Tuesday

The next day at school was not pleasant. Lewis refused to look at the girls or speak to them.

Cleo finally cornered him at his locker after final bell. "Lewis, can we please talk?" she asked meekly, looking despondent.

He stared off into the distance for a moment, then pointedly turned to face her. "What?" he asked curtly.

"We're sorry," Cleo said. "Will you please be more kind and forgiving? Will you at least listen?"

He looked away and shook his head a tiny bit, as if gently jostling his conflicting thoughts and emotions into some kind of order. "I don't know that it's a matter of forgiveness or listening. The Emma, Cleo, and Rikki I saw last night were...I don't know. Strangers." He looked at her. "I had no idea you were capable."

"That's not fair," Cleo said gently. "We're all capable in the right circumstances. Even you. You're not special. You saw us make a bad choice, but we're sorry, and we've learned. Please. You know we're good people at heart. You even said so yourself once, in a very special moment I'll always treasure."

"I know. That's what made it hurt so much. That's what made it so scary."

"Maybe that's why people need each other. We keep each other on the right path when one of us loses their way." She got a bit choked up. "Maybe that's why we would never have made it this far without you, and why we need you still."

Lewis's face worked with emotion as he tried to assemble his thoughts. He finally said, "You know what's really strange about all this is that we're still children. Technically. We're barely old enough to drive. We can't drink, we can't vote. But the three of you walk this earth with the power of gods. With her lightning, Rikki alone wields enough power to defeat small armies. You and Emma could destroy entire naval fleets."

"We don't want to."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just saying, it's weird. You're too young to vote, but you could topple the government, and that's deep irony if ever I've seen it. I guess what I'm saying is...it doesn't make sense when you get right down to it."

Cleo shrugged. "The moon pool chose us."

"Yeah, without even asking!"

"True, but it has the omniscience to know ahead of time that we would embrace it, which we did." She thought for a moment. "Lewis, we're not perfect. We never will be. And no one else is, either. You told us once that the moon pool chose us because we're brave and good. Well, maybe that's true most of the time, but it won't be true all the time. It can't be! We're only human. We're going to fail, and sometimes, we're going to fail badly. Setting us on a pedestal and demanding we make the right call every time, it's just not gonna work." With her eyes, she implored him to understand. "Our best is the best we can do. When we fail, we need people like you around us to catch us, hold us accountable, set us back on the right path. We'll make mistakes, but we'll get there eventually." She began to get a little teary. "And we'll get there a lot faster, and lot better, with a really good friend like you by our side."

Lewis got a little teary, too, and swallowed hard. "Friend, and, I hope, still...boyfriend?"

Cleo smiled. "Well, so far, I've been speaking for the others, too. But, just for myself..." She reached out and took his hand. "If you'll still have me as girlfriend. Flaws and all."

Lewis smiled, finding peace at last. "There's no other girl in the world but you," he whispered.

They leaned in to kiss. Just before their lips touched, Rikki called from the stairwell above, "So does that mean we're all good?"

Cleo and Lewis froze, then opened their eyes to look at each other.

"If I still had powers, I'd be tempted to abuse them on Rikki right now," Cleo whispered.

"Ignore her," Lewis whispered.

They kissed.

Rikki set her elbows on the half wall, put her chin in her hands, and sighed. Emma joined her, looked at the happy couple, and casually said, "I'd say that's a yes."

 

Louise dozed lightly under mild sedation, and had been doing so most of the day. Cleo sat next to her in the hospital room's only chair, while Emma and Rikki sat on the foot of her bed. Lewis had respectfully waited outside; he understood the ladies needed to have a mermaid talk.

The girls were torn between wanting to make sure Louise was okay, wishing they could talk to her, and needing to visit the moon pool. Emma had pointed out that maybe, just like a person, the moon pool needed some time. Rikki had pointed out they might not have time; Anthony could launch his next plan any moment, and the girls needed their powers back. Cleo had pointed out that they might not come back.

The girls had no idea if the moon pool would forgive them.

"We messed up, Louise," Cleo said softly. "We were scared and angry, and we'd been attacked and hunted, but at the end of the day, we got off on a power trip, and that's why our powers have been taken away. And now we're vulnerable, which means you're vulnerable because we can't protect you. I don't know if anything like that ever happened to you, and if so, how you dealt with it. But..." She closed her eyes, pursed her lips, and seemed to deflate as her shoulders sagged. "This is bigger than anything we've ever dealt with. For six months, we've enjoyed the gift of being mermaids. We never stopped to consider the responsibilities."

