“Sure thing, Chief Akolo,” replied Filipe. “How can we help?”
“I need you two to make a quick trip to Luta and check on the status of the turtle eggs. See if they have hatched yet and do a quick count of how many there are. I want Mina to go along to learn how this is done.”
“Very good.” Filipe was thrilled. He had never been asked to perform such an important task before, and being charged with teaching Mina about it would give him the chance to prove himself as a real contributor to the island’s well-being.
“I’d like you two to go the day after tomorrow, on Wednesday morning.”
Mina shifted her weight between her feet. “Chief Akolo?”
He looked at her, raising his eyebrows.
“My father got here not too long ago, I’d really like to spend time with him.” She looked down at her feet. It wasn’t her intention to refuse the Chief a favor, especially when he was trusting her with something that sounded important.
Chief Akolo smiled. “Don’t worry, this isn’t an overnight fishing trip. It will just be a quick morning visit to the island. You’d be back before lunch.”
Mina nodded. “Okay, great.”
Chapter 12
David spent his days wandering the island, renewing old friendships, and trying to strike the right balance between remembering Eva and realizing that what happened was ancient history. Most of Eva’s peers were now parents, and he didn’t know any of the children. Most of his time was spent at Vai Place, the only place where his lack of a tail gave him a chance at playing on a level playing field with the islanders. He looked over with interest at the mermaid children whenever he walked by the lagoon, but any jealousy he felt toward the Okawiians for their genetic mutation was long gone. Watching Mina’s obsession with the water throughout her childhood even though she had grown up so far from Okawii, he knew he didn’t have the same longing to feel the sea on his face as she and the others did.
The same morning that Filipe and Mina left for their trip to Luta, David was taking his morning walk around the island. When he got to the dock, he noticed a different yacht not too far from the reef. He paused and looked hard at the boat, and was surprised to find that he recognized it.
He walked back to his hut and emerged with binoculars.
Looking out through them at the dock, he whispered, “Why in the heck?”
David again went back to his hut and rifled through his bag, pulling out his satellite phone. It was turned off. When he turned it on he found that he had no new messages.
“Is something the matter?” asked Nukuluve.
“Maybe. My colleague’s yacht is parked outside the island. I know it’s his because I saw the tear in the back canopy from a few years ago and his son on deck. It’s probably a work issue.” David chewed his bottom lip. He knew it wasn’t the best idea to leave the bank before the First Tucson deal was done, but he had left the whole thing in the capable hands of Simon with instructions to call if there was any problem. Perhaps there had been a crisis situation and he had been trying to call, but was unable to get through and came all the way out to find him. Simon looked for any excuse to escape to his yacht.
“I’m going to go out and see him later to make sure everything’s okay. Maybe I’ll take Mina with me so she can see Andrew.”
Josephina was the most nervous mother on the island. She suffered seven miscarriages before finally having Ana and Filipe, and was incredibly over-protective of them. When Ana turned 8, Josephina wanted to have her wait until she was 9 before sending her to Mermaid Lessons. Nukuluve talked her out of that. Most people attributed Ana’s great sporting success to her mother’s overprotectiveness: whenever she was out of her mother’s sight, Ana would try the most daring things she could.
“Come and sit down, Josephina. I am just pouring some tea,” said Nukuluve, gesturing to the lady nervously approaching her fire pit.
Josephina sat down and accepted the tea gratefully. “I am worried about my Filipe. He has not yet returned from the open sea,” she said. “Is Mina back yet?”
Nukuluve sat down next to her and sipped her drink. “No, but there are many reasons they could be late, you know that,” she soothed.
“It is his first trip out besides the fishing trip and he promised they would be home by noon at the latest. It is four o’clock and they are nowhere.”
Nukuluve was used to Josephina’s anxiety and did her best to calm her down. “They may have run into a school of tuna and decided to surprise you with some. You remember how it is out in the big sea. So many distractions.”
