The Tap Dancing Mermaid By Tessa Bide First published in Great Britain by Tessa Bide in Copyright Tessa Bide 2015 The right of Tessa Bide to be

Transcription

1 The Tp Dncing Mermid By Tess Bide First published in Gret Britin by Tess Bide in Copyright Tess Bide 2015 The right of Tess Bide to be identified s the uthor of this work hs been sserted by her in ccordnce with the Copyright, Designs nd Ptents Act All rights reserved. No prt of this publiction my be reproduced, stored in retrievl system, or trnsmitted, in ny form or by ny mens, electronic, mechnicl, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. A CIP ctlogue record for this book is vilble from the British Librry. ISBN: Illustrted by Lydi Dvies Printed nd bound in Gret Britin by Footeprints Ltd, Bridport, Dorset.

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3 Well, hello there der friend, nd welcome to my story. From one corner of your colourful, wtery little plnet to nother, I hve listened to thousnds of stories written bout me. Millions of storytellers look up t me to give them inspirtion, light nd food for their drems. Some cll me mn, cheese, God (I must dmit tht one mkes me smile!), nd some imgine tht my power cn even conjure werewolves. While these stories, myths, songs, pintings nd poems entertin me, I hve to dmit tht they simply ren t true. My nme is Moon. I m smll-but-perfectly-formed rock decorted with splttering of crters nd dry ses. And I hve story to tell.

4 But first, you must understnd something. I hve two jobs, which I hve performed for very, very long time. The first is to light the long, drk nights fter you hve turned wy from Sun s wrm rys: I m the night light to guide your world home to its wrm, cosy bed. I ve been lighting your nights since before even your gret, gret, gret grndm ws born. My second job is little more complicted, for you see I m lso The Grnd Conductor, leding gigntic orchestr tht never stops. In my orchestr, your ocens sing the melody, your plnts nd nimls join in with the hrmonies nd your dys, months nd yers provide the plodding bss notes. I hve conducted Erth s song since the beginning of time. You hve to listen relly crefully to her it. But trust me, we hum nd sing nd crsh nd tick every dy nd every night.

5 It would mke your little hed spin if you knew how much power my spinning hs. Now I know wht you re thinking (or shouting, if you re one of those loud sort of humns): Well golly tht must be exhusting! Well, yes. It is very tiring indeed. But it s not ll work, work, work my friends. No, no, no! Every thousndth time tht I trvel round Erth, I m rewrded with one specil wish s thnk you from Universe for my hrd work. I cn use this wish for nything I like s long s it doesn t get in the wy of my very importnt work, of course.

6 One thousnd trips my seem like lot, but I hve something to keep me entertined I hve YOU. You big-nd-smll, young-nd-old, ll-colours-of-the-rinbow, living, brething, nuggets of entertinment! Humn beings. You re like trip to museum, live footbll mtch nd night t the thetre ll rolled into one. And there re seven billion of you! Seven billion lives I cn follow ll through the long nights. Sometimes I get so gripped by one of your stories, I sty up long into the dy just to see wht will hppen next. Now there ws one prticulr girl who would keep me up dy fter dy with her story. She ws completely mesmerising: brillint book you-just-cn t-put-down, television show you wtch until your eyes re like rubix cubes, riddle you re still trying to solve t 4 o clock in the morning.

7 Her story is so brillint I couldn t possibly keep it to myself. So get comfortble nd let me tell you, der friend, so tht you too cn become entrnced by her terrific tle.

8 Sometimes I get so gripped by one of your stories, I sty up long into the dy just to see wht will hppen next

9 The girl s nme ws Mrin Skippett nme I find lot of fun to sy out loud to myself when I need cheering up. Go on, try it for yourself. Fun isn t it? Mrin ws smll, quiet type of humn, with cheeky smile tht wrmed the dys of everyone she sw. I ve ptched together wht I know bout Mrin like beutiful mismtched quilt. When I ve styed up during the mornings I ve seen her rriving t her school to hugs from her friends. There ws no Mother or Fther wlking her there like the other children. Sometimes I could peek through the school windows nd I would see her there. Sometimes she would be plying with her friends but sometimes she would be st in clsses deep in thought with tht little smile on her fce like she hd secret tucked up her sleeve.