The room was silent. Cleo's eyes were still closed. She felt overwhelmed.

Cleo suddenly felt Louise's hand gently clasp hers.

She looked up. Louise was looking at her.

"Abuse of power is one of the most terrible things anyone can ever do," she said softly. She clearly didn't have all her strength back. "It's also one of the easiest things anyone can ever do. It's so easy, and so natural. And when someone does it once, it becomes even easier the next time, and still easier the time after that."

All three girls listened solemnly.

"You have to remember what abuse of power looks like from the outside," Louise continued. "You know, when you read about it in the paper, or see it on your TV screen. The police officer who keeps choking someone long after they've been arrested and subdued, just because he can, because he's on a power trip of hatred and protected by his badge. The politician who takes bribes and leaves people suffering when he could have helped them. The boss who sexually harasses a woman under him, but she can't do anything because she's in a terrible place and can't afford to lose her job. Whenever we see these things, we cry out in indignation and outrage. But then we turn around and do the same in our own lives, even if it's just in little ways. If you've ever seen someone abuse a waiter in a restaurant or an attendant in a department store, and the employee can't say anything back because they can't afford to...even a tiny abuse of power like that is a horrible thing. It comes from a lack of character and empathy, and a need to cover weakness with a fake strength.

"So just remember all the times you've ever seen such things in the news. Whenever you're tempted to lord your power over someone else, just remember you're doing the same thing as those others, as the crooked policeman, as the corrupt politician, as the harassing boss. Exactly the same thing. Remember what that looks like, and how repulsive you feel when you see others do it. That will help you tremendously to see it in yourself, if it ever tempts you again.

"And remember how you felt in moments when someone abused their power over you. I know it's happened to you, because it happens to everyone, in some way. Remember how you felt when that scientist had you trapped, and completely in her power. Morally weak people say, Someone abused their power over me, so now it's my turn to do it to someone else. Morally strong people say, Someone abused their power over me, so I'll never do that to anyone else, because I know how that feels."

She coughed and closed her eyes for a moment, as if gathering her strength once more.

The girls instantly felt guilty. "I'm so sorry, Louise," Cleo said. "We shouldn't have burdened you with this. You need to rest."

Louise's grip on Cleo's hand suddenly felt like iron. "No," she said, opening her eyes again. "Don't you go anywhere. Listen. It takes power to stop evil. But it takes moral strength and integrity not to misuse power, and that's the greatest, most difficult fight of all time, the fight that never ends, but must be fought at all costs. Defeating evil by becoming evil does nothing but replace one evil with another.

"The police officer who stops the criminal without stooping to childish abuse and retribution, even if he's angry, hurt, and afraid. The judge who sentences with care, justice, and maturity, but never with hatred or with the sick thrill of wielding power. These are the ideals, and part of being civilized, enlightened, spiritual beings. This is what separates children from adults. This is the goal, to have enough power to stop evil, and to solve problems, without sinking to evil ourselves. It's one of the most difficult things to achieve, and it's one of the highest accomplishments we can ever achieve. It's one of the most important things in the world, because without this attitude, we're nothing but mindless animals.

"Sometimes, the evil will actually respond to education, guidance, and help. Not always, but sometimes, and that's always worth the effort.

"These aren't just pretty words. This isn't an abstract, philosophical concept. This is real world. You have only to feel the remorse you're suffering right now to know this truth."

Louise softened her grip on Cleo's hand. She still held it, though.

The girls sat in silence for a long, long moment, each absorbing Louise's words. Outside the door, the universe ticked by, but there, in that hospital room, time suspended just long enough for the girls to appreciate the wisdom they'd just been handed.

Rikki remembered a moment months earlier when, consumed with bitterness and humiliation, she had continued to inflict pain on a villain she had already defeated. "Anything else you do is just you wanting to hurt someone," Emma had said. With those words, Rikki had suddenly lost the desire for revenge. Now, she finally understood why.

It takes a lot of work to dig two graves.

Cleo kissed Louise on the cheek, then said, "In case we haven't said it lately: thank you, Louise Chatham. For being our friend, and our guide."

"Amen," Emma whispered.

"Absolutely," Rikki agreed.

Louise smiled at them. "Well, thank you, in return. My life would be so empty without you girls."

Emma said, "I'd ask you what we need to do next, but I think we already know."

"Yes, dear," Louise said. "You certainly do."

