Harrison was finishing a late lunch alone in a posh restaurant when Neil called.

Harrison's chest tightened. Is this it? he asked himself. He felt reasonably sure the day would come when he would have to face the wrath of the mermaids' parents. Perhaps today was that day.

He answered. "Neil! What can I do for you?"

"Hey, Harrison. Don, Lisa, and I were wondering if you could join us at Frenchie's at seven tonight."

Uh oh, he thought. It sounds like today's the day.

"Sure! Is there a special occasion?"

"We want to discuss something with you about our daughters."

Ugh. It really sounds like today's the day.

"Oh? Regarding what, specifically?"

"It's about some strange behavior they've been doing, and we think their new friend Rikki may be involved."

Record scratch. Maybe today isn't that day.

"Involved how?"

"That's just it. We don't know. But we know she dated Zane, so we were hoping you could help us."

"Well, I can tell you that-"

"Sorry, Harrison, but I don't want to do this over the phone, and with just me. We really think you need to hear what's been happening from all of us, and we'd all like to hear what you have to say, in person. Can you make it? We'd really value your insight."

"Well, yes, absolutely. I'll be there, Neil."

"Thanks, Harrison. I appreciate it. We'll see you tonight."

Harrison hung up.

Well, that's given me a lot to ponder for the rest of the day. Oh, girls. What am I supposed to tell your parents? And why haven't you told them yourselves?

 

"It's so lovely to see you!" Ms. Chatham said as she walked onto the rest home's patio and headed for the girls, who were sitting at a table.

"You, too, Ms. Chatham!" Cleo said. The girls beamed at her.

"You know, I think we've known each other long enough," Ms. Chatham said with a wink as she pulled out a chair and sat. "You can just call me Louise. Now, tell me all about yourselves!"

"We're getting along like a sack full of puppies," Rikki said.

Louise grinned. "My dear, I'm sure I have no idea what that means!"

"Neither do I, but it just sounds right," Rikki said.

"Abstract, symbolic imagery," Emma said. "Rikki's a poet and didn't know it."

"Hardly!" Rikki said.

"I've written poems occasionally," Cleo said.

Emma was astonished. "You've never told me that!"

"That's because they suck," Cleo said.

"Well, if you keep trying, one day they won't," Emma said confidently.

"Where's that woman who kept trying to get us to play shuffleboard that one time?" Rikki asked.

"She's not here today," Louise said.

"Aw, that's too bad," Rikki said. "She's an adorable ray of sunshine."

"She's a pain in the ass," Louise said, making the girls giggle. "So what have you been up to today?"

"We made it all the way to the beach, and we were about to swim," Cleo said. "But then we decided that we wanted to see you instead."

"Oh, my!" Louise said. "I rate higher than swimming! What a landmark day this is!"

"More than you know," Cleo said. "Emma made a breakthrough today. She finally said fffffffff..." Cleo couldn't bring herself to say it. Conspiratorially, she whispered, "Emma finally said the F-word."

Louise beamed at Emma. "Was it liberating, dear?"

Emma shrugged sheepishly. "Not as much as one would think."

Louise patted her hand. "It's all about the context and the occasion. Sometimes, it's the only word that will do. Don't overuse it. It's a special word. Use it wisely."

Emma laughed. "I will!"

Rikki was amazed. "Was I the recipient of your first ever use of the F-word?"

"You were," Emma said.

Rikki beamed with pride. "Aww! That's the most beautiful gift I've ever been given!"

They all laughed, especially since, knowing Rikki, she was probably absolutely serious.

"Louise, can you help us?" Cleo asked. "How did you, Julia, and Gracie deal with rain?"

"We went swimming."

Rikki couldn't help but let out a small laugh at that.

Emma asked, "Yes, but...what about when you had to be somewhere, like school, or a job, or with your family?"

