Hart of the Sea

Chapter 17

"Talia!" I whisper-shouted. My head was above the water near the shore. The sun was setting, and the breeze was colder than usual, which would account for the absence of people on the beach. I just hadn't expected it to keep Talia away too; it never did much before.

Where is she? My eyes scanned along the beach and up the steps that led to something she'd called a "parking lot" before. I had no idea what it was used for, but it was where all the humans came down to the beach from.

Frustrated, I exhaled sharply before submerging underwater again and beginning the swim away from the shallows. Maybe she won't be at the beach until later on. But then I heard it. A muffled sound. A voice from the surface, a short distance behind where I was.

I immediately shot my head above the water again and turned around. It was Talia, running down the steps leading to the beach. We reached the end of the dock at almost the same time.

"Hart! Uh, Caspian, I mean-," she stumbled over her words, smiling bashfully. "Sorry, I still have to get used to knowing your first name. Is...Is it okay if I just keep calling you Hart?"

I nodded, unable to hold back my grin. "Of course it is. But, hey, there's something-,"

"Wait," she interrupted, grimacing apologetically. "Sorry, but I need to tell you something first. It's huge, actually. It's about Calliope and Oriel."

"What is it?" I asked frantically.

Talia sat down on the dock and rested her hands on my shoulders. "No need to panic. Yet. But for some reason, Tracy texted me for, like, the first time ever just a minute ago to tell me that they're all coming back from their vacation early. But she also said to 'do what I need to get done' before they get back. The way she worded it, it was almost like...a warning. As if she knows about Calli and Oriel. Like...she wanted to give me a heads up before our window to save them closes. How would she know about them? Do you think my dad told her? But then, how would she know that we're trying to save them? Please tell me I'm not going crazy." She reached for my hands, which I'd rested on the edge of the dock, and grasped them tightly. She looked deeply into my eyes, waiting for me to respond. When I stayed silent, her gaze hardened. "Hart, please...tell me I'm just making a big deal out of nothing. Tracy is the last person in this world, besides my dad, that should know merfolk actually exist."

"Well that's...kind of what I needed to talk to you about," I said, looking down at our hands clasped together.

"What?" She breathed. "What...do you mean? Do you know something I don't?"

I squeezed her hand comfortingly. "It's sort of a long story, so just...bear with me."

#

"My son...is it really you?"

I held my head above the water, grasping onto the jagged edge of a rock to hold myself in place. I'd never been in such shallow water before; there was no room to swim upright; only enough that I could only be submerged if I laid on my stomach. The waves pushed and pulled at me, but my grip on the rock made sure they couldn't take me. I was grateful they'd found a part of the shore that was virtually untouched by humans.

Remora's small, frail hands held fast to the rock right next to mine as we both stared up at the human man kneeling in front of us. "It's him, my love. Our precious Caspian," she murmured, glancing at me with a loving smile.

Peitha hung back in deeper waters, not used to being so close to humans. Only her head bobbed above the waves as she called out, "It's true. It really is him."

"I can't believe it," Oliver whispered, staring at me with an indescribable emotion behind his wizened eyes. "I'm so...so sorry for not reaching you in time. I thought...I thought the worst had happened..." His eyes, a rich hazel color, liquified with sorrow.