 

The sea was choppy. The sky was overcast and a little dark, but for once, the girls had no fear of rain or sea spray. They sat solemnly in Lewis's boat as he expertly navigated the reefs around Mako Island. The spray constantly hitting each girl's skin kept activating her subconscious ten-second timer, but with no magical transformation to accompany it. It felt bizarre to get wet like a normal person.

"It's like constantly feeling a sneeze coming on, but it never happens," Rikki suddenly said. Emma and Cleo smiled, knowing exactly what she was talking about. It was the only thing anyone said during the entire trip.

Lewis landed on his usual beach. The girls got out and helped him pull the boat further onto the sand.

Cleo stood in front of Lewis and tenderly put a hand on his chest. "We need to visit the moon pool alone," she said. "But I don't want you to think we take you for granted, or that we think of you as just our chauffeur, or anything like that. You're an equal part of our team. But we mermaids upset the moon pool, so we mermaids need to visit it alone."

"Yeah, I get it," Lewis said with a light smile.

"Good." She kissed him tenderly. "I don't know how long this will take, or whether we'll depend on you to take us back."

"I'll wait as long as I need. Just don't forget I'm here, and leave me hanging."

Cleo wrapped her arms around his neck. "I will never forget that you're here, and I'll never leave you hanging." She kissed him again.

 

The girls trooped through the forest. No one said anything until Rikki piped up halfway there. "We haven't taken this hike since that first day."

The other girls smiled.

They reached the cavern entrance. "Shall we go in the same order as that first time?" Cleo asked with a smile, masking the dread each girl felt.

"Why not?" Emma said, smiling also.

"Down the hatch," Cleo said, and slid inside. Emma came next, followed by Rikki, who slid smoothly into the cavern. Emma helped her up.

At their feet was the small pile of rope pieces Lewis had been assembling. He, also, had not visited the moon pool in several days.

The girls walked into the moon pool cavern, and instantly saw the hole gouged in the wall. It looked like a vicious bruise, and felt just as personal. They inspected the damage.

Looking inside, they saw a few blue crystals embedded in the rock. They also saw the indentations indicating where other crystals had been. Anthony had no doubt taken them.

"He was right," Emma said, running a finger along the few crystals they could see. "We never knew these were inside the walls. I wonder what they are."

"It feels like the moon pool's nervous system," Rikki said. "Its energy pathways."

"It reminds me of finding the hideaway," Cleo said. "Remember how I said, it makes you wonder what else might be in this cavern we don't know about?"

"I feel violated," Rikki said, staring at the hole with disgust. "This is our place!"

"Actually, it isn't," Cleo said, surprising herself. "The magic which made us mermaids owns this place. We're just guests here."

The others considered this for a moment.

"No, I wouldn't say guests," Emma said. "More like tenants. Because we certainly pay our way."

"Yeah," Rikki said. "You're right that we don't own it, but it's absolutely our place more than anyone else's." She motioned to the damage in the wall. "And certainly more than this jackass's!"

They turned to face the moon pool, and walked to its edge.

"Hi," Cleo said meekly. "We know we did something bad. We abused our powers. I'm not sure that we did anything wrong, technically, because Anthony is a serious threat, and we absolutely had to stop him. But it was our attitude when we did it. We enjoyed being the torturers, because it was powerful, and we liked how that made us feel. We got off on it. It was ugly and childish. Really, just something a brute would do. I'm embarrassed that we sank to that level. I wish we could undo it, and make a different choice. I'm very sorry. We all are very sorry."

Nothing happened. They waited for about half a minute.

"Um," Cleo finally said. "I think...maybe each of us needs to say something."

Emma nodded, and said, "I'm sorry, too. We forgot that our powers are a gift, and therefore also a responsibility. We misused the power you gave us. We didn't represent you very well when we did that. We failed you, and we failed ourselves. Please accept our apology."

Rikki thought for a moment, then said, "Being a mermaid is like riding a motorcycle. It's not just fun and games. We have a responsibility."

Cleo and Emma each gave Rikki a puzzled side-eye.

Emma whispered, "Um...what does riding a motorcycle have to do with it?"

"It means I know better than to try to pop a wheelie before I'm ready, and without thinking of the consequences."

Emma and Cleo gave each other a puzzled side-eye, but neither asked Rikki to clarify. They realized that, in this moment, Rikki was just gonna Rikki.

"So, yeah," Rikki continued. "I'm sorry, too. I'm not as eloquent as my fine fellow mermaidens. I don't have all the words. But I feel the same. At first, I was indignant at the thought that I'd done anything wrong, but the more I've thought about it, the more I've realized that, yeah, I totally did. Guilty as charged. I'm deeply sorry, and I promise, I'll do my dearest best never to misuse my power again."

