Aurabel Read online

  We have the Pickers. These are the Tips that route the whole of Tippi, collecting up any findings. Now, this can be anything, from remote controls to wardrobes to rope to magazines to food to money. See, we know money to Walkers is like well important, but to us it’s meaningless – we get more use out of a bottle top. Funny that, ain’t it? Mostly the Pickers just preserve our area, keeping it safe and clean, but if we need something like … say, a bit of scrap metal or something we don’t have, it’s the Pickers’ job to go find it. Then, the Sorters are based at the warehouse and they sort through all the findings. It’s important that stuff gets sorted properly, like plastic bottles … we have tons of them. So we make use of them: floats, furniture, storage. The Sorters also need to be pretty up to scratch on their Walker knowledge because obviously new things come down all the time … And these days they are becoming less useful as Walkers rely heavily on technology, so everything is wires and small and shiny and not that useful to us. Was much better before when everything was more manual. Opal used to know lots more than me about Walker objects but she’s not here any more so we have to mainly guess.

  Murray is a Sorter. I think that’s the best job of all because it’s the most exciting; cleaning grit off a photograph to reveal the chubby smile of a happy Walker baby. It’s mostly a nice job. It suits Murray. She gets a real buzz from it. Murray is not her real name, by the way, but we call her Murray because once she found this badge in the Whirl that fell from them Walkers. A little white plastic thing. I mean, I can’t read no Walker talk but Opal helped us understand it (before she went up there and never came back). She can read but not write in Walker. And she said the small bit in the colour red said, ‘Every Little Helps …’ and then it said the word ‘MURRAY’ in big letters. She says it’s a name badge. So we all started calling her Murray. Just sort of stuck, I guess.

  I still fancy her every time I see her. Her beads and chains all around her neck; the coloured gems she decorates her arms and head with. Her goofy little thoughts. I like the moments when she pretends she doesn’t know that I’m watching her – it’s like our tiny secret unspoken game. Just doing her sorting with delicate fingers, her hair wrapped in buns, her purple eyes looking for all things new. And me, just watching, wondering how she fits into the world without me.

  My half-moon.

  And then she looks up.

  Just like that.

  And I know it.

  Every single time.

  HEAVY THE HEAD

  Bingo, the sea-monkey butler, awkwardly hands out crusts of sea-biscuit to have with the nettle tea. They hadn’t expected guests and so they weren’t quite the fancy nibbles the council were used to. Still, it would do to help wash down the matter in hand.

  Myrtle, firm but friendly, tries to make a moment’s small talk, commenting on the garden’s thriving whilst council members Carmine and Sienna sit in chairs and pet the pups, waiting for Zar and Keppel to finally come down from their chambers.

  ‘We shouldn’t have come,’ Carmine whispers.

  ‘It’s too late for that. We’re here now,’ Myrtle whispers back.

  ‘He’s had more than enough chances,’ Sienna adds bitchily. ‘If anything, this meeting is overdue!’

  ‘Precisely!’ Myrtle murmurs out of the corner of her mouth before enthusiastically greeting Keppel as she drifts into the garden. Her guards of narwhals stalk busily behind her, tusking and clattering, loyally marking her every move. She is grey; worn down. Her tapestry is dried out and veiny. Bruised, almost.

  ‘Keppel, you look tired.’ Myrtle holds Keppel to her chest. ‘We hate to see you like this.’

  Keppel allows herself to be held by her dear friend but she is still full of resentment. Heartbroken, still, for her missing daughter, grieving her own crown. She is an outsider in her own home. The cracks are too big to heal. It hurts her pride that she has lost her seat to a man. Even if that male is good. Even if that male is hers. Keppel is too bitter and could not forgive, no matter how many times Zar reminds her that he only took the crown to keep it in the family and save it from going to another council member. (It was no secret that Sienna quite liked the idea of ruling the kingdom herself.) But it didn’t make a difference. Keppel rarely comes down from her chamber any more, smoking, drinking, pickling herself in a sour brine of deteriorating, sinking sadness.

  Keppel lights the soft ashes of her own pipe before Bingo can get to her, and the king enters the garden. Two chairs remain: an outside throne for the king for meetings such as this and a regular garden chair. Zar sits on the latter. Myrtle can’t help but make a point.

  ‘Am I supposed to sit on your throne?’ Myrtle addresses the king, hands on hips, even though this is no way to speak to one.

