Chapter 9--Worlds Apart
Cleo’s tail disappeared as the last few drops of water were steam-dried off of her by Rikki. She immediately got her iPhone out of her pocket and started video chatting with Lewis. Even though it was very late where he was at, he answered.
“Cleo, hey!” he said, enthusiastic but tired.
“Hi, Lewis.” Cleo answered. She put Rikki and Bella on the screen as well.
“Are you on the beach?” he asked, looking behind her.
“Kind of.” Cleo took herself off the screen completely, showing Lewis the lagoon, the waterfall, and the island jungle.
The three girls sat down in the sand and Bella explained how she found the coral cave and the lagoon. Rikki dove back in the water to get crystal-filled sand.
“Interesting.” Lewis commented. He was wide-awake now. “When I get back I’ll need to do some water tests. And maybe a soil sample. I wish I was there tonight, so I could observe the full moon’s effect on it.”
“Well, we could do that.” Cleo offered. “The moon doesn’t really affect us anymore.”
“No, I couldn’t ask you to do that.” Lewis said immediately. “It could be dangerous. I’ll be back for the next full moon.”
“And the one after that, and the one after that…” Cleo reminded him happily. Lewis grinned and they looked lovingly at each other. If only it wasn’t through a screen. “I miss you.”
“I miss you, too. Every day.” Lewis confessed. We were in our own little world.
Bella started giggling and Rikki cleared her throat. Cleo blushed slightly.
“Do you think there could’ve been other mermaids around here?” she asked the girls and Lewis.
“Where there’s a moonpool, there’s mermaids.” Rikki said logically. Bella nodded in agreement.
“They’re most likely not here anymore.” Bella said. “Otherwise, they would’ve noticed us here and kicked us out of their place.” Cleo nodded thoughtfully.
“Maybe there are some older ones, like Gracie, Mrs. Chatham and Julia.” Lewis suggested. “Who knows, if there are older mermaids they might find you before you find them.”
Cleo laughed and remembered meeting Mrs. Chatham for the first time. She had been so scared at first, but she was actually a wise and sweet old lady. She hoped they did meet more experienced mermaids. They still had a lot to learn.
Lewis yawned so loudly she could hear it on her end. Cleo felt guilty for keeping him up.
“Lewis, you can go to bed. We’ll talk later, okay? Privately.” I said that last part and looked over at Rikki and Bella.
“Sounds good. Love you.” The screen went blank before Cleo could say ‘I love you, too’.
“I still want to get into that cave…” Bella said. “Do you think if I hardened the waterfall I could get through without getting wet?”
Cleo looked at the water thoughtfully. “I could try using my power to move it. But you shouldn’t go back there, not yet. At least get a torch.” She urged.
“Maybe Cleo’s right.” Rikki piped up, for once arguing on the side of safety. “There could be pits and rocks, you could break an ankle or worse.”
“Or spiders!” Cleo said, and got a creepy-crawly feeling just thinking about it.
Bella laughed. “Fine, you guys have convinced me. Want to look around the island?”
“Sure.” Rikki agreed immediately. Cleo nodded. They got prepared to head off into the jungle.
There was a noise from behind them, and an orange and white figure slid into the lagoon from the coral cave. It was Emma.
“Meeting without me?” she asked. The question was lighthearted but Emma sounded hurt.
“Actually we were just going to go exploring.” Bella said excitedly. Cleo had a feeling this was not what Emma wanted to hear.
“Okay then…maybe I’ll just go…” Emma mumbled. She turned around gracefully (which was hard to pull off with a long tail and a small space).
“Wait, Emma!” Rikki yelled after her. But her head was already submerged. “We should go after her.”
Cleo agreed. Something was wrong with Emma, it had been since they’d arrived on campus.
“Should I just…stay here then?” Bella asked. Now she sounded hurt. Great.
Cleo was about to suggest that Bella come with them when Rikki answered.
“Yeah, probably.” She said bluntly. Rikki dove into the water, speed-swimming after Emma. Cleo gave her a sad smile and stepped into the lagoon. Soon she, too, had joined the chase for Emma.