Cleo suddenly felt moved to say, "All three of us know that we're gonna have live with this for a long time." The others nodded.

In the depths of the pool, green sparkles swirled into being. They rose out of the water, continuing to swirl around the girls, then descending onto them, and into them. The sparkles felt warm, inviting, friendly. Each girl felt a magical tingle, as something being restored.

Cleo raised a blob of water from the pool. Emma froze it. Rikki vaporized it.

"Thank you," Cleo said.

"Yes, thank you for trusting us again," Emma said.

"Thanks," Rikki said.

Three large tentacles of water exploded from the pool, grabbed the girls, hauled them in, and pulled them deep under. Just as suddenly, they were released.

The girls came up spluttering, shocked. "What-" was all Emma could say before they were grabbed again. The water shoved the girls to the far side of the pool and held them there, side by side by side, facing the cavern.

"I can't move!" Emma cried. "Can you?"

"No!" Cleo shouted. "What is going on?!"

They transformed into mermaids. The water calmed, yet still held them firmly in place. A soft grip, not painful, but as strong as iron.

A moment later, a blue glow came from the hole Anthony had ripped out of the wall. As the girls watched, new blue crystals seemed to grow out of the ones which were still there, and those crystals gave birth to yet more crystals, like biological cell division. The new crystals occupied the same indentations in the rock as had been occupied by the ones Anthony had taken. When the process was complete, the girls could see that the crystals connected to form multiple paths. They certainly seemed like a network, as Rikki had suggested.

Then a light sprang from the crystals, shining just over their heads. The light became a projected 3D hologram hovering over the pool, directly in front of them.

To say the girls were stunned would be an understatement.

"Okay, this is new!" Rikki said, trying hard not to panic.

Cleo said, "When I said I wondered what else was in this cavern we don't know about, this isn't what I had in mind!"

The hologram was the Earth as seen from space, with its blue oceans, brown and green continents, white clouds, and white ice caps.

Then a vague, fuzzy wave of grey crept over the world. Not in a single delineated border sweeping along, but as a vague sameness all over the globe at once. The colors faded, subsumed by the greyness, until there was only a ball of grey floating among the stars.

In a flash, the hologram zoomed in hundreds of miles to show a dead city. Cars stood still on the wide avenues between skyscrapers. There was no movement, there were no people. The only birds lay dead on the ground.

Then the view sped across the landscape and stopped at a nature reserve. Water still flowed over a waterfall, but the trees were withered husks. Dead birds and wild animals littered the ground. The view dove into the stream, and showed dead fish everywhere.

The view continued in this manner for almost a minute, racing across the Earth's surface in stops and starts, showing a town here, an underwater reef there, a mountain top somewhere else. There was no life anywhere. Buildings and houses were intact; there was no destruction. But neither was there any life. Just dead birds and animals of all sorts, dead grass and trees.

And, most shockingly, every place had that same greyness, like the color grey itself had come to some kind of undead life and blanketed the world. The greyness almost – almost – had a wispy quality, as if someone had laid grey illusion tulle over the entire Earth, suffocating it of life and color.

Everything, everywhere, was grey and dead, dead and grey.

The hologram faded, the glow from the crystals faded, and the water released its grip.

The girls remained where they were, stunned beyond words, beyond belief. Their mouths hanging open, they slowly faced each other.

"So..." Rikki said, deeply shaken. "Did anyone have that on their bingo card for today?"

Emma swallowed hard. "What did we just see?!"

Cleo looked terrified. Her voice was very quiet, very scared. "I think we just saw end of the world."

"But what could cause that?!" Rikki wailed.

Emma shook her head. "I don't know. But it was clearly a warning."

"A warning?!" Rikki asked. "So we can do what? Write our wills?"

"What are we supposed to do?" Cleo asked. Then, addressing the cavern, she asked frantically, "What are we supposed to do?"

Her voice echoed, but she received no response.

"Well, that's just great," Rikki said. "A warning with no context and no meaning."

Emma took a deep breath and blurted out, "I have faith. The moon pool has never steered us wrong. I don't know what we just saw, but...I can't believe it could come to that. I can't!"

Cleo swam to the edge and rolled out. The others followed. She dried them all, and they stood, facing each other.

In a tiny voice full of terror, Rikki asked, "Are we...are we supposed to save the world?"

The others had no response.

