The Turning Tides (Marina's Tales) by Derrolyn Anderson Page A

winds picked up and the sea grew rougher the further out I got, tossing and turning my surfboard. I had trouble staying upright, and I began to seriously doubt the wisdom of my choice to seek them out without Lorelei’s help.
    “ Marina! ” A high pitched voice startled me, and I spun around to see Nixie. She looked like she’d grown even more, and I smiled at her beautiful little face bobb ing in the choppy water. Whew.
    “ Hi Nixie ,” I smiled my relief . “ How are you ? Have you been careful to avoid all the boats? ”
    She giggled, and then nodded solemnly when she saw that I wasn’t joking, “ Yes sister. I know the rules .”
    “ Good . ” I nodded, looking all around us, “ Where’s Nerissa? ”
    “ I’ll show you ,” she squealed, grabbing my board. N ow about the size of a nine year old child , Nixie was already one of the most powerful creatures in the sea. I held onto my board and let her take me where she would.
    We eventually stopped in the open ocean, and I scanned the water in vain. I could hear Nerissa’s voice coming from far, far below the surface; I was surprised to hear her thoughts as clearly as if I were eavesdropping on a telephone conversation . I strained to make sense of the one-sided conversation. She was giving directions to someone, or rather a group of someones . I had a hard time understanding what she wanted them to do.
    “ Wait ,” Nixie said, her hand on my arm.
    All around us the water started bubbling, and the air breaking the surface formed a large circle in the water.
    “ What the –”
    Nixie pulled my board out of the bubble ring with delighted musical laughter.
    I watched in wonder, unable to imagine what in the world was going on. Inside of the circle, the water started boiling with small fish coming to the surface. All at once, three enormous humpback whales thrust up out of the water, leaping high above us to come crashing down with colossal splashes. I could see into their mouths; open wide and lined with baleen that looked like the slats of window blinds. Massive jaws snapped shut, squirting out water, gulping entire schools of fish down their throats.
    “Whoa!” I gasped.
    I struggled to keep my balance in the giant wake created by their belly flops. Nerissa’s glossy black head broke the surface right in the middle of the trio, and she tried to smile when she saw me, despite the fish she held in her teeth.
    It was as unexpected and surreal a thing as I’d ever seen, and I wondered what Professor Powell would think if he knew that mermaids and whales fed together. The whales rolled in the water, their throats working, ridged white underbellies visible.
    Nerissa swam to my board, “ Sister! Are we going wave riding today? ”
    I caught my breath and laughed. Why did anything I saw out here surprise me?
    “ I wanted to see how you were doing ,” I told her.
    “ Doing what? ”
    I sighed, “ I worry about you .”
    She smiled at me indulgently, calling out to Nixie, “ You r turn ! ”
    As if on cue, Nixie and the whales dove simultaneously, leaving Nerissa and I alone. I watched the shadowy shapes disappear into deep water, looking down to see another ring of bubbles breaking the surface; this time I knew enough to paddle well out of the way. The huge leviathans breeched the surface, and it was truly amazing to see the ir giant bodies come almost completely out of the water. I spotted Nixie clinging to the biggest one, her fingers wedged into its deeply grooved skin. She let out a whoop and dove off her giant steed just before it came smashing down with an enormous smack of a splash .
    Water gushed from their baleen screens as they slowly sank back into the sea. I looked frantically around for the little mermaid, “ Nixie ? ”
    Nerissa smiled serenely at me . “ You worry too much ,” she observed.
    Lorelei suddenly appeared with a rush of golden hair. She didn’t seem at all surprised to see me so far north, and I realized that the mermaid’s