The Golden Circlet Read online

  ‘I’ll go with her, Mum,’ Lizzy said quickly. ‘I’m not bothered about the aquarium. And I’ve got my mobile, so if there’s a problem I can ring you.’

  ‘Well… all right, then. Meet us back here in an hour.’

  Rose finished her milkshake and she and Lizzy left the building and went down the steps that led to the beach. As they walked along the sand towards the distant tideline Rose asked, ‘Didn’t you want to see the rest of the aquarium?’

  ‘Not really,’ said Lizzy. ‘Like I said, I just wanted to know that Tullor really is safely out of the way.’

  ‘Mmm.’ Rose narrowed her eyes as she stared at the sea. Then, thoughtfully, she added, ‘I’m glad he wasn’t killed, though. I know he is evil, but I feel sort of… sorry for him.’

  Lizzy was astonished. ‘Sorry?’ she echoed.

  ‘In a way.’ Rose sounded defensive. ‘I mean, it couldn’t have been a bag of laughs being a servant to that Queen creature. If what you’ve told me about her is true—’

  ‘It is true!’

  ‘OK, OK, I’m not saying it isn’t! So don’t you feel just a bit sorry for Tullor?’

  ‘No, I don’t!’ said Lizzy fervently. ‘You didn’t meet him before. You didn’t see what he’s like!’

  ‘Maybe not. But he was only doing what the Queen told him to, wasn’t he?’

  ‘And enjoying every minute of it!’

  ‘We don’t know that for sure,’ Rose argued. ‘He was probably scared of her, like everyone else.’ She shrugged. ‘Oh, let’s not talk about him any more. It’s boring. Race you to the edge of the sea!’

  Without waiting for Lizzy to reply, she sprinted off across the sand. For a moment or two Lizzy stood staring after her, feeling worried though she couldn’t explain why even to herself. Then she pushed her thoughts away, and ran after Rose.

  Hidden from view in his crevice, Tullor watched the aquarium visitors filing past his prison. He hated them all as much as ever. But now he had something else to think about. Something to concentrate on. And in his mind he formed a message.

  Majesty… there is news. Good news. I think I have found a way to help you gain what you want …

  He waited, hoping for the tingle in his consciousness that would tell him his mistress had heard his telepathic call.

  After a little while, it came.

  Chapter Two

  As soon as the Baxters arrived home after their visit to the aquarium, Lizzy ran upstairs to her bedroom. She had promised Kes that she would contact him as soon as she could and reassure him that Tullor definitely was a prisoner.

  On her dressing table was a large and beautiful spiral shell. Kes had given it to her when she first went under the sea with him, and to anyone else it simply looked like an ornament. But it was the twins’ own very special way of communicating with each other.

  Picking up the shell, Lizzy held it to her ear. At once she heard a soft, hissing surge, like the distant noise of the sea. She closed her eyes, concentrating hard, and after a few moments another sound began to mingle with the surge. A kind of singing or whistling, far away and haunting. Lizzy smiled as she recognized the voices of the dolphins calling to each other in their undersea home, and she whispered into the shell: ‘Arhans …’ Arhans was the leader of the dolphins, and her special friend. ‘Arhans, it’s Lizzy… I want to see Kes and Morvyr. Meet me tomorrow morning. By the lighthouse …’ Concentrating hard, she pictured herself at the beach, with the sun climbing into the sky, then pictured a dolphin swimming towards her. ‘Will you come, Arhans?’

  The whistling sounds paused for a moment, then swelled again in her ear. Lizzy was only just beginning to understand the dolphins’ strange and alien language, but she felt in her mind that Arhans had heard her and understood.

  She put the shell carefully back in its place and went downstairs.

  Mum was getting tea ready, helped by Rose, and Lizzy said, ‘Mum, I haven’t got to do anything special tomorrow, have I?’

  ‘Well, I’m not sure,’ said Mum. ‘We ought to make a start on sorting out all the things you need for your new school. If we don’t do it soon, it’ll be term-time before we know it. What did you want to do?’

  ‘Oh, just go to the beach.’

  Mum laughed. ‘What, again? All right, then. But don’t stay there all day.’

