She was asking for it. She really was.
“You’re lucky you only burned your foot,” Dr. D said. “Coral can be very sharp. You could have cut your foot and gotten poison into your bloodstream. Then you’d really be in trouble.”
“Wow! What kind of trouble?” Sheena asked. She seemed awfully eager to hear about all the terrible things that could have happened to me.
Dr. D’s expression turned serious. “The poison could paralyze you,” he said.
“Oh, great,” I said.
“So keep away from the red coral from now on,” Dr. D warned. “And stay away from the lagoon, too.”
“But that’s where the sea monster lives!” I protested. “We have to go back there. I have to show it to you!”
Sheena bobbed in the blue-green water. “No such thing, no such thing,” she chanted. Her favorite phrase. “No such thing — right, Dr. D?”
“Well, you never know,” Dr. D replied thoughtfully. “We don’t know all of the creatures that live in the oceans, Sheena. It’s better to say that scientists have never seen one.”
“So there, She-Ra,” I said.
Sheena spit a stream of water at me. She hates it when I call her She-Ra.
“Listen, kids — I’m serious about staying away from this area,” said Dr. D. “There may not be a sea monster in that lagoon, but there could be sharks, poisonous fish, electric eels. Any number of dangerous creatures. Don’t swim over there.”
He paused and frowned at me, as if to make sure I’d been paying attention.
“How’s your foot feeling, Billy?” he asked.
“It’s a little better now,” I told him.
“Good. Enough adventure for one morning. Let’s get back to the boat. It’s almost lunchtime.”
We all started swimming back to the Cassandra.
As I kicked, I felt something tickle my leg again.
Seaweed?
No.
It brushed against my thigh like — fingers.
“Cut it out, Sheena,” I shouted angrily. I spun around to splash water in her face.
But she wasn’t there. She wasn’t anywhere near me.
She was up ahead, swimming beside Dr. D.
Sheena couldn’t possibly have tickled me.
But something definitely did.
I stared down at the water, suddenly gripped with terror.
What was down there?
Why was it teasing me like that?
Was it preparing to grab me again and pull me down forever?
5
Alexander DuBrow, Dr. D’s assistant, helped us aboard the boat.
“Hey, I heard shouting,” Alexander said. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is fine, Alexander,” said Dr. D. “Billy stepped on some fire coral, but he’s all right.”
As I climbed up the ladder, Alexander grabbed my hands and pulled me aboard.
“Wow, Billy,” he said. “Fire coral. I accidentally bumped into the fire coral my first day here. I saw stars. I really did, man. You sure you’re okay?”
I nodded and showed him my foot. “It feels better now. But that wasn’t the worst thing that happened. I was almost eaten by a sea monster!”
“No such thing, no such thing,” Sheena chanted.
“I really saw it,” I insisted. “They don’t believe me. But it was there. In the lagoon. It was big and green and —”
Alexander smiled. “If you say so, Billy,” he said. He winked at Sheena.
I wanted to punch out his lights, too.
Big deal science student. What did he know?
Alexander was in his early twenties. But, unlike Dr. D, he didn’t look like a scientist.
He looked more like a football player. He was very tall, about six feet four inches, and muscular. He had thick, wavy blond hair and blue eyes that crinkled in the corners. He had broad shoulders and big powerful-looking hands. He spent a lot of time in the sun and had a smooth, dark tan.
“I hope you’re all hungry,” Alexander said. “I made chicken salad sandwiches for lunch.”
“Oh. Great,” Sheena said, rolling her eyes.
Alexander did most of the cooking. He thought he was good at it. But he wasn’t.
I went belowdecks to my cabin to change out of my wet bathing suit. My cabin was really just a tiny sleeping cubby with a cupboard for my things. Sheena had one just like it. Dr. D and Alexander had bigger cabins that they could actually walk around in.
We ate in the galley, which was what Dr. D called the boat’s kitchen. It had a built-in table and built-in seats, and a small area for cooking.
