I met up with Cleo, Emma, and Rikki for my lunch break. The four of us headed to one of the tables overlooking the dolphin lagoon.
"Do you think I'm predictable?" Emma asked all of us.
"What makes you think that?" I wondered as we sat at one of the tables.
"Let me answer your question with a question," Rikki replied to Emma, "Do you count how many times you can chew each mouthful?"
"That's not being predictable. That's just good health sense," Emma answered.
"And my role in this conversation ends now."
"You know what I think?" Cleo spoke up, "I think our lives have gotten so nutty lately, it's nice to have a normal person we can rely on."
"For sure," I agreed and sipped my drink.
"I'm predictable," Emma nodded.
"That's not what I meant."
"The sun, and Emma. I know what this is about," Rikki stated.
"This has got nothing to do with Byron," Emma informed her.
On noting the topic, I could tell Emma was beginning to question herself and felt the need to ask the rest of us for our opinion.
"You three just confirmed it for me," Emma turned to each of us, "I'm sick of being dependable Emma. I need a change. I'm gonna color my hair."
"What color do you have in mind?" I wondered as I tried picturing her with a different hair color.
"Girls," Miss Chatham arrived at our table, "I am so glad I bumped into you."
"Miss Chatham. Hi," Cleo greeted her politely.
"How's it going?" I asked.
"How are you, Miss Chatham?" Emma inquired.
"In all honesty, Emma, I'm very concerned.
"Concerned about what?" I turned with a worried expression to the elderly woman who took a seat with us.
"I just wanted to tell you that you must stick together, no matter what. You must be there for one another. Promise me," Miss Chatham advised all of us.
It gave me the feeling that something had happened to her and her friends, including Ida when they were young.
"Miss Chatham, I don't know what you're worrying about. But as far as I'm concerned, there's nothing I wouldn't do for Cleo, Rikki, and Zoey," Emma assured her.
"Absolutely," Cleo nodded, "The four of us are like best friends. No secrets. Right?" She turned to the rest of us.
"Right," Rikki, Emma, and I replied in unison. Personally, if there was something that I wanted to get off my chest, I'd tell them.
"I'm glad," Miss Chatham smiled.
I noticed an expression on Rikki's face that told me she had something on her mind. I decided to leave her be and wait until she was ready to say anything.
🌊
The next day was my day off from work, after helping Grandma run some errands, I met up with Cleo and Emma at the Gilbert house. I saw that Emma was determined to dye her hair a different color when Cleo read the instructions on the box.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Emma asked her.
"It's easy. I've done this 1,000 times," Cleo nodded as she read the box.
"Really?"
"Not, but I've seen it being done before. Let's go."
I remembered seeing Mom dye her hair once. She had gotten her hair wet before applying the dye and waited for almost half an hour for the color to settle in before washing it with the shampoo that came with the box.
"Let's wait for Rikki," Emma suggested as a nervous expression spread on her face, "You know how she is. Always feeling like the odd one out."
"You're backing out, aren't you?" Cleo turned to her, "Because it sounds like you're wavering, here."
"I'm not backing out. Let's do this." Emma sat in the salon chair.
"If you're nervous about dying your hair, you don't have to do it," I assured her.
"I wanna do this, Zoey."
Cleo slid on a pair of plastic gloves and turned on the water in the sink and tilted Emma. The moment her hair was wet, Emma's tail sprouted.
"I'll just guard the door, just in case anyone comes around," I nodded nervously feeling bad that I neglected to warn Emma that using hair dye involved water. Thankfully, we didn't dare to book a hair appointment at a salon!
As Cleo scrubbed the dye into Emma's hair, the door knocked.
"Who is it?" the three of us asked in unison.
I cautiously cracked the door open a bit and saw that it was just Rikki. So, I opened the door wide enough for her to enter the bathroom.
"If you're gonna bother to ask, you should probably lock the door," Rikki suggested as I closed the door and locked it, "Especially looking like that." She gestured at Emma's tail, "And smart of Zo to stand guard." Rikki also commended me.
"Sorry about the tail," Cleo apologized to Emma, "I forgot water was involved. You wanna keep going?"