"Ah, I see," Louise said. "There were some close calls, but we muddled through. I seem to recall that we had more freedom in my day than you girls do. Freedom of movement, that is. I'm sure we just skipped school often, and they didn't pursue truancy very energetically back then, at least not for girls. Girls weren't expected to get degrees and run businesses, so they tended to care less if we slacked off our education. And our families were very relaxed about curfews and activities.

"If we had been boys, we would have been required to report for military training. That was the law until the late 1950s, and I can't imagine how it would have been for us if they had the same requirement for girls. Also, if we had been boys, we would have been expected to get jobs, or carry on the family trade, or what have you. As girls, we just had more freedom (from certain expectations and duties, if not in other ways), and more carefree lives. I'm sorry I can't remember any details."

"Yeah, we can't just bunk off school whenever we want," Rikki said with a grimace.

"The school computer would send automatic texts and emails to our parents," Emma said.

"Whoosh," Louise said, shuddering. "I have to say, in some ways, I envy you modern girls, and in others, I don't. Technology can be a leash."

"And rain is a real problem for us," Cleo said. "We can't pretend to be sick anymore. We've played that card too often. Eventually, we'll be required to go somewhere or do something – like go to school – in the rain, and we won't have any excuse, or any way out."

"We dread that day happening," Emma said. "We don't know what to do."

"How long have you had the gift?" Louise asked.

"About five-and-a-half months," Emma said.

"And you've made it this far," Louise said.

"By the hair of our chinny chin chin, yeah," Rikki said.

"But, when it comes to this sort of thing, haven't you noticed how chance always comes up in your favor?" Louise asked.

The girls shared quick looks.

"We do have a theory that the moon pool protects us," Cleo said.

"To a certain extent," Emma said assertively. She was always keen on this point.

"Well, there you go!" Louise said.

"Yes, but...it can't possibly protect us forever, can it?" Emma asked. "It rains dozens of times per year. The magic can't possibly cancel school every single day it rains."

"The magic is cleverer than that," Louise said. "It's cleverer than you, and me. It sees further than us, and sees more possibilities. The only advice I can give you is: trust the magic. It didn't choose you just to let you down. It will always give you a way forward, if you have the courage to take it."

 

"Ah, Frenchie's!" Harrison said as he walked through the door and spotted Don, Lisa, and Neil. "I'd forgotten that unique mustard, ketchup, and hot dog smell."

"A dollar a dog!" Don said, quoting the Frenchie's advertising campaign from their college days. "Cheap hot dogs, made out of who knows what, for the poor college student!" He gestured grandly at the basket of a dozen hot dogs on the table, squeeze bottles of ketchup and mustard beside them.

"And the poor post-grad student," Neil said, as Harrison sat.

"It's the made out of who knows what part that always worried me," Lisa said.

"Not enough to put you off them," Neil said.

"Not then," Lisa said. "Now? Yes. I'm having iced coffee, and..." She lowered her voice so the staff wouldn't hear. "...we'll pick up some real food on the way home."

They all laughed mightily.

"Here, Harrison," Don said, placing a drink in front of him. "We got you a strawberry lemonade."

"You remembered!" he exclaimed.

"Easily," Don said. "Hey, my memory's not gone yet."

They laughed again. Everyone except Lisa took a hot dog or three from the basket, as they'd politely waited until all were present.

"So, what's this exciting development which has brought us together?" Harrison asked.

"Strangeness," Don said.

Harrison listened as the others told him their experiences over the past few months. He listened without interruption, and (he hoped) without betraying his emotions.

He was in a fine pickle, no doubt about it. He knew the entire secret, but it wasn't his to tell. Blabbing it would betray the girls and disrespect them. Keeping it would betray their parents, his old friends, who were literally sitting in front of him at this very moment, asking for his help. Keeping the secret would also compound things a hundredfold if his old friends ever learned his other secret: that he had participated in their daughters' brief capture.

