Unlike her classmates, Avery doesn't really care about boys, romance and fashion. Her phone contains fewer contacts than there are pens in her pencil case. Her classmates don't seem to care about her excistance, and at home it's basically the same s...
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Avery clung to Korafay's icy body with all her strength. She never thought she would experience such a thing; swimming in the ocean, without snorkel or oxygen cylinder. Korafay glided effortlessly through the water as if it were nothing but air. And she was going so fast that Avery couldn't even look around.
Korafay put her arm around Avery as she took an unexpected turn through the water. Only when they had passed it did Avery see that they had almost collided with a whale and her calf. 'How sweet,' Avery said and Korafay nodded. 'The mating season has just ended. My sisters, Riva, Alana and I looked after the whales' mating season, but because they have been caught, there have been fewer successful births.'
'You're serious?' asked Avery, 'so the sirens are really concerned with regulating marine life?'
'That is correct and each of us has our own task.' A school of fish shot apart as they hurtled straight through. 'So you have sisters who look after the water birds, the reef or the dolphins. Just as the fairies look after the above-water nature, we look after everything in the water.'
'I never knew that.' In the book, the mermaids were only described as creatures who were just there and were mostly busy being pretty, but never that the sirens had so much responsibility in Neverland. Just like the fairies.
Korafay turned her body and swam straight to the surface. Avery instinctively gasped for air, though, of course, the gills made that unnecessary. Perhaps 50 metres away from her, she saw the pirate ship; The Jolly Roger. It was a large ship with at least three masts in different sizes. The boat was of red wood and the cabin completely dipped in gold. Lanterns flickered softly and occasionally Avery could see a shadow moving across the deck. She looked up at the highest mast, past the crow's nest where, at the top, a large, black pirate flag fluttered in the wind. Avery had often imagined the ship, but now that she was so close to it, it had more than lived up to her expectations; it was grand, mysterious and somewhat unsavoury, but at the same time it was special and overwhelming.
'My sisters are probably in the hold.'
'How do I get there unseen?'
Korafay looked at her. 'With luck.' With those words, she dove under and pulled Avery down by her ankles. The long, bright tail extinguished and it became pitch black around them. Korafay's hands pressed into her back and pushed her towards the ship. When her hand touched the bottom of the boat, Korafay let go. The mermaid floated beside her with a flick of her tail and pointed to the back of the boat, where the anchor was drilled into the reef. Avery nodded and swam towards it.
'Climb up via the anchor. I'll stay under the ship. If anything goes wrong, crow as hard as you can.' Korafay swam closer and put her cold hand on Avery's shoulder. 'I wish you good luck, child.'
Avery smiled like a farmer with a toothache. She grabbed the steel chain of the anchor and started the climb up. Beneath the water it was easy, but when she got above the surface and her entire weight hung on her arms, the way up suddenly seemed very long. Moreover, she was soaking wet and almost chilled to the bone. When she had climbed a few metres, her arms began to nag and she talked herself into the fact that she only had a short way to go. Then the real misery began.