"We're only sixteen," Rikki said. "We can't even vote or drink."

"That's the second time today someone's said that to me," Cleo whispered to herself.

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Emma said.

"Oh, let's," Rikki said. "There was only one reason to show us that. The fate of the world just got laid on our shoulders!"

They stared at each other for a long, long moment.

"We need to tell our parents we're mermaids," Cleo said.

Rikki tilted her head at this non sequitur.

"I don't know what the future will bring," Cleo said. "But I'm tired of hiding. I'm tired of secrets. I'm tired of lying to my father. It's not fair to our families to keep this from them. And whatever's coming...we need way more support than we've got right now."

Emma bit her lip and thought. "This Saturday? At the dinner?"

Rikki nodded slowly.

Cleo thought for a moment, then said with quiet intensity, "Yeah. That'll work."

She gave Emma and Rikki a look of conviction and steel. "And one more thing. I think I know how to deal with Anthony. Properly, this time. Make it so he'll never bother us, or Louise, ever again."

 

"Tell me precisely what you saw," Lewis said. "If you can, set aside your emotions. Pretend you were a camera and just tell me details, straight and cold."

The four friends were still on Mako Island, sitting in Lewis's boat on the beach. The sky had lightened a bit, and any threat of rain had not yet materialized, though the wind was brisk. The girls had returned with good news and worst news. They looked shaken to their cores, in a way Lewis had never seen any person be shaken before.

Disjointedly, as best they could, they related to Lewis the vision the moon pool had shown them. Emma repeated her faith that the moon pool was still steering them right, somehow.

"So, when you say dead cities, you mean it was like after a nuclear war or something?" Lewis asked. "With rubble and skeletons everywhere?"

"No," Emma said. "There was no rubble, and no skeletons."

"Then why do you say it was dead?" Lewis asked.

"Because we know a dead city when we see one!" Rikki snapped.

Lewis took a deep breath and faced her angrily. "Rikki, just for once, could you park the snark? I don't have telepathy, and you don't describe things very well, so I have to ask questions. And it would be really great if I could do that without you ripping my head off, because I don't deserve it!"

Rikki looked abashed.

Emma grasped Lewis's hand. "She's upset and in shock. We all are."

"No," Rikki said. "Don't make excuses for me. He's right." She looked at Lewis. "You're right. I'm sorry. I've always been sarcastic and snide and quick to jump down people's throats, and...this isn't the first time I've hurt someone by being like that. I need to stop. I need to be better at that."

Lewis nodded. "Okay," he said quietly, a lot calmer. "Thanks. So, please tell me: if there was no destruction and no dead people, why do you say it was a dead city?"

"Because the cars weren't moving," Rikki said. "They'd been abandoned in the middle of the road. Not just small roads; we're talking wide six-lane avenues between really tall buildings."

"Were the car doors open, as if people had gotten out and walked away?" Lewis asked.

The girls considered. "No," Emma said, puzzled. "They were just empty."

"Were they all askew and facing different directions, like people had been driving frantically to get away from a calamity?" Lewis asked. "Or were they all orderly, like they'd been abandoned during normal traffic?"

"They were a little askew," Cleo said.

"Some of them, yeah," Rikki said.

"But mostly, they were just lined up in normal traffic," Emma said. "Just empty."

"And other than the cars, the city looked dead because there were no people anywhere?" Lewis asked.

"Everything was still," Rikki said. "Not a soul to be found."

"There weren't even any birds," Emma said.

"The dead birds were in the streets," Cleo said.

"Wait," Lewis said. "So the motionless city had dead birds...but no dead people?"

The girls thought for a moment.

"Yeah, that's right," Emma said, realization dawning as she thought about the discrepancy. "The animals were dead, but the people..."

"Were just gone," Rikki said.

Lewis said, "So throughout the entire vision, you saw dead plants and animals all around the world, but no dead people anywhere?"

"Yeah," Cleo said.

"No people at all, living or dead," Emma said.

"Not a single human skeleton or corpse," Rikki said.

Emma said, "We saw dead animals of all kinds: horses, elephants, tigers, penguins, dogs, cats, birds..."

"The coral reefs, fish, whales, dolphins..." Rikki said.

"And all the plants," Cleo said. "Grass, shrubs, giant oaks..."

"Were the plants burned?" Lewis asked.

"No," Rikki said. "More like, just withered away."

"Like they hadn't been watered," Emma said. "Or maybe died from disease."

"But there was still water?" Lewis asked.