"Of course," Emma nodded, "I'm not stopping now."
Rikki picked up the box, "Whoa." She stared at it, "Are you really going this red? Scarlet Fever?" she asked Emma.
"What?" Emma questioned and turned to Cleo, "I thought you said it was Indian Sunrise?"
That was when I realized Cleo had accidentally selected the wrong dye. It was too late to stop.
"Don't worry. It'll look great," Cleo assured her.
🌊
After about almost half an hour of waiting for the dye to settle in, Cleo washed Emma's hair with the shampoo that came with the box. Once she was done, Cleo slowly pulled off the towel that was on Emma's head. Emma's new hair color made me think of Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow from the Marvel Comics that I've read and collected. Though adding the tail with the red hair, I immediately thought of Ariel. If Emma could pull off the Disney Princess vibe!
"Well?" Emma asked all of us.
"Well," Cleo nodded not sure how to tell her.
"Like you could be rehearsing for the part of The Little Mermaid," I answered.
"You're a red clown nose away from selling burgers," Rikki replied.
The way she described it made me think of It. Dad and I watched the two-part ministries when it aired on TV a while back. Now I found myself picturing Pennywise working at a burger joint! Though it was in a more nightmarish way.
Emma grabbed the hand mirror Rikki held and stared at her reflection in shock and regret.
"I look awful," she turned to Cleo, "What have you done to me?"
"Look, we have to dry your hair and get you back to normal as soon as possible," Cleo suggested, "It was supposed to dry lighter." She referred to the dye and hair combined.
"It's better. I wanted change, but this is--"
"I know," Rikki nodded, " You should think of this next time you feel like an impulsive act."
"Why me?" Emma exclaimed.
"We all screw up now and then," I assured her.
"I'm running late for work," Cleo told Rikki and me, "Here." She handed Rikki a hair dryer and headed out of the bathroom.
"What do I do with this?" Rikki asked in confusion, "Cleo." She handed the hair dryer to me and the hand mirror that she had been holding over to Emma.
"Hey!" Emma and I called out in unison as Rikki closed the bathroom door. I was left with no other option, but to help dry off Emma as fast as I could before anyone else besides Rikki came around.
While Emma used the hair dryer on her hair, I pulled out a bath towel and helped dry her tail.
"Emma? Zoey?" Zane's voice called out from the hallway, "I just need to talk to both of you for two seconds."
It sounded like Rikki had tried to prevent him from entering inside. Zane kept urgently calling for Emma and me. His obsession with finding the so-called sea monster was making him sound like he belonged in the nut house.
Once Emma was dry, her legs came back, but her hair was back to blonde. That confirmed to me the next time she was in mermaid form, her hair would be red again. Once Emma opened the door, Rikki gave both of us a questioning expression. I guessed that it had to do with why Emma's hair was back to her regular color instead of the fire-engine red.
Zane was determined to get a word from either Emma or me. I could tell that it was not one of his pranks. He had been by my grandparents' house thinking I was there, and Grandma had told him I was with the girls. Zane was wanting to talk with Miss Chatham but didn't know where she was. I wasn't giving him the address to the nursing home she lived in. Since his actions on the Lorelei and having placed the elderly woman in the hospital, I wasn't allowing her to have to deal with any more pressure from him.
Emma was certain Miss Chatham didn't want to talk with Zane. He was convinced that she knew more about the supposed sea monster. Zane told both of us of his discovery on the Lorelei and the boat had started sinking before he could get a close look. He described his feelings when he was trapped and close to drowning and that was when he saw it. Again, Zane either saw Emma or me.
He begged both of us for any whereabouts of Miss Chatham. Emma and I refused to disclose it to him, especially after what he put her through that time. Zane left telling us that he would find the elderly woman by himself.
"Thanks for the help," Emma turned to Rikki in a sarcastic remark.
"So what are we gonna do?" Rikki asked.
"I don't know, but I feel really uncomfortable about this."
"Me too," I nodded.
"And your hair, the red. Where did that go?" Rikki wondered.
"It must have been the change," I replied.
"I was a mermaid when we dyed it, and now I'm back to normal, so is the hair," Emma added.
