Once Upon a Time in Fantasyland

Chapter 6: Wilderland's Water-Fearing Mermaid

Phanny stood in the terrace, watching the sun set behind the trees. The dark lake was out of sight, buried under heavy, white mist. This is where the lake got its name. In the spring and summer twilight, the dark bowl of deep water disappeared, hidden under whiteness. If it wasn't for the faint whisper of the lake calling out to her, Phanny could even pretend it wasn't really there.

"Amelia said to come sit by the fire and dry yourself."

Phanny jumped at the voice, turning to find that Wilder had materialized beside her.

"I didn't hear you come." She hugged the linen blanket Amelia gave her to drape over her white, cotton underdress, tighter against her body.

"Hiding something?" He raised one thick brow, looking meaningfully down at Phanny.

What?

"Oh." She realized she had her Mama's locket clasped tight in her fist, just over her heart. She opened up her fingers to show it resting in the middle of her palm.

A gold scallop seashell hanging on a gold chain, with a tear-shaped aquamarine set in the middle. Inside it nestled a secret blue pearl. It looked expensive enough that Phanny never wore it around her stepmother and the twins, afraid they might take it from her to sell.

"It was my mother's." She told him.

She looked up to see that his fierce gaze wasn't aimed at the necklace at all, but straight into her eyes, his mouth set in a grim line, a muscle ticking at his jaw.

"I didn't know them, but I bet they weren't kind." He said in a low whisper, almost a growl.

It took Phanny a moment to understand what he meant, but when she did, she quickly closed her hand again and moved it inside the blanket, hiding it from him. He'd seen the scars on her palm from Mother's punishments.

"They're family," she said, avoiding his gaze. "The only ones I had left."

"Your loyalty's misplaced," he said. "People who betray you aren't family."

At the darkness in his voice, Phanny looked up. He was looking ahead now at the mist, skin coated orange by the light of the setting sun.

"You're an orphan, too," she said.

"Yeah?" He kept his gaze forward. "How'd you figure that?"

"Your last name. Foundlings are named after the region where they were found."

He took a while before answering. "You're right. My mother's long dead. And I never had a father."

He finally looked back down at her. "Hand that over."

She only hesitated for a second before dropping the locket in the hand he offered. He caught it and stepped behind her.

"Your hair?"

"Oh." She lifted her dark hair away from her neck.

He lay the necklace over her, warm fingers grazing her nape for a moment to lock it.

"There, let me see." He moved back beside her, leaning one elbow on the terrace rails to shorten the distance between them and study her more carefully. "Suits you."

She couldn't help the smile that lit her face at the compliment. It stretched across her cheeks in such a way that one corner of Wilder's mouth tipped up in amusement.

"So... a mermaid who's afraid of water, huh?" He shot her a wicked half-smirk, making her insides melt to her toes before she realized what he said.

"How did you figure it out?"

"Well, you're not afraid of heights, are you?" He leaned both elbows on the rail now, bending down so they were almost the same height.

She bit her lip, shook her head, and looked away from him at the slowly darkening sky.

"My Mama," she started slowly, "loved to swim in the lake behind our house. When I was thirteen, she- Well, we all thought she drowned. But we never found her body, just this." She touched a finger to the necklace.

"Now, I wonder if maybe she was a..." She faltered, "She could have..."

The words she could not say hung in the cool spring air, heavy with the secret hopes and fears she silently harbored in her heart since she found out that she was a mermaid.

Wilder only nodded, as if she didn't need to say any more. He understood perfectly.

In the silence of the terrace, whispered sounds of arguing filtered through from the cabin within. Curious, Phanny started to come back in, Wilder trailing close behind.

The children were on the cot, the red-haired twins pretending to be asleep but failing, pinching and kicking each other for more space in the bed that was wide enough for the whole family. Aileen sat up, rocking the baby to sleep, and the older boy, who Phanny now knew to be called Artie, sat with her, listening to their parents' argument. The older dwarves stood by the fireplace, among Phanny's things laid out to dry.

"Amelia, you're bleeding mad! We don't have enough money for our passage as it is! We've already got a nine-month-old baby. A baby!"

Amelia whispered something too low for Phanny to hear, before the woman spied Phanny and Wilder entering the room over Burns's shoulder. She quickly sidestepped her husband and headed straight for Phanny.

"What's going on?" Phanny asked the woman.

"Come over here, dear." Amelia took one of Phanny's hands and led her to a sitting position on the old quilt spread on the floor. It would serve as the girl's bed for the night.

"Let me comb out your hair while we have a little talk, hmm?" Amelia went to retrieve something from one of their bags.

Phanny felt Burns's watchful eyes on her as he moved to lean against the wall next to the fireplace. Wilder moved to the opposite side of the fireplace, watching the dwarf warily.

Somehow, that conversation in the terrace changed the way Phanny felt about the man. His presence hovering nearby became a source of comfort.

Amelia came back to show Phanny a burnished, bone-white, wooden comb with a mermaid carved along the shaft. "I made it myself."

"It's beautiful, Amelia. Really." Phanny marveled at the delicate carving, the way the mermaid's fins curved along the bottom of the shaft. It was pretty, but what touched her more was the way Amelia smiled proudly over it, as she showed it to Phanny.

"Oh, just a bit of whittling, nothing fancy." Amelia moved to stand behind Phanny, and slowly combed down the gentle black waves of her hair.

The older woman cleared her throat. "So, lass, have you made up your mind about where to go?"

In the corner, Burns groaned in aggravation. Phanny blushed. She thought she could guess where Amelia was going, and the last thing she wanted was to become a burden to this lovely family.

"Don't worry about me, I'll figure it out."

"Child..." Amelia started to say, moving in front of Phanny.

"No, really, I..." She thought hard. "I'll find work somewhere! I was practically working as a maid at our house after Papa died, so I know how to do lots of things. Like cooking, and cleaning, and taking care of animals..." and burning toast.

Phanny must have said the wrong thing because it looked like Amelia had grown even sorrier for her in the last minute.

"Amelia, we can't just take the lass with us because she's got a sorry story."

Amelia ignored that comment from Burns and took both Phanny's hands in hers. "Where are you headed? Give me a direction."

Off the top of Phanny's head... "North."

Amelia's face broke into a smile. "Perfect. Bastan's headed there. He'll take you."