The next morning Mirabelle went downstairs to read again while Sahara redid all of her chores plus some new ones like gathering food. That night was the same as before with no talking while eating then falling asleep right after. This went on for a couple more days until Sahara went after Mirabelle and slammed her book shut.
"What?" Mirabelle demanded.
"I want your help in some of the chores. I have let you read down here every day since you arrived. It's time you pull your fair share of work." Sahara ordered. She was not letting this go on any longer.
"Fine. I guess I have been kind of lazy." Mirabelle agreed.
"Yes, you have." Sahara teased but with a hint of truth behind it.
"So what do you want me to do first?" Mirabelle asked.
"I don't know. Let's go see." Sahara responded. So both girls went to the main rooms and decided that they would do the chores together today and then make a chart stating which chores would be done by whom for a certain day. Sahara had a lot more fun doing chores with someone and Mirabelle felt better now that she was getting a little bit of exercise.
Life was good on the island. The days were always sunny, the night were cool, so many books, fair food and plenty of it, and a friend. But of course Mirabelle couldn't stay. She had a quest to complete and some days she would realize that she had some of her memories that she got back were fulfilling their purpose of making her want to complete the quest.
"Do you have a boat?" Mirabelle asked Sahara one day.
"I have a dingy but it's not in great shape." Sahara replied curiously. "Why do you ask?"
"Well I am actually on a quest to find my father and my memories and even though I love it here so much I kind of need to get going." Mirabelle told Sahara sadly.
"Oh. I see." Sahara said, disappointed.
"No, No! It's not that. I love it here. I love being here with you. But I have to get my memories back and my father." Mirabelle said, trying to get Sahara to understand.
"Couldn't you just forget about the quest and stay here with me. It's ever so lonely." Sahara was trying to get Mirabelle to understand how she felt.
"No, I can't, I'm sorry. Why don't you come with me?" exclaimed Mirabelle. It would be so wonderful to have another friend on the quest, especially after losing Nivana, Mirabelle thought.
"I don't know. I've never really traveled before. I don't want to be a burden if I get home sick or something." Sahara was trying to hide something. She was trying to wiggle out of going because she had a secret. Mirabelle didn't know how she knew this but she knew she was right. Mirabelle wasn't very subtle so she just blurted it out.
"What are you hiding?" She asked.
"What?!" Sahara was startled.
"You don't want to come with me because you have a secret. What are you hiding from me?" Mirabelle questioned her further.
"I... I. Nothing. You wouldn't understand." Sahara's voice cracked and faded.
"Try me." Mirabelle said kindly, coaxing Sahara to tell her. So Sahara gave in and told Mirabelle her story.
"I wasn't born here, you see. I'm not sure exactly where I was born but it wasn't here. I was born in the Bermuda triangle somewhere on a rocky beach. All the girls in my family could sing beautifully and harmoniously. The boys stayed home and did chores while the girls went to school to learn things about beauty. Keeping your hair clean and silky, keeping your skin smooth, how to sing in tune, etc. I was young and bored so I went to my favorite solitary place. A little rock just off the rocky beaches of our island."
"Suddenly I was grabbed around the throat by a huge hand and thrown into a painfully small cage. The pirate showed me to my family and friends, telling them that they would kill me if the girls sang their beautiful songs. The pirates sailed right along and as they passed the island they didn't stop to let me go home but instead kept on sailing taking me father and father away from my family. A storm hit and a girl my age flew down and rescued me. I jumped into the water and swam for a very long time talking all the while talking with the storm girl. Turns out she was a storm spirit, but she led me to this island and I've lived here ever since."
"Are you a mermaid?" Mirabelle asked.
"Sort of. I'm a siren." Sahara explained about the way sirens lured people in towards the rocky shores causing the sailors to crash so that the sirens could come and eat the men.
"Oh. That's great." Mirabelle replied.
"I know. It's pretty disgusting but it's in our nature I think. Something like that."
"So how does all this explain why you can't come with me on my quest?" Mirabelle questioned.
"I guess it's just that I don't want to leave here since I pretty much grew up her all my life." Sahara answered.
"That doesn't mean you can't come back. Besides we could most likely find your family during or after the quest. Don't you want to see them again?"
"Ya I guess. Okay I'll come with you. Let's start preparing. What do we need?"
"Well..." Mirabelle started. The girls list included fixing up the sad little dingy, making new clothes, gathering extra food, etc. After about a week the girls were ready to head out.
"Ready," Mirabelle asked.
"I think so." Sahara replied.
"Then let's go!" So the girls sailed off the island on their new and improved little boat and all their supplies, heading west away from the rising sun. Sahara looked pale and nervous, almost as if she was seasick, but Mirabelle knew that she was a siren, a creature that grew up in the water, so that wasn't the case. Mirabelle was going to ask what was wrong when Sahara gasped.
