Chapter Two

Though it was still early, the sun was hot when Lizzy arrived at the beach not far from the harbour. From a distance she could hear the cheerful sounds of summer holidaymakers. The beach was already crowded; people swam or surfed in the sea, played games on the sand and fished in the rock pools, watched attentively by the lifeguards from their 4x4 truck parked well clear of the tideline.

Lizzy found herself a spot at one end of the beach, near the low headland where a small automatic lighthouse stood. Dumping her striped drawstring bag on a handy rock, she stripped down to her swimsuit, stuffed her clothes and sandals into the bag then flopped on to the sand. She was early; Kes wouldn’t turn up for a little while yet, so she gazed at the sea, watching the swimmers and surfers in the water.

She thought back to the first time she had met Kes. She had lost her locket in the sea and was desperately searching along the beach to see if it had been washed ashore. Miraculously Kes had found it, they had started talking… And she had discovered that Kes was her brother, and though their father was human, their mother was a mermaid…

She remembered the shock and wonder of it all as clearly as when it had begun. The discovery that she could breathe and speak underwater. The first meeting with Morvyr, her mother. The encounters with Arhans and the other dolphins, and the first steps she had taken towards understanding their strange language. She was so eager to see them all again, to swim with Kes, to see the cave where he and Morvyr lived, to be with them.

Impatiently she looked at her watch, and was surprised to see how much time had passed. Kes should have arrived by now, but when she shielded her eyes against the dazzling sunlight she couldn’t see him on the beach or in the water. But he was sure to turn up at any moment. She’d better get ready. Reaching for her bag, she took out her wetsuit and wrestled herself into it. A final twist and wriggle as she pulled up the zip at the back of her neck, then she sprinted towards the sea. At the water’s edge she stopped, letting the small wavelets curdle around her feet. The wind whisked her short blonde curls round her face; she pushed them back, blinking her blue eyes as she watched the sea. She waited a few minutes, then a few more. But there was still no sign of Kes.

Where was he? He should be here by now. Though there were no such things as clocks in the undersea world, he had always been on time before. Was something wrong?

She waded into the sea until she was waist-deep and the waves were breaking around her. Maybe Kes was playing a joke – she wouldn’t put it past him to be waiting under the water not far from shore, ready to dart out and startle her when she least expected it. All right, Lizzy thought, grinning to herself. We’ll see about that!

A bigger wave broke and she let it lift her off her feet, then began to swim further out. One quick glance to make sure the lifeguards weren’t looking… the next wave rolled towards her, and Lizzy launched herself towards it and dived under the water.

She couldn’t see much at first, for the rolling waves were churning up the sand and making everything murky. But, as she reached deeper, calmer water she left the swirling grains behind and the sea became clear, translucent blue-green. Lizzy took a breath, watching bubbles stream from her mouth and up to the surface. A shoal of silvery phosphorescent fish – mackerel, she thought – dashed past in the opposite direction, and patches of drifting seaweed rolled and flowed in the current. Weed would make a good hiding place. But when she plunged in among the strands she found only a small crab and several bright yellow periwinkles hitching a ride.

Lizzy was starting to worry. If Kes couldn’t meet her for some reason, surely he would have asked Arhans to come in his place, and though she hadn’t learned to understand the dolphins properly yet, she would have got the idea. Something must be wrong.

Lizzy didn’t know what to do for the best. Probably the most sensible thing would be to go back to the beach and hope that either Kes or Arhans would eventually turn up. But just sitting around and waiting didn’t appeal. She wanted to do something.

While she tried to make her mind up, the current was carrying her further out to sea. The sandy bed was a long way below her now, and all around she could hear the more powerful sound of the deep ocean. There were fish everywhere, but nothing big enough to be Kes or a dolphin – until in the distance she saw a much larger shape swimming across her path.

Hope sprang up and Lizzy called eagerly, ‘Arhans?’

The shape slowed and then turned towards her, but it gave no answering whistle as Arhans would have done. Uncertainly Lizzy watched as it came towards her. Then her eyes widened in alarm as she saw it more clearly.

It was a conger eel – but never in her life had Lizzy imagined, let alone seen, such a giant. It must have been five metres long from its blunt, ugly snout to the tip of its writhing tail. Its skin was dark grey, almost black, and its cold, fishlike eyes stared at her in a way that was hypnotizing. Lizzy wanted to scream – but what would be the use, when none of her friends were here to help her?

Then to her astonishment the eel’s mouth opened, revealing rows of ferocious teeth, and it said in a husky, hissing voice, ‘Please don’t be afraid of me!’

It could speak! Lizzy was so stunned that she forgot her fear. The eel wriggled, sending ripples down the whole length of its body. ‘Please,’ it repeated, ‘I mean no harm, but I must talk to you. Are you the one called… Lizzy?’

Lizzy’s mouth worked, but for a few moments she couldn’t answer. At last she managed, ‘Y-yes…’

‘I am so glad to have found you! I have been looking for you. I am a friend of your father.’

Lizzy’s blue eyes opened wide. ‘My father? But – but he disappeared! No one has heard of him for years!’

‘I know this. Now, though, there is news. I heard it from another friend; I did not believe it at first, but there is proof. Your father is alive.’

A choking feeling came into Lizzy’s throat. Her real father, Jack Carrick, had been a local fisherman. Lizzy now knew that she had been stolen as a baby and that her father had gone in search of her, leaving Morvyr and Kes behind, and had never returned. Now, suddenly, this creature claimed to have news of him!

‘Wh-where is he?’ she asked, barely able to get the words out.

The giant eel dipped its head. ‘I do not know. But the friend I spoke to claims to have seen him. I can take you to that friend, if you wish it.’

Though Lizzy was starting to feel wildly excited, a scrap of caution warned her to be careful. How could she be sure that this creature was telling the truth? There were enemies in the sea, as well as friends…

‘If your friend knows about my father,’ she said, ‘why didn’t he tell us himself? And why did you come to me? Why didn’t you go to Morvyr?’

The eel made a sound that was almost like a sigh. ‘The merfolk find me hideous. Whenever they see me, they drive me away. I know I look hideous to you too. But I thought… I hoped… that you might overlook my ugliness and talk to me. As for my friend… he is even uglier than I am. So we are both too afraid to go to Morvyr. Afraid and…’ His voice dropped almost to a whisper. ‘… ashamed.’

Lizzy’s kind heart was touched. The eel was ugly, certainly. But, as she listened to his sad confession, her fear and revulsion melted. The creature couldn’t help his appearance. And if he and his friend had news of her father, and were willing to tell her what they knew, then as far as she was concerned they were her friends too.

The eel had lowered his head again, as if he couldn’t find the courage to look her in the eye. Lizzy reached out and, very gently, touched the top of his head.

‘Poor eel,’ she said sympathetically. ‘I understand. Thank you for being brave enough to talk to me.’

The eel’s head came up, and though his eyes were fishlike and expressionless she thought he looked hopeful. ‘Then – will you come and meet my friend?’ he asked.

‘Yes, I will!’ Lizzy forgot Kes and her worries. The eel’s story had convinced her, and all she could think of was this incredible chance to learn more about her long-lost father. ‘When can we go?’

‘Now!’ The eel wriggled eagerly. ‘Why not? I will lead, and all you have to do is follow me!’

He writhed his long body round and set off. For a moment Lizzy hesitated. Then, with excitement spinning giddily through her mind, she swam after him.