Twenty-Two
‘Did that woman ever catch up with you?’ I ask Eddie as we all sit on the rocks overlooking Morvoren Cove.
Most of the other mourners have departed, the café is beginning to close up and it’s just us six mermaids and Mack who have stayed behind to enjoy the cool night air and the clear skies above us, affording us a beautiful view of both the moon and the stars as they light up the sand and the waves below.
Mandy has brought along some bottled beers from the café and some of the others are drinking them as we sit listening to the splashing of the waves.
‘What woman?’ Eddie asks, looking puzzled.
‘There was a woman looking for you earlier. Tall, with long grey hair – she was wearing a long black dress and a seashell necklace. We think she was in the church earlier today.’
‘But she was wearing a hat with a little veil then,’ Claire adds. ‘And her hair was pinned up.’
‘Do you mean Marilyn?’ Mandy asks. ‘It sounds like her from the description. She’s my aunt.’
‘It might be. She spoke to Claire and me and said she was looking for Eddie.’
Mandy turns to Eddie. ‘Was she now? How do you know her?’
Eddie still looks puzzled. ‘I don’t. Well, I didn’t until today. A woman matching the description you’re giving did come and talk to me, though.’
‘What did she want?’ I ask, intrigued.
‘It’s all a bit odd,’ Eddie says. ‘She asked me whether I liked living in London to begin with. I said it’s all right, I guess.’
‘I thought you loved living there?’ I say, surprised to hear him say this.
‘I do – well, I did. I don’t know, I’ve been thinking for a bit whether it’s actually for me.’
‘Not another change of career, Eddie,’ Rob says. ‘How many is that now?’
‘I didn’t say I wasn’t happy being a chef, I said I wasn’t sure if London life is for me any more.’
Again, I’m surprised. Eddie always seemed so happy in the capital before.
‘Funny thing is, it wasn’t until I came back here this time that I realised how much I miss St Felix. Cornwall in general, really. So when this woman – Marilyn, did you say?’ he asks Mandy.
She nods.
‘When Marilyn asked me that question, I was surprised – shocked, even. I hadn’t voiced those thoughts to anyone before.’
‘What did she say next?’ Suzy asks.
‘She said that I should go to the estate agent on the high street tomorrow morning, and I should look in the window. She was very specific about the time. She said I should arrive at ten a.m., and wait.’
‘How odd.’ I’m trying to work out why this Marilyn would say this. ‘Does it mean anything to you, Mand?’
‘I think she does work in property in some way,’ Mandy says. ‘I’d have to ask my mum, though. That might explain the estate-agent part.’
‘Are you thinking of moving, Eddie?’ Claire asks.
‘I wasn’t before this trip,’ Eddie says. ‘But after the funeral today . . . ’ He glances at Mandy.
‘Don’t worry, it’s fine,’ Mandy says. ‘You can talk about it.’
‘After the funeral and realising how short life can be, I have to say it has crossed my mind. But again, I’ve told no one this. Not until now.’
‘Will you go?’ I ask Eddie. ‘To the estate agent?’
‘I think I will. If only to see what it’s all about.’
‘You’ll have to tell us what happens – send us a group email or something.’
Eddie nods.
‘While we’re talking about secret hopes and dreams,’ Mandy says, taking a swig of her bottle of beer. ‘I have a secret to share with you all.’ She glances quickly at me. ‘I’m gay.’
There’s silence on the rocks as the others process her sudden announcement.
‘You never are?’ Eddie says in astonishment. ‘But you love men.’
‘Used to, perhaps,’ Mandy says. ‘Not now.’
‘Well, of all the things I thought you might say, Mand, that’s certainly not one of them,’ Rob says, grinning. He lifts his bottle of beer. ‘Congratulations!’
‘Thank you,’ she says, doing the same to him.
‘Gosh,’ Suzy says, looking a bit shocked. ‘I can’t say it’s not a surprise, Mandy. Is this something new, or have you known for a while?’
‘A while,’ Mandy says. ‘Just took me a few years to accept it.’
‘You’ve had . . . partners, have you?’ Suzy continues. ‘Sorry, is that too personal?’
‘No, not at all,’ Mandy says. ‘Yes, I’ve had partners. My first was at Claire’s wedding.’
Claire looks surprised. ‘Really? Who?’