"What! What's happening! Sahara!" Mirabelle shouted.
"Shark! Really big shark! As in huge!" Sahara screamed.
"Seriously, already we are having trouble? We've only been sailing for an hour!" Mirabelle complained. It was true, the girls had been sailing for only an hour but they couldn't see the island from where they were. Mirabelle didn't even remember which direction the island was in.
"Here it comes!" Sahara shrieked. The water became darker and started to swirl. An enormous dorsal fin emerged, water pouring down around it. A gray platform rose out of the waves, getting larger and larger until it resembled a sharks back.
"Oh my god! That thing is ginormous!" Mirabelle yelled. The shape kept rising until a mouth appeared, holding hundreds of gleaming, white teeth the size of Mirabelle's head. The throat stretched as far back a Mirabelle could see only to drop off into darkness.
"Mirabelle. I have powers of the sea, being a siren and all but I'm not sure how long I can control it, or if I even can." Sahara told Mirabelle worriedly. The shark was getting closer, its mouth opening wider, coming right at the girls dingy witch could fit right down the shark's throat. Suddenly a gust of wind blew their ship about a mile forward. As soon as the shark realized he changed course and followed.
"What happened?" Mirabelle asked.
"I don't know but row!" Sahara replied. So the girls each grabbed a paddle and started to row frantically. Even with their full blown panic giving the girls extra energy, the shark was gaining on their boat with every stroke. When the shark was seconds from swallowing them whole, the breeze picked up and blew the boat forward about 2 miles this time. The girls could still see the shark and the shark was on the move. The girls kept rowing even though their arms ached and their backs hurt. Mirabelle looked up but saw nothing in front of her. After about 5 seconds later she looked up again and saw land about a mile away. Where did that come from? Mirabelle wondered dimly. She was too tired to care. Seeing land gave her and extra burst of energy. As the girls neared the land, Sahara slowed down.
"I'm sorry Mirabelle," Sahara said, confusing Mirabelle very much, "But this is the way it has to be. Her eyes glowed serpent green as Sahara leaned over and pushed Mirabelle into the water. It all happened so fast Mirabelle didn't have time to react. As soon as Mirabelle hit the water she realized she could see something big and dark approaching very fast. Mirabelle gasped, underwater, and realized she could still breathe under water. Mirabelle swam towards the approaching shark, which seems like a pretty stupid idea, but as the shark was swimming very fast near the surface of the water Mirabelle knew she could dive underneath it, then swim along with the shark so that it wouldn't see her.
Sahara thought that Mirabelle was dead by now since she had been under the water so long. Sahara used her siren powers to tell the shark to go away and of course it obeyed immediately. As the boat neared the shore Nivana flew down onto Sahara's ship.
"That went well." Nivana said.
"Yes. Now the sorceress will have no more troubles with that wizarding family." Sahara replied.
"She better be dead. When my storm on the ship with the sailors failed to kill her, the sorceress was very angry." Nivana told Sahara. Both girls had the same glowing green eyes, the color of emeralds when they shine in the sun. Neither of them noticed Mirabelle eavesdropping on them from behind a large, seaweed covered rock. Mirabelle was shocked. Her only two friends thought she was dead and had been planning to kill her since they met her. Mirabelle swam away, under the water so they couldn't see her, alongside the shore. When she was far enough away Mirabelle climbed out of the water felling tired and betrayed. Mirabelle's feeling were too confused for her to think straight so she just wandered around aimlessly, lost in thought. As the sun set Mirabelle realized that she was very hungry and very tired and that it was getting cold but she had nowhere to sleep or to take shelter. Feeling worse than ever Mirabelle turned down a random street where a boy her age was sneaking inside a house with no lights on.
Instead of being cautious, she ran towards as fast as her weary body could allow. With every step she got slower but Mirabelle managed to keep running. The boy had been father away from the house then Mirabelle had first thought so he was just about to climb in through a broken window when he noticed Mirabelle. The boy watched Mirabelle come closer, as if he was sizing her up.
"Wait," Mirabelle panted, "I need help. Could you help me?"
"Depends on what you need." The boy replied, "Follow me. We shouldn't be caught out here." Mirabelle hurried after him, still breathless. The house was nice, a little dusty, but nice.
"So..." Mirabelle said once they got inside. "Can you help me?"
"I'll say it again, it depends on what you need." The boy replied, annoying Mirabelle very much.
"Well I need food, shelter, water and some supplies for traveling." Mirabelle told him coldly.
"There we go. Something to work off of. Well you can sleep here for the night, so that's shelter covered. I'll get you some food and water tomorrow morning but the supplies is going to be the toughie. Got any money?" He asked.
"No." Mirabelle replied.
"Well okay then. We can work it out tomorrow, it's too late to do anything tonight anyways." He kept talking, mostly to himself Mirabelle guessed.
"Do you have a name?" Mirabelle interrupted. If she was going to be counting on this boy for help then she might as well know his name.