"Yeah," Cleo said. "We saw waterfalls, rivers, the ocean. But they were all grey, and all empty of life."

"Everything was grey," Rikki whispered.

Lewis was perplexed. "Water is the basis of all life on Earth. If all life vanished overnight, even microbial life, it would spring up again in a geologic heartbeat. In different forms."

"Doesn't do us much good," Rikki said, though there was no sarcasm in her voice.

"Could this vision have been symbolic?" Lewis asked. "Like, some message about stop pollution, or stop man-made climate change."

All three girls emphatically shook their heads. "No!" Cleo said.

"No," Emma agreed. "If you'd seen it, Lewis, you'd know!"

"Yeah, and there wouldn't be this big mystery of, Where did all the people go?" Rikki said.

"And there wouldn't have been that horrible greyness everywhere," Cleo said, the memory haunting her. She looked at Rikki and Emma. "Did you get the feeling that grey shroud was alive, somehow?"

"Definitely!" Rikki said.

"It was the creepiest thing of all!" Emma said.

"Well, I don't know what you saw," Lewis said. "And yes, I'm scared. But I agree with Emma: the moon pool hasn't steered you wrong yet. If this is a warning, then the vision you saw can be averted. There wouldn't be much point telling you, otherwise."

"But why us?" Cleo asked. "I mean, if mankind has World War III with top secret superweapons we don't even know about, or if there's some crazy virus that ends all life on Earth, what are we supposed to do about it?"

"Let's tackle that logically," Lewis said. "You're not doctors. You're not pathologists. You're not soldiers. You're not military strategists. You're not secret agents."

"We're mermaids," Rikki said.

Lewis was thoughtful. "More generally, you're magical beings. With great magical powers." Inspiration blossomed inside him, and he knew he'd hit the answer. "The threat is magical!" He pumped his fist in certainty. "That's why you received the warning! Something magically devastating will happen, or will try to happen, to the Earth. But it takes magic to fight magic, and you may be the only magic-wielding people in the world!"

The girls looked at him in astonishment. In their hearts and souls, they, too, knew Lewis had hit upon the answer.

"Correction," Cleo said quietly. "We may be the only good magic-wielding people in the world."

The others looked at her in growing horror as the meaning of her words slowly hit home.

Cleo continued. "If the threat is magical, then it's intentional. Which means it's someone, or something."

Lewis was absolutely horrified. "And that someone or something is malevolent," he whispered. "Pure...supreme...evil."

"The grey shroud," Cleo whispered.

"Powerful enough to end all life on Earth," Emma whispered.

"And the fate of the entire world is in our hands," Rikki whispered, and her face dissolved into sick horror. "Oh, I'm liking this less and less every second."

All four of them were on the verge of panic. Cleo was in open shock. She pointed a shaky finger at Lewis. "You...research guru." She couldn't stop quivering. "Research guru! You are all over this like stink on a skunk, do you understand?!"

Lewis nodded frantically, his face full of tension. "You bet your ass I'm on it!"

"Do we warn people?" Rikki asked, too panicked to think clearly. "If so, how?!"

"I don't know," Cleo said desperately, then instantly changed her mind. "No, they'd just panic. And no, there's no way we could, anyway. Let's see what Lewis can find, first. If the moon pool is helping us – and it damn well better be! – Lewis may even be guided to the answer." She thought a second longer, then added, "But we do not tell Louise."

"She may have vital information," Emma said.

"She just had her third heart attack in a month," Cleo said. "I will not take that risk. I don't like keeping secrets from Louise, but for the sake of her weak heart, I'm making an exception here."

Emma looked doubtful, but Rikki said, "Cleo's right. And I doubt Louise would know anything about this." She looked at Cleo. "But we tell Max, right?"

"Oh, I'm definitely telling Max," Lewis said. "He's got a fine brain, a lot of knowledge, and he spent years being a mermaid friend. He's number one on my list of resources!"

"All right," Cleo said. She closed her eyes, breathed deeply, and held her hands out, palms outward, trying to regain a smidgen of control, peace, and sanity. She remained like this for almost half a minute, and it had a calming effect on the others, as well.

Cleo opened her eyes. "Lewis, also...we're telling our families that we're mermaids. This Saturday night, when we're all together."

Lewis nodded. "I understand. It does feel like that time has come."

Emma gave a small sigh. "It'll ruin dinner, but that can't be helped."

"Yeah," Rikki said. "Our parents will be expecting a nice, relaxing evening. None of them will have learn super big secret about their daughters on their bingo card that night."