And on top of everything, the girls were minors. To a certain extent, they shouldn't be allowed to keep such gigantic secrets from their parents. This meant he had an obligation to tell their parents what he knew, in exactly the same way he would have an obligation to tell them any other monumental thing about their daughters. For example, if their daughters ran away from home, and he knew where they were, he would be obligated to tell this information to the authorities and to their parents. Yet, this situation was so unusual that, in a way, normal rules didn't feel like they applied.

Yeah. He wasn't just in a pickle, he was drowning at the bottom of a vat at the pickle factory.

I guess I deserve this, he thought.

"So, you think Rikki is some kind of bad influence on Cleo and Emma?" he asked when they finished.

"We don't want to make assumptions," Don said.

"Because she really does seem like such a nice girl," Lisa said.

"Though a poor student, according to both Emma and Cleo," Don said. "Rikki apparently has no love or drive for education."

"But her appearance in our daughters' lives is the only thing we can see which might have brought this about," Neil said. "And the matching lockets for a friend they've only known a few months triggers an alarm bell, too. That's highly unusual."

"So what do you know about Rikki?" Lisa asked. "You must have interacted with her a few times when she was dating Zane."

"Heh," Harrison said with a smile. "Interacted is one way to put it. About those early interactions, I'll just say: neither of us impressed the other in the slightest."

"She certainly wasn't intimidated at your Mako Island presentation," Neil said.

"She absolutely was not, and the Rikki you saw that day is the real deal," Harrison said. "She's a little firecracker, no doubt about it. And whip smart, in her own way."

"Did you ever meet her family, or hear anything about them?" Don asked.

"I've never met her family, no. But I do know her situation. She lives with her father, and it's just the two of them. I don't know what he does for a living. I don't know if there's any more family, or if so, what happened to them or where they are.

"Her father doesn't have a lot of money. In fact, he's always struggling. They live in a poor section of town.

"Rikki has a mountain range of pride. She doesn't want people to know about her poverty, because she doesn't want anyone's pity or charity. That's why she hasn't opened up to any of you about her situation. You all have money, she doesn't, and she's embarrassed, and she's afraid you'll be embarrassed for her.

"And when I say she doesn't take charity, I am not just whistling a tune. If you want your arm bitten off up to your elbow, then handed back to you on a platter made of fire, try to offer her a charity handout. It's an experience you won't forget in a hurry. At least, that's how Zane put it, and I believe him."

"Well, that certainly explains some things," Lisa said.

Harrison knew that if the girls' parents ever learned of his business arrangement with Rikki, they would be furious if he didn't mention it during this conversation, since they were literally asking him to tell them everything he knew about her situation. Luckily, he knew Rikki wouldn't mind if they knew. In this matter, at least, he had that saving grace.

"There's more," Harrison said. "And I feel comfortable telling you what I'm about to because Rikki herself has said she doesn't mind if people know. Though she doesn't take straight-up charity, she does accept help in other ways. And even though she's no longer dating Zane, she and I had a talk one day. And if there's one thing Rikki does better than anyone I've ever met, it's cut through the BS. She has no time for it.

"She agreed to accept my financial help with her life, but not as charity. At least, not directly. About six weeks ago, I loaned Rikki a sum of money. It had to be a loan; she absolutely did not want a gift. Once a week, I tutor her on investing that money. She is determined, with dirt and grit, to make that money grow, and to get herself out of poverty. She just needed someone to give her a start, the capital, and the knowledge she needed to set her on her way. We have a gentlemen's agreement that she will repay the loan, interest free, when she is wealthy enough to do so with no problem, and when she knows enough to stand on her own two feet without my help. Because of this arrangement, she and I get along much better now than when we had our first interactions.

"You say she's a poor student at school, and in a way, that doesn't surprise me. I told you she has no time for BS. Unfortunately, she probably sees public school as a building full of BS from top to bottom.