"Yes. Do you?"
"Yes, what's yours" Mirabelle kept questioning.
"Gavin," Was all he said but his look said 'now tell me yours'.
"Mirabelle," Mirabelle told Gavin. He nodded.
"There are some blankets in the closet and on the bed. Pick any bed except the one that I'm in. I'll see you in the morning." And with that he was gone, off to his room most likely, leaving Mirabelle to figure out which closet he meant. Mirabelle found a bed and patted some dust off. She crawled in and instantly fell asleep. That night Mirabelle had some crazy dreams about Nivana and Sahara finding her and torturing her to death as their glistening green eyes sparkled with laughter. When Mirabelle awoke in the morning her old friends eyes were still imprinted in her mind.
Mirabelle walked down stairs groggily. She didn't remember much from the night before, so she started when she first saw Gavin. He gave Mirabelle a look when she did that so Mirabelle blushed, feeling embarrassed.
"Ready?" Gavin asked. "It's time to go get you some food. You look a little underweight and although girls want to be skinny that's not exactly a compliment."
"Thanks," Mirabelle said sarcastically. "Could we just go get some food? I'm starved, if you hadn't already realized." Instead of answering, Gavin just jumped out the window. Mirabelle quickly followed. Once they were outside in the sun Mirabelle noticed some features about Gavin that she hadn't noticed in the dark of last night. His hair was a light shade of brown and he was slightly tanned, just enough so that he wasn't pale. He was a little taller than Mirabelle herself and he had a lanky runner like build but he wasn't so small that he was someone you would want to pick on. His eyes were a pale shade of blue with a hint of green around the edges. Thinking about his eyes brought back memories of Mirabelle's dream with her friends with those glowing green eyes.
Mirabelle remembered that when she had first met Nivana her eyes had been a striking blue color not blazing green. And Sahara's had been light brown not emerald green. Then she remembered Nivana saying something about a sorceress, while she was eaves dropping and Nivana and Sahara. They must be possessed! Mirabelle realized. Now she understood her friends hadn't done that to her on purpose but they were being controlled. As Mirabelle kept thinking about it, she thought back to a book she had read while at Sahara's house on the island. The book had said that possessed people have little control over their own actions but if they don't want to do something enough the possessed person can fight the spirit within them for long enough to change the outcome of an event.
If Nivana or Sahara were really my friend then they would've fought to try to protect me, Mirabelle thought, feeling betrayed all over again.
"Are you okay," a voice said, scattering Mirabelle's thoughts.
"What? Yeah I'm okay. I was just lost in thought for a moment." Mirabelle said hurriedly. Gavin gave her a look then shrugged as if it was her problem if she wanted to keep secrets. Mirabelle gave him a fleeting look, wondering how he could read people so well.
Gavin walked pretty fast so Mirabelle struggled to keep up. He kept walking so that it looked like he was going to go straight and then Gavin would turn at the last second. After what seemed like hours they arrived at a small run down little shop. Gavin walked right in and since he was her guide, Mirabelle scurried in after him a bit self-conscious about the way she looked. Mirabelle kept her head down letting Gavin do all the talking. When the kids walked out again both of them were carrying food. Chopped chicken and pulled pork, green beans, corn and potatoes, apples, oranges and bananas, such a variety of food and so much of it. Mirabelle wanted to sit down and start eating but Gavin kept walking so Mirabelle followed, her stomach growling louder with every step. Mirabelle was about ready to fall over from hunger when Gavin made a sharp turn to the left and sat down by a giant oak, opening some of the food boxes and starting to eat. Mirabelle raced up beside him, opened a box and started eating an apple. She watched as Gavin picked up a roll and tore it in half then put some pulled pork in the middle of the bread.
Mirabelle decided to try it so she finished her apple then picked up a roll and put some pulled pork on it. It was amazing! Mirabelle had never tasted anything that good. Gavin pulled out some honey and drizzled it over an apple so Mirabelle did the same. Again it was like heaven. Mirabelle kept copying Gavin's food recipes and all of them turned out to be amazing.
"Did you think of these yourself?" Mirabelle asked.
"Ya pretty much. It wasn't that hard. Why do you ask?" Gavin said.
"Because these foods are wonderful! You could start your own food business with these recipes. If you can get this food for free and then turn it into this you would be making a fortune!" Mirabelle explained to Gavin, trying to get him to understand how delicious his food ideas were.
"Really you think so?" He asked, a little sheepishly.
"Listen Gavin. As a young girl, I was very picky, I still kind of am but these foods are out of this world amazing and I'm telling you that you could make a lot of money with this kind of food.
"I'll think about it. Right now I'm a little young to be running my own business all by myself." Gavin was smiling, as if he had some sort of inner self doubt and Mirabelle's words had boosted his confidence. "Now that we are fed let's go get you some supplies."