10 Well, Mrin did hve secret but it wsn t tucked up her sleeve nd it wsn t very well kept. She wore it on her feet nd she wore it with pride. Mrin s secret ws tht she ws superb tp-dncer. She ws so good it mde your eyes stick to her like brnd-new Velcro. She hd something tht mde you stop, drop your sndwich nd sy WOW. I ve glimpsed her tpping in her mths clsses, queuing up t the supermrket nd sometimes her feet were still tpping in her sleep! And when Mrin tpped down the street, people would stop her nd sk her to tp out tune for them. Everyone loved her tpping nd clpped nd cheered for more. Everyone tht is, except her unty.

11 Mrin s unty ws specil breed of humn. Her shpe ws less person nd more wrdrobe. Her hir wsn t so much hir it looked like big, ft, grey prkeet hd mde its home perching on her hed one dy nd hd never left. She hd slug of hir blncing on her upper lip nd fce tht permnently looked nnoyed. In fct, nd this is just between you nd I, Mrin s Aunty ws nsty-piece-of-work type of humn. MARINA! She scremed one night, fter Mrin hd been prctising upstirs. Will you STOP tht INFERNAL RACKET?! For goodness ske, I m going CRAZY from your tippetty, toppetty, tuppetty TAPPING! It ws bd enough when your MOTHER used to tp dnce ll over the house. And look wht hppened to her. From now on, ll tp

12 dncing in the house is BANNED! If I her one more shuffle, one more hoppetty poppetty, I will feed your dinners to the DOG! So Mrin tried to stop tpping. But the rhythm built up inside her like ticking, tpping, time-bomb, redy to explode t ny moment. I sw her tossing nd turning t night, unble to sleep for ll of the dncing tht ws trying to escpe. Mrin ws miserble. The twinkle in her eye ws sputtering nd fizzling out like lst night s fire dying in the grte. I just knew she hd to tp gin.

13 Mrin s unty ws nsty-piece-of-work type of humn.

14 The next night, Mrin wrinkled her freckled nose nd shuddered s Aunty slmmed her bedroom door shut for the night. Lights turned out, it ws just Mrin, nd me lone in the drk. She ly, sttue-still, eyes wide open, ers strining to her her unty s exhusted bedsprings gron s she collpsed for the night. At long lst, her unt s grunting, grgling snores shook through the house. She ws out for the count. A Mrin slid from under her covers nd onto the floor, tip-toeing with the lightness of butterfly nd the elegnce of bllerin. She picked up her tp shoes nd huge smile dnced its wy cross her fce. Slowly, slowly she inched no, she centimetred her wy out of her bedroom nd down the stirs, missing out the squeky step. She slithered through the front door nd down the grden

15 pth. Then she rn nd rn nd rn some more. Mrin reched the se nd the pebbly bech tht her town hs crdled in its rms for centuries. Tiptoeing down the wooden bordwlk, which reched out over the se, Mrin felt sure she ws lone. She wsn t. I ws there, looking over her shoulder nd yerning to her her tp once more. Hello se. Oh, nd hello moon. Sid Mrin, looking up t me. You cn be my spotlight tonight! Just like when I used to wtch Mother dnce on stge. Now, don t you tke your eyes off me! She slipped her feet into her old, worn but beutifully crooked tp shoes. She ws shking with excitement.

16 And then cme those first few tps. It felt like the whole world sighed with relief. She tpped! She hopped! She jumped, shuffled nd stomped, her smile growing wider s her feet moved fster. The crshing wves were her metronome, counting out the bets nd ccompnying her fithfully. A segull clled Cecil stopped his scvenging for food nd listened to the rhythms. But then Sun cme, spoiling our fun nd drenching us in the cold morning light. Cecil nd I would hve to move on. Feet ching but hert pounding, Mrin slipped her tp shoes off nd strted to run home. She pused, turned bck to the se, nd sid, I promise I ll return. Every night until I m the best tp dncer in the world! Bye moon! And return she did.

17 On one evening out of the hundreds Mrin grced me (nd Cecil the segull) with her tippety tppety toes, it ws cler, clm nd crisp Sundy night. I ws looking prticulrly bright, full nd hndsome if I do sy so myself! Mrin ws tpping wy, eyes closed s if in trnce. Suddenly, her tp echoed bck to her. Clickety click went her feet. Clickety click echoed the bordwlk. Tp tppy tp went her feet. Tp tppy tp echoed the bordwlk. It sounded s though the bordwlk ws replying to her! She looked up t me s if to sy, Are you hering this too? then stred bck t her feet in disbelief.