  ‘It’s just a piece of furniture, Myrtle.’

  ‘Pardon my brazenness, but it isn’t just the furniture that’s vacant, is it, Your Majesty?’

  Myrtle sits, squeezing her plump, swelling hips into the rickety garden throne, her fullness only reinforcing her clout, enhancing her attractiveness. She is a wet rose: flamboyant, heavy and beautiful. But just like a rose, she can be thorny-tongued and needs to be handled with care. The other mermaids seem only to flourish in her surrounding, rising to the stakes, flowering about her, propping her up as if garnishing her like a bouquet.

  Meanwhile, Zar crumples pathetically at his weakness, worming his way inside himself like the maggot he feels he is amongst such intimidating, pretty, wild fruits. Visibly crushing. It is painful to know his mate is slowly strangling herself with her own ego. Unable to even look him in the eye in front of the formal wreath of the council.

  It is awkward. Carmine shuffles to break the tension, looping her hair around a finger, taking the candy-pink curls down to softly frame her face.

  Sienna’s eyes are fixed on the king, waiting for the coward to speak.

  Myrtle focuses on Keppel. Keppel puffs on her pipe, inhales, exhales, and finally says, ‘So what do we do?’

  ‘Oh, I see you’ll speak now, in front of them?’ Zar snaps.

  ‘What are you talking about? You don’t speak to anybody except Kai.’

  ‘Please don’t bring Kai into this.’

  Keppel inhales again, spirals of silver smoke making halos that speak of her thoughts: that Zar had salvaged too soon after Lorali’s disappearance. Two years of anger simmering and the wound is not healing. Lorali was their daughter and here he was fathering some new boy. But the thoughts never crystallise into words, just evaporate like the grey ghost that dreamt them up in the first place, moving her further away from Zar and even further from her reality.

  Myrtle intervenes. ‘Kai is a good point.’ Here, Zar can’t help but check that Kai isn’t around. He would hate for him to hear himself being talked about. ‘Of course, we all know you have salvaged a great young male there. We are all aware that after his resolution he could make a great king. It would be fantastic if you could keep the crown in the family; I know it’s something Netta would’ve wanted.’

  Keppel wants to laugh. Wants to blurt out like she has done many times before, and scream that Kai was not her salvage. That no, it probably wouldn’t be what her mother wanted at all. To see any male in power. Least of all one who had replaced her daughter.

  Myrtle continues. ‘But the way things are going, you are at high risk of losing your crown.’

  ‘They all hate me, don’t they?’ Zar volunteers miserably.

  ‘I wouldn’t say hate. That’s a very strong word. Just angry.’

  ‘Angry why?’

  ‘You know what they’re like, Zar. Tips like the traditional way of doing things; they can be very sexist. We knew crowning you would be a risk and that it would take time.’

  ‘OK, so can’t we just give it a bit more time?’

  ‘When we appointed you, we did talk about a few things you would do as king, promises – do you remember?’

  ‘Sort of … ish.’

  ‘None of them have been fulfilled. The Mer
are disappointed, frustrated.’

  ‘You’re too lenient and forgiving,’ Sienna adds. ‘You’re not firm enough with them. They will eat you up alive!’

  ‘I think what Sienna means, Your Royal Highness, is that you’re too nice,’ Carmine chuckled, blushing. ‘You’re just a very nice king and a nice king doesn’t always make … a good king.’

  ‘Weak is what he is!’ Keppel adds as though he isn’t there.

  Well said.

  ‘Keppel! Don’t say that,’ Zar defends himself. ‘I’m not weak, I just don’t see why I have to baby them all. Surely they don’t need policing the entire time?’

  ‘You haven’t been to visit Tippi once since you’ve reigned!’

  ‘I’ve been busy. Raising Kai, the future king! Keppel, don’t laugh.’ Zar runs his hands through his hair. ‘What more can I do?’

  ‘Ah well, this is one of the reasons we wanted to speak to you. You could resolve Kai. A celebration is just what the Mer need.’

  Zar shakes his head. ‘He’s still so young.’

  The council want to laugh in the face of this waif. It has been two years since the boy was salvaged, but he is treated like a baby.

  ‘I think it would help. It would cement you as king; to salvage is commendable, it reflects strength. It will give the Mer a chance to get to know you. I think the Mer would like that.’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘It’s just a suggestion,’ Carmine comforts. ‘We’re only trying to help.’