When I entered the galley, Sheena was already sitting at the table. There was a big sandwich on a plate in front of her and one waiting for me.
Neither of us was too eager to try Alexander’s chicken salad. The night before, we had eaten brussels sprouts casserole. For breakfast this morning, he served us whole wheat pancakes that sank to the bottom of my stomach like the Titanic going down!
“You first,” I whispered to my sister.
“Uh-uh,” Sheena said, shaking her head. “You try it. You’re older.”
My stomach growled. I sighed. There was nothing to do but taste it.
I sank my teeth into the sandwich and started chewing.
Not bad, I thought at first. A little chicken, a little mayonnaise. It actually tasted like a regular chicken salad sandwich.
Then, suddenly, my tongue started to burn. My whole mouth was on fire!
I let out a cry and grabbed for the glass of iced tea in front of me. I downed the entire glass.
“Fire coral!” I screamed. “You put fire coral in the chicken salad!”
Alexander laughed. “Just a little chili pepper. For taste. You like it?”
“I think I’d rather have cereal for lunch,” Sheena said, setting down her sandwich. “If you don’t mind.”
“You can’t have cereal for every meal,” Alexander replied, frowning. “No wonder you’re so skinny, Sheena. You never eat anything but cereal. Where’s your spirit of adventure?”
“I think I’ll have cereal, too,” I said sheepishly. “Just for a change of pace.”
Dr. D came into the galley. “What’s for lunch?” he asked.
“Chicken salad sandwiches,” said Alexander. “I made them spicy.”
“Very spicy,” I warned him.
Dr. D glanced at me and raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really?” he said. “You know, I’m not very hungry. I think I’ll just have cereal for lunch.”
“Maybe Billy and I could make dinner tonight,” Sheena offered. She poured cereal into a bowl and added milk. “It’s not fair for Alexander to cook all the time.”
“That’s a nice idea, Sheena,” said Dr. D. “What do you two know how to make?”
“I know how to make brownies from a mix,” I offered.
“And I know how to make fudge,” said Sheena.
“Hmm,” said Dr. D. “Maybe I’ll cook tonight. How does grilled fish sound?”
“Great!” I said.
After lunch, Dr. D went into his office to go over some notes. Alexander led Sheena and me into the main lab to show us around.
The work lab was really cool. It had three big glass tanks along the wall filled with weird, amazing fish.
The smallest tank held two bright yellow sea horses and an underwater trumpet. The underwater trumpet was a long red-and-white fish shaped like a tube. There were also a lot of guppies swimming around in this tank.
Another tank held some flame angelfish, which were orange-red like fire, and a harlequin tusk-fish with orange and aqua tiger stripes for camouflage.
The biggest tank held a long black-and-yellow snakelike thing with a mouth full of teeth.
“Ugh!” Sheena made a disgusted face as she stared at the long fish. “That one is really gross!”
“That’s a black ribbon eel,” said Alexander. “He bites, but he’s not deadly. We call him Biff.”
I snarled through the glas
s at Biff, but he ignored me.
I wondered what it would be like to come face-to-face with Biff in the ocean. His teeth looked nasty, but he wasn’t nearly as big as the sea monster. I figured William Deep, Jr., world-famous undersea explorer, could handle it.
I turned away from the fish tanks and stood by the control panel, staring at all the knobs and dials.
“What does this do?” I asked. I pushed a button. A loud horn blared. We all jumped, startled.
“It honks the horn,” Alexander said, laughing.
“Dr. D told Billy not to touch things without asking first,” said Sheena. “He’s told him a million times. He never listens.”
“Shut up, She-Ra!” I said sharply.
“You shut up.”
“Hey — no problem,” said Alexander, raising both hands, motioning for us to chill out. “No harm done.”
I turned back to the panel. Most of the dials were lit up, with little red indicators moving across their faces. I noticed one dial that was dark, its red indicator still.
“What’s this for?” I asked, pointing to the dark dial. “It looks like you forgot to turn it on.”
