Senna wriggled her way out of the pile of laundry while Melinda was hanging it out on the line and humming merrily to herself, oblivious to the little crab that was carefully walking sideways to avoid being trodden on as the housekeeper finished with the washing and walked back inside the house, right in Senna's path as the crab gulped at seeing the huge feet that were about to squash her.

'Excuse me, madam, but would you be so kind as to please not step on me?' Senna said as Melinda's feet came close to her, as loudly as she could but was still in her prim and proper English accent.

But her voice, as loud as it was underwater, could barely be heard as Melinda took no notice and Senna had to duck and dodge each step she made so that she wouldn't be trodden on before she was free and hid behind a flowerpot near the door.

'What a cheek!' Senna muttered to herself and she was steaming from both the heat and her ordeal in the laundry room.

'That human woman has no respect for a crab of my status! First, she throws me into that tub with that foul-tasting powder and then I get chucked into that ghastly whirlpool and nearly hung out to dry, literally and almost got trodden on!

Why does Lily want to be in this world if that woman, whatever she is, treats crabs like that? I just hope that she appreciates what I am doing for her in this suicide mission!' Senna said.

She watched from the flowerpot, as Melinda kept going in and out of the house, bringing out platters of nibbles and drinks for the barbecue and placing them on the tables and in a strange silver thing that had ice in it, which was keeping the drinks cold in the heat.

'Right, the coast is clear,' Senna then said, as she saw Melinda disappear inside, 'I better go and see how Lily is doing. I hope that she's having a better time than me.'

No sooner had she started walking towards the open door, several cars pulled up from outside the house along with noisy chatter and laughter which were coming from Ben's friends who were carrying platters of food and boxes of beer and drink and the buzz of the intercom was heard from the foyer.

'Oh, no, not more humans,' Senna muttered.

'Ben, your friends are here!' Melinda's voice called from inside the house, 'I'm just going upstairs to check on your little friend to see if she needs help getting dressed. Take them out to the outdoor area.'

'Alright, be down in a minute,' Ben's voice replied.

Senna then started to make her way inside the house since both Ben and Melinda would be distracted by the coming guests as the loud voices came closer and the crab was soon greeted with several pairs of feet that scooped her up as they walked towards to the outdoor area and pool.

'Blooming heck, don't humans look where they are going?' Senna moaned as she ducked and dodged and then tossed around, like she was in the washing machine, against the thongs, sneakers and sandals which threatened to squash and break her and her shell.

'Excuse me,' she said, waving her claws around to get their attention.

'Would you kindly refrain from squashing me with those clunky things on your feet and woe betide you if you trample on Aquaria's distinguished court composer!'

But it fell on deaf ears, as the loud chatter of Ben and his friends drowned out Senna as she bounced against their feet and waved through their ankles like she was in a maze until one foot brushed her away and she was sent flying into the ice bucket which made her shiver at feeling the fast melting ice on her.

'At least the worst is over,' Senna said, shivering on the ice, 'things can only get better from here.'

The barbecue was in full swing as the late afternoon sun shone down and there was no breeze in the cloudless blue sky, which was unlike the night of the party when the storm hit, that had put many lives on the line and it was a very casual and relaxed affair with the guests eating, drinking and chatting.

Ruby was hanging around the barbecue, hoping to get a bit of steak or a meat patty that would fall on the ground only none were but she wasn't to be deterred as she waited patiently for her snack.

Phil, home from Brisbane, was cooking the meat with Ben helping him but he was looking at the ocean as he sipped his beer, thinking about his mystery girl for the umpteenth time and not really paying attention, not even when his father asked him to pass him the steaks or the pack of sausages that were near him.

Cody, Adam and Matt were playing cricket on the wide strip of grass near the pool while drinking beer and hit the ball over into the house next door, breaking both the glass panels surrounding the patio and the neighbour's spirits as he approached the fence with a very angry look on his face.

'Bloody kids!' He yelled as he threw the offending ball back to the boys, who grinned sheepishly, 'stop hitting your bloody balls into my yard!'

