Mina was still swimming strong, but her shark was gaining on her every second. She saw a large rock ahead of her partly sticking out of the water. Without thinking, she leapt out of the water onto the rock. As she was pulling herself into the middle of the rock, the shark jumped after her, but overshot and fell into the water on the other side. This move by Mina gave Keoni the extra few seconds he needed to catch up from behind and spear the second shark.
When she saw the pool of blood emanating from the shark, she slipped back into the water and followed Keoni to the cave where the others were hiding.
After the others emerged, the five native Okawiians immediately noticed a giant shadow above them in the telltale shape of a ship’s hull. Maria pointed up to it for Mina’s benefit, and they immediately got into pod formation and hastily swam away. The nervousness of the others was palpable to Mina. It took her a second to figure out what they were worried about. Then she realized: there was a chance that somebody on the boat had seen her when she leapt out onto the rock to escape the shark.
Oh my god! What have I done? Mina clenched her fists as she swam. This is really bad and it’s all my fault. She knew she had no other choice but to jump because of the shark, but still, she had compromised the safety of her friends. The mermaids swam on and she looked around at them. Nobody caught her eye, except for Ana, who smirked and shook her head. Mina blushed and looked back down at the sea floor.
Hector Orr was on his yacht looking out at the horizon when suddenly a girl popped out of the sea and landed on a rock about 50 yards away. A tiger shark jumped into the air next to her, and he swore the streak of gold he saw was a large fish tail on her, but when he turned for his binoculars she had slipped back into the sea. Hector figured he was hallucinating, but intently watched the smooth Pacific surface just in case. Sure enough, the bubble pattern emerged. He had learned 15 years ago that the mermaids emitted a specific pattern of bubbles when they were breathing underwater. It was sort of like Morse code with a line of bubbles that was small, small, big in the direction the mermaids were going.
“Mike! Jim! Pull up the anchor! We’ve got to move fast!” Hector couldn’t believe what he had just seen. In the past 15 years he had scoured the Pacific for any sign of these bubbles. Until he had met Simon at Venatus, he had almost given up hope of ever tracking a mermaid again.
Hector’s crewmen jumped to his orders, mindful that any delay might bring out the monster in Hector. It was with this in mind that Mike timidly approached his boss. “Sir? We’re working on it, but we’re not going to be able to leave for 20 minutes. There are some long lines out that we need to reel in, and the anchor is pretty deep.”
“Twenty minutes?!” roared Hector. “By then it will be too late! Hurry it up!”
Hector remained engrossed with his binoculars as his crew prepared the Veni Vidi Vici. After what seemed like an eternity pulling up the lines, he gave the order. “Head in that direction, not too fast though. Go about five knots.” He didn’t want to tell them what it was exactly he was looking for, not yet at least, but he did want their help in looking. “Keep a lookout for any weird fish near the surface.”
The mermaids swam away from the boat as fast as they could while shepherding a 500 pound tuna. Keoni was in the lead this time and he directed the group toward Tuka. As much as he would have liked to swim straight through to Okawii, they needed to rest for the night and it would give them a chance to talk things through.
For the first 20 minutes they made good progress away from the yacht. The fact that some long fishing lines coming from it were being reeled in, however, worried Keoni. Then the mermaids heard the boat sputter to life and slowly come after them.
Keoni knew their bubbles would give them away to anyone in the know, but they had no choice but to press onward toward Tuka. Six mermaid’s bubble trails were too obvious for someone looking for them. The blue and white yacht stayed a good 50 feet behind them, but did not move off their tail.
Mina felt worse and worse about leaping out onto the rock. It had been an act of self-defense, but still, she had endangered her entire group. She knew in her gut that the boat was after them—and she was to blame.
When they arrived at Tuka, they tied the large net containing the tuna off on the reef and Keoni motioned to the others to hold their breaths to stop the bubbles. On his count of three they held their breaths and swam after him around to the back of the island away from the boat where they jumped onto the beach and rolled in the sand, trying to dry off as fast as possible. Once they regained their legs, the six teenagers ran into the forest to wait until dark. The yacht anchored in front of the island where their bubbles had stopped.
The island of Tuka was quite a bit smaller than Okawii. It had no mountain or river, like Okawii, but it was big enough to have a few large freshwater ponds fed mostly by rainfall. The Okawiians were able to stay hidden, watching the boat circle the island many times looking for any sign of their bubbles.
As night fell, Mina shivered and drank again from her gourd. They were able to refill from the ponds and go fishing, but any chance of cooking the fish over a warming fire was out of the question.
“Why is that anchored boat so obsessed with this island?” asked Filipe naively, while fileting a small white fish for his supper. “Whatever they’re chasing could be miles away by now.”
Keoni looked gravely at him. “I think they’re chasing us. They probably think the mermaids are living in the reef. There is no way they know that we have legs, too, so we’re going to have to be very careful tomorrow.”
“So what’s the plan?” asked Mina nervously.
“The plan is to leave before sunrise and get as far away from here as possible while it’s still dark. With an hour or two head start, we should be far enough away that they’ll never be able to find us.”
“Psst! Wake up!”