“Yes, I remember how it is, and that is why I made them promise me not to stop for anything, even if there was a migrating group of hundreds of sea turtles.”
Josephina had been quite the swimmer in her youth. This made her over-protectiveness all the more surprising to the Okawiians.
“It is early yet, they will arrive soon.”
“They promised me no stops. They promised me,” Josephina looked down into her cup, blinking back her tears.
Chief Akolo leaned his staff against the tree by his hut. He felt confident about the island’s future. With Mina conveniently ‘placed aside,’ there was no doubt that Keoni would inherit the Chiefdom. And Keoni would be ready in the next few years. When Akolo had had enough, he and Sela would just retire to Hawaii. They were older now and neither of them would miss changing forms.
“Two children are missing, Akolo.” His wife scooped his dinner out from the frying pan. “Mina and Filipe. Josephina is running around the island like a crazy person asking if anyone’s seen them.”
“I know, Sela.” He sat down. “Please bring me some of that coconut liquor.” Josephina and her nervousness had slipped his mind. He had to send someone with Mina and Filipa happened to be right next to her at Vai Place when he went to ask her to go to Luta.
“She has been here three times looking for you, and Nukuluve came by once. They want you to send out a search party for them.” Sela looked at her husband pointed.
“Mmm-hmm.”
Sela brought Akolo a bottle and a glass. He poured himself a tall glass, drank it down, then poured himself another and sat down with it. Sipping his drink in silence, he looked into the fire, imagining a life of luxury on Hawaii.
Mina examined the holding tank she and Filipe were in, for the first time understanding what the sea creatures in aquariums and zoos must feel like. There were giant bolts holding the tank together at the corners, with a good inch sticking out. It would be easy enough to climb down it if she had legs. She thought back to the orange pellets and wished she had some. She could switch to her legs to climb out of the tank, and switch back to her tail as soon as she was in the ocean.
At least she now was sure about what that yacht had wanted that had followed them home and parked outside of Okawii. If only she could warn the others not to go out into the ocean.
The noon sun beat down on them through the water and Mina wished they had put in a few plants to give them some shade underwater. She wanted to discuss her options with Filipe, but to do that they’d have to put their heads out of water and their guard would hear. She didn’t want their captors to know that they could talk, or anything more about the mermaids than they already did.
When her guard finally left the back deck, they both surfaced.
Filipe whispered angrily, “This is crazy. I didn’t see any boats, did you see any boats? We wouldn’t have gone that way had we known there were boats around.”
“You’re right, there were no boats to avoid,” answered Mina, shaking her head. “That net came down on us without warning. It was like they were waiting for us at the reef. How are we going to get out of here?”
“I don’t know, keep thinking. Shhh, here he comes,” answered Filipe, ducking his head back underwater as the guard reappeared.
David maneuvered the small boat next to Simon’s yacht. He had been so surprised when he recognized the boat as Simon’s earlier that day. It had to be h
is—the tear in the canopy gave it away. The blue and white yacht that had been anchored outside the reef had suddenly disappeared.
The Tucson Bank deal concerned David and he was grateful for something to get his mind off the fact that Mina wasn’t back yet. He tied the boat to the back of the yacht and climbed aboard.
“Hello?” he called out.
“Mr. Young!” Andrew’s hair bounced with his steps. “It’s good to see you!”
“Andrew! You must have grown a foot since I last saw you.” David clapped the back of the youth.
“Yeah, the sea air agrees with me,” Andrew replied, scratching his neck. “I just miss my drums. Dad said I couldn’t pack them because I’d scare away the fish.”
“Ahh, David. What a surprise,” said Simon as he walked back toward them.
“Simon! What brings you to Okawii? Nothing wrong at the bank I hope?” asked David.
“Oh no, nothing of the sort. Just fishing.”
David was relieved, but he was still irked that Simon would leave the bank at this critical time after knowing that David had just left.
Andrew added, “I came along because I knew Mina was in the area. You don’t suppose I could come ashore and see her, Mr. Young?”