  Zar chews his lip. The reason he has put off resolving Kai is because it would mean he is fully grown. Independent and out of his grasp. Zar isn’t sure that is what he wants this time round, not yet anyway. And what would his tapestry say? What if the resolution unveils a new darkness; what if Kai wants to leave him too, like Lorali did?

  ‘You know once he resolves, it will be harder for him to leave you, don’t you?’ Sienna, as if reading his mind, reassures him. This is true. Surfacing is close to impossible once a Mer has resolved. Zar throws a look to Keppel, her glassy eyes – how he wants them to shine at him once again like they used to. Perhaps letting go of Kai a little would make space in Keppel’s heart for him again. ‘All right, we can do it. We can resolve Kai.’

  ‘Bravo!’ Myrtle claps. ‘That will cheer the Mer up! And us, of course!’

  ‘Anything to make this role a little easier. Who knew the public were so demanding?’ the king groans, managing to force an exhausted smile.

  ‘I wouldn’t say they are exactly demanding, Zar; you’ve done your best to neglect them,’ Keppel chips in.

  ‘Neglect? I protect them, don’t I?’ Zar defends.

  Myrtle interrupts. ‘You protect them, yes. We know your heart is in the right place but closing the petrified forest did not go down well.’

  ‘I closed the petrified forest, Myrtle, because it’s dangerous. Walkers know about us now; have you forgotten that?’

  ‘And what about the Mer? About their happiness – have you forgotten that?’ Myrtle argues back. ‘You’re just being selfish over your boy – you don’t want Kai to remember who he is, where he is from! You can’t control that, Zar! It’s close to impossible that he will ever remember anything at all! Access to the forest is a privilege to all Mer!’

  The taboo topic of memory is rarely discussed amongst council members – it is too personal, too emotional. Carmine stares at the king hard now; she is the only Mer who has managed to successfully contact her past, summoning a dialogue between her oldest and truest friend, Iris.

  ‘You’re right, Myrtle: he doesn’t want Kai to remember.’ Keppel turns to face her mate. ‘You don’t want him to remember anything, do you, Zar?’ Her voice softens. ‘And I understand that. We lost Lorali because she wanted to remember and look where that left us. I can see why Zar doesn’t want Kai to go.’

  Carmine feels sick. She wants Kai to know who he is. That he is missed and loved. She hates that he has to be raised in this hostile environment, with Keppel and Zar snapping at the seams. He deserves better. She wants the forest to be opened immediately. She wants Kai to speak to Lorali, before he is resolved, so he at least has a choice, before it is too late, so that he might be able to try to go back. But she doesn’t have the guts to say, and so respectful is she of the laws of the forest she couldn’t say even if she tried to.

  ‘But the forest is too dangerous now. It’s full of beasts and monsters.’

  ‘That’s because it’s been left to fend for itself. We have to begin using it again and reopen it. We can do it safely.’ As keeper of the beasts – the ones they could keep, anyway – Sienna bites back in defence of them.

  ‘If I open up the forest, will that warm them to me?’

  ‘I think it would.’ Myrtle nods. ‘It’s a basic right.’

  ‘It will take work.’

  ‘Yes, but Sienna can take her monsters there, clear the site – can’t you, Sienna?’

  ‘Certainly – my lot can do their best to starve out whatever beasts are squatting.’

  ‘And then we can invite the Mer along? To a grand opening? Involve them?’ Zar’s voice begins to lift.

  ‘I have an even better idea,’ Sienna suggests, all ears pricking up. ‘One that will make a real impact.’ It is rare that Sienna has suggestions at such meetings. It isn’t that she’s not sparky or interested, she just can’t be bothered to waste her ideas on the council. Her collaborative streak is one the others rarely get to see. ‘We should employ a Tip. Zar should enrol one of the Tippi Mer to represent the forest. Somebody who can spearhead the opening.’

  ‘Like a ranger?’

  ‘How wonderful!’ Carmine claps.

  ‘Employing a Tip? But we’ve never done that before!’ Myrtle is concerned.

  ‘It would make an impression.’ Keppel nods.

  ‘It’s the ultimate way to reconnect.’

  ‘Why don’t we gather a few of them? We could employ a team; get the community spirit going,’ Zar suggests.

