is being supplied from someplace in this cavern," Cameron noted.
"I imagine it is high up, and not a very big opening, but far away," Delilah added."It's not cold in here like it is outside."
One of the dark haired men made some moaning sounds like whale speak. He touched Cameron's shoulder and motioned to a vacant rock.
"I think you're getting hit on," Delilah said with a smirk.
"Possible." Cameron agreed. It looked like the cavern went much farther than the water did. "Should we go exploring?"
"Let's let them get used to us first," Delilah offered.
Another mer man took note of Delilah's chest. He made the moaning sounds to her and motioned to another rock.
Children were gathering near them, going underwater to study them. The fish they brought were chopped up with stone knives, passed around and eaten.
"We have to try to talk to them. Any idea how?" Delilah asked.
"They don't seem to use speech as we do," Cameron noted. "Spending much time under water, I can understand why they don't."
The young man with his hand on Cameron's shoulder gently pulled on her. "I wonder how to tell him we have mates?"
Delilah flashed her eyed red and barked, "No." the mer man backed off.
Cameron grinned. "That worked," she then did the same, snapping , "No!" as she flashed her eyes red.
The men man gaped at her, looking a little hurt.
"They do understand 'no'," Delilah said.
Cameron looked at the fishing sticks that were here and there. The wood was waterlogged, and the small stone tips might be enough to penetrate, but she bet they didn't last long. "They need better fishing tools."
"Isn't that why Joan bought those tridents?" Delilah asked.
"Yes, They will need more than a few," Cameron said. "I'd say at least ten to start with."
"We'll order them as soon as we get home."
One man saw them looking at the sticks, he picked one up and made stabbing motions with it.
Cameron nodded. "Let's go, there's not much more we're going to find out now."
Cameron and Delilah waved, then turned and dove under. A few children followed them to the entrance, then went back up the through the cave.
Cameron and Delilah swam home. Getting out at their dock, they were both very glad they were able to turn down their pain sensors. It was pretty cold outside. Cameron was mildly surprised she hadn't grown a layer of ice over her by the time the got in the house.
.
After Gym class, Joan sat across the desk from Mrs. Hughes in the coach's office. She played with her fingers as she listened.
"You do know that by quitting sports after those girls kicked you, is giving them what they want," Mrs. Hughes said.
"That's better than killing them, isn't it?" Joan asked. "I do that, then I'll be the bad guy."
"That is true, but I don't think you will," Mrs. Hughes said firmly. "Also the new rules for unsportsman like conduct have been made tougher. a couple of the most important changes are any direct assault and the player is banned, their team immediately forfeits the game. If it happens twice in any season, the team is removed from competition for the rest of the year and the coach must be investigated for action against him."
"Sounds harsh," Joan noted.
"It is. Joan, these rule changes came about after everyone saw you standing on the field, refusing to move. You brought a spotlight down on something certain people didn't want publicized. There are several trials going on now, all of them sports-betting related. Two coaches have gotten fired, one is going to trial for trying to rig games for his bookies. It's illegal now in this state to bet on any school event."
"That is good news," Joan agreed.
"The point is, if anyone attacks another player, they will not be doing it again," Mrs. Hughes stated. "Joan, I know you like being out there, Allison does too. You are both also good for the team. I'd really like you to come back. Don't let those bad people stop you from playing. You need them to know you're stronger than they are."
Joan sat in thought briefly, then said, "I'll talk to Allie about it. While we're here, how is the prospects of having a football league this summer coming?"
Mrs. Hughes tipped her head slightly, "Truthfully, I'm not sure. Our best hope is the people who sponsored the league I used to play for, before I retired. It's up in the air right now, and if it comes to be, then it will not be schools sanctioned, but a pro team. Right now, talk is junior and senior girls in farm teams. We're still finding out how many are interested."
"No boys?"
"It's a women's football league."
"Darn."
We'll see what happens. I do know when you graduate, the Austin Acoustics want you and Allison to try out."
Joan perked up. "Really?"
Mrs. Hughes nodded. "Really."
.
Springtime was track and field. Bob was getting into sports now, so Joan and Allison decided to join up also. Again, it was girls and boys teams. At least they got to be out on the field together. Joan and Allison thought it would be just running around the track. It was but there were variations to it. The 100 yard dash was a run as fast as you can race, replay races, and of course the 4 times around the track long run. There was also pole vaulting, long and high jumps. They had a javelin throw and a shot-put, but those were only for boys.
