Nine
‘What on earth are you talking about, Claire?’ Suzy asks. ‘There’s no such thing as mermaids.’
‘Claire, come and sit down,’ I say gently. Claire is looking very pale and I’m quite worried about her. Perhaps she’s had a bad reaction to the alcohol?
Claire does as I suggest and sits herself down on the same rock we were rehearsing on only a short while ago.
‘Now what do you mean you think we’ve seen a mermaid?’ I ask, sitting down next to her.
‘Not seen exactly, more been in the presence of one.’ Claire still looks shocked. ‘Haven’t any of you heard the story about the Mermaid of St Felix?’ she asks, looking round at us all. ‘No? Not even you, Rob?’
Rob frowns. ‘Why would I know anything about it?’
‘The Merry Mermaid is called what it is because of this story. I thought you’d know it since your parents run the pub now.’
Rob shakes his head.
‘I can’t believe none of you know this,’ Claire says, looking surprised.
Mandy folds her arms. ‘For the love of St Piran, will you just tell us, Claire!’
‘I’m just about to, Mandy!’ Claire gives her a look. ‘If you’ll just give me a minute!’ She takes a breath. ‘So, the story is, that one night a maid who worked at Tregarlan Castle – that’s the big house up on the hill above St Felix Bay,’ she explains for Rob’s benefit.
Rob nods. ‘Yes, I know it.’
‘The maid stole some jewellery from her bosses. She was stealing to order for a gang of pirates, and she was supposed to float the stolen jewellery out to the pirates’ boat in an empty whisky barrel in exchange for payment. But the story goes she couldn’t find an empty barrel, so she stole one that was half full from the local public house, rolled it down to the beach, then drank the contents so it would be empty enough to float the jewellery in.’
‘Why didn’t she just tip it out?’ Suzy asks, ever practical. ‘If she was by the sea, why didn’t she just tip it out instead of drinking it all.’
‘ That
would have been such a waste,’ Mandy says. ‘She probably did the right thing – double bubble for her.’
‘Hardly,’ Claire says stoutly. ‘She drowned.’
‘Oh no!’ I’m totally caught up in Claire’s tale. ‘Really?’
‘Well, technically she didn’t, but – look, just let me tell you the rest of the story.’
‘Go on, Claire,’ Rob says encouragingly.
Claire is clearly enjoying having us all hanging on her every word for once. ‘So, as you can imagine, the maid got pretty drunk, or should I say merry
, as a result of drinking all this alcohol, and when she went to throw her barrel full of jewellery into the sea, she slipped and fell off the rocks into the waves and was never seen again. But . . . ’ Claire holds up her finger to keep our attention. ‘And this is the really interesting bit – it’s said she didn’t actually drown. The story goes she was actually rescued by a passing merman, who took her down to the bottom of the ocean along with her treasure. The maid fell in love with the merman and was transformed into a beautiful mermaid and was never ever seen again on the land.’
We all stare silently at Claire for a moment.
‘That’s where the Merry Mermaid of St Felix came from?’ Eddie asks, looking puzzled. ‘Not much of a story to name a pub after, is it – a woman who drowned?’
‘That’s not quite the end of the story,’ Claire says, ‘and this is the bit I can’t believe none of you know – there’s a proverb!’
‘Which is?’ Suzy asks, looking doubtful.
‘ “If a mermaid’s treasure washes up on the shore. Return it to the waves and be happy forevermore.” No?’ Claire asks when we all look blank. ‘None of you have ever heard it? My mum told me it years ago when we were on the beach one day.’
‘There’s an engraving saying that in the pub,’ Rob says. ‘It hangs just above the door inside.’
‘See?’ Claire says. ‘I told you the two were linked. Mum said it means if you ever find the mermaid’s treasure, you must throw it back into the sea and the mermaid will grant you one wish.’
‘Is it some sort of test?’ Eddie asks. ‘Because the barrel is supposed to be full of treasure?’
‘Yes!’ Claire says keenly. ‘If you throw it back to the mermaid, it signifies to her that you are worthy of a wish.’
We all turn and look at the worn-looking barrel.
‘But what makes you think that’s the same barrel?’ I ask. ‘There could be loads of empty whisky kegs floating around in the sea just waiting to be washed up on shore?’
‘The year the maid went missing was 1824,’ Claire says. ‘The same date as on your barrel over there.’
‘She’s right,’ Rob says, confirming this. ‘It says that date in the pub too.’
‘So you’re saying we should throw it back in the sea?’ I ask.
‘Yes,’ Claire says. ‘That’s what the proverb says we should do.’
‘But it could be full of treasure!’ Mandy says, not sounding that convinced. ‘If what you say is true, Claire, there could be jewellery in there.’
Again we all stare at the barrel.
‘If that tale is true, and this is the barrel, then we could make a wish,’ Eddie says quietly. ‘All of us, if we all returned the barrel to the sea.’
‘I’d much rather have a wish than some treasure,’ Suzy says wistfully.
‘I’d rather have the treasure,’ Mandy says, practical as ever. ‘Or the money that the treasure is worth.’
‘It won’t be our money, though, if that barrel did contain anything valuable,’ Suzy tells her. ‘We’d have to hand it in to the authorities and then it would belong to them or the original owner. I collect things off the beach all the time; there are laws covering anything valuable.’
‘She’s probably right,’ I tell the others. ‘If that jewellery was stolen from the castle, then technically it would still belong to them.’
‘But that old fella lives there now, doesn’t he?’ Mandy says. ‘What is it my mam calls him? Oh, yeah, Mad Stan the pasty man! I doubt he’d even know it belonged to his ancestors if he’s a bit doolally.’
