Washing Up Free Part Two

Thanks to Beth over at Writer B is Me for challenging me to write a story involving mermaids. I’ll admit, I usually steer clear of stories that include large bodies of water because I’ve always lived in a landlocked state and water tends to create issues for me. This was a wonderful challenge.

If you missed part one to the story and would like to read it, you can find it under recent posts.

Otherwise, thank you for stopping by=) I hope you enjoy the second part to the story.

Washing Up Free Part Two

“He’s not your only way off this island.”

Vivian held her hand out. Silvery, almost translucent scales covered her fingers.

Liz stared, fascinated, and then gave a start, realizing she was being rude. With an apologetic smile, she handed over the coconut.

Bringing the shell down on a rock, Vivian cracked it open with a loud thunk. When she turned it, a hole the size of a walnut was revealed. Rubbing her fingers together, Vivian held up a silvery scale and dropped it into the coconut. Then she held it out for Liz to take.

“He’ll want to drink first. You know he will. Might even drink it all.” Vivian flashed a smile that was all teeth. “Let him.” She turned with a splash and swam away.

Liz watched as Vivian’s tail hit the water. She shook her head. This was the same creature from the ship.

Did she sink the ship?

Cradling the coconut in her hand, she headed back up the beach. Did she care if Vivian sunk the ship? The screaming she heard the night before played in her memory. Yes, she cared.

Coming into view of Easley, Liz paused. He stood with his back to her, hands on hips. Kicking a piece of driftwood, he swung around and saw her.

“Took you long enough.” He held his hand out. For a moment, Liz didn’t see the sailor, she saw her father, hand out, waiting for her wages. She blinked and saw Easley, his lips rolled in with impatience.

You don’t have to put up with him. It was like Vivian whispered in her ear. She walked forward and handed the coconut to him. Turning away from her, he went back to whatever he’d been viewing before she returned, and downed the water from the nut. He tossed it aside when done.

Liz watched and refrained from licking her lips. They were cracked from the salt of the ocean.

“That way,” Easley pointed, “lies a string of islands that’ll get us close to the shipping lanes in and out of Verdon. Might take us five days if we swim to an island a day.”

Five days. Liz eyed Easley, waiting to see what Vivian’s scale would do.

“No ships before then?” she asked.

“No.”

The answer came out final, like she’d asked something obvious. Easley strode toward the only strand of trees and picked up the two boards they’d used to paddle to the island. He’d attached driftwood to each piece to make them wider.

Liz frowned. “Where’d you get the cord?”

He pointed at his feed. His boots were gone.

“Time to head out.” He held one small raft toward her but then dropped it as he keeled over with a groan. Thudding to his knees, he tilted onto his side.

“Master Easley?”

Liz ran forward and shook him but he only moaned. This close to him, she saw a shiny cast to his skin.

“Easley?”

Nothing.

“Easy as that.”

Liz spun to find Vivian laid out on the sand with her tail in the water.

“What now?” Liz asked.

“Now you leave him.”

Liz glanced at the prone sailor. His brows pinched inward while his lips moved in a silent mutter.

“Will he die?” she asked.

“Probably. It’s what he would’ve done to you. Notice he didn’t share what little food he found.”

“How will I get to Verdon without him?”

Vivian chuckled. “We’ll take you.” She gestured behind her where more mermaids broke the surface. Every color under the sun was reflected in their wild hair.

Easley groaned and rolled onto his back. Liz jumped but then realized he was still out. Something fell from his pocket, hitting the sand with a soft, tinkling plop.

Curiosity flared in Liz’s mind, and she knelt to retrieve the object. It was a silver pendant with a ruby the size of her thumb nail in the center.

Her hand crept up to her own neck. She grasped her pendant, and stared at the man.

“It can’t be.” But it was. Turning the piece to check the back, sure enough, her father’s stamp etched the silver.

This was the man she’d been contracted to marry. The man who’d run away as soon as he was old enough to crew a ship. Her father cursed the ‘boy,’ calling him a coward for running out on his responsibilities.

“Did you just want freedom?” That’s what his note said but, without ever meeting him before, she couldn’t really know. “I hate men,” she told his still form. “They either own me or abandon me. You included. Why shouldn’t I leave you?”

But could she blame him for wanting his own choice? Was she any better than him if she left him?

Hitting the sand with a growl, Liz stood and turned away.

Vivian cleared her throat. “I didn’t think you’d hesitate to leave him behind.”

“I—“ Liz snapped her lips closed. She wanted to leave him and that terrified her. She was no better than he. “I can’t. Not knowing he’ll probably die.”

Vivian rested her chin on her folded arms. “I understand.”

Liz’s head swung up. “How can you? You sunk a ship full of people.”

Vivian’s chin came off her arms, and her eyes hardened. “False. We tried to warn the ship but the captain did not hear. He sailed into the islands where the sea serpent lives. It suffers no ship in its waters.”

“The captain was sleeping…” Liz hung her head, ashamed. “I’m sorry. I saw you that night.”

“We kept you alive while you swam to the island.” Vivian met her eyes and Liz looked away from her piercing stare.

“Since you are not willing to leave him behind, what do you propose to do?” Vivian asked.

Liz hesitated.

Snapping her fingers, Vivian said, “Hurry. The serpent hunts at night. You should have a plan before then.”