"But when it comes to a subject she truly wants to learn, she is a voracious student. In just six weeks, she has already soaked up far more knowledge than I thought she would in that time frame. She's not just eager to learn, she's desperate to learn. I literally can't teach her fast enough. She wants to know it all now. She stays on top of the stock market daily. She's already begun to make her own trades without consulting me, and she's not doing badly. I have access to her account and to her portfolio, and she's okay with that, so I monitor them daily. She hasn't withdrawn a single cent for personal use.

"As for her character, I can tell you that she has one stipulation when it comes to investments: ethics. She's fanatical about investing in a company only after she has found no evidence of pollution, child labor, or any other moral failing. She has bluntly stated that the moment she discovers moral wrongdoing from a company she owns stock in, she will dump that stock immediately no matter the situation, and I believe her. It's not just teenage idealism; she means it."

The others thought about this a few moments.

"That's quite something," Don finally said.

"And good on you for doing that Harrison," Neil said.

Harrison looked down, embarrassed, genuinely not wanting to make it about himself (for several reasons). "Oh, it's no problem. In fact, it's a joy to teach Rikki. It's..." A wistful, distant look came over his face. "It's the sort of tutoring I always wanted to give Zane, but never will, because he's not interested."

Amazing, Harrison thought. I had no idea that was about to pop out of my mouth. But it's true.

"One more thing," Harrison said. "Rikki has often said she doesn't mind if anyone knows about our business arrangement. But just as often, she's also said she has no interest in advertising it, either. So, though what I just told you isn't exactly a secret, for her sake, I would appreciate it if you still kept quiet about it. She hasn't even told her own father. She wants to surprise him with good news when she's earned enough, beyond the capital, to make an impact in their lives. She wants to see the look on his face when she tells him they're moving up in the world."

"Yeah, that's no problem," Don said, and the others nodded.

"But have you ever seen any evidence that Rikki has some kind of influence over our daughters?" Lisa asked.

Harrison shook his head. "If any such influence exists, I have never seen nor heard one whisper of it. And knowing what I do about Rikki, I would be beyond shocked if she had such influence, or would even want such influence. The thought makes my mind boggle."

"Do you know anything about the friendship lockets they wear?" Neil asked.

"I do not," Harrison said. "Though now you mention it, I've never seen Rikki come to a tutoring session without hers."

"Have you ever seen Rikki herself have any aversion to water, like what we've described with Cleo and Emma?" Don asked.

Damn, Harrison thought. I was afraid of this. Don was always good at asking the right questions.

"She does seem to have an aversion to rain."

The others sat up.

"Why?" Lisa asked. "What did she do?"

Harrison shrugged casually, but chose his words with care. He absolutely did not want to lie to his friends. "Nothing spectacular. She just always reschedules, or leaves early, rather than go out in the rain. By itself, that's nothing remarkable."

"By itself, no," Neil said.

"Harrison, is there anything else you can tell us about Rikki?" Lisa asked. "Anything at all that you think we deserve to know about her friendship with our daughters?"

Double damn! he thought. I've been cornered. Because yes, he absolutely felt his friends deserved to know more. Intentionally or not, Lisa had phrased her question perfectly. She had cut through all his maneuverings and pinned him more thoroughly than he had ever been pinned in his life.

Again, he cursed the girls for not telling their parents themselves. What are you girls waiting for?! he thought angrily.

He pursed his lips, thinking hard. About a lot of things.

He suddenly remembered the advice he gave the girls a couple weeks earlier.

I've known your parents longer than you have. And may I say...if you told them about your situation, I think they would be much more understanding and capable than you might be giving them credit for. And keeping such an enormous secret from them really isn't fair to them. It doesn't give them the chance to be the parents they need to be for you, as every decision they make is based on false information.

Something gave way inside Harrison. He was suddenly tired of fighting this battle, tired of holding his breath inside the pickle vat.

If his advice was good enough for Cleo and Emma, then wasn't it good enough for himself?

Time to roll the dice, he thought.

