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“As long as we can refuel in Puerto Rico for the trip back,” Noah uttered, kicking a crumbling rock across the stone.
“Right,” Bellamy sighed. “But let’s just worry about getting there first.”
We all turned to head back to the dinghy and board our boat, silence falling over the three of us except for the sound of lush leaves and sand crunching beneath our shoes.
A sinking realization hit me and settled in my stomach, dropping like the weight of Titanic to the sea floor. Despite the thick air and sweat on my forehead from the intense heat, I suddenly felt cold. “Do we have another week?” My voice cracked as I choked back the thought.
“What do you mean?” Bellamy glanced towards me, confusion written on his face plainly. “Of course we have another week. There isn’t exactly a deadline.”
“I mean, when we traveled to the past, we were there for days, but when we got back here, it had only been a few hours. So that means that weeks here could mean…”
“Years there.” Bellamy finished my sentence for me, a solemn shadow falling over his face as his steps slowed. “You’re not wrong.”
I fought back the hopelessness welling within me like a tide. What if too much time passed and we were too late? I wasn’t so sure if it all really worked that way, but I sure didn’t want to risk finding out.
“Time isn’t on anyone’s side now, then, is it?” Bellamy grumbled, helping me into the dinghy.
The short ride from the rocky shore to our moored yacht was silent as we all sat soaking in the dire reality of what we’d just discussed. I felt a tear threatening to trickle from my eye, longing for just a chance to talk to Milo just one more time. Just one more word. One more touch. One more kiss.
The thoughts continued creeping in, and the fear of not getting him back darkened my spirit. I blinked and the tear rolled down, plopping into the seawater below, and I suddenly remembered my unique abilities. It occurred to me that maybe they could give us just the boost we needed…literally. I decided to test it out.
With my fresh tear fallen, I summoned the water alongside the small boat as we charged toward the yacht. I painted the picture in my mind, clear as an image on canvas, of water roiling and rushing underneath us, propelling us forward with a lift as steady as a raft and quick-moving as a jet stream. Noah and Bellamy were thrown backwards from the force alone. Even the dinghy’s engine paled in comparison to the thrust from the water. We rolled in close to our yacht, and I released my hold on the water. I watched the rolling current dissipate, returning to the calm waters from which it came.
“If you can push the big ship like that, lass, then we can cut our time in half.” Bellamy said, his hand braced on his knee as he turned to look at me.
“I should be able to,” I uttered. “I think I’m strong enough.”
I was getting better at controlling the waves with just a single tear, sometimes even just the sensation of one. But I often wondered if I was really the only siren aside from Cordelia who’d ever realized this power. I guess I had to be…if mermaids truly didn’t cry. I wondered if my mom would be able to access this ability if she had long enough to find out. And then I winced. I couldn’t imagine what we were supposed to do with her for the rest of this journey.
As we climbed back aboard, I tried to think of what I would tell her, and I wondered what bits of information McKenzie had already let slip if she had woken up by now.
I took Bellamy’s hand as he helped me up the ladder, realizing how adept I’d become at being at sea. Standing up in the floating dinghy felt as natural as walking across solid floor. I helped Noah bring the little boat up, securing it again until the next time we needed it. Then I braced as I heard McKenzie’s voice and light, hurried footsteps closing in.
“That was fast!” She exclaimed.
“Because he wasn’t there. He’s moved. And now we have to track him down somewhere in Puerto Rico.” Noah interjected before I could answer.
McKenzie’s mouth stood agape as she listened to us explain what we’d encountered. I was relieved when she mentioned my mom still slept. But I knew sooner or later she’d wake up, and I was unable to cast out the guilt eating at me for leaving her in the dark all this time. She was just as much descended from a siren as I was. And though I was always afraid she couldn’t handle the truth, she deserved to know it. It was only fair to that part of her. But how do you explain to your mom that she’s a mermaid? I hoped I’d figure that part out when the time came.
“Allright, we can’t waste time,” Bellamy ordered, his voice loud and confident and reminding me of his 18th century self. “Let’s get this ship moving.” As he made his way to the helm, he glanced back at me. I watched him as he guided the yacht’s bow to face our new direction.
“You’re up, Katrina,” he called to me with a nod.
I took a step towards the stern, but not before stopping to ask McKenzie another favor. “Will you be able to keep an eye on her while I control the currents from up here?”
“Sure can. Turns out babysitting an unconscious woman isn’t all that hard.” McKenzie’s bubbly tone made me smile. It had been a strange while since I’d heard it.
“If…when she wakes up, can you come get me?” I asked.
McKenzie assured me with a nod, and I turned away to make my way to the stern. I could still feel my connection from the tear earlier, but it was fading quickly, so I had to grasp the power I still held over the sea before it left me. Fortunately, I didn’t need much power to tell the water to carry our boat along. With one vivid image in my mind of the water swirling around us, foaming and writhing like silver spinning silk as it lifted our boat like air beneath a bird’s wings. In combination with the strength of the propellers and my undertow flowing beneath, our yacht launched forward faster than I thought possible. I smiled as the sea sprayed up just high enough to mist my face. Perhaps there was hope yet.
I’d been holding the current all evening into the night. My outstretched hand throbbed with ache and my entire arm felt heavier than the anchor’s chain. I’d moved to a sitting position on the hull, grasping a rope for security with my free hand, but my body groaned for a break from this position. Just for a moment. I didn’t want to lose speed, but I couldn’t continue like this for much longer.
Stepping off the hull sent a wave of relief flooding through my limbs, as the blood in my body had returned to flowing without restriction. I stretched, my tendons and muscles loosening as they’d been begging to do for the past few hours. A quick walk around the ship would do wonders. Then I’d get back to it.
I was steadily pacing around on the deck, chugging water from the bottle I’d grabbed from the cooler out on deck. My weary shadow danced on the deck floor, a lone silhouette outlined by the full moon above. When a greater shadow overtook mine, I gasped, nearly jumping back as I whipped around to see the culprit. I blinked in wonder at the sight of the great albatross soaring not even a foot overhead, circling me. It grazed me with a wing, the strong wind tugging my hair as it swept past me. When I looked back, it was gone. But there remained a feather in my hand. He was there. He was still there.
Recharged with a renewed sense of hope that it most certainly wasn’t too late, I took one more swig of water and then rushed back to the stern. With my unexpected tears of joy, I called the ocean forth once more to carry us forward.