'Those panels cost me and the missus a lot and even more so to replace! Stupid kids, always running wild at that place when Steely isn't around..'

'Sorry, oldie, it was an accident and if you don't like it, rack off!' Cody said as he and the others grinned sheepishly and resumed their game as the neighbour huffed and went back inside his house.

Oddly, Phil didn't notice that his neighbour had been spitting tacks about his son's friends causing damage to his property but since the man was a misery and was always complaining about the slightest things, he simply shrugged it off and continued cooking.

Mia, Anna and Grace rolled their eyes at the boys as they sat near the pool with their feet in the water, sipping lemon, lime and bitters from the ice bucket which Senna was in although they didn't notice her as they reached into it, while chatting amongst themselves and what they were talking about was the girl that Ben had found on the beach this morning.

'Well, you must have at least heard about this girl,' Anna said, taking another sip of her drink, 'it's what everyone has been talking about. Ben found her on the beach this morning with no idea of her name or where she came from! How weird is that?'

'No, I hadn't at first,' Grace said, reaching in the ice bucket for another drink while Senna, who hadn't moved since she landed in it, scurried away from her waggling fingers,

'I thought it was a rumour but Mia did tell me about it when she texted me to ask if I had any clothes for her to wear and Jess did say..'

'Jess?' Anna hissed, 'since when has that fruit loop gotten anything right? But apparently, Ben seems to be so infatuated with this girl since he says that she reminds him of the mystery one that he says saved him but in my opinion, I don't know what he sees in her.'

'What do you mean, Anna?' Grace said.

'Yeah, Anna, what are you talking about?' Matt said, 'Ben tells me she's a real spunk, with long blonde hair and gorgeous blue eyes like the ones the imaginary girl had.'

'And she's really friendly, kind, happy and very polite for a mute girl who survived a terrible shipwreck and Ben really likes her, so why wouldn't she be good for him?' Mia said.

'I mean, she turns up on the beach literally out of nowhere wearing a curtain that oldies have in their living rooms like a dress and she doesn't speak!

Why would Ben be so interested in her? I mean, why would any boy go out with a girl who is dumb and mute?' Anna said while Mia and Grace looked at her, horrified by her unkind words.

'Anna, don't be so horrible!' Mia said, angrily.

'She's been through an awful lot with being in a shipwreck, which was far worse than the storm we were in, since she was the only survivor and that would be traumatic for anyone!

And she's all alone in a world that she would find frightening and it was lucky that Ben found her and let her stay with him and I gave her some of my clothes that I never worn, otherwise she'll be struggling to get by!'

'Yeah, Anna, you haven't even met her yet, so how can you say that?' Grace said, 'at least Mia actually gave her some clothes unlike you! I would've but my stuff is too big for her!'

'That's because you're so chubby since you eat too much and all my stuff is too nice to give away,' said Anna, 'and I didn't want to see them wasted on a mute girl who wouldn't even suit them!'

'God, you're such a snob, Anna,' Cody said, 'you have no charity whatsoever. Surely, it wouldn't have hurt you to give the girl one of your stupid designer outfits?'

'And Ben really likes her; he's in a better mood than he was when we saw him this morning when he refused to go to Macca's with us.' Matt said.

'Well, if Ben is looking for a girlfriend, he doesn't have to look very far. I know a couple of very highly available ones right here,' Anna said, flicking her hair back in a flirty manner, while Mia, Grace and the boys rolled their eyes at her.

'Anna, you dope, you know that Ben sees you, Mia and Grace as friends and that he's still looking for the so-called girl that he says saved his life yet he's infatuated with the one he found on the beach, so don't get your hopes up.' Adam said, smirking as the others giggled.

Anna gave her friends dirty looks as she sulked and reached into the ice bucket for another lemon, lime and bitters only for Senna to grab one of her fingers, which made the girl yelp as she felt the crab pinch her finger and looked at Senna, who was dangling in the air.