“Without you to guard us, the sea serpent will kill us?”

Vivian nodded as she picked up a shell. “The serpent will spin itself around you and squeeze.” She tightened her grip and the white shell shattered.

Liz cringed. She hated that she was always dependant on someone else. Her father, Easley, and now the mermaids, but she stood no chance on her own against a sea serpent.

“Will you get us to Verdon?” she asked, finally meeting Vivian’s eyes.

The mermaid glanced at the horizon and then at her sisters. “Yes, but we must go now.” She pointed at Easley. “Drag him to the water.”

Liz swallowed. Drag Easley? He was twice her size. Kneeling next to him, she tucked his necklace into a buttoned pocket of his pants to keep it safe. Her hand brushed his knife. He’d been very possessive of the weapon but he wasn’t awake to use it if they ran into trouble. Making her decision, she unlaced the knife from his belt and attached it to her own. Then she slid her hands under his arms and heaved. He groaned and Liz cried out in frustration as she pulled him barely an inch.

“How long will he sleep?” she asked as she tried again and fell on her backside.

“All night.”

As Liz crouched and pulled on Easley again, Vivian pushed farther onto the sand to help her. She grasped his hand and pulled while Liz fell backward.

“Useless womanly muscles,” she groused and fell over again.

“Strength is not everything,” Vivian commented. “We did not protect you last night with strength.”

Liz was about to ask how the mermaids had protected them but then she had Easley’s head and shoulders to the water and she was surrounded by hands that pulled him completely in.

“Come, girl,” Vivian appeared again after four of her sisters took over keeping Easley afloat. She turned for Liz to hold her shoulder. “Hand on tight. We must move quickly.”

Vivian wasn’t lying. The mermaids took off like they too were hunted by the sea serpent. They hadn’t showed it during the day but as night fell over the water, their fear became evident in their speed and the way they looked beneath them into the depths.

“Why are you helping us?” Liz asked. Why would the mermaids help them when they themselves feared the serpent so much?

“The serpent took our home when it moved into the islands,” Vivian shouted over the waves. “If we can limit its food and drive it out, we can recl…”

A tail slapped the water. Liz gasped as Vivian dove beneath the surface. Salty water bombarded her and she let go of the mermaid.

Thrashing for air, Liz came up just long enough for one painful gasp and then something circled her waist and pulled her under. The serpent’s body covered her entire torso.

In the murky water, she could make out hands trying to pull the coil off of her but the serpent continued to tighten its hold until her vision blurred.

She tried to push outward against it but, as always, her strength wasn’t enough. Strength is not everything. Vivian’s voice whispered in her ear.

Her arms were pinned against her sides. Easley’s knife dug into the inside of her arm and her hip. She couldn’t get her fingers to the hilt.

Useless.

The serpent’s body spasmed just as Liz tried for the knife one last time. Her hand slid up and her fingers closed around the handle. With one quick jerk, she pulled it free of the sheath and pointed it outward.

Moments later the serpent squeezed in on her again and Liz thought the knife wasn’t enough to phase the creature. Pain radiated from her ribs and the little bit of air she had left rushed from her lungs. Her vision narrowed.

Then the serpent’s coils loosened and fell away.

Liz sank farther into the water. She tried to move her arms, tried to get her legs to kick, but nothing happened and darkness closed in. She lost all sense of motion.

Breathe, girl.

Sucking cold air in, Liz whimpered as her lungs expanded painfully.

“There, now relax and let us get you home.”

The voice was Vivian’s. All Liz knew was there were stars above as she lay on her back and her body hurt everywhere. But she was alive.

***

Liz sat drinking tea while looking out of the one window in her home. The view wasn’t much, just the stables of the Merliona estate, but she loved it. She sat in the home she’d paid for. When the wooden floors creaked, she imagined the house was trying to speak to her.

Someone knocked at the door. It was probably Master Merliona. Liz paid for her home by sowing for the elderly man.

Opening the door, she froze.

Easley’s lips rolled inward in what she guessed was frustration. She almost cringed back but then squared her shoulders and lifted her chin.

“Yes?”

He pulled a flower from behind his back. It wilted like a violet bell.

Liz’s hand shook as she reached for it. When Easley woke after the mermaids left them in Verdon, he’d been angry. Spitting, shouting angry. But then he’d realized they were in an inn, and he was dry and warm…and he had no idea how he’d gotten there.

Liz wouldn’t tell him. It wasn’t her place and Vivian made her promise not to tell. She didn’t want humans hunting the mermaids.

Perhaps that created intrigue for Easley, perhaps he just liked her. She wasn’t sure but ever since that morning in the inn, he’d brought her a flower randomly each week.

She hadn’t accepted one yet.

Closing her fingers around the delicate stem of the violet bell, Liz smiled. Easley sighed, and smiled back.

“Walk?” he asked, offering his arm.

As Liz stepped out the door, she noticed he wore her father’s necklace. It didn’t bother her like it used to. This outing, and any other interaction with Easley, was her choice.

The End

Blessings,

Jennifer

P.S. I love feedback, so if anyone has suggestions, questions, or comments on what they like or what doesn’t seem to work, please let me know. Just be gentle to my poor thin skinned feelings. Thanks.