18 Bng tppy bng went her feet. Tppy bng bng! replied the bordwlk. Tp tppy tp went her feet. Tppetty tp tp! replied the bordwlk. Mrin froze, her body s rigid s the metl on her shoes. Slowly, she turned nd looked behind her. There ws nobody there. Mrin looked to the sides. Nobody there either. She crefully ly down on the dmp, wooden slts nd peered into the blckness underneth. The seconds drgged on s her eyes djusted to the inky soup of the se. Suddenly, she lept up nd stumbled over bckwrds. A fce hd ppered, floting on top of the wter like cork.

19 The fce belonged to boy nd it ws decorted with wide, toothy grin. He looked bout her ge, with short, blonde, curly hir tht st on top of his hed like cluster of bubbles. His eyes sprkled n emerld green nd one of them winked t her s she ly, sprwled on the bordwlk. Mrin yelped in surprise nd hurtled bck up the bordwlk. Wit! Wit! sid the fce, Plese don t go, I didn t men to scre you! I just wnted to listen to your feet! Come bck! But Mrin hd lredy disppered, bck to her bed nd wy from my view. The mysterious fce bobbed for moment, then disppered beneth the wter s dimond surfce. I wited, scnning the glittering

20 horizon for his cork-hed to bob up for breth. I wited. And I wited. Now t this point I need to tell you little fct tht you my choose not to believe: His hed never reppered. I styed up for s long s I could, trying to solve the riddle, trying to work out who this mysterious boy could be. But Sun strted digging t me with those pointy elbows of light nd I hd to move on.

21 A fce hd ppered, floting on top of the wter like cork.

22 The next night, Mrin returned to the bordwlk to prctise prticulrly difficult new step. She prctised over nd over until eventully she did it perfectly nd let out celebrtory Yesss! I ppluded her nd the sound of clpping rng cross the wter. But then up popped the boy from the night before. Mrin couldn t believe her eyes she hd thought she must hve imgined him. She gsped in shock nd turned to run but the boy sid, Plese don t run wy! I don t men you ny hrm! He ws swimming no, he ws bsking in the icy wter s esily s if he ws in nice, wrm bth. Mrin turned bck nd stuttered W-wht re you doing here? W-who re you?

23 A I ve swum for dys nd dys to find wht hs been mking tht mzing sound sid the boy. I ve never herd nything like it. And it is you! You mke those sounds with your feet! Mrin pused. After wht seemed like n eternity, she uttered whisper, brely udible through the electric sky. Who re you? My nme is Leo. And who re you, girl with the mgic toes? I m Mrin. Skippett. I live on Mgdlen Street she sid, pointing bck towrds the town. Mgdlen Street? Well, I don t l- Leo stopped. I m not from round here They looked t ech other for moment. A shiver dnced cross Mrin s body nd she wrpped her rms round herself.

24 Aren t you cold? she sked Leo. Well I- he stopped. Pused. I don t feel the cold he sid, slowly. Mrin lent forwrd, to get closer look. But Leo, why re you swimming in the se so lte t night? she whispered, her voice s tiny s thimble. Silence stretched out like huge cve in front of them. I held my breth. Leo glnced behind him nd I thought for second he might dispper gin, never to come bck. Mrin must hve thought this too s she lent forwrd quickly, despertely. She dipped her hnd into the wter in n ttempt to hold on to him nd she whispered: Are you mermid?

25 Leo broke into smile. The smile turned into grin. The grin turned into hoot of lughter. And the hoot turned into wve of giggles, which tumbled out of his mouth. Mrin s cheeks turned red nd she looked embrrssed to hve sid such ridiculous thing out loud. His lughter hving finlly died down to snigger, Leo ws ble to spek t lst. No, Mrin. I m not mermid. His green eyes sprkled mischievously. He glnced round then whispered, for only Mrin nd I to her: I m mermn

26 As he dived beutiful emerld green til covered in mosic of tiny scles flicked up out of the wter.

27 And with tht he plunged down into the icy depths of the se. As he dived beutiful emerld green til covered in mosic of tiny scles flicked up out of the wter. It splshed down with so much power it sent shower of slty wter droplets towrds Mrin, lying on the bordwlk, mouth open in perfect O. A Leo s fce reppered with triumphnt grin. Mrin could see shimmer of tht remrkble til flicking underwter, keeping him flot effortlessly. So now you know who I m. he sid. No... no, I...I... cn t possibly believe... Mrin stuttered. But her disbelief fded s the seconds pssed by, her eyes drinking up the sight in front of her. You relly re mermn ren t you? she whispered.