“Oh, that controls the Nansen bottle,” Alexander said. “It’s broken.”
“What’s a Nansen bottle?” asked Sheena.
“It collects samples of seawater from way down deep,” said Alexander.
“Why don’t you fix it?” I asked.
“We can’t afford to,” said Alexander.
“Why not?” asked Sheena. “Doesn’t the university give you money?”
We both knew that Dr. D’s research was paid for by a university in Ohio.
“They gave us money for our research,” Alexander explained. “But it’s almost gone. We’re waiting to see if they’ll give us more. In the meantime, we don’t have the money to fix things.”
“What if the Cassandra breaks down or something?” I asked.
“Then I guess we’ll have to put her in dry dock for a while,” said Alexander. “Or else find a new way to get more money.”
“Wow,” said Sheena. “That would mean no more summer visits.”
I hated to think of the Cassandra just sitting on a dock. Even worse was the thought of Dr. D being stuck on land with no fish to study.
Our uncle was miserable whenever he had to go ashore. He didn’t feel comfortable unless he was on a boat. I know, because one Christmas he came to our house to visit.
Usually Dr. D is fun to be with. But that Christmas visit was a nightmare.
Dr. D spent the whole time pacing through the house. He barked orders at us like a sea captain.
“Billy, sit up straight!” he yelled at me. “Sheena, swab the decks!”
He just wasn’t himself.
Finally, on Christmas Eve, my dad couldn’t take it anymore. He told Dr. D to shape up or ship out.
Dr. D ended up spending a good part of Christmas Day in the bathtub playing with my old toy boats. As long as he stayed in the water, he was back to normal.
I never wanted to see Dr. D stranded on land again.
“Don’t worry, kids,” Alexander said. “Dr. D has always found a way to get by.”
I hoped Alexander was right.
I studied another strange dial, marked SONAR PROBES.
“Hey, Alexander,” I said. “Will you show me how the sonar probes work?”
“Sure,” said Alexander. “Just let me finish a few chores.”
He walked over to the first fish tank. He scooped out a few guppies with a small net.
“Who wants to feed Biff today?”
“Not me,” said Sheena. “Yuck!”
“No way!” I said as I stepped to a porthole and peered out.
I thought I heard a motor outside. So far we had seen very few other boats. Not many people passed by Ilandra.
A white boat chugged up to the side of the Cassandra. It was smaller but newer than our boat. A logo on the side said MARINA ZOO.
A man and a woman stood on the deck of the zoo boat. They were both neatly dressed in khaki pants and button-down shirts. The man had a short, neat haircut, and the woman’s brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She carried a black briefcase.
The man waved to someone on the deck of the Cassandra. I figured he had to be waving at Dr. D.
Now Sheena and Alexander stood beside me at the porthole, watching.
“Who’s that?” Sheena asked.
Alexander cleared his throat. “I’d better go see what this is about,” he said.
He handed Sheena the net with the guppies in it. “Here,” he said. “Feed Biff. I’ll be back later.”
He left the lab in a hurry.
Sheena looked at the squirming guppies in the net and made a face.
“I’m not going to stay here and watch Biff eat these poor guppies.” She stuck the net in my hand and ran out of the cabin.
I didn’t want to watch Biff eat the poor fish, either. But I didn’t know what else to do with them.
I quickly dumped the guppies into Biff’s tank. The eel’s head shot forward. His teeth clamped down on a fish. The guppy disappeared. Biff grabbed for another one.
He was a fast eater.
I dropped the net on a table and walked out of the lab.
I made my way down the narrow passageway, planning to go up on deck for some air.
I wondered if Dr. D would let me do some more snorkeling this afternoon.
If he said yes, maybe I would swim toward the lagoon, see if I could find any sign of the sea monster.
Was I scared?
Yes.
But I was also determined to prove to my sister and uncle that I wasn’t crazy. That I wasn’t making it up.
I was passing Dr. D’s office when I heard voices. I figured Dr. D and Alexander must be in there with the two people from the zoo.