"I do know more," he said, suddenly sounding tired. He sighed. "But I need you to understand what a horrible situation I'm in. The girls do have a secret they're keeping from you. I can say that because it's not a deep revelation; you already know they're hiding something. But I can't say what it is, because it's not my secret to tell."

The others looked at him, stunned.

"You...can't say?" Neil asked, incredulous.

Harrison looked up. "Neil, Lisa, Don...no, I can't say. You're my friends, and I value all of you deeply. But your children are also my friends. I value them just as much. I'm in a position in which if I say anything, I betray my friendship with your daughters, and if I don't say anything, I betray my friendship with you. And I hate it. I don't want to be in this position. I don't want to be in the middle of this. So I'll tell you now straight up: yes, I know more, and no, I won't tell you what it is."

"But these are our children!" Lisa said. "Emphasis on the word children."

"They're also young adults," Harrison said. "They've entered the stage of life in which they need, and deserve, some privacy, even from family. My knowledge of their secret is not something which makes me happy, believe me, simply because it places me in this exact position. It's a burden. The one thing I keep coming back to is, it's not my secret to tell. If they were in any danger, I absolutely would tell you, of course, in a heartbeat. But they're not.

"So, at the risk of sounding selfish, and if you will indulge me, I'm going to give you some advice. Since this advice comes from someone who does know their secret, I hope you appreciate its magnitude and value.

"First, seek out Rikki's father and make friends with him. Not just acquaintances, friends. Even if that takes a little while, it's worth it before you do anything else. Just trust me on this. A secret binds Emma, Cleo, and Rikki. For the parents of these girls to do anything, the parents of all three girls need to be united, and I cannot. Stress that. Enough." His finger stabbed the table with each beat. "It may even be that Rikki's father is searching for answers just as much as you are. You've obviously compared notes with each other. Comparing notes with him may also be enlightening.

"Second, once you feel comfortable enough with Rikki's father – and hopefully, that won't be a problem – do the simplest thing possible: sit the girls down, together, and ask them yourselves. Point blank.

"Don't be mean, don't be antagonistic, don't be aggressive. Be supportive. Be so supportive, it's like you're vying for Supportive Parent of the Year Award. I have a strong suspicion the girls are actually dying to tell you their secret, but they're afraid of the ramifications if they do. They just need to trust before they unload their burden."

"How can they not trust us, after all these years of trust and love?!" Lisa asked.

Harrison said, "Because their secret is bizarre, and sometimes, people don't react to the bizarre very well, no matter how much love they have. That's the source of their fear."

"Harrison, you say all these heavy things while simultaneously saying they're not in danger," Neil said.

"Yes, and I stand by both of those things. Please, all of you, I beg you to understand my difficulty. I've told you all I can. I can tell you one hundred percent that Rikki Chadwick is not the cause of your daughters' secret; she's simply caught up in it along with them. But please...just ask them. If you reassure them that everything will be fine – and that reassurance is genuine, not just lip service to get them to open up – I think you'll be surprised."

I know you'll be surprised, he thought. Shocked beyond belief, in fact.

"What if we don't include Rikki or her father?" Don asked. "What if we just have this almighty conversation with Emma and Cleo only?"

"Then you leave Rikki exposed and alone, and at the mercy of a father who won't be as prepared as you'll be. And the connection among the three girls is profound; Rikki is an equal part of the secret. Knowing what I know, I guarantee you: you can't not include her."

"I gotta say, Harrison, I don't like this at all," Neil said, noticeably trying to keep the hostility from his voice.

"Neither do I, Neil," Harrison said. "That's why I'm begging you to trust me. And, to put it bluntly, their secret is so bizarre that even if I did tell you, you wouldn't believe me anyway."

Harrison looked at all of them. "I cannot stress this enough. I need you to trust me, now more than you ever have. The girls deserve the dignity of telling you themselves. Forcing me to speak their secret behind their backs would break their hearts, and mine. It would actually damage your relationship with them because you'll have pulled their secret out through force, spying, and betrayal, rather than through love and support." He looked each of them in the eye, making sure they understood this crucial fact. From the looks on their faces, he could tell his words had hit home.