28 Yes, Mrin, I m. Are there more of you? Why re you here? Mrin sked, her hed filling up with dozens of questions just s mine ws. Oh yes there s mny, mny more of us. Thousnds. All round the sphore. Sphore? Mrin repeted. The sphore. You know, where we live. The... Leo serched for the word. World? suggested Mrin. I suppose so yes, I think I ve herd drggles sy tht before. Drggles?! Mrin echoed, gin. Yes the dry-folk, the legged. You. Sid Leo, flicking bit of wter t Mrin. Leo wit... you re sying you hve whole

29 world tht none of us know bout? Your own lnguge? Some drggles know, Mrin. They re just forced to keep it secret. We ve hd to be very creful bout who cn know. When I herd your tpping, I just hd to find out where it ws coming from. My rel nme, by the wy, is Leokin Silverfin. And with tht he reched his hnd out, towrds Mrin. Mrin looked closely t his extended rm, glowing eerily in my light. It wsn t covered in skin like hers. His skin ws shimmering silver, nd rubbery to the touch. She took his hnd, which felt much wrmer thn she hd expected, nd shook it. She noticed cobwebthin webbing between his fingers with mp of intricte, purple-blue veins criss-crossing its surfce. She studied his neck, looking for gills or holes like she hd red bout in books.

30 How do you breth? she sked. With these. Leo replied, turning round to show his bck. He hd two sets of gills just underneth his shoulder bldes. They looked like scrs, like clw-mrks mde by some terrible underwter best. Mrin, I hve to go. If the others find me up here I ll be in deep trouble. I ll try to come bck s soon s I cn. Don t stop tpping, you promise? But before Mrin could reply or tke in Leo s fetures one lst time, he hd disppered. Brely ripple crossed the wter in his wke, his movement too grceful to mke n impct. Mrin wlked to the end of the bordwlk nd clled out fter Leo s disppering shdow. I promise.

31 Leo visited Mrin severl times over the next few months, bringing news from his wtery world. Sometimes he would bring present to surprise Mrin nd tech her bout his life under the se. There ws wishstr, tiny golden strfish the merpeople used s token of good luck nd conch shell used to cll the hunters bck t the end of the dy. He lso tught her lullby tht his mother used to sing to him when he ws murtle (tht s bby mermid). Shush young pup. Shush my child, Let me wsh wy the pin inside. Let me hold you tight ll the long, long night, And we ll swy to the rhythm of the tide.

32 Drem your drems my pup. Smile your smile my love. Live your life my child, Knowing you' re sfe with me. Drem your drems my pup. Smile your smile my love, Knowing tht you re sfe here with me. So don t you cry, pup, And to you I ll bring, Wishstrs tht glow nd shells tht sing. I ll bring you nything tht you wnt my child, To you I ll give my ll, my everything.

33 Mrin rn home tht night, her hed full of wishstrs, murtles nd lullbies. She turned the corner of her rod nd rn up the pth to her house when the door opened. Her unty stood t the doorwy, wooden spoon in hnd, prkeet hir wrpped round pink susge-like rollers nd n expression so fierce it mde Mrin gsp. Aunty, I... Mrin pnted, cowering wy from her unty s wooden wepon. WHERE hve you BEEN, Mrin Skippett? her unty rored, sprying Mrin nd the neighbouring grdens with lther of ngry spittle. I...I couldn t sleep so I...went to prctise my tp dncing t the bech. Mrin stuttered.

34 You went to TAP DANCE? At the BEACH?! In the NIGHT?!? she exploded, grbbing Mrin by the rm nd shoving her indoors. Tht s IT! You need to be locked somewhere you ll NEVER escpe from! I couldn t her Mrin s response, only choking, sobbing sound. I shut my eyes s I herd Mrin being flung into her unty s wrdrobe. And give me your tp shoes, NOW! You won t be needing these gin! her unty screeched, slmming the wrdrobe door nd locking it. Mrin s unty stormed out the house nd wddled down to the bordwlk, tp shoes in hnd. She reched Mrin s fvourite spot nd threw the tp shoes into the hungry blck wter below.

