Page 28 - The Mermaid Call

money” or the time capsule worrying the Mermaid Committee that it might stop our tourists choosing Lake Splendour over Costa del Sol.
“Violet survived the First war, only to die in the Second World War, at Dunkirk in 1940,” the posh-newsreader continued to read from the panel. “Lydia died a few years later, they say of a broken heart.”
“Isn’t it sad,” I said, except Alice was brightening. “Neither of them could survive here on land! They should never have swapped their tails back for legs!”
I made one of Mimi’s non-committal noises, “Mmmm,” rather than point out, err, it was a second war and heartbreak that did for poor Violet and Lydia. Well, I wasn’t about to make Alice feel stupid now was I?
I cleared my throat, and I tried some news-reading myself, from another panel previous that quoted Lydia’s time as a ‘mermaid’.
“We endured a series of tests of rebellion, courage and transformation, to find a world where deeds not words mattered, where courage spreads courage, where women can change their lives and seek power.”
“Wow!” Alice’s face lit up (finally, I’d impressed her!) – until she shot off across the room.
I joined her at the queen conch shell in the empty fireplace. Spot lit in its cabinet, like it was a Faberge egg.
“Yeah, it was found by the fisher families, like five hundred years ago.” I switched back to tour-guide, “They said they heard the Lake Mermaid warning them through it, about perilous fogs and floods.”
“It’s magical.” Alice pressed her palm against the glass.
“I suppose,” I tried to match her enthusiasm. I mean, it was just a very old, large shell, hardly the Holy Grail. “The Mermaid Girls claimed,” I coughed, “– said – Emmeline called to them from the shell.”
“Really?” Alice clapped her hands. “I want to listen! Is there a key?” She shook the cabinet so the glass rattled.