CHAPTER 9—A MOMENT OF OPPORTUNITY

 

The cabin looked just as run down as ever, except for the easy chair out on the front porch.

“What’s that?” Stacey asked.

Jelly shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

It was Wade who knew the answer.

“Grandma Olga sometimes comes out here to fish,” he said. “Looks like she’s gone for the day, though.”

“Grandma Olga?”

“Yeah. You remember her. That little old lady who does the paintings.”

Stacey tried, and then shook her head. No one had come out to the cabin when she’d been there.

“Nope, but I’ll take your word for it. Let’s get inside.”

“What?” Dan asked, looking around at the empty path, and the empty bushland around them. “In case someone comes?”

“Exactly,” Stacey snapped, “and then we need to get home, before mum sends out a search party because we’re late for lunch.”

“Seriously?” Jelly asked.

Dan rolled his eyes.

“Yeah. Mum’s gone all over-protective since the accident.”

“Fine.” Jelly said it with a sigh, but she pushed Veleia down to the wharf, while Dan ran ahead to open the door.

Once they were inside with the door closed behind them, Stacey relaxed. She looked around at the bare timber walls, and the thick cobwebs in the corners near the ceiling, and took a long, deep breath.

“What do you think?” she asked, looking at the mermaid.

Veleia looked around, and then shrugged.

“It looks okay,” she said, “but I think I’d rather be in the water. Mermaid. You know?”

And Stacey blushed. She hadn’t thought of that. Of course, Veleia would be more comfortable in the water. She went back to the door, and opened it, taking a good long look at the path and the lagoon and the bush around them. When she was sure they were still alone, she let Dan push her out onto the decking outside the cabin, and over to the jetty. Wade and Jelly followed with Veleia.

“There’s some wooden stairs leading into the lagoon,” she said. “If we can lower the wheelchair down close to the water, then do you think you’ll be all right to go the rest of the way?”

Veleia looked at the stairs, and the jetty leading out into the lagoon.

“Sure,” she said. “Nothing to it.”

“Let’s do this thing,” Jelly said, and pushed Veleia towards the stairs.

“Or not,” she added, when she got to the stairs. “Wade, you wanta give me a hand with this? I don’t think I can keep hold of the chair, and we don’t want it going in.”

This much was true. If the chair went into the lagoon, they’d all be in trouble, but Veleia would be in the most trouble, because then they wouldn’t be able to get her back to the beach.

In the end, Jelly freed Veleia from the concealing folds of the blanket, and Dan and Wade carefully lowered her and the chair down the steps leading to the water. Just before she slipped off it, Veleia reached down and dipped a finger into the lagoon. Raising it to her lips, she licked the dampness on her fingertip, and looked back at Stacey.

“Is this lagoon connected to the ocean?” she asked, and Stacey shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, you said it was tidal, yes?”

“Yeah,” Stacey said, and the mermaid smiled.

“Why don’t I see if I can find a way back to the ocean from here?” she asked. “It would be easier than trying to get back to the beach, and I could leave with no-one even knowing I’d been.”

Stacey’s heart sank. She’d been looking forward to coming back and seeing the mermaid, again. But Veleia was right. If the mermaid could make it to the sea from the lagoon, then it would be better. There’d be no chance of anyone catching her before they could take her back.

“Okay,” she said. “Good luck. We’ll come back and check this afternoon, just to be sure, though.”

She was just about to wheel herself away, when Dan stopped the chair.

“Don’t forget you’ve got to do your physio this afternoon,” he said. “Mum won’t let you back out of the house until after dinner, and maybe not even then.”

Stacey turned back to Veleia.

“I’ll be back late,” she said, and then looked meaningfully at her brother and cousins, “but I’m sure these guys can come and check to make sure you’ve made it safely away.”

“What?” she added, when she saw Dan frown. “It’s not like you have to stay at the house. And this won’t take much out of your day.”

Dan sighed.

“Fine.”

He looked over at the mermaid.

“I’ll be back in a couple of hours. If you’re not here, we’ll know you made it back to the sea, okay?”

Veleia smiled.

“Yes,” she said. “And thank you.”

And, with that, she slid from the wheelchair and into the water at the bottom of the steps. As soon as she entered the lagoon, she dove out of sight, and then came to the surface half way across it.

“This is great,” she called. “Thank you.”

And then she dove out of sight, again, and they didn’t see her come back up. After staring at the rippling water for a few, long minutes, Dan sighed.

“Well, that’s that, then,” he said, and looked down at Stacey. “We’d better get you home, or mum’s going to have a cow.”