CHAPTER NINE

SPLASH!

While Jonny towelled himself off, Mervyn gave a merboyish squeak and swam around the pond again. Jonny could just make out his beautiful tail glinting in the dying light of the day. It was an impressive sight. He looked so happy and natural in the water. Jonny didn’t want to stop his fun, but he was beginning to shiver, so he shouted to him to come out.

As Mervyn pulled himself on to the bank; his tail shimmered in the moonlight.

Jonny passed him the towel and turned away while Mervyn rubbed his tail. Then, with a ‘Ta da!’, he flicked Jonny with the towel. There were his legs again.

‘Does that mean we can walk home now?’ said Jonny, pointing at Mervyn’s lower half.

Mervyn laughed, and the two boys set off.

As Jonny squelched on to the doorstep, Mervyn laid a hand on his arm.

‘Thanks for that,’ he said. ‘I know you got wet, but thanks. It felt so good to be swimming again.’

Tucked up in bed that night, Jonny decided that Friday with his new brother Mervyn had been good. A bit wet, a bit hedge-y, but exciting and different and good. He drifted off, lulled by the sound of rain beginning to fall outside.

It was still tipping it down outside in the morning, so the boys watched TV. There was a nature programme on, about the oceans. Mervyn chatted all the way through it.

‘Seals are real show-offs,’ he said. ‘Look at that one! Hang on! I know him. That’s Sammy! Hey, Sammy, how are you? Good moves! Ah, he’s a lovely guy. Terrible fishy breath, but he’s a brilliant swimmer. Ooh, look, here come the killer whales. Look out, everybody! You have to watch out for them. They hang out in big gangs and they’re very slippery, in a can’t-trust-them way. And literally, too, I suppose. I’ve never touched one, so I don’t know. But someone told me once that they calm down if you tickle their dorsal fin. That’s a good tip for you!’

‘Spare us the running commentary,’ Jonny murmured, then frowned as he realised this was something Ted used to say to him.

Jonny chased this thought away by looking out of the window.

‘The rain’s stopped,’ he said. ‘Let’s go to the park.’

Mervyn sniffed the air as he stepped outside.

‘I can smell the water everywhere,’ he said.

Jonny had no idea that water had a smell, but it certainly was wet out. It had rained for hours. The leaves on the trees were dripping fat droplets that ran down the back of your neck and made you shudder. Water rushed along the road, and the cars made a whooshing sound as they ploughed through it.

Mervyn hesitated.

‘Worried about all this water setting you off?’ Jonny asked. ‘Don’t be! I’ll keep an eye out for any extra-large puddles.’

As the boys passed the doctor’s surgery at the end of Jonny’s road, Mervyn caught sight of the fish tank in the waiting room. He stood for a while, gazing at it through the window. Jonny watched too. Which was why neither of them spotted the truck until it was too late. The truck that was travelling up the road, towards a huge pool that had formed around a blocked drain.

‘Come on, fish fan, let’s go,’ Jonny said, and as the two boys turned, Jonny saw it …

The fat tyres were about to rip through the brown pool of water and splat it straight over them. It would be a total drench-out.

‘Nooo!’ shouted Jonny, throwing his arms wide, trying to create a human shield between Mervyn and the water that was leaping up from the truck’s wheels in a huge wet arc.

The water seemed to move in slow motion. It crashed into Jonny first, then splatted down on Mervyn behind him.

Jonny wiped the water from his eyes and turned. Where was Mervyn?

‘Down here!’ Mervyn said in a squeaky whisper.

He was lying on the pavement, flapping like a fish out of water, in full merboy mode. ‘Cover my tail, quick, before anybody sees!’

Jonny ripped off his top and flung it over Mervyn, but it didn’t cover the tail completely. The pointy end was still in plain sight. Quickly, Jonny lay across it.

‘What are you doing?’ Mervyn asked.

‘Hiding your tail and drying it with my body!’

While Jonny squashed and warmed the tail, Mervyn began rubbing at its sides with the top.

‘Come on, come on!’ Mervyn muttered, as his legs refused to reappear.

Suddenly, Jonny felt a pain in his back. He turned to see an old man, who had just come out of the doctor’s surgery. He had a wooden walking stick, which he was using to prod Jonny.

‘What are you two up to?’ the man asked. ‘Fighting?’

‘No, we’re, we’re – what are we doing? We’re dancing!’ shouted Jonny (it was all he could come up with in the heat of the moment).

‘Funny sort of dance,’ said the man. ‘You’re right in the way. I could have tripped over you! Clear off!’

‘No thanks!’ said Jonny. ‘We’re having too much fun. Besides, we’re in the finals of the national pavement sitting-down dancing competition next week. We need to practise.’

‘Go and practise somewhere else,’ said the old man, and muttered something about how this wouldn’t have happened in his day.

Jonny didn’t get up straight away. He didn’t dare! He couldn’t tell whether Mervyn’s legs had returned. The old man prodded Jonny with his stick again, but Jonny refused to budge. Ted often accused him of being slow, but right now Jonny was in no rush to reveal that his new brother was a merboy. He had to stall the man …

‘Could you just step over us?’ Jonny asked.

‘With my knees?’ huffed the old man. ‘You must be batty! Now come on, clear the path!’

Slowly and carefully, but mostly just slowly, Jonny stood up.

‘About time,’ said the old man. Not ‘Wow, a mermaid!’ or ‘Help! Police! A fish-kid lying on the pavement!’ Thank cheeses! Mervyn’s legs were back.

‘That was close!’ said Jonny.

‘A bit too close!’ said Mervyn, standing up unsteadily. ‘Can we go home now?’