"So when you're a mermaid, it's gonna be red again?" Rikki inquired.
"Most likely," I answered.
"I can't believe we went through all that trouble for nothing," Emma sighed.
"So what are we gonna do about Zane? He's on to something for sure."
"Um-- maybe I should talk to him," Rikki suggested.
"You?" Emma turned to her, "Why would he listen to you?"
🌊
Cleo and Lewis arrived at the house in full-on urgency. The five of us met in Emma's bedroom and Cleo informed us that she prevented Zane from harassing Miss Chatham earlier.
"There's a photo?" Emma asked trying to make it sound clear to her.
"There's a photo," Cleo nodded after telling us.
"Wouldn't the seawater-" Rikki wondered but was cut off.
"It's in an old metal chest."
"So it doesn't mean he's going to be able to open it."
"Do we really wanna take that chance?" Emma turned to her.
"What's the photo of?" Lewis asked.
"Four girls," Cleo answered, "Miss Chatham and her friends."
"So it proves she had friends," Rikki sassed.
"With tails. It's the same as the one in Miss Chatham's locket, only bigger."
"Oh no," Emma sighed in distress, "This is bad."
"If Zane gets his hands on the photo, God knows what will happen next," I spoke up.
"Look, I have stuff to do," Rikki stood up and headed for the door, "Bye, and hope it all goes well." She left at that moment.
"What was that all about?" Lewis wondered.
"Look, we don't have time to worry about it at the moment," Emma suggested, "Cleo's gotta get back to work, and we need to find Zane. Now."
🌊
Emma, Lewis, and I headed for the marina after Cleo headed back to the marine park to resume her shift. The three of us found Zane's Zodiac. Lewis got to work on disconnecting the wiring while Emma and I kept watch in case Zane came around.
"Done," Lewis called out.
"Excellent," Emma sighed in relief as both of us went over to him, "What did you do?"
"Know anything about motors?" He showed us the wires.
"No."
"I know a little bit," I spoke up, "You disconnected the engine."
"Correct, Zoey," Lewis nodded, "This will deny Zane for a while, so you two should get going."
Emma and I dove off of the jetty and swam swiftly for the Lorelei. I found myself grinning a bit at the sight of her red hair. Yet again, she made me think of Ariel!
Seeing Mako Island ahead of us confirmed to both Emma and me that we were at the right spot. We dove down to the Lorelei and searched inside the sunken boat for the metal chest as Cleo described it. Emma found the box while I kept watch in case Zane decided to show up. As she searched through the photos that were found, I peeked out and saw Zane and Nate having submerged themselves in scuba gear. I signaled Emma to hurry up and find the specific photo since we had unwanted company.
Once Emma found the exact photo Cleo had told us about, I checked to find Zane and Nate distracted by the sharks swimming nearby. It turned out Nate had a dreaded fear of getting bit by a shark and was freaking out, which got Zane distracted. Guess he must've watched a ton of Shark Week episodes and seen the gory details!
Seeing them both occupied would buy Emma and me some time to get out of dodge before they discovered us. We swam out of the Lorelei and headed back to the mainland.
🌊
Later, after getting back. The four of us met back in Emma's room and went through the photos together. I smiled upon seeing Ida around my age and in her mermaid form as she grinned along with her friends.
"You think they look happy?" Cleo asked.
"Spectacularly, stupidly happy," Rikki answered in a sassy manner.
"You think we ever look like that?"
"I hope not."
Rikki stood up as she got off the bed.
"What do you think it was?" Emma wondered.
"What?" Cleo turned to her.
"That split them up?"
"Most likely, life got in the way for them," I guessed recalling Ida's relocating to Sydney for her art career, "Maybe they went on to pursue other interests."
"You might be right about that one, Zoey," Emma nodded, "But, what could've happened to the other two?"
"Maybe that's why Miss Chatham always gives us all that stuff about sticking together," Cleo pointed out, "Maybe something happened to her friends that she doesn't want to happen to us. You know, secrets can tear people apart."
"Sometimes secrets can bind people together, making the relationship stronger," I added.