  ‘OK. Thanks, Mum.’ Lizzy went out of the kitchen. A minute later, Rose made an excuse to Mum and followed her.

  ‘Are you meeting Kes tomorrow?’ she asked, finding Lizzy in the sitting room.

  ‘Yes,’ said Lizzy. ‘I want to tell him about Tullor.’

  ‘Oh, right.’ Rose paused, then added, ‘Could I come with you?’

  Lizzy paused, then sighed. ‘Sorry, but… I think I ought to see him on my own.’

  She left the room, and Rose stared after her, feeling disappointed and a little annoyed. Why was Lizzy so secretive? Rose knew about Kes and Morvyr now – for goodness’ sake, she’d seen them for herself! —and she wanted to join in everything that happened from now on. But there were some things Lizzy still wanted to keep to herself. It was unkind of her, Rose thought. Unkind, and unfair.

  Then something else occurred to her. How did Lizzy know that Kes would be at the beach to meet her? She couldn’t exactly phone or text him when he lived under the sea! Had she fixed it up before they went to the aquarium, or was there some other, stranger answer?

  Such as the shell that Lizzy kept in her bedroom …

  The shell was an unusually large and beautiful spiral one, which Lizzy had found on the beach. Or so she said, though Rose was beginning to wonder if that was true. Once she had secretly followed Lizzy upstairs and had seen her put the shell to her lips and whisper to it. It was almost as if she were using it like a phone. Maybe, Rose thought, that was pretty close to the truth. It seemed fantastic and impossible, but could it be that Lizzy used the shell to communicate with her friends under the sea? And, if so, why hadn’t Lizzy shared that part of the secret with her?

  Suddenly she frowned and pinched the bridge of her nose. That weird dizzy spell at the aquarium had given her a headache. It had gone away, but now it was coming back again and making her irritable. Why did Lizzy have to be so mysterious? They were supposed to be good friends, and people didn’t have secrets from their friends. Rose felt left out and rejected, and suddenly she was hit by a surge of anger. All right, if Lizzy wouldn’t tell her what she wanted to know, then she’d find out for herself …

  It was Lizzy’s turn to wash up after tea, and when she had finished she said she was going to have a shower. Rose watched her hurry upstairs. She had taken a headache cure but it hadn’t worked, and now she felt as if her whole head were buzzing like a hive full of bees. She couldn’t stop thinking about the shell. The urge to investigate wouldn’t leave her alone; in fact, it had grown so strong that it was almost a compulsion. And now she had her chance.

  Upstairs, the bathroom door slammed. Rose didn’t hesitate, but ran up to Lizzy’s room, where she closed the door, picked the shell up and examined it. It seemed quite ordinary; it didn’t rattle when she shook it, and there were no patterns on it that might be a code or something. Carefully Rose held it to her ear and heard a rushing, whispering noise, like the surge of waves breaking. She had expected that; she had learned long ago at school that it was just the echo of her own pulse. But there was nothing else.

  Disappointed, she began to put the shell down again – then paused. There was another sound in her head; not just the surging but a sweeter noise, with a different rhythm. It sounded almost like a voice.

  Eagerly Rose clamped the shell more firmly against her ear, straining to hear better. It was a voice! Lilting and beautiful, with a sing-song quality. Rose was fascinated. It was difficult to make out what the voice was saying, but after a few moments she heard a few words quite clearly.

  ‘Listen to me… Listen… Listen …’

  With a faraway look in her eyes, staring out of the window but seeing nothing,
Rose listened.

  Next morning Lizzy bolted her breakfast, to Mum’s disapproval, then rushed upstairs for her beach bag. When she came down, she found Rose waiting for her in the hall.

  ‘I’m coming to the beach too,’ Rose said cheerfully.

  ‘Oh.’ Lizzy looked dismayed. ‘Aren’t you meeting Paul?’

  ‘Not till later. I could do with a bit of sunbathing, and maybe a swim.’ Rose looked shrewdly at her. ‘You don’t mind, do you?’