  ‘Perhaps eventually, but knowing the Tips I think that one will make more of an impact, more of a statement,’ Sienna argues.

  ‘They are so competitive, those Tips,’ Myrtle replies. (Which was rich if you ask me, but anyway … my lips are zipped.)

  ‘A bit of friendly competition has never been a bad thing.’ Sienna grins. ‘It would certainly put a sting in their tail.’

  MERMAID AND MERMEN APPRECIATION TRIBE – aka ‘MAMAT’

  This site is dedicated to the memory of Charlotte Wood. R.I.P. We luv u babe. We wil NEVA 4GET U. U wil ALWAYZ remain a REAL mermaid in r eyes. <3 <3

  YOOOOOO!!!!!!!! We hve jst reached 1 million subscribers. We LITERALLY cannot believe it! DYIN!!!!!!!!! I am so excited I can’t even rite. I am shaking. Jst so proud becuz I remember starting this and everyone thinking I was crzy and tht I’d lost the plot like … MERMAIDS – WOT? WTF? And now 2 hve 1M of Us lot is jst a JKE! Jst shows how far we’ve come! YYYYYYYYYPPP! ILY! ROLF! LOL! DYIN! FANX so much. I luv U all so badly. I’ll rite a new post when I’ve calmed down frm the HYPE! Check insta for pics. BRB.

  MermaidFanGirl_1: OMG! 1M! Holy moly! Since the start, until the end. MAMAT is the reason I live. Love you @MerBaby3000

  Vampfish: ILY! ILY! ILY!

  TwistedTail2: WHAT THE ACTUAL F***! Does Opal Zeal no this tho? 1 million! Jjjjjeeeee‌eeeeeeeeeeezzzzzz …

  MerBaby3000: Awwww @MermaidFanGirl_1 you’re the best. Orige Mamat crew! Luv u beb xxx

  WhereisLorali: I CNT believe this! I am LICKING THE SCREEN. MY MOM THINKS I AM CRAY CRAY BUT I DON’T CARE!

  Vampfish: Course Opal nos bebz, Opal follows!

  TwistedTail2: GASSSSSSSED! BRAP BRAP! ****GUN FINGERS*** YA DUN NO!

  MerBaby3000: @TwistedTail2

  OPALGUSH: No bt Opal don’t evn look afta her own twitter accnt so …

  URSULA_8_LEGS: @OPALGUSH U DON’T KNOW THAT 4 SURE.

  Bellaseashella: BTW GUYS my dad says he heard Lorali lives in Iceland.

  O
PALGUSH: @URSULA_8_LEGS errrr everybdy nos that her PR rites her tweets so hush your gums m8.

  URSULA_8_LEGS: @OPALGUSH how bout I am NOT ur mate tho. Soz

  OPALGUSH: Whtevs.

  CoralCaroline: Iceland? @Bellaseashella total bullshit.

  SHAUNTHEPRAWN: @Bellaseashella **BOOKS FLIGHTS TO ICELAND**

  Bellaseashella: @CoralCaroline my dad works for a newspaper and said they saw her and tried to interview her but she has some legal restriction thing in place so they can’t talk to her. Or ask questions or anything. But it’s defs her.

  LORALIMYBAE: As IF she’d be in Iceland. What ON earth she doing there? IT’S FROZEN!

  TwistedTail2: @LORALIMYBAE innit tho. Ain’t no boys in Iceland

  CoralCaroline: @LORALIMYBAE most probably hiding from psychos like you.

  HDDNTRSRE: @CoralCaroline LOLZ

  MermaidFanGirl_1: @CoralCaroline we’ve reached 1M followers 2day can u jst not start beef w nebdy 2day plz? FML!

  CoralCaroline: SICK to death of everybody on this dumb forum, stop harassing Lorali, can’t you lot take a hint? You’re like a bunch of stalkers. Just leave her be. It doesn’t matter where in the world she is because it’s NONE of your business, just let her get on with her life. AND GET A LIFE yourself.

  Vampfish: She probably doesn’t even have a passport anyway.

  MermaidFanGirl_1: @CoralCaroline if u h8 it SO much then dnt cme here, ur alwz so disrspctful.

  THEREALOFF‌ICIALOPALZEAL_37: @CoralCaroline you have been throwing your negativity round here for years now. It’s not on. Stop it right now.