"We've all got secrets," Rikki spoke up.
"Just a particularly big one which, luckily, is still a secret," Emma smiled.
"One that Zane isn't going to get," Cleo said.
"So we can trust each other, right?"
"Right."
"Right," Rikki and I nodded in unison.
"And people who trust each other do things for each other?" Emma questioned.
"I smell something coming," Rikki grinned.
"I want my hair back to normal."
"The dye isn't permanent. So it'll come off in time," I assured her.
"No one even knows you're a redhead," Cleo added, "It's only when you're a mermaid."
"Yeah, I know," Emma nodded, "But that's enough for me. I hate it."
"What about change?" Rikki asked, "What about good old dependable Emma?"
"Change is overrated."
The four of us found Miss Chatham and gave her the photos. I was surprised when she gave me a few photos of Ida, including the one where she was in her mermaid form. It gave me a feeling the elderly woman felt that since I was related to one of her best friends, I would hold on to the familial connection. Since no one in the family knew what Ida had been hiding, it was best to find a safe hiding spot for the photos until the time was right.
🌊
After that, the girls and I headed for the Juice Net.
"Hey Emma," Byron greeted as he exited the cafe.
"Hey, Byron," she smiled at him.
"Hi, Byron," Cleo grinned.
"Byron," Rikki nodded.
"'Sup dude?" I greeted in surfer talk.
"Something's different," Byron pointed out at Emma, "You look good. Have you done something to your hair?"
"No, but-- thanks," Emma beamed.
Byron left at that moment.
"Now that was definitely a compliment," Emma grinned at the three of us.
As we entered the cafe, we overheard Zane telling everyone inside about something huge, "I am telling you, this was more than just shapes or shadows. I saw them as clear as day. Two mermaids."
My blood ran cold the moment he said the last sentence. The girls and I turned to each other in shock.
"One of them had a mass of red hair, and the other one had dark brown or black hair. Both of them had long tails. Nate," Zane turned to his friend.
"What, you're asking me?" Nate smirked at him.
"Look, I'm going back out there. This is real, now. There are two mermaids out there, and I'm gonna prove it. Who's coming with me?"
I could tell the majority of the crowd didn't take his story seriously.
"Mermaids? Have you gone completely insane?" Emma questioned Zane acting like everyone else who didn't believe him.
"Well, he saw something out there. Because when he came out of that water he was like a scared little boy," Nate explained grinning.
Everyone started laughing.
"Nate, do me a favor and don't help, OK?" Zane frowned at him.
"So, what exactly did these mermaids look like?" I inquired acting like I didn't buy his story.
"One had red hair and the other had either dark brown or black hair."
"Were they cute?" Miriam asked sounding jealous.
"I didn't see their faces," Zane answered.
"Old, young?" Cleo jumped in.
"I don't know. But I told you there was something about that old woman."
"Miss Chatham has gray hair, Zane," Emma corrected him, "She's not your mermaid."
"Yeah, OK, maybe not," he nodded, "But she's somehow connected."
"What about you Nate?" I turned to him knowing full well he was distracted by the sharks, "What exactly did you see?"
"Well, nothing. I was on the surface by then," he replied.
"Zane, I think the oxygen got cut off to your brain," Emma remarked sarcastically.
The girls and I found Lewis and walked off to the side.
"He saw Zoey and me," Emma stated.
"How?" Lewis wondered as we all sat in one of the booths.
"At the Lorelei," I answered, "I should've watched out more carefully and waited until it was safe for Em and me. I'm such a moron."
"It's not your fault, Zoey," Emma assured me.
"Don't beat yourself up about it," Lewis jumped in, "I mean, look around. No one's gonna believe him."
"He's not gonna let it go either though," Cleo pointed out.
"All right, well, as long as you don't go in the water, he can't find you," Lewis suggested.
"Wait, where's Rikki?"
"I thought she was with us," I stated as I looked overhead to find no sign of her.
"What's up with her lately?" Lewis asked.
At first, I thought about asking Rikki since she pretty much opened up to me about a lot of things. But on the other hand, I decided not to push it figuring Rikki would only say something when she was ready and comfortable.