"Please," he continued. "Let them tell you. Just provide a space in which they can be ready. That's really all you have to do. If it's at all possible to get Rikki's father on board with that, all the better. I would go so far as to say, that's crucial."

The others were quiet for several moments.

"All right," Neil finally said. "I do trust you, Harrison. For the sake of a lifetime of friendship, we will follow your advice."

"Thank you, Neil," Harrison said. "I want out of this situation in which I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't. And I know the girls want a burden off their shoulders." He shook his head. "Sorry for the bombshell. It wasn't my intention to drop that on you. I'm just trying to be as fair, and as right, as I can."

"Very well," Don said. "We'll follow your advice, and see where it leads."

"I'm glad," Harrison said, and began to get up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm afraid these hot dogs, which are made of who knows what, don't agree with me like they did twenty years ago. Lisa, Don, Neil, I'm sure everything will work out. Take care."

They waved goodbye. It was an awkward departure, but there was nothing else for it.

Harrison walked to his car, climbed in, and sighed deeply. He could only hope he'd done the right thing, could only trust he'd pointed them in the right direction.

Could only hope he hadn't just lost three friends. Nor doomed three girls.

 

It was almost five in the evening when the girls finally made it into the water, but they had no regrets. Their visit with Louise had calmed and reassured them greatly.

Instead of going to the moon pool, the girls frolicked in the sunlit surf, ranging up and down the coast, releasing two days of pent-up energy.

With a huge grin, Cleo often corkscrewed her body through the water as they traveled. She didn't know why it felt so good, it just did. It felt like the mermaid equivalent of dancing. A huge fan of Kate Alexa (some might go so far as to say, irritating super-megafan), Cleo enjoyed "Where We Belong" in her head over and over, as the three mermaids danced and played their way through the gorgeous afternoon waters, because it was so perfect.

The girls smiled and giggled as they secretly buzzed surfers and boats, with no one being the wiser. They played tag among the reef. Rikki kissed a dolphin and scratched it under its chin, sending it into flips of joy.

They swam past a family on a boat trip, and the family had a puppy who was all a-wiggle to meet anyone and everyone. While the family had their backs turned, Emma came out of the sea long enough to greet the puppy, who was absolutely beside himself to lick Emma all over the face. Emma laughed, kissed the puppy on the nose and scratched its cheeks affectionately, and slipped back into the water without the puppy's owners ever knowing she was there.

Cleo looked for the El Sea, just because she wanted to wave at her father, even if he couldn't wave back. But for some reason, he seemed to have already gone in. Cleo thought that odd, but it didn't set off any alarm bells.

Hugging the coast, they swam further north than they ever had, though that wasn't difficult, as they had never been very far in that direction.

Cleo's internal song was interrupted when a powerful current suddenly pulled the girls further along, and far faster, than they expected. They traded looks of surprise. None of them had ever experienced a current this swift and fierce. Each girl struggled hard for several seconds to stabilize and redirect.

Using standard diver hand signals, with a few of their own thrown in, they agreed to swim directly toward open sea. This worked, as the further from shore they went, the more the turbulence subsided. They surfaced about two hundred yards from shore, in much calmer water.

"What in the world was that?" Cleo asked.

Emma's eyes ranged along the shore. Looking north, she said, "Oh...it's Dead Man's Cliff."

The other girls followed her gaze to look at the imposing promontory. It was about a thousand feet north of their position along the coast.

"Oh, wow!" Cleo said. "I didn't know we'd come so far. I didn't think we were even past Weylan Beach, yet!"

"New girl, here," Rikki said. "Give me the Dead Man's CliffsNotes."

"Oh, hey, I see what you did there," Emma said. "Clever."

Rikki grinned. "Thanks."