  Lizzie did mind, but couldn’t very well say so. She was silent as they set off down through the narrow lanes towards the main street, then suddenly blurted, ‘I didn’t think you’d want to hang around with your kid sister!’

  Rose laughed. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to. I’ll just say hi to Kes, then you can have him all to yourself.’

  ‘Right.’ Lizzy nodded. ‘The only thing is… I might not be meeting him actually on the beach.’ There was a long pause, then she added, ‘I’m going to see Morvyr too. And that means… well, she doesn’t like coming close to shore.’

  ‘Oh,’ said Rose, understanding. ‘You mean you’re going out to sea to meet them?’

  Another nod. They had reached the main street now, and turned away from the harbour and towards the beach. After another minute or so Rose said lightly, ‘OK, it doesn’t matter. Is it safe for you to go swimming, though? That mermaid – Taran – I thought you said she was dangerous and she might be watching out for you?’

  ‘I’ll have Arhans with me,’ Lizzy told her. ‘I’ll be safe with her.’

  ‘Well, if you say so. Where are you meeting Kes and Morvyr, then?’

  Rose’s tone was light, but Lizzy detected something else in her voice. Rose seemed very keen to know exactly where she was going. And, for no reason that she could work out, Lizzy didn’t want to tell her.

  ‘I, um, don’t know,’ she said, trying to sound casual. ‘Arhans will take me to them when we get out to sea.’

  ‘Oh, come on! You must know, surely?’

  ‘I don’t.’ Lizzy glanced sidelong at her sister and forced a smile. ‘Sorry.’

  Rose was obviously unconvinced, but she didn’t ask any more questions until they reached the beach. The lifeguards were setting up for the day, though most of the summer holidaymakers hadn’t arrived yet, and the only people in the sea were local surfers, looking like seals in their dark wetsuits.

  Rose stopped on the sand and stared at the sea, fists on hips. ‘I can’t see your dolphin friend.’

  ‘No, she’ll be keeping out of sight. She’s probably waiting over there somewhere.’ Lizzy pointed to the end of the beach, where a low headland jutted out into the water. A small automatic lighthouse stood on the top, gleaming white in the early sun, and Lizzy headed towards a tumble of rocks at the headland’s base. She hoped Rose would not follow her, but she was disappointed.

  ‘So you’re going to tell Kes and Morvyr about Tullor?’ said Rose as she started to climb carefully over the rocks in Lizzy’s wake. ‘Will they have any news for you, do you think?’

  ‘What sort of news?’

  ‘I don’t know. About Queen Taran, maybe. What she’s doing now. They must have heard something.’ Lizzy didn’t answer, and after a few seconds Rose tried again. ‘Couldn’t Kes come here to meet you, so that I could hear the news too?’

  Lizzy shook her head. ‘It’s already arranged.’ Rose sighed exasperatedly. ‘I always seem to get left behind! I wish Jack Carrick hadn’t gone fishing on the trawler with Paul and his dad. I bet he’d take me on the sailing-boat to see Morvyr if I asked him.’

  ‘He might,’ said Lizzy. ‘I don’t know.’ ‘Well, I think he would! And when he gets back, I’m going to – ow!’ She stopped, clutching at a stubbed toe. ‘These mussels are sharp! Why do all the rocks around here have to be covered in them?’

  Rose’s toe saved Lizzy from having to say anything else about meeting Morvyr, and she scrambled quickly to the top of the outcrop and gazed around. At first all she saw was the surf breaking over the rocks and the slow rise and fall of the swell. Then, a short way out, a curved fin broke the surface of the sea and a dolphin appeared. Lizzy recognized Arhans at once by the silver streak that ran the length of her back, and Arhans whistled a greeting and swam towards her.

  By the time Rose had finished nursing her toe and climbed to the top, Lizzy was pulling on her wetsuit.

  ‘There she is!’ Rose’s face broke into a smile of wonder. ‘Isn’t she beautiful? Arhans! Hello, Arhans! Do you remember me?’ She reached out towards the dolphin and snapped her fingers as if she were beckoning to a dog.

  ‘She isn’t a pet!’ Lizzy said sharply. ‘And of course she remembers you.’