Mina felt herself being shaken awake and was disoriented. She wasn’t in Tuscon or on Okawii. The sun was shining in her eyes and sand was pressing uncomfortably on her neck. Then she sat up suddenly, remembering their precarious situation on Tuka. Keoni was waking the others.
“Get up, get up! We’re late, the sun’s up!”
Chapter 10
In addition to the celebrations for marriages and births, seven major feasts were observed on Okawii every year. This particular holiday was for the good harvest of breadfruit, yams, and taro. Mina and her fishing party were not welcomed back with all the glory of a typical hunt, but then, they had only brought back one tuna, which meant that there would not be a lot of extra fish to be smoked for all of the islanders, and they had brought back a strange yacht now parked outside their waters.
As twilight approached, Mina counted at least twenty fires around the main lodge. Three were large bonfires, meant to give light and affect the mood, ten were smaller fires meant to be gathered around for conversation, and the rest were for food preparation only. People weaved in and out of groups, but in general, the older women stayed by the food preparation, and the older men stayed with the elders talking around the fire closest to the main lodge.
Mina was happy to be back home after the long, nerve-wracking swim home; however, her anxiety about the yacht prevented her from fully enjoying the traditional dancing going on around her. She sat staring at one of the fires for a long time, telling anyone who asked what was wrong that she was tired from the journey. They all believed her, each one thinking back to his or her own first long fishing trip. The only thing that was able to pull her gaze from the dancing flames was a fire dancer who was juggling torches right in front of her.
She gave him a fake smile and watched him for five minutes before he finally left her alone. What Mina wanted more than anything was to tell her grandmother what had happened, from beginning to end, knowing that she would have some sort of good explanation or at least be able to soothe her worries. Unfortunately, Nukuluve had been busy with the feast preparations all day and was now with the other older women preparing dishe
s from the tuna they had brought in that morning. After reviewing the events over and over in her head, Mina decided to pull her grandmother away from her peers no matter how rude she seemed.
As she walked over to her grandmother, she heard bits and pieces of several conversations, all of them related to the boat anchored outside the reef. She made eye contact with Maria on her way, and Filipe waved at her and motioned her over to him.
“What’s up?” she asked him, her cool face hiding her uneasiness.
“Come on.” He waved her after him as he headed to another fire a hundred yards away.
She wove through the crowd to get closer to the fire. There sat Keoni and the elders around the fire. Chief Akolo, dressed in full regalia and with ceremonial staff in hand, was standing next to Keoni, and many of the adults were there listening as well. Keoni had just finished telling the story of their past two days.
“…and so there they are anchored outside our reef. I have no idea who they are and have many questions.” Keoni looked around at the elders. “Has this particular yacht been seen before? Although they seemed to follow us here, is there any way they are here totally by accident? Other boats have wandered into our waters accidentally in the past. Could it just be another case of a stray fishing boat?”
For the first time in his life Keoni felt like a man. He had the full attention of the elders and adults at the fire and had comported himself well.
Akolo looked at the elders and in particular at Uhila, who was the most senior elder on the island. At 92 years old, Uhila’s mind was still sharp. He had been responsible for voting Akolo in as Chief when Mina’s grandfather suddenly passed away. He had been Akolo’s sharpest critic for not maintaining contact with the Island Council. Ultimately Uhila quieted down, knowing that discord for a chief at the beginning of his reign, especially a chief with no real relational ties to the Okawiian chiefly line, could be disastrous for the small island.
Uhila spoke. “It could be a coincidence, but we cannot deny the fact that Mina leapt out of the water and showed herself.”
Mina felt her cheeks flush in the firelight and blinked back tears. As much as it was her fault, she didn’t want the whole island to blame her. She hoped they understood that jumping out of the water was her only defense against the shark.
Akolo spoke. “Uhila is right. We do not yet know their purpose here. We should treat it like any other case of a stray boat until we find out for sure, but we should take necessary precautions.”
The other elders nodded.
Mina whispered to Filipe, “What is normal procedure for a stray boat?”
“The chief and an entourage, dressed ceremonially, go out in a small boat, ask permission to board the intruding vessel, and explain to them our culturally protected status. So far there hasn’t been anyone who denies the wishes of a real live Polynesian chief,” Filipe whispered back.
Another elder spoke. “Although there has been word from our friends of hunter sightings elsewhere, Okawii has not been exposed to this kind of danger in 15 years.”
Others murmured in agreement. Mina’s ears pricked up. Fifteen years ago was when she was last at Okawii with her mother and father.
She turned to Filipe and whispered, “What happened fifteen years ago?”
“I don’t know,” he answered. “I wasn’t born yet and they don’t talk about that incident very much.”
She wondered whether or not her mother’s death had anything to do with this, and filed it away in her list of questions to ask Nukuluve.
After Keoni’s story, all seriousness was forgotten and the Feast really took off. People ignored the danger as the coconut liquor began to flow. The dancing was marvelous to watch, and Mina wavered back and forth between desperately wanting to join in, and being afraid of making a fool of herself.
