Ocean's Gift (Book 1 of the Ocean's Gift series)

Chapter 4

Sirena:

The voyage was long and arduous. After consideration, I’d chosen the very islands I’d cursed as a child as the best starting point to gather information. I had visited them in the interim, but it was my first, stormy swim that came to mind as we approached the continental shelf.

It was a stunning contrast to my first lone swim to land. Much time had passed and I was now an elder, acting under my own command. The two sisters who followed me were my daughters, both adults who had done their duty to our people. The contrast between us was distinctive, too. I twisted to look back. Over my own blue tail, which blended with the shallow waters at the islands, I could see dark Maria, with her dark blue tail. Apalala was my golden girl, more than ever. The pale yellow tail she had been born with had deepened to gold now. The only brighter tail I had seen was her daughter’s, an orange flame that matched her fire-coloured hair. Zerafina had been too young for such a trip, without the assistance of currents to carry us, and our duty too dangerous.

Should the humans discover what we were, we would protect our sisters at all costs. Even if it cost our lives. It was my responsibility to ensure it did not come to that.

I kept up a steady stream of instructions as we travelled.

“We will be expected to live human, which means dry. Whilst we are at the islands, I will remain in my human form for the duration. You may swim, but only after dark and where the humans cannot see you. You may eat as you please, but when humans are present, we will eat what and as they do. We must keep a supply of human food, just in case. We all have our preferences; it will be important that we keep those on hand.

“Our strength and agility are greater than theirs, for we require these more than they do. They have grown soft whilst we have not. We must take care that this is not too apparent. This is unlikely to be difficult, but still we must take care.

“Our vision and hearing are more perceptive than that of humans; we must also take care that they do not discover this.

“We must use human names and human language whilst in their hearing and sight. I will be Vanessa, Maria will retain her name and Apalala must use Belinda once more. Our human names and human speech must be unremarkable and ordinary.

“Under no circumstances do we sing above water. The humans react peculiarly to this, particularly the males. Singing is, of course, permissible beneath the water’s surface. We may need this to call fish or other creatures.

“Human drinks will also be necessary. This will include a reasonable quantity of alcohol, which must be consumed carefully, so we do not make mistakes.

“We must wear human clothing at all times, or at least when visible to them. I recommend we choose only one or two colours each and restrict our purchases to these colours, so we do not mix them up.

“We must associate with humans and appear human, which means being as polite as possible, without being too friendly or antagonistic.

“Humans value privacy, with walls they can hide behind. This will work to our advantage, if we can remember this, for it means we can be out of sight and this will not draw their attention as it would among our kind.

“We do not shape water or waves where they may be perceived by humans, unless it is absolutely necessary.

“We will first go to the islands off the coast, where there is a fishing settlement. We shall remain there and fish from a boat as they do, for the duration of the fishing season. We will obtain as much information as we can from the humans at the fishing settlement, before we relocate to the nearest city. If further information is required…”

Apalala was the most vocal of my daughters, so she was the first to interrupt my flow. “Sirena, is there no end to your advice? We have lived dry among humans before.”

I remembered well her last time on land, for I had been there, too. I reminded myself to use her human name, Belinda, even in my thoughts. “But not for this long. And you must remember that I cannot use my name until I return to the water once more. Even in your thoughts I must be Vanessa.”

Belinda’s curiosity persisted. “Why did you choose Vanessa? It is not similar to your name – it does not even have a similar meaning.”

“Vanessa is the name of a character in a moving picture for human children. An old witch, who lives in the ocean, transforms herself into a beautiful human woman to seduce a human man. The name she takes as a human is Vanessa,” I tried to explain. When I had first heard of it, I had been using my real name on land, but I had known that I would need a new one to ensure my ageless appearance went unremarked upon.

Maria broke her silence to give voice to her shock. “Do you plan to seduce a human man, in addition to our duty here?”

Both Belinda and I considered her sister’s words amusing. I found the idea intriguing, but unlikely. “Not at present. However, as I may not swim in the evenings, I will need to find something to occupy my time. Perhaps I will purchase some books.”

Maria interrupted my thoughts with more practical considerations. “First we must reach the land. How long will it be?”

Both girls were adults, yet their impatience to reach our destination mirrored that of human children. I smiled, but replied in a more serious vein. “We should reach the islands soon after dark. We can rest there for a time and continue to the mainland at dawn. Then we can fit out our vessel and return with it to the islands.”

Belinda’s smile remained. “Then come, Vanessa, shift your venerable tail so we may spend our first night in human beds and not on the seabed!”

The seabed was rising and the water was lightening. It wasn’t long before we could hear the boom of surf above on the reefs. I guided them through the passages and we surfaced. Fractured moonlight on the water was the only sign of the reefs on the surface, part of the islands’ curse. Amid all the contrasts, this remained unchanged.

The water was dark, as was the island we approached, for the fishing season had not yet started. I lifted my head and said the words in the humans’ language, “Welcome to the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, girls. They may be cursed, but for a time they will also be home.”