Since the boys went first, Joan hung out nearby the javelin throw. She wanted to try it just to see how she did. So far, Bob had the longest thrown, he got just past the soccer goal at the other end. Joan threw and it cleared the field and stuck it in a tree.
Mr. Nader wasn't happy, especially since she bent it getting it out.
Joan also tried the pole vault. She ran planted the pole and when she went to swing up on it, the pole snapped.
OK, no pole vaulting for her. She had to laugh at Bob. Using another pole, he swung up and bend the pole in half, it flung him way up over the bar, he came down a little head first, not flat. After climbing out of the bag, he sat and held his head for a bit. He had enough of that too.
Joan as good at the long jump. The high jump she did well at, but she was suppose to be laying down over the bar, not jumping up staying vertical. She did manage to jump up and lay down, but bounced off the edge of the bag on the other side when she came down.
When hurdling one was suppose to take three steps between hurdles. This was really awkward. Joan found a good rush before the first one and she could to it in two steps much better.
In 100 yard dash, relay and the 4 times around the track, Joan and Allison ruled.
.
John got a surprise visit from Mr. Hanson and Mr. Jeffries. So many people had heard about the mermaids that they asked if his family could come and do a mermaid show at the hotel on the big lake. He got his wives involved, they went to go check this hotel out.
The hotel was a grand place with a large common rooms, bellhops and room catering. At the water was a wide boardwalk with steps down to a swimming area that only went out a hundred feet, and was maybe a hundred fifty long. A dock was on one side.
Cameron and Delilah eyed the swim area.
"It's too small," Delilah noted.
"How deep is it?" Cameron asked.
"Fifteen feet out near the buoys," Mr. Hanson said.
"Too shallow," Cameron stated. "We would need at least 25 feet. I don't want anyone plowing into the bottom."
"How deep is it out there, say fifty yards out?" Delilah asked.
"I don't know," Mr Hanson said. "We never worried about it before. We just wanted you to splash around in your mermaid tails for an hour of so."
Cameron eyed him. "Are you wasting our time?"
He took on an offended look. "We'll pay you."
"You want a show, we will give you a show, but under our terms. Delilah, lets go check it out see what we have to work with."
Cameron and Delilah went and got their tails out of the car walked to the end of the dock. They stripped down to their bikinis and put their tails on, the jumped in just outside the buoys.
Mr. Hanson watched for them to come up. Two minutes went by, then four. At the five minutes point, he was getting worried. At the six minute point, he was seriously thinking about calling a rescue squad.
Seven minutes after they went under, they appeared side by side in the middle of the swimming area to swim on top and come up to the beach.
Pointing, Cameron said, "The buoys need to be 60 yards out, fifty yards wide. If you have the ropes and the buoys, we'll mark if off for you, then make sure it's suitable."
"We'll start by moving this rope," Delilah said.
He went into see how much rope and Buoys they had.
Delilah unhooked the ropes from the shoreline and pulled the markers out. At the corner, she dove down and got the anchor off the bottom. Cameron moved out to join her.
"Mom, Dad, Look! Mermaids!" a boy said.
Cameron turned to them. "Just sit on the steps for a bit, we'll be right back." She went out and helped Delilah straighten all the ropes straight out. They dove down, then came back up a moment later. Coming back to the shore where two men were bringing more buoys and rope and anchors, they dolphined their way most if the way back to the shoreline. The boy clapped in glee. So did the parents.
They family watched as they opened up the area, and stretched the rope and buoys out to make a 60 by 50 yard, much larger area. Far beyond where the old area was they rose up to their bellies out of the water and nodded, then dove back under.
The family didn't see them for a moment, then they erupted out of the water in high jumps at each other, clearing at least six feet of air, clasped hands mid air and spun each other around to dive back in. Cameron then shot straight up out of the water to do a forward flip, diving back in head first. Delilah shot straight up into the air, and did a back flip to dive back in.
More people came out to watch. The next time they came up side by side and 'tail walked' a ways before diving back in. Seeing both proprietors watching, Cameron and Delilah swam under, jumped a couple times on their way back to the shore.
Stopping in the shallow water, Cameron said, "This is more suitable for a show."
"So when did you want to do this?" Delilah asked.
"How much?" Mr. Hanson asked in awe.
"That was awesome!" a man cried.
"The last time I saw anything like that was the dolphin show at Sea World!" the woman beside him agreed.
"Come to my office, we'll discuss details," he said.
They swam back out and disappeared under. They reappeared with a jump up on the dock to flip and sit to take their tails off. Even that got applause. When they came down the dock, the people who'd gathered came over to meet them.