'AHHHHH, CRAB!' Anna screamed loudly, as she tried to shake Senna off as the crab held on tight while feeling dizzy, 'there's a crab in the ice bucket and it grabbed my finger and broke a nail!'

'Don't hurt it!' said Mia, 'just take it off gently and put it on the ground. It wouldn't hurt anyone, although I find it odd that it's wearing pearls since normal crabs usually don't. It must be a rare species.'

But Anna wasn't listening, as she kept flinging Senna back and forth in a vain attempt to get her to let go, while the poor crab, who had gone through many ordeals in one single day, groaned as her stomach lurched from being flung around roughly, which made her humiliation at the concert and confessing Lily's secret to Daisy a swim in the coral fields by comparison.

'I can't take much more of this!' she moaned as she was finally released and flung into the air for the countless time today and she was getting rather sick of it as she landed onto the cricket bat that was lying on the grass.

Cody picked it up and looked at the crab before flicking her away like she was a piece of paper and she landed in the pool, swallowing the water which tasted of chlorine and it was far worse that the powder.

'This is no way to treat a crab of my status!' she said, as she managed to get up onto the surface, spluttering up water and swam across the pool and struggled to climb out of it as she slipped against the edge and fell back in but after a few attempts, she was out.

Shaking off excess water, Senna hurriedly walked inside the house, careful to avoid Anna and jumped onto some sort of bench, pushed herself up and gasped in horror when she realised that she was in the very worst room of a human house a crab could be in.

THE DREADED KITCHEN.

Poor Senna saw Melinda cooking, frying and covering fish with breadcrumbs and squirting lemon juice on them, putting shrimp on skewers and prawns in tall glasses on iceberg lettuces and squirting Thousand Island dressing on them, which made Senna throw up a little in her mouth before she swallowed it back.

This was the stuff of nightmares, what Senna had sung to Lily about to discourage her from the human world and what she had feared would happen to her if she disobeyed the queen but she never imagined that she would actually see it up close.

'Oh, dear Poseidon, they really are fish-eaters after all,' Senna said to but the worst was yet to come as she gasped even louder when she saw a huge plate full of… STUFFED CRABS!

'And they stuff crabs as well?' she squeaked, 'oh, this is too horrible! Why did I even come here in the first place if I was to see my worst fears and my fellow crustaceans being served on a DINNER PLATE?'

Gagging at the sight of the poor crabs stuffed with breadcrumbs and served with iceberg lettuces and lemon slices and unable to take any more torture, she passed out right next to the plate, just as Melinda was picking it up.

'Oh, here's one I've missed,' she said, putting the plate back down and picking up the unconscious crab.

Ben was staring at the ocean, not really thinking about anything or going over to talk to his friends, as the girls watched the boys play cricket as he sipped his beer and threw a slightly burned meat patty to Ruby, who ate it eagerly as he thought of his mystery girl again.

No matter how had he tried and convinced himself that he liked his new friend and he was much happier when she was around him, she was stuck in his mind and he couldn't get her out of it. He had to find her and he didn't care how long it would take.

'Ben,' Phil called out to his son, but he wasn't listening to him as her voice rang in his head, singing the beautiful song to him, the one that fascinated him and his memory of her and Phil sighed in frustration.

'Benjamin!' he said, which made Ben snap out of his daydreaming at hearing his full name.

'Oh, sorry, Dad, I was a million miles away. I was thinking about..her.' Ben said, dreamily.

'Oh no, not this again,' said Phil, sighing heavily.

'I've told you already that girl does not exist! You've got to stop thinking about her, she's messing with your mind and you're confusing fantasy with reality, which isn't like you at all.'

'Dad, she is real!' Ben said, 'and I will find her, no matter what it takes! I love her and I want to spend the rest of my life with her, just like how you felt about Mum.'

'Ben, mate, I know that you still miss your mother terribly, like I do and that you are a hopeless romantic like she was, but let's be reasonable here.

Young ladies don't just swim about rescuing people in the middle of the ocean in this day and age and then disappear into thin air like some sort of..' Phil said only to be interrupted by Ben.

