Scarlett's New Friend by Gillian Shields

Chapter One
    Scarlett sped tirelessly through the deep blue water, rippling her spangled crimson tail like a length of red silk. Her long hair streamed out behind her as she dashed along. She and the other mermaids—Misty, Ellie, Sophie, Holly, and Lucy—had been swimming in the fast currents under the sea since the break of day. Every hour that passed brought them closer to home.
    â€œScarlett,” called her friend Sophie, who was just behind her, “could you please swim up to the surface? Have a good look around and see if you recognize where we are.”
    â€œAll right,” replied Scarlett. She was pleased to be asked. At the start of the mermaids’ adventures, Scarlett had been a little bit bossy. Now she was learning to work as a team with her Sisters of the Sea.
    â€œWhy don’t you all rest here for a moment?” she said to the others. “I’ll come back right away and tell you what I can see.”
    The brave young Crystal Keepers had spent the day before searching for long-lost treasure on an ancient shipwreck. Since then, apart from a few hours’ rest in thenight, the mermaids had been racing against time to take the magic crystals back to Coral Kingdom.
    â€œWe’ve still got today and until sunset tomorrow to reach home,” thought Scarlett, as she surged upward to the sunlit surface. “We might just make it—unless Mantora is planning another nasty surprise to stop us from getting there.”

    The determined young mermaid cautiously peeped over the waves and looked around carefully. It was a nice, breezy morning.
    â€œI think I’ve seen that island over there before,” she thought to herself. “Perhaps that means we’re not too far from Coral Kingdom.”
    Scarlett shaded her eyes and looked across the dancing waves. A large, green island rose ahead of her. She could make out rocky coves and cliffs and beaches. Human houses clustered round a little harbor. Brightly colored boats were dotted on the sea around the island. A few other smaller islands lay to the North.
    â€œOf course!” she exclaimed to herself. “Wait until I tell the others!”
    She leaped for joy above the sparkling sea, her tail glinting like a red flame in the sunlight. Then she plunged beneath the water, to where her friends were waiting just under the waves.

    â€œI’ve seen it,” she shouted. “I’ve really seen it!”
    â€œWhat have you seen, Scarlett?” asked Holly. “Are we at Coral Kingdom yet?”
    â€œNot quite,” grinned Scarlett, “but we’re getting close. I saw Sandy Bay Island ahead of us.”
    â€œSandy Bay Island!” cried Misty. “Then we’re nearly there!”
    She grabbed Scarlett’s hands and spun her around in a wild underwater dance. All the mermaids laughed and sang, “Hooray, hooray, for Sandy Bay!”
    Sandy Bay Island was the busy seaside home to many creatures. Gulls, crabs, and seals lived there—and even humans. Beyond the island, further to the West, lay the secret underwater land of Coral Kingdom. The mermaids really were almost home.

    â€œNow we’ll have to be even more careful,” warned Scarlett after the celebrations died down. “Mantora might be lurking around nearby. Sandy Bay Island is at least a day’s swim from Coral Kingdom. We can’t slow down now.”
    â€œYou’re right, Scarlett,” said Ellie. “And getting past Sandy Bay Island could be tricky. There are lots of humans there. We don’t want to be spotted by them.”
    â€œMaybe it would be better to find a place to hide now, and travel the rest of the way after dark?” suggested Lucy quietly. “That way most of the humans will be asleep when we’re swimming past their harbors and beaches.”
    â€œThat’s a good idea …,” began Scarlett, but she wasn’t able to finish what she was going to say. The