Cameron arraigned for two half hour long Sunday shows, a thousand dollars per mermaid. She promised between three and five mermaids showing up. She had to see who wanted to do it.
Mr. Hanson was sure he would get at least that in extra hotel attendance.
.
When asked about doing the show, Joan, Jackie and Allison quickly agreed. Louise was shy about being very 'public'. Joan had an idea. Bob was doing well talking to people so she asked him to explain to the audience about their tails, and he could use Louise to explain about the tails and how they powered people through the water.
Bob wasn't sure about the idea until Cameron told him he'd get $500 for doing the shows. Now, he was eager. Louise would also get $500 and not $1000, because she was just going to help show the tails they used. Since he had to inform the viewers about mermaids and their tails, he studied up on how to swim with a mermaid tail, and how the tails were constructed. He had seen how they moved in the water, now he had the mechanics behind it.
Saturday they had a practice track meet with Johnson City. Unlike Soccer, each event was won or lost individually, then the total of events won were added for the final score. They didn't do bad. Overall they won the meet.
.
Instead of driving to the hotel, They took the Excursion to fit everyone in, and towed Mark and Sonya's boat to the but lake. Putting in at the marina, Mark drove the boat to the hotel dock. With covers on the rails, all the girls got dressed in their tails. Approaching the hotel, the dock and shoreline of the hotel was filled with people. The hotel had advertised the event with fliers. They also charged $20 a head for access to watch it.
Mr. Hanson was near the end of the dock. Mark parked the boat at the end, front end to the dock. Bob went onto the dock and got his radio/mike then jogged down to wade knee deep at the shore mid-audience. He waved heartily to the crowd.
"Hello everyone! My Name's Bob! Yes, I bounce up and down in the water." That got him a few chuckles. "Before the show starts, I'd like to tell you how it's done." he turned and called to the boat "Mermaid Louise!"
Louise got up on the rails and dove in the water. She swam under part way and did a couple small jumps, barely clearing the water, then stayed on the surface as she swam close to him.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Louise, Notice as she swims, she doesn't kick her feet, like you would with swim fins. She undulates her whole body, similar to how a fish swims. This gives her more power to move through the water." he pointed to her as she swam along parallel to the crowd. "A couple factors determine how fast she can swim. One is her condition. The more she has swam using her whole body, the better shape she is in, is a big factor. So is the fluke on her tail. All flukes must be able to bend, to give the needed thrust. The stiffer the fluke, the more thrust it can produce. Also the stiffer the fluke, the harder it is to move. Meaning she has to be stronger to make it flex ."
Louise went to the end of the crowd and turned around to swim back.
"Their strength must not just be in their legs, but also in their backs, stomachs and torsos so they can do the whole-body undulating movements. They also must have outstanding breath control," Bob said. He looked at Louise. Louise went under behind him and drifted to a stop under water.
As soon as Louise went under, he said, "Lets see how many of you can hold your breath while Louise is under." Bob sucked in a big breath and pinched his nose shut.
It wasn't 30 seconds before people began letting their breaths out. A minute went by and many more people gave up and breathed. A couple went another fifteen seconds of so. Bob let his breath out. The last boy blasted out his deep breath and sucked in air 30 seconds later. Another full minutes and Louise turned over and sat up to ask, "Is that long enough, Bob?"
"For demonstration, yes." Bob told her. To the crowd, he said, "As some of you have found, to hold your breath, especially while doing something is not easy. It takes practice and concentration, as well as a pre-dive breathing technique to go longer than a minute or so. There are a few of our mermaids that can go ten minutes under water, swimming, and not have to come up for air. They accomplished this through many, many hours of practice and self control. So, who wants to see more mermaids?"
Cheers and applause sounded. Bob turned to the boat. "So now, I present, Mermaid Cameron!"
Cameron leaped off the boat and did a forward flip to dive into the water.
"Mermaid Delilah!"
Bob called out each as they jumped, did a flip and dove in. As they were doing this, Louise swam out and went under with a splash of her tail. She swam out to find Cameron and Delilah and got between them to hold their hands.
They then all raised up out of the water in a line, holding hands. Joan, Allison, Delilah, Louise, Cameron, Jackie and Sonya all came up to do tails stands, their bodies moving back and forth quickly as their tails churned the water. Applause sounded. At the same time, they all dove back down.