I paused for just a second. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, I swear. But the man from the zoo had a loud voice, and I couldn’t help but hear him.
And what he said was the most amazing thing I had ever heard in my whole entire life.
“I don’t care how you do it, Dr. Deep,” the man bellowed. “But I want you to find that mermaid!”
6
A mermaid!
Was he serious?
I couldn’t believe it. Did he really want my uncle to find a real, live mermaid?
I knew Sheena would start chanting, “No such thing, no such thing.” But here was a grown man, a man who worked for a zoo, talking about a mermaid. It had to be real!
My heart started to pound with excitement. I might be one of the first people on earth ever to see a mermaid! I thought.
And then I had an even better thought: What if I was the one to find her?
I’d be famous! I’d be on TV and everything!
William Deep, Jr., the famous sea explorer!
Well, after I heard that, I couldn’t just walk away. I had to hear more.
Holding my breath, I pressed my ear to the door and listened.
“Mr. Showalter, Ms. Wickman, please understand,” I heard Dr. D saying. “I’m a scientist, not a circus trainer. My work is serious. I can’t waste my time looking for fairy tale creatures.”
“We’re quite serious, Dr. Deep,” said Ms. Wickman. “There is a mermaid in these waters. And if anyone can find her, you can.”
I heard Alexander ask, “What makes you think there’s really a mermaid out there?”
“A fisherman from a nearby island spotted her,” replied the man from the zoo. “He said he got pretty close to her — and he’s sure she’s real. He saw her near the reef — this reef, just off Ilandra.”
The reef! Maybe she lives in the lagoon!
I leaned closer to the door. I didn’t want to miss a word of this.
“Some of these fishermen are very superstitious, Mr. Showalter,” my uncle scoffed. “For years there have been stories … but no real reason to believe them.”
“We didn’t believe the man ourselves,” said the woman.
“Not at first. But we asked some other fishermen in the area, and they claim to have seen the mermaid, too. And I think they’re telling the truth. Their descriptions of her match, down to the smallest detail.”
I could hear my uncle’s desk chair creak. I imagined him leaning forward as he asked, “And how, exactly, did they describe her?”
“They said she looked like a young girl,” Mr. Showalter told him. “Except for the” — he cleared his throat — “the fish tail. She’s small, delicate, with long blond hair.”
“They described her tail as shiny and bright green,” said the woman. “I know it sounds incredible, Dr. Deep. But when we spoke to the fishermen, we were convinced that they really saw a mermaid!”
There was a pause.
Was something missing? I pressed my ear to the door. I heard my uncle ask. “And why, exactly, do you want to capture this mermaid?”
“Obviously, a real, live mermaid would be a spectacular attraction at a zoo like ours,” said the woman. “People from all over the world would flock to see her. The Marina Zoo would make millions of dollars.
“We are prepared to pay you very well for your trouble, Dr. Deep,” said Mr. Showalter. “I understand you are running out of money. What if the university refuses to give you more? It would be terrible if you had to stop your important work just because of that.”
“The Marina Zoo can promise you one million dollars,” said the woman. “If you find the mermaid. I’m sure your lab could run for a long time on that much money.”
A million dollars! I thought. How could Dr. D turn down that kind of money?
My heart pounded with excitement. I pushed against the door, straining to hear. What would my uncle’s answer be?
7
Leaning hard against the door, I heard Dr. D let out a long, low whistle. “That’s quite a lot of money, Ms. Wickman,” I heard him say.
There was a long pause. Then he continued. “But even if mermaids existed, I wouldn’t feel right about capturing one for a zoo to put on display.”
“I promise you we would take excellent care of her,” replied Mr. Showalter. “Our dolphins and whales are very well cared for. The mermaid, of course, would get extra-special treatment.”
“And remember, Dr. Deep,” said Ms. Wickman. “If you don’t find her, someone else will. And there’s no guarantee that they will treat the mermaid as well as we will.”