35 You will never tp dnce gin, Mrin Skippett! she cckled, rubbing her hnds with glee nd shuffling wy into the night. I ws bout to turn wy, sddened by wht I d just seen, when Leo s blonde crop of hir popped out of the wter where the shoes hd lnded. Mrin! You dropped your tp shoes! he clled towrds the bordwlk. He swm up to the wooden wlkwy nd scnned it for Mrin. Mrin? he clled. Where re you? His voice ws getting more nd more pnicked. Mrin? Mriiin!!!

36 I shut my eyes s I herd Mrin being flung into her unty s wrdrobe.

37 After tht dredful evening I trvelled round the globe slowly nd sdly, my light glowing dimmer thn usul. Mny humns hve touched me with their tles over the centuries. Some humns relly hve touched me they ve even wlked on me! But few hve moved me like Mrin. It felt like the little light in her ws going out, just like mine. Every night under tht little crooked wlkwy Leo wited, wited nd wited for Mrin to rrive. His usully cheerful fce becme worried, sd nd desperte. Once ech night, tht cruel Aunty opened the wrdrobe to throw Mrin piece of burnt tost before quickly slmming nd locking the door. I tried to see inside the wrdrobe but Aunty ws keeping her well nd truly hidden

38 from my view. I even sked Sun if she d seen her while I pssed by but she couldn t ctch glimpse either. Mrin ws trpped in drkness. I hd to help her escpe. But I couldn t do it lone. As the Grnd Conductor of Erth, I hve specil closeness with your nimls. I ply the song tht they dnce to every dy nd every night. I don t usully sk for ny fvours but this ws specil cse, so I enlisted the help of my smll seside friend Cecil the segull who hd been wtching Mrin s tpping lmost every night. We wited until Aunty went to feed Mrin her leftover tost, lte t night; just enough to keep her live.

39 Mrin! It s dinner time! I hope you re hungry! she tesed, cckling mencingly to herself. She shuffled towrds the wrdrobe nd hd just unlocked it when Cecil swooped in through the open window, lnding on her hed with loud squwk. Ah! Get off of me you flying vermin! Get off of meeee! she wiled, flpping her stubby rms t Cecil who ws pulling t her hir, tumbling the rollers out. Hidden by the ruckus, Mrin slipped out behind Aunty s wildly fliling body nd hurled herself down the stirs nd out of the front door she ws sprinting towrds the se. Seconds lter, her furious unty exploded out of the house nd hobbled fter her.

40 Mrin Skippett, when I ctch you I m going to cut your feet off nd you ll NEVER tp dnce AGAIN! But Mrin ws lredy on the bech, crunch, crunch, crunching over the big silver pebbles towrds the bordwlk. Suddenly CRASH! Hving not wlked for dys, Mrin s little legs hd become shky nd stiff nd she hit the floor, twisting her right nkle. She heved herself up nd drgged her body onwrds to the bordwlk nd to the wter s edge. Aunty ws n ngry silhouette getting closer nd closer, her hir flying wildly. Aunty jumped onto the wooden bords with loud THUD. At the other end, Mrin serched despertely for the blonde hir, the freckled fce, the cheeky grin. Where ws he?

41 Come on Leo, I ws shouting silently, where re you? Aunty stomped up the bordwlk, mking nervous ripples cross the surfce of the wter. All of sudden hed popped up, summoned by the noise. Leo! Mrin gsped. Help me! My unty she she... And with tht she collpsed onto the wooden slts, exhusted nd petrified. Mrin, do you trust me? Leo sid quickly. Yes, of course. Completely. OK. You re coming with me. Leo huled his torso out of the wter, lening ginst the bordwlk. He wrpped his shimmering rms round Mrin s wist nd pulled her into the wter. The shock of the freezing cold mde Mrin cough nd splutter.

42 But only for second Leo drgged her under the surfce nd disppered from my view. Mrin s unty thundered cross the wooden slts, frothing nd wheezing. Mrin! Hhh! Disppered off the end of the bordwlk, eh? Well there s no WAY you ll survive tht! You ve done my job for me, se! Good riddnce to bd rubbish! she shouted, spitting into the se. H h h- But her cckles were cut short by our fethery hero Cecil the segull, who swooped down nd clwed t her mountinous tower of grey hir. Cw! Cw! He flew upwrds nd pulled Aunty s hir right off ll tht time she hd been wering wig! She let out n er-splitting shriek, clsping her tufty hed nd running off into the distnce.