The chaotic waves calmed down as none were visible. Louise then jumped up, clearing the water by a few feet. Allison came up where Louise dove back in to clear a good six feet. Where Allison dove in, Jackie came up to clear eight feet, where Jackie dove in, Joan rocketed up out of the water to clear a ten foot jump. Then Cameron and Delilah jumped out higher aimed at each other, meeting in the air, they clasped hands to spin each other around horizontally and dove back in. Where they met in the air, Sonya erupted straight up out of the water to do a double flip high in the air before splashing down. Jackie was next to jump up, arms out to the sides as she flew towards the crowd. Under the apex of her jump, Joan and Allison from the sides jumped up and clasped hands to spin each other vertically. All three splashed down together.
Jaws were open as people applauded and cheered.
Again, the wavelets smoothed out as none were visible. From the side this time, Louise did her jump, followed by all the others jumping at the same time, each higher, briefly making a vertical stack of mermaids in the air, smallest to largest except for Jackie was over Louise, before they all splashed down.
A girl in the crowd cried, "I wanna be a mermaid too!" This caused some laughter.
Heads poked up here and there. they all came together on a circle and took a moment to get into position. Then they all rolled over and under and slapped their tails on the water to make a big, flower shaped splash.
Two shapes then came racing at the shore. they turned tight, leaving a wake and and came shallow to splash water at Bob, then raced back out.
"Thanks!" Bob called to them. The crowd laughed.
They did more stunts, including a short tail stand 'waltz' for the crowd.
All this time, Cameron was keeping track of the time in her head. at five minutes to the half hour point, she signaled everyone close to shore. They all came close, ten feet out (that was only five feet deep), and bowed to the crowd to receive a hearty applause. They all waved. All except Joan and Allison headed back for the boat. On each side of Bob. Joan stood up on his right, Allison on his left. Joan took Bob's mike and announced, "Sorry, he's ours." They pulled him backwards and kicked hard to swim him out to the boat on the surface. The crowd laughed and applauded again.
.
The shows included a free lunch. As Cameron expected would happen, the reporter who's taken the video of Joan was back, and wanted to ask them a few questions.
"Nothing about our lake," Cameron said firmly.
"I just want to know, I saw the show, and, how did you do those stunts?" the fake blone asked, wide eyed.
"I believe Bob explained everything at th beginning. He will again next show." Cameron told her.
"So besides the obvious strength it took, your mermaid tails are made to do stunts like that."
"If they weren't we wouldn't be able to do them," Delilah said with a crooked grin.
"I am simply amazed as we everyone out there today," the reporter gushed. "When we saw Joan in the other lake, we had no idea where she came from. She never surfaced before or after we saw her swim by."
"Like Bob said, we practice breath control. You should listen," Cameron replied.
The reporter shifted to Sonya. "Sonya, you have got to be the tallest person I have ever seen! How did you get so big?"
Sonya asked, "How did you get so small?"
Jackie choked a bit on her drink. Joan held up a finger and said, 'One word, DNA."
Louise mumbled, "Joan wants Bob's DNA."
The girls giggled. John was not amused. Joan and Bob flushed.
"Joan and Bob are boyfriend and girlfriend?" the reporter asked.
Joan shook her head. "I'm the girl, he's the boy. Believe me, we checked."
That brought a round of laughter from the table and others who were listening.
"It's no big secret what we do," Delilah said. "Cameron is right, Bob explained the mechanics of how we do it. The right mermaid tails, building you our strength and lots of practice. We just didn't dive in the water today, we've been swimming for quite a while. The kids are out there nearly every day. If anyone thinks they can just go buy a tail and jump in the water and swim like a fish, they will be so disappointed. Yes, it is a whole bunch of fun, but it takes work to be able to even swim decently. We were swimming with mermaid tails before the kids were even born."
Delilah stood up and lifted her shirt to show rippling abs. "Touch my stomach," she coaxed.
The reporter did. "Wow! your stomach is hard as a rock!"
"Not very bulky, but very well toned," Delilah said, dropped her shirt and sat back down. "To do what we do in that show, you have to be. Not bulk but the ability to move quickly to power our tails so we can pick up the speed to make those jumps and do the tails stands."
"Listen to Bob during the next show in a couple hours," Cameron coaxed.
"Before, when I saw Joan in the small lake, I couldn't believe she wasn't a real mermaid!" the reporter gushed.
"I am a real Mermaid," Joan said, "But only when I have my tail on."
The reporter said, "Well, thank you for speaking with me, and thank you for on putting on such a fantastic show!"
.
After the reporter left with her cameraman to get people's reaction to the show, Delilah asked, "Do you think we killed any belief in 'real' mermaids?"
"I'm hoping this is not all for nothing." Cameron told her.