“I’m sorry, Andrew, but I can’t make that call. Okawii is a culturally protected zone and it’s illegal to come ashore without the express permission of the chief.”
The sound of an approaching yacht caused all three of them to turn their heads. It was the same blue and white yacht David had seen parked here earlier.
“Who is that?” asked David.
“We’ve got to get going here,” said Simon, ignoring David’s question.
David nodded, understanding that he was being shuffled off. “Can I just use your restroom real quick?”
“Fine,” Simon, with a slight air of annoyance.
On his way to the head, David saw something unusual on the front deck. He looked through the window and saw a large tank, full of water but otherwise empty. He thought back to Simon’s budding collection of animal heads and figured some poor shark was in for it.
Back on his small boat heading back to Okawii, David looked at the yacht that had just arrived. It was the same blue and white yacht that had been parked there for the past week. Someone was moving on the back deck, and he recognized the dark hair and profile. It was the hunter who had tried to harpoon Moko 15 years ago but had hit Eva instead.
David gulped and sped his boat up, hoping that Mina and Filipe were back on Okawii by the time he docked. This explained Simon’s presence at Okawii. He thought back to the strange conversation they had had back in his office, when Simon had asked about any weird fish in the area. Everything was falling into place. David realized that Simon had partnered with the hunter who killed Eva and they were here to get mermaids.
Chapter 13
Mina and Filipe swam around the tank, occasionally coming to the surface to look around, but never when the guard was there. Sounds did not penetrate the thick glass of the tank well, and, except for the knocking on the glass of one of the crewmen (which caused Mina to roll her eyes at Filipe), if they wanted to hear anything around them, they had to surface. It was Filipe who first noticed that the yacht was now anchored off Okawii.
As they swam around, they noticed the guard suddenly stand up and put his book down. The door from the cabin opened and they saw their captor walk in, leading some other people.
Mina swum to the top of the tank, grazing her ear along the surface as she swam, and heard him say in his Texas accent: “Check these guys out. Now that’s something y’all don’t see every day. The one with the golden tail is exactly like the one I saw 15 years ago and chased back to this island.”
As she came back down from the surface, Mina nearly choked when she recognized her captor’s guests as Andrew and Simon Lanza. She did her best not to make eye contact with them, hoping that they wouldn’t be able to identify her.
Andrew walked up close to the tank and peered in with both his hands on the glass. Then he stepped away from the tank, his face flushed and his mouth open. He didn’t take his eyes off Mina for a second.
Mina knew that he knew her, but still refused to make eye-contact with him. She had no place to hide and couldn’t stop swimming and just float there. Still, she harbored a sliver of hope that maybe he wouldn’t know it was her. But no, as she swam back in forth in the tiny tank, she knew that there was no way he didn’t know it was her.
Seeing him also brought back the memory of their kiss the night before she left, and the guilt she had felt from her kiss with Keoni. She wished she had her legs so she could speak with him, and blushed with both excitement to see him and the shame of giving up her ancestors’ secret. Then Mina remembered her tail and her own reaction when she first saw the ‘giant fish’ in the lagoon. Oh my God, he’s going to think I’m a freak. Ugh—I wish I could just disappear. He probably thinks my tail is so nasty. There’s no way he still likes me now. This thought caused her to blush again. She thought she had gotten over Andrew after her kiss with Keoni, but when she saw him again, she definitely wanted him to still like her.
There was nothing she could do, though. She was in a small, all-glass aquarium, and there was no place to hide.
Out of the corner of her eye, Mina saw the Texan come up to him and clap him on the shoulder, laughing. This shook her back into the reality of her situation. Why would Andrew and Mr. Lanza be here in the South Pacific at all? She thought about Mr. Lanza’s growing collection of animal heads and the new club that Andrew told her took him away from the house so often. She suddenly realized what was going on. He’s going to make us into trophies and hang us on a wall! We’ve got to get out of here! A few minutes before she had wished she could hide herself from the Lanzas, but now she swam right up to the front of the tank and swam slowly. If Mr. Lanza could recognize her, maybe he could convince the Texan not to stuff them.