43 Her wide, wrdrobe-like body disppered from view, never to be seen gin.

44 Cw! Cw! He flew upwrds nd pulled Aunty s hir right off she hd been wering wig!

45 I peered into the blck wter nd could just mke out Mrin nd Leo swimming deeper nd deeper, trils of bubbles following them into the depths. I squinted nd strined nd spotted flicker of glitter there were two tils insted of one! Wht hppened, Leo? Did she chop my feet off? My legs feel funny. Mrin sid, pnicked nd confused. Mrin, you re sfe. Everything s going to be lright. Look down. Mrin looked down to where her legs used to be. Now there ws beutiful gold, silver nd copper til shining nd shimmying through the wter. Frgments of the dress she hd been wering were still wrpped round her torso, but ter t the bck reveled fresh set of

46 gills streked cross her skin. She felt wrm ll over nd she sw her rms glowing like Leo s did. A I don t understnd. Am I dreming? Leo chuckled. No, Mrin. When merpeople see tht drggles re in grve dnger, we hve the power to help. We cn turn them into A mermid! Mrin finished, grinning nd giggling. Oh Leo! I m mermid! I hve til! she shouted with glee, swimming loop nd flexing her new til in the wter. This feels mzing! I could just swim nd swim forever! she lughed. Ctch me if you cn, Leo! she clled s she sped through the wter. Oh, esy! sid Leo, lughing nd chsing fter her.

47 As they swm deeper, glittering shpes emerged in the drkness.

48 As they swm deeper, glittering shpes emerged in the drkness. Mrin nd Leo were swimming towrds beutiful, sprkling homes tht looked like they were mde from hundreds of shells of every colour of the rinbow. Ech little house hd been hndmde, slowly nd crefully, using seweed to secure the shells in plce. They were ll different shpes nd sizes creting beutiful mismtched mer-city. Mrin looked stunned s her eyes drnk in the sight before her. Is this where you live? Mrin sked, her mouth wide in we. Yes, this is my home. This is your new home, Mrin. Look, I ll show you where I live. Sid Leo proudly, swimming off in the direction of his home.

49 They swm through the mer-city, with Leo pointing out his fvourite plces. Mrin sw lots of other mermids nd mermen nd they ll hd different coloured tils. They smiled nd greeted her s she pssed, but she kept her hed down, feeling like she stuck out like sore thumb in their mgicl world. Suddenly, my fce strted to burn. The surfce of the wter ws blindingly bright, scorching my fce nd forcing me to look up. Sun hd rrived: my time ws up. I must hve styed up wy into the dytime nd I ws lte to shine elsewhere. So, with hevy hert, I tore myself wy nd left Mrin behind once more.

50 I sw the countries nd continents flsh by. I tried to muse myself with test on country s nmes in lphbeticl order. Afghnistn, Albni... But even when I mde it to Zimbbwe, I just couldn t stop thinking bout Mrin. Finlly, Mrin s hometown ppered over the horizon. The se ws rough, with wves like white horses glloping long the shore. I peered into the wter nd found Mrin nd Leo, swimming slowly ner the surfce. Mrin, you look so sd. Don t you like our world? Leo sked, looking worried. Oh it s brillint, Leo, it s just things re so different down here. A

51 She gulped. There re so mny things I won t be ble to do ever gin. A lump ws rising in her throt nd she couldn t look Leo in the eye. They swm in silence, ll the time Leo serching for ides on how to cheer Mrin up. It suddenly dwned on him. Hey, Mrin, I hve something tht belongs to you! he sid, looking proud of himself. Oh, you hve something of mine? Not my legs? she chuckled sdly. Well, not your legs, no. I hve your tp shoes! Leo bemed Mrin stopped nd turned to fce Leo. From ll the wy up here, I could feel the ir get colder. Wht? she gsped.