"Well, first, you can see how dangerous it is," Cleo said.

She wasn't kidding. Dead Man's Cliff was about 75 feet high. Starting at the base of the cliff, a jumble of huge, numerous, and very dangerous rocks extended for about three hundred feet away from the cliff in every direction, forming a rough semicircle. The sea violently thrashed and churned among the rocks, in random whirlpools and turmoil.

From the clifftop, the coast sloped down to the north and to the south. Three-quarters of a mile along in each direction, the coast eventually returned to the beautiful beaches everyone knew and loved.

Mirroring this topography, the sea was relatively deep at Dead Man's Cliff, and gradually became shallower to the north and to the south, eventually rising to become those same beaches. Weylan Beach was the first beach south of Dead Man's Cliff. Ashton Beach was the first to the north.

Between Dead Man's Cliff and those beaches, in both directions, the coastline was still one long steep, craggy cliff, just not as high as Dead Man's Cliff itself, and without any rocks or reefs.

"The cliff is a promontory," Emma said. "That's why we can barely see the coast on the other side of it from this angle. A powerful rip tide flows toward the cliff from each side, and those rip tides collide practically head on, right below the cliff, among all those rocks. That's why the sea's so violent there. We got caught in the southern rip tide. That's what suddenly pushed us along so fast!"

"It was scary powerful!" Rikki said. "I actually had trouble fighting it. And our tails aren't weak!"

Emma said, "The colliding rip tides and the rocks, all combined, form an area so dangerous that no one has ever gone in there, either on the surface or under water."

"In fact, I think it's illegal to try," Cleo said.

"So if we swam into all those rocks, we'd be the first people ever to see that underwater place!" Rikki said.

"Yes, but as powerful as we are, I'm not sure that even we could make it through there safely," Emma said.

"I wouldn't try it!" Cleo said.

"Aww, you guys are no fun," Rikki said, though it was clear she was joking. "But I will admit...I'm not interested in dying today."

Cleo pointed at one rock in particular. It was one of the rocks furthest from the cliff, almost straight out from it. "You see that rock? It's called The Claw."

"Seriously?" Rikki asked. "Or did you just make that up?"

"She did not make that up," Emma said. "We really do call it The Claw. And you can see why."

She could indeed. The Claw was a vertical column, about twelve feet wide where it emerged from the water, and stretching thirty feet into the air. It curved away from the cliff slightly, then curved back toward it, ending in a point. It looked exactly like the talon of some ancient and powerful creature clawing its way up from the deep.

Rikki shuddered, and took in the whole scene. "So all in all, not a place you'd have a picnic."

"Not unless you wanted it to be your last meal," Cleo said. "No one goes near Dead Man's Cliff."

"Is it called Dead Man's Cliff because someone actually died on it?" Rikki asked.

"I'm not sure," Emma said. "It could very well be that someone just took one look at it and named it that on the spot."

"Guys," Cleo said, a tiny bit alarmed. "If no one comes here...what are they doing?" She pointed.

About two hundred yards directly off Dead Man's Cliff, a fishing trawler chugged along, parallel to the coast, heading away from them.

"What...in...the...world?" Emma asked.

"What's wrong?" Rikki asked. "They're far enough from the cliff that they're in no danger."

"Technically," Emma said.

"Even that far out, the water here can sometimes surprise you, and not in a good way," Cleo said. "My dad told me all about it once."

Emma said, "And the really weird thing is, there's absolutely no reason to risk fishing off Dead Man's Cliff when the entire rest of the ocean is available. No one in their right mind would do that!"

Rikki said, "So these people are..."

"Not in their right mind," Cleo finished. "My mermaid sense is tingling."

"Let's check it out," Emma said.

"Whoo!" Rikki exclaimed, and they were off.

The girls swam to the strange boat, coming up on its stern and the net dragging behind it. By now, it was about seven in the evening, and at this time of year, that meant there was plenty of daylight remaining, so the girls had no trouble seeing anything.