  ‘All right, I only said – oh, forget it!’ Rose’s smile turned to a scowl, and she watched sullenly as Lizzy zipped up her wetsuit and stuffed her clothes into the beach bag. The resentment she had felt yesterday was surging back, and her head began to buzz again. It didn’t hurt, but it irritated her, and she said snappishly, ‘Look, what’s the matter with you, Lizzy? You said you were going to tell me everything, but you’ve suddenly gone all secretive again, as if you don’t want me to see Kes and Morvyr at all. I thought you trusted me!’

  Lizzy had indeed promised to be honest with Rose – but there was one very important thing that she had not told her, and she wasn’t quite sure why. In theory there should have been no harm in it. But an inner instinct was telling her that, at least for the time being, it would be safer for Rose not to know.

  She met her sister’s gaze and felt guilty. Rose looked lonely and forlorn and out of things. Surely it couldn’t hurt to answer her question? But the instinct still said no, and she had to listen to it.

  Lizzy sighed and said, ‘I’m sorry. Really I am. I do trust you, of course I do, but there’s a reason why I need to talk to Kes and Morvyr on my own. I can’t tell you about it. As soon as I can, I will. But not yet.’

  Rose sighed with exasperation. ‘Oh, please yourself!’ she retorted. ‘Go off and have your secrets. But as soon as you can tell me, I want to know, all right?’

  ‘All right.’ Lizzy smiled a little sadly. ‘Thanks, Rose.’

  ‘Don’t bother thanking me.’ Rose bent to rub her sore toe again, her hair falling over her face. ‘And don’t expect me to cart your beach bag around for you all morning, because I won’t!’

  There was no reply, and Rose raised her head. Lizzy was no longer standing on the rock. Rose hadn’t heard a splash, but in the space of a few seconds her sister had dived into the sea and vanished.

  Rose stared at the tide slapping against the rocks, then scanned the water further out. No sign of Lizzy; no sign of a dolphin’s fin. They were both gone.

  She bit her lip, not knowing whether she felt angry, disappointed or just sad. Then she gave a sigh, picked up Lizzy’s bag to place it safely above the high-tide mark and began to make her way cautiously back over the rocks to the sand.

  Chapter Three

  Lizzy’s first breath underwater was always nerve-racking. She still found it hard to believe that she could do it, and there was an instant of heart-stopping fear as she opened her mouth and let the sea flow in. Then the bubbles streamed upwards past her face, she breathed a second time, and everything was all right.

  She was still in the shallows, where the water was a beautiful shade of turquoise with sunlight glittering on the surface no more than a metre above her head. Arhans was waiting for her a short way off; her whistling call echoed eerily through the current, then she turned and led the way towards deeper water. Lizzy swam after her, moving quickly and easily, and gradually the colour around her changed to sapphire and then to a mysterious green-blue as they left the beach behind and swam out into the bay.

  The sea teemed with life. There were fish everywhere, their scales winking like tiny diamonds. A huge crab scurried over the sandy bed below, almost loping along with its clumsy-looking sideways motion. A shoal of silvery mackerel darted across their path. Unable to resist t
he temptation Arhans snapped at them, but the fish scattered and dashed away, vanishing into the distance. The water became colder and the current stronger as they swam on, and the hiss and thunder of surf breaking on the shore gave way to the more muted rumble of the deep-sea tide. In the distance Lizzy could see the white wake of a motor boat, and heard the harsh chattering of its outboard engine as it sped by. It was probably one of the pleasure boats that took passengers out to watch seals and dolphins, and she smiled at the thought of what the people on board would think if they knew that a girl who was half mermaid was swimming almost under their noses.

  They went on, Arhans surfacing every so often to breathe but taking care not to be seen by the boat trippers. Then another dolphin appeared and came towards them. Whistled greetings were exchanged before they veered away, leading Lizzy back in the direction of the shore.

  She knew at once where they were going. There was a small, sandy inlet a little way up the coast, almost invisible until you were nearly on top of it. Kes and Morvyr were staying there for the time being, as the inlet was easier to protect from intruders or enemies than their undersea cave home. As they approached the rocks at the inlet’s entