Page 20 - The Mermaid Call

“Um, well yeah, but really – it’s just some old legend,” I murmured.
“People come from all over the world to try and see the mermaid! Those two village girls from the olden days went to the Mermaid World!”
I shrugged, kindly.
“And isn’t there some village reward if anyone gets photographic proof?”
I wrinkled my nose. The reward was a gimmick; no one would ever claim it. The
Mermaid Girls? Well, I’d only ever thought of them as a way to sell more dolls in the shop. Though that didn’t stop me quietly boasting, “My great-great gran was at school with Lydia and Violet. They helped her start Enchanted Tails when she was only twenty,” before I admitted: “But the mermaid and the reward – they’re just kept going for the tourists really.” Kerching.
Alice’s perfect oval face seemed to go through a whole catalogue of expression: confusion, surprise, indignation, till it settled on Massive Disappointment. That one I knew. It had been spreading through me like a bushfire since yesterday afternoon.
“So now I feel stupid,” she bristled and handed me back a ball of soggy, used tissues. “You’ve been super nice, thank you.” She jumped up and stalked a prompt catwalk to the door. Tinkerbell waving her wand as she left.
I took a deep breath, dropped the wet tissues into the bin and sidled back to the till. I stared goggle-eyed at the mess of pert-nosed mermaids there. I shifted them up idly into sitting. I gazed across at Mum’s Crowning photo. I drummed my fingers and stared back out at the lake. Then – without even making a proper decision in my head – I was suddenly running out of the shop, in a Tinkerbell frenzy.
“Hey!” I called after the pale-yellow head passing Atlantis Arcades as it re-opened, its multi-coloured mermaid lights blinking on with a loud cacophony of piped music.
“Actually, when I think about it” – I was breathless as I reached her – “I do know a lot about mermaids.” Well, I sold them.
“Can you tell me more about the Lake Mermaid?” Alice’s eyes grew hopefully. “I can!” I nodded.
“When? When can you?”