‘Rob knows her,’ Mandy says, looking at him knowingly.
Rob thinks about this for a moment. ‘Jenna?’ he asks, getting it right first time.
Mandy nods. ‘Yep, she was my first.’
‘Wait, Jenna – that American talent scout?’ Eddie asks as he remembers. ‘No way.’
‘It seems she was instrumental in changing both Rob’s and my life – in different ways, of course.’
‘Well, I never expected to hear that tonight,’ Eddie says, blinking. ‘Anyone else got anything they want to share with us?’
Claire glances at me. But I give a tiny shake of my head. Our secrets need to remain secret – for a while longer at least.
‘Mack?’ Eddie asks. ‘Would you like to share anything? Since you’re hearing all our secrets tonight.’
Mack has been quiet until now, and I wonder what he’s making of all this. We’ve all known each other for years; Mack has known us approximately twenty-four hours.
‘No, my life is an open book,’ Mack says. ‘Isn’t that right, Rob?’
‘I’d say so,’ Rob nods. ‘No secrets under the bed for Mack here. He’s as straight as they come. Oh, no offence,’ he says hurriedly to Mandy and Eddie. ‘I meant straight as in straight as a die, not, well, you know?’
‘Rob, you’ve been offending me for years with your heterosexual comments,’ Eddie says, grinning. ‘I’m not going to start taking offence now.’
‘You’re good, babe.’ Mandy takes another swig of her beer. ‘Ooh, I’m empty. Another, anyone? Claire?’
Claire, to all our surprise, takes the beer Mandy is offering her.
‘What?’ she asks innocently. ‘I do drink, you know. Besides, tonight is a new start for me. Tomorrow things are going to change in my life.’ She reaches for the bottle opener and pops the top off the beer. ‘Here’s to new beginnings!’
‘To new beginnings!’ we all agree, and those of us with a bottle lift them in a toast.
‘Frankie?’ Mandy asks. ‘You sure you don’t want a beer?’
I shake my head.
‘Not pregnant, are you?’ She grins.
I stare at her. ‘No, of course not,’ I say quickly. ‘I’ve not felt great since I’ve been here, that’s all. I haven’t felt like drinking.’
I glance quickly at the others; they all seem happy with this explanation. But I can see Rob is thinking hard, so I turn away.
‘Did anyone else just see that?’ Mack says as he leans over the edge of the rockface as if he’s trying to see something.
‘See what?’ Suzy asks.
‘I don’t know. It looked like a giant fish’s tail flipping over in the waves.’
Rob and I glance at each other again.
‘Ooh, remember the last time we saw that in this bay?’ Eddie asks. ‘The night of the mermaid’s treasure.’
‘Mermaid’s treasure?’ Mack asks, sounding intrigued. ‘What’s that?’
Eddie, Suzy and Claire give Mack a quick rundown on what happened the night we threw the whisky barrel back into the sea – including the part when we all made wishes. Rob, Mandy and myself all remain silent.
‘Cool,’ Mack says when they’ve finished. ‘And have any of these wishes come true?’
‘Yeah, mine,’ Suzy says, holding up her hand.
‘Tell me more?’
‘I don’t know what the others wished for that night,’ Suzy says, sounding a tad embarrassed. ‘But I wished that I could make a difference in my life – and I feel like I’m already doing that by working in politics. We have our first Labour government after eighteen years of Tory rule, and, even though I work behind the scenes, I feel like I really helped to make that change.’
Mack nods. ‘Nice. What about the rest of you? Frankie?’
‘Nothing yet,’ I mumble.
‘Me neither.’ Rob reaches for another bottle of beer.
‘Claire?’
‘My wish sort of came true, I suppose,’ Claire says. ‘I wished I could have a family and a nice house of my own in St Felix. I have both of those things, even if there’s a few . . . issues with them at the moment. I . . . I don’t mean my children; they are perfect – everything I could and did indeed wish for. I think you all know what I’m referring to that’s not quite so perfect?’
We all nod.
‘But like I said before, that’s going to change!’ she says, lifting her beer again.
‘Eddie?’ Mack asks now. ‘How about you?’
‘Nope, not yet,’ Eddie says, grinning. ‘But then I did wish for something very specific. Something I can’t see will ever happen, to be honest. That’s why I did it – to really test the mermaid. Oh, it’s never going to happen so I might as well tell you—’
‘No!’ Rob and I both cry out at the same time.