'Dad, believe me, when I find her, she'll be the one that I will marry in the distant future. But on the bright side, I did make a new friend today and I can't wait for you and the guys to meet her!' Ben said, cheerfully which made Phil smile.

'Ah, yes, the girl on the beach, who I've heard so much about and will be staying here while I'm in Auckland,' Phil said, 'when do we get to meet her?'

At that moment, Melinda's gentle laughter could be heard from inside and Ben turned to see her and Lily coming towards them with Melinda smiling at the girl, who shyly walked behind her.

'Come on, love, there's no need to be shy, everyone is looking forward to meeting you!' Melinda said, urging her gently.

Lily slowly walked outside, while Ben gasped in amazement as she approached him. She was wearing a blue sleeveless dress with various flowers and patterns on it and pink thongs on her feet and her hair was freshly washed and shone in the sun.

'Doesn't she look lovely?' Melinda said, 'and that dress really suits her, it was so kind of Mia to give it to her.'

'Wow, Lily, you look so..so..beautiful,' Ben stammered slightly. Lily, unable to say 'thank you', replied with a gentle blush and smile as Ben smiled back and led her to his father.

'Yes, she's truly a vision,' Phil said, as he looked at the girl, 'now aren't you going to introduce me to your lovely lady, Ben?'

'Of course I am, Dad,' Ben said, 'Lily, this is my dad, Phil Steele. Dad, this is Lily, the girl I found on the beach this morning. She's mute but I know her name because she wrote it down for me.'

'Likewise,' Phil said, 'but it's lovely to meet you, Lily and I hope that you enjoy it here at Bellagio Lodge. It's not often that we have such a lovely young guest staying with us,' and offered his hand to her.

Remembering what she did earlier with Melinda, Lily shook the man's hand, again a little too much which Phil did not find amusing but Ben was unsuccessfully trying to hide his snickers before composing himself when he saw his father staring at him.

'Oh, sorry, Dad, but she's so funny!' Ben said, 'in a good way of course. Come on, Lily, let's go see the guys, they've been really looking forward to meeting you!'

He took Lily's hand and felt his heart flutter again as he led her towards the pool, where his friends still were and saw him coming with the mute girl from the beach.

'Oh, look, Ben's finally decided to join us!' Cody said, a bit sarcastically.

'And he's bringing the mute girl over! He'll want us to be nice to her, so just smile and greet her in a mildly convincing manner,' Anna said, putting on a fake smile as Ben approached his friends, who smiled at Lily and she smiled shyly back, wondering how she would be able to fit in with them, especially with the girls.

Ben could tell that his friends were being insincere and putting on fake smiles for his and Lily's sake, apart from Mia and Grace, who were being genuine but he pretended not to notice as he was too infatuated with Lily as he ushered her to come forward.

'Lily, these are my mates,' Ben said and Lily nodded and smiled at them as they said their hellos and nice to meet yous, 'these guys here are Cody, Adam and Matt,' pointing to the three boys who smiled and winked at her.

'G'day, love, how's it going?' Adam said, 'and what a spunk you are!' which made Lily blush slightly.

'Her name's Lily?' Cody said, 'I thought it would be Madison or Merliah or Sirena or Nixie or Lyla. You know, like the mermaid in Splash and that cutesy Barbie movie with the surfer chick and that TV show, Mako Mermaids!'

'You forgot to mention Ariel from The Little Mermaid, you dropkick!' Adam said, 'and you call yourself a mermaid expert? How could you not mention her or the mermaid from the original story by that Danish guy, Hans whats-his-name?'

'Hans Christian Andersen,' Ben said.

'Of, course, Ariel's my favourite mermaid and I forgot about her! How could I do that? Duh!' Cody said, facepalming which Lily smiled at, 'anyhow Ben, did she used to be a mermaid and how did you know her name if she couldn't say it to you?' he then said.

'I don't think so, Cody' Ben said, as Lily shook her head, to make it look like she was denying what Cody had said, so that Ben wouldn't get suspicious.