‘I think you’re all getting a little carried away,’ Rob says. ‘The chances of that story actually being true are low to begin with, let alone there actually being treasure in the barrel. I think we should open it.’
‘No!’ We all shout at once.
Rob looks surprised at our outburst.
‘You haven’t lived in Cornwall very long, have you, Rob?’ Suzy asks. ‘The one thing you learn when you’ve lived here a while is that this area is brimming with myths and legends. Some of them might be made up or embellished over time, but some of them . . . well, you just can’t explain.’
‘Suzy’s right,’ I tell him. ‘St Felix in particular has many myths that surround it.’
‘Like the place you work,’ Claire says to me. ‘The flower shop has its own special magic, Rob.’
‘Does it?’ Rob asks, looking at me.
‘Yeah,’ I say, feeling a bit embarrassed. ‘It’s supposed to, anyway. Something to do with special bouquets made up with white ribbon.’
Rob nods, but doesn’t mention the bouquet I made up for him and his mum. ‘So what do you want to do then – throw it back?’
I look at the others.
‘We are the Misfit Mermaids,’ Eddie says, smiling. ‘It seems quite appropriate we should be entrusted with a mermaid’s treasure like this.’
‘What about if we climb up on the rocks and throw it back?’ Rob asks. ‘If we try to roll it back into the sea, it will probably just wash ashore again.’
‘Yes, I think we should do that,’ Claire says, nodding. ‘To give the treasure a good chance of being returned to the mermaid.’
‘You don’t really believe this is a mermaid’s treasure, do you?’ Suzy is looking with concern at Claire. ‘You know there’s no such thing?’
‘You don’t know that, Suzy,’ Claire says. ‘Just because you think you know everything about the sea and the beach. There are some things that can’t always be explained.’
‘Yes,’ Suzy says. ‘I know science has a lot yet to teach us about nature. But whether mermaids are real or not isn’t one of those things.’
‘What about that tail Eddie saw a little while ago?’ Claire says defiantly. ‘Frankie and Rob have both seen it too. The way they described it sounds exactly like a mermaid’s tail to me.’ She looks to me for backup.
‘It could be, I suppose?’ I reply carefully, keen to remain impartial. Suzy and Claire are both my friends – I don’t want to side with one over the other. ‘It did appear to be what you might imagine one would be like.’
Suzy shakes her head. ‘Rob?’ she asks. ‘Surely you don’t think it was a mermaid’s tail you saw?’
Rob stares at Suzy with wide eyes, then he looks across at me and at Claire. He’s now caught in the same quandary. Whatever he says, it’s going to cause trouble.
‘Do I think it was a mermaid we saw – no, probably not. But if you’re asking me if it looked like a mermaid’s tail might – then I’d have to say yes, it did,’ he answers very diplomatically.
‘You see?’ Claire says. ‘It’s the mermaid’s treasure. If we throw it back, she will grant us a wish.’
‘All of us, or just one?’ Eddie asks.
‘If we all push it back, then I guess we are all worthy of a wish being granted,’ I say, looking at the barrel again. ‘Anyway, it looks pretty awkward to lift, so it will probably take all of us to get it up on the rocks. I say we give it a go.’
With difficulty, we all manage to hoist the barrel up to the top of one of the clusters of rocks that surround Morvoren Cove.
‘Ready?’ Robs asks as we all balance a little precariously on the rocks, with the waves splashing at our feet.
‘Does everyone know what they are going to wish for?’ I ask, looking at the others.
‘Can I wish I don’t have a little sister?’ Mandy says, grinning. ‘Hetty has been a pain in the arse recently. I wouldn’t mind being an only child for a while!’
‘Mandy, you must take this seriously,’ Claire says with a stern face. ‘It isn’t a joke.’
Mandy nods. ‘Sorry, Claire. I’ll behave. So how are we going to do this, then? Do we all do it one at time, or all together?’
‘We have to keep our wishes secret or they won’t come true,’ Claire says, wobbling a little on the rocks.
‘Careful, Claire,’ I tell her.
‘We’re not cutting a birthday cake,’ Eddie says. ‘Why do we have to keep them secret?’
‘Guys!’ Robs calls from below me, where he’s taking the majority of the weight of the barrel with Eddie. ‘Can we hurry up and do this, please, or I might be washed away like the maid was soon. This barrel is heavy!’
‘Right, after three, then,’ Mandy says. ‘We all push the barrel and wish at the same time, and we all do it in secret. OK?’ She looks at Claire.
Claire nods.
‘Right, one, two, three
!’ Mandy shouts as we all brace ourselves.
With one mighty push, the barrel rolls over a little, then goes toppling back into the waves. While at the same time, standing on the rocks, we all close our eyes for a moment and make our own special wish.
‘Now,’ Claire says, as one by one we all open our eyes and stare into the waves at the barrel floating away. ‘Let’s make a wish all together.’
‘For what?’ Mandy asks.
‘Let’s wish . . . No, let’s promise
each other that whatever happens in our futures that we’ll always try to be friends.’
‘Of course we will!’ Suzy says brightly. ‘Why wouldn’t we be?’
‘Please, can we just do it?’ Claire asks again. ‘I love you all so much, I want you in my life for ever.’
‘If we’re going to do it, we should do it sooner rather than later,’ I say as a wave licks the toe of my trainer. ‘Otherwise, I’ve a feeling we’re going to get very wet in a moment or two.’
‘Close your eyes again.’ We all do as Claire says. ‘Now make the wish in your heads.’
And right there, on Morvoren Cove, as the waves cover us in their salty spray, we make our promise to each other.