I look at Rob, wondering if he’s thinking what I am. If Eddie reveals his un-granted wish, then we will have to reveal ours as well.
‘You mustn’t tell us, Eddie,’ Claire says quickly, glancing at me. ‘Or the wish won’t come true. Keep it a secret and maybe the next time we all see each other, it will have come to fruition.’
Eddie looks less confident about that than Claire, but he nods.
‘Mandy! Last but not least.’ Mack smiles at her. ‘Now tell us, did your wish come true?’
Mandy takes a very long swig of her beer. ‘Sadly, Mack, yes, it did. And I’ll never forgive myself for wishing it.’
We all stare at Mandy, wondering what she could mean.
‘Blimey, what did you wish for, Mand?’ Rob is the first to ask.
‘Don’t you all remember?’ Mandy says. Her face that has just begun to recover some of its colour again is now ghostly white, and her expression is fraught with grief once more.
‘We all wished secretly, didn’t we?’ I tell her gently, sensing something is very wrong. ‘No one knew anyone else’s wishes.’
‘But you all heard mine,’ Mandy says, her voice trembling. ‘If you remember, I said, even before we threw that stupid barrel back in the sea, “Can I wish not to have a sister?” And, as you’ve all witnessed today, my wish certainly came true, in all its stupid gory detail!’
‘Mandy, no!’ I realise a beat quicker than the others what’s happening. ‘Don’t be silly – you can’t blame yourself for this.’
‘Oh, I can,’ Mandy says, drinking again. ‘I have every day since Hetty died, and I probably will every day until I
die. Which, if there’s any justice in the world, will be very soon.’
I pull myself to my feet and rush over to her at the same time as Claire and Suzy do.
Mandy is shaking as I put my arms around her. ‘It’s my fault,’ she murmurs as tears begin to stream down her face. ‘It’s my fault Hetty is dead.’
‘No, Mandy.’ Claire tightly grips Mandy’s hand. ‘Of course it’s not your fault. It was an accident. A dreadful, but unforeseen accident caused by nothing more than some freak weather.’
‘Claire is absolutely right,’ Suzy says, desperately trying to reassure Mandy. ‘That’s not what you actually wished for, was it – not when we threw the barrel off the rocks?’
Mandy is silent except for her sobs.
‘Is it?’ Suzy asks. ‘That was just a throwaway comment that any teenager might make about their younger sibling. The mermaid would have known that.’
I love how Suzy, probably the least likely one of us to believe in anything magical or spiritual, is talking like the mermaid is real. But then her
wish had kind of come true, I suppose.
‘Yes,’ Claire says keenly. ‘Suzy is spot on. What did
you actually wish for? You don’t have to tell us if it hasn’t come true yet,’ she adds. ‘But it might help us and you to say it out loud.’
Mandy looks up at Claire, then around at us all. Eddie, Rob and even Mack are all now standing around her in a semi-circle of concern.
‘I wished I could live my life as my true self,’ Mandy says quietly. ‘I didn’t even know what that was back then – I was pretty messed up and confused. But that’s what I wished for when we threw the barrel back.’
‘But that’s wonderful,’ Claire says, putting the positive spin she always does on everything – good or bad. ‘Because that’s what’s happening to you now. You are living your true life, Mandy. You’ve not only come out to yourself, but to us as well. Now, you can go on and live your life exactly as you should, not pretending to be someone you’re not, but honestly and truthfully as the wonderful person you really are.’
Mandy looks gratefully up at Claire as more tears roll down her face. I pray they are tears of relief this time, and not sorrow.
‘You really think it wasn’t me that made it happen?’ she asks in a tiny desperate voice, that sounds quite unlike the Mandy we’re all used to.
‘I know
it wasn’t you,’ Claire says. ‘We all
know it wasn’t you.’
As we all surround Mandy in an enormous group hug, I’m sure I can actually feel the love bursting from our tight-knit little group as we stand in the moonlight, under the stars, looking after one of our own. And, the wonderful thing is, in the process we now seem to have accrued one more, if unexpected member to our gang, as Mack joins in and therefore becomes one of us – a Misfit Mermaid.
And as we slowly release Mandy one by one, I’m sure I’m not the only mermaid who hears the all too familiar splash from the waves below us . . .