'I just found her on the beach, washed up from a shipwreck, that's all and she wrote her name down for me in the sand. Just because she's mute, doesn't mean that's she's stupid!' Ben said, rather angrily.

'Alright, no need to get all aggro, I was just asking, that's all.' Cody said.

'Anyway, Lily, this is Mia, Grace and Anna,' Ben said, once he was calm and pointed to the three girls sitting around the pool as Mia and Grace smiled at her and Anna scowled, clearly unimpressed with her and was making no effort to be friendly.

'Mia was the one who gave you your clothes,' he then said as Lily nodded and smiled at Mia, wishing that she could talk so that she could thank her for the clothes but Mia didn't seem to mind and smiled at her.

'Hi, Lily, it's nice to meet you,' Grace then said, 'and I'm sorry about what happened to you, that must have been awful. But it was lucky that Ben found you and it's great that you're staying with him.'

'Yes, it's so nice to finally meet you, it's such a shame that you can't speak or have any decent fashion sense,' Anna said, without any sincerity as she wrinkled her nose at Lily's dress and clearly wasn't interested in talking to her.

As far as she was concerned, her conversation with Lily was over and the former mermaid screwed up her face at the girl's unkind remarks and hoped that other humans that she would meet later weren't like her.

'Anna, don't be so rude!' Mia said, 'it was the best I could get under short notice and you didn't get her anything, so don't be so mean to her!'

'Anyway, it's lovely to meet you, Lily and I hope that you like here at Mermaid Beach, it's such a nice place and that dress looks so good on you, much better than it did on me,' she said and Lily smiled at the kind girl, liking her already.

She then pointed to the dress and put her hands on her chest, which Mia interpreted as her way of saying that she liked it and thanking her for giving it to her.

'Oh, you're welcome, it really does suit you. If you need any more clothes, just let me know and I'll be more than happy to give them to you,' Mia said, as Lily nodded her thanks.

'Come and sit down with us and have a drink, you must be thirsty,' as she patted the space next to her and Lily sat down, feeling the cool water on her feet and Mia scooted over to give her some room and grabbed a lemon, lime and bitters from the ice bucket.

'Here you go, a nice cold lemon, lime and bitters,' Mia said, giving the bottle to Lily, who had no idea how to open it but Mia kindly did it for her and seeing her and the others taking sips from the bottle, she copied them and tasted the tangy, sweet and fizzy liquid which tickled her tongue but had a pleasant taste, if a bit bitter.

'Good, isn't it?' Mia said and Lily nodded as she took another slow sip while she watched Ben and the boys play with the 'paddlelapper' and the 'bounceabobble,' only they were doing it wrong by whacking it instead of bouncing it, which was not how it was supposed to go and she wanted to show them how it was done.

But instead she stayed put, splashing her feet in the pool while she listened to the girls chatting and laughing about things that she didn't know or understand about but she nodded to show that she was interested and the girls simply smiled at her, except for Anna who was busy texting on her phone.

As she reflected on the day she had, she felt it was going well so far. Ben was starting to like her and his father and his housekeeper had made her feel welcome by giving her a place to stay and she had nice clothes to wear.

And she had made new friends, especially with Mia and Grace and the boys were nice enough but not much so with Anna, as her sullen and snotty attitude reminded her of Fern and she had a feeling that she and the snobby girl were not going to get along but she decided to not let it bother her.

At the thought of Fern, Lily looked at the ocean and briefly wondered what her mother and sisters were doing at this very moment, as she hadn't thought about them since she came on land.

Since they didn't know where she had gone, she supposed that they would be worried about her but considering what had happened at the grotto with Daisy, they would think that she wouldn't want to come back.

'Food's ready!' Melinda called out from the house and Lily shook off her unpleasant thoughts as she saw that everyone was heading back inside and turned her attention back towards Ben, who was standing next to her.

'Aren't you coming?' he said as Lily got up and took his hand as he led her towards the house and Lily thought so far, so good.

If today was anything to go by, then four days to get Ben to kiss her didn't seem so impossible now.