At first, they made sure to keep clear of the huge net, but upon closer inspection, they found they had nothing to fear.

The net was empty. And it was empty because it had been deliberately cut along its entire length.

The girls looked at each other with sheer bafflement on their faces.

They swam around the boat itself, and saw that its name was the Otter Way. Aboard, they saw two men lounging around, and a third in the cabin.

The girls surfaced next to the hull, out of sight from anyone aboard. They listened, but the only conversation they heard was between the two men on deck. They sounded like they were playing dominoes.

Then a third voice said, "Where's that spare lamp?" The voice sounded clear, as if the speaker was on deck, not in the cabin.

Cleo gasped. She submerged and darted a few dozen yards from the boat to get a better viewing angle. She spun to look, her eyes inches below the surface.

Her suspicions were confirmed. The third man had emerged from the cabin and was on deck. Cleo stared in amazement.

Then Cleo created a couple of small water tentacles, beneath the surface, to tap Emma and Rikki, getting their attention. Emma and Rikki submerged, whereupon Cleo signaled them to retreat. The girls swam back to the same area in which they'd talked just a few minutes earlier, and surfaced.

"Can this get any weirder?" Rikki asked.

Cleo was about to tell her friends what she'd seen, but Emma was faster. She answered Rikki's question by saying, "Yes," and pointed to the top of Dead Man's Cliff.

They looked.

Emma was right. The situation was truly getting weirder.

Four men were on the clifftop, slowly manhandling a large, intricate piece of metal over the edge.

"Is that..." Emma started to ask.

"It's a stripped car chassis," Rikki said.

The men got the chassis over the edge. It plummeted into the rocks and the maelstrom below.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Cleo said. "My brain just shut down."

"The perfect way to get rid of evidence," Rikki said, a grim look on her face.

Emma got it. It clicked. "The car thieves?!"

"Has to be," Rikki said. "I can't think of any other explanation for what we just saw."

They looked at the clifftop again. The men were gone.

"Bernard's Junkyard!" Cleo suddenly exclaimed. "Isn't it just a mile inland from Dead Man's Cliff?"

Emma thought furiously, matching her knowledge of city street geography and coastline geography in her head. "I think so."

"Yes, it is!" Cleo said. "Bernard's Junkyard is at the northern end of Farmersville, which is just south of the entrance to Ashton Beach, which is the first beach north of here!"

"Yeah," Emma said. "You're right!"

"So this junkyard..." Rikki said.

"It closed a few years ago," Cleo said. "I think it's abandoned, with all its junk still there."

"Did this junkyard have a large garage?" Rikki asked, feeling like she already knew the answer.

Emma saw where this was going. "Yyyyyep."

Rikki nodded. "An abandoned junkyard with a large garage would be the perfect place to hide a chop shop."

"And it's so close to Dead Man's Cliff, they can just take the leftover incriminating stuff and toss it over!" Cleo exclaimed.

"Into the one place no one can ever find it," Emma said.

"I take it there's no urban area up there?" Rikki asked.

Emma shook her head. "Nothing but rocks and forest. The junkyard was intentionally built beyond the edge of the urban sprawl. No one's around up there to witness anything."

"Huh," Rikki said. "Even though they're criminal scum, I have mad respect right now. That's a sweet setup!"

"What about our non-fishermen?" Emma asked, nodding toward the mysterious trawler.

They gazed at it. It had just finished coming about and was now heading toward them, along the same line.

"It's like a sentinel pacing back and forth," Rikki said.

"A lookout boat," Emma said, realization coming fast. "Pretending to fish, but telling the rest of the gang on shore when it's safe to dump evidence with no witnesses."

"Oh, this setup just gets sweeter and sweeter," Rikki said. "If I was criminal, I'd be in heaven here."

"You don't know the half of it!" Cleo said. "Because one of the men on that boat is Eddie, the man my dad fired for illegal fishing!"