As she swam sluggishly at the front, she finally looked straight at Andrew.
He kept inconspicuously nodding toward the Texan so she would know that he had to pretend to be with them. He was shocked at her form, but at the same time mesmerized by the golden color of her tail. The minuteness of the scales on her tail minimized its fishiness and made her look like she was from a book. At first Andrew thought her tail was oversized and bizarre, but as he watched her swim back and forth, he was mesmerized and began to see the beauty in her new body.
Andrew wanted badly to speak with her but knew it was impossible. Her tail changed everything—and at the same time, it didn’t. He still loved her, and this only confirmed what he had known about her since she was very little: that she would never be happy away from the water. This explained her discontent living in the land-locked state of Arizona.
As David approached Nukuluve’s fire pit, the silence confirmed what he already knew in his gut: Mina was not yet back. She was either still out in the open sea or on the other yacht in a tank. He sat down and examined his options: he couldn’t go out and look for her himself in the sea because he couldn’t change forms, and there didn’t appear any way he could garner an invitation onto the second yacht to make sure there wasn’t a tank there with mermaids in it.
After he confirmed with Josephina that Filipe had not yet returned either, he told Nukuluve his suspicions. “It was the same guy who tried to harpoon Moko and hit Eva. I know he’s here trying to get mermaids again.”
Together they walked toward Chief Akolo’s hut.
“Good morning, Sela. Is Chief Akolo still here?”
“I’m here,” the Chief answered gruffly, emerging from his hut.
“Chief Akolo,” began Nukuluve. “We believe there is trouble.” She looked at her son-in-law and nodded at him to tell the story.
“I went out to one of the yachts today because I know the owner and thought there was a problem with my business at home. I saw a large holding tank on the boat and a second yacht approaching. Mina and Filipe have not yet c
ome back from Luta even though they promised Josephina that they wouldn’t dally. We suspect that a similar holding tank on the other boat might have Filipe and Ana in it.”
“I doubt that,” said the Chief, shaking his head.
Nukuluve looked at David. “If that is the case, you should send a search party out for them to Luta; we would go, but, obviously, we cannot.”
Chief Akolo held his hand up. “It is not unusual for people to be late coming in from the sea. Any number of prey could have popped up that they might want to chase down. Second, it is not likely that they are caught by anybody, least of all those people on the yachts. One is your colleague, no?” he nodded to David. “Third, how does a holding tank on one yacht mean that there’s one on the other? Unfortunately there is not enough evidence to warrant any action. And I do not want anyone interfering with those yachts; they are harmless.”
As they walked away, David asked Nukuluve, “How could he be so unbothered by this?” David’s blood pressure started to rise. His little girl was in danger and he was helpless to save her. For not the first time in his life, David wished he had a fish tail.
“I do not know, it is very unlike him,” answered his mother-in-law. She had a worried look on her face that David had not yet seen before.
After the sun went down, the guard left again and Mina and Filipe rose to the top of the tank.
“I had an idea,” whispered Mina. “I took the Coral last night a little after midnight; I was excited about the trip to Luta and I didn’t want to have to think about it in the morning. That means it will leave my system about midnight tonight. I can climb out and get out of here.”
“Assuming there’s no guard,” said Filipe worriedly. “I took mine this morning right before we left, so about 9 am. Shit, that means I’ll run out tomorrow in broad daylight.”
“They can’t know we have legs. If there is a guard tonight, you do your best to distract him and I’ll slip out. I promise I’ll come back in time to get you out of here.”
The door to the cabin opened again and the mermaids sank back down into the water. Mina saw Andrew’s big hair in the moonlight. To her surprise, he started climbing up bolts on the side of the tank. He looked down on them and gestured to her to come to the surface. She wanted to ignore him because she hadn’t yet told Filipe that she knew him, but he wouldn’t leave and she was afraid the guard would come back.