Out of habit, Mina kept an eye on where Keoni was. She was always looking out for the accidental opportunity to be near him, but he didn’t move from the fire, staying to discuss the situation further with the elders. Mina went to find her grandmother, and stood next to her to help prepare the next few courses. Unfortunately, being surrounded by other older women preparing breadfruit, she didn’t have a chance to talk with her. After a while she joined Maria, Paul, and Filipe around a fire with a few other teenagers. She took a sip from the coconut when it was passed around to her, but didn’t say much and mostly gazed into the fire thinking about her mom.
As Mina was ruminating, Ana stumbled over to the group, reeking of coconut liquor. She draped her hand over Maria’s shoulders and slurred, “Hi guys.”
Maria sent Mina a look that said, “Wow.”
One of the guys in the group asked Ana, “Are you okay there?”
Ignoring him, Ana stumbled over to Mina and asked loudly, “What do you think you’re doing with Keoni? Huh?”
Mina froze and tried not to pay attention to the drunken Ana. She turned her gaze back to the fire, but Ana gave her a light shove.
“Hey! I’m talking to you! I know you’re trying to take Keoni away from me! Well you need to stop. We’re meant for each other; we’re the only ones on the island for each other.” Ana’s eyes glowed with hatred.
Mina looked around to make sure Keoni was nowhere in sight. Her head was swirling with a million thoughts, but she kept her cool. “Relax, Ana. There’s nothing going on between us.” She was grateful for the dim firelight that hid her blushing. There truly was nothing going on between them, but that doesn’t mean that Mina hadn’t occasionally dreamed of him holding her hand.
“He’s mine. It’s a done deal,” slurred Ana vehemently.
Mina silently put up both hands and slowly shook her head in protest. Filipe pulled Ana away from her, and led her away from the fire.
Maria approached Mina. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Um, I don’t want to get involved or anything, but I do want to tell you that she’s sort of right,” Maria said.
Mina’s stomach flipped. She was sure she hadn’t been obvious about her crush on Keoni. She never sought him out, never exhibited any sign, and had been careful to hide her joy at being near him. Did everyone else seriously think she liked him and was actively trying to steal him from anyone?
“What do you mean?”
“Just that she’s right about the ‘only ones on the island for each other’ thing she said. You might not know, but there are strict rules on Okawii about who can marry whom. Otherwise there’s a danger of incest on such a small island. Those who don’t want to adhere to the rules have to find a spouse from an outside mermaid group—or marry a plain human like your mom and Lepolo did. Keoni’s mom is one of 9, so he is cousins with almost everyone on the island. Those he’s not cousins with are all married or too young for him, except Ana. It’s kind of hard to explain. Ask your grandmother, she can explain it better.”
“I guess that makes sense,” said Mina, in order to say something at all. She didn’t want to lie to her friend and say she didn’t like Keoni, but she did think often enough of Andrew back at home not to be completely sure. Mina realized that she missed Andrew very much at that moment. Just having him near her gave her such a feeling of safety, a feeling she needed now, on this island full of people she had just met.
Maria added, “Look, I don’t know if you like him or not, or whatever. Just be careful of Ana, she can be pretty cruel.”
“So I’ve learned,” said Mina wryly.
The feast slowly wound down in the early hours of the morning. Mina was so upset that Ana had embarrassed her that she forgot about talking to her grandmother about the fishing trip. The others who were talking by the fire slowly left for bed until only Mina, Maria, and Paul remained.
Keoni approached their fire and sat down next to Mina. The four of them chatted for a while about the food and entertainment at the feast, all of them avoiding the topic of their spoiled fishing trip. Finally Maria and Paul retired and Mina was left alone with Keoni.
“Hey,??
? she said, resting her head on her knees. “I’m so sorry about jumping out like that. I ruined it for everyone.”
“It happens,” Keoni said warmly.
“I just—”
“Mina,” Keoni said, cutting her off. “I like you. You’re not like any other girl here.”
Her heart was pounding as she looked into his deep, brown eyes. She could not believe what she was hearing.
Unable to answer, she nodded. Keoni gently picked up her hand.
Mina finally found her voice. “I really like you, too.”
He leaned in and softly kissed her on the lips. Mina’s stomach was churning. Until now she hadn’t admitted the passion toward him that had built up inside of her. She breathed him in deeply and closed her eyes to relish the moment she had been dreaming of all summer.
Keoni pulled away and looked at her, still intrigued by her vivaciousness. “You’re openness to the world opened me up at a time when,” he paused and looked down, “when I thought I’d just be stuck here running in circles.”
This struck Mina as peculiar. “What do you mean ‘stuck here’? This is paradise!” After the amazing weeks she’d spent on Okawii, she couldn’t imagine anyone not wanting to be stuck here.
Keoni smiled at her. “I’m glad you feel that way. But I had wanted to go to college before the accident. I guess I’ve been in a funk since…my dad, and your arrival made that a possibility for me again. Both your attitude toward life and your golden tail.” He purposely didn’t mention his conversation with Akolo. While it was true that the authority of the Chief on Okawii was supreme, he refused to accept this outcome. He planned on waiting a few more weeks and then bringing it up again with Uhila.
She looked up at him sheepishly. “Maybe we could apply to some of the same schools?”
Keoni grinned and embraced her.