52 When you dropped them in the se I cught them I hve them for you! Leo sid, his smile fding. I didn t drop them in the se. My unty took them from me. She must ve thrown them into the se so I couldn t find them. Mrin s voice wobbled. Well, tht doesn t mtter now, I sved them for you! You cn finlly hve them bck! he exclimed cheerily. Yes, but wht is the point of hving tp shoes when I don t hve ny feet? sid Mrin, swishing her til sdly. Well you could...put them on your hnds nd...mybe...tp them bit? Leo suggested. Yes, I suppose so. sighed Mrin. I d like to hve bit of time by myself, Leo. I ll be

53 bck lter. She swm wy, hed hnging low in sdness. Mrin! Mrin turned but Leo looked down, lost for words. So Mrin swm upwrds to the bordwlk. Reching the surfce, she slowly rn her hnds over the bordwlk s worn surfce, still dented from her hours of tpping. Hello, Moon. she sid quietly. No tp dncing from me tonight I m frid. Or ever gin. She slumped her rms onto the bordwlk, gzing up t me. Oh Moon, I thought I d be so hppy being mermid, sfe from my unt. I love living with Leo nd the others under the wter, but... When I think bout tp dncing, I m so, so

54 sd. A slty ter rn down her glistening cheek. I won t tp dnce ever gin. I m going to miss it so much. Mrin sniffed. But I ll still come up nd visit you. I couldn t live without you too. Mrin ws supposed to be living hppily ever fter now, s ll good stories end. This sdness just didn t feel right. Every time I ws full in the sky Mrin swm to the surfce to tlk to me. But I missed her tp dncing just s much s she did. Until I relised how I might be ble to help her. I checked my wish count nd relised I ws nering my one thousnth turn round the world, which would only men one thing. Another wish! And I knew exctly wht to wish for...

55 Every time I ws full in the sky Mrin swm to the surfce to tlk to me. But I missed her tp dncing just s much s she did.

56 After nother month of lighting the nights cross Erth, I ws shining down on the bordwlk, full nd bright. I wited for Mrin to swim up nd see me s usul. Hello Moon! You look beutiful. Look, you re lighting up the wter, I cn see right down to the Mrin looked down into the wter then bck up t me. Wit...I cn t see my til. Wht s going on? Oh Moon! she cried, huge smile blossoming over tht lovely fce. My legs! They re bck! I hd used my wish to sk tht every time I ws full nd bright, Mrin would hve her legs bck for the night so she could tp dnce to her hert s content. And once month I could listen to the sounds of her tippetty tppetty feet.

57 Mrin climbed up onto tht long wooden stge nd tpped nd tpped nd tpped. And, every time I m full in the sky, tht is where you will find her. With blonde mermn, not too fr off, wtching her nd smiling t me.

58 Mrin climbed up onto tht long wooden stge nd tpped nd tpped nd tpped

59

60 The funds to crete this book were generously donted vi crowdfunding cmpign in Thnks go to ll of those who donted, including: Peter Bide Mtthew Denton Gwenno Jones Jon Cox Lur Thoms Simon Rndll Rhinnon Huish Ntlie Irelnd Srh Cole Cirán McMnus Lucy Bdger Ros Kirkhm-Lehy Elizbeth Bker Spencer Bll Ted Boswell Lorn Wilson In Cbble Rchel Boswell Lucy Hnson Donn Butcher Fith Rowley Crolyn Billings Zoë Bevis Sue Chdney Shz Boswell Gwen Scott Sm Cleverly Jckie Wolfe Lorn Rees Rchel Sddington Jne Crwshw Gwen Hles Lucy Hrrington Ann Scott Rchel Alpin Clire West Cindy Bodycombe Sidonie Wrren Mri Lovesey Lind Neville Aisling Creedon Dniel Bker Bryn Hill Kty Corrie Emm-Le Turner Ffion Evns Alex Mson Gry Wolfe Sm Boswell Andy Vn-Cuylenburg Jnnh Wrlow Tim Bide Ben Hnsen-Hicks Betty Den Hnnh Grner Crmel Edmonds Mndy Green Chloe Green Amy Bide Stephnie Johnson Louis Grner Yvonne Dobson Kyle Clrke Luren Milsom-Thoms Tom Cleverly Gemm Den Tomsin Cuthbert Chrly Evns Mtt Den Corin Ollett Keith Brnhm Anne Wilson Sophie Vn-Cuylenburg Jcqueline Wlsh Jmes Wllce Grhme Dobson Adm Fuller Annie Fulkner And to ll the mny other, nonymous, donors! Grteful thnks lso go to: Delphine Jones for the cover design (delphinejones.com) Footeprints for printing nd binding the book (footeprints.co.uk) Lydi Dvies for beutiful illustrtions (lydidvies.co.uk) Chloe Green for the initil proof-red nd support. Jxsons Deli in Bridport for collecting for, nd promoting, my cmpign (jxsonsgifts.com) My incredible fmily nd prtner for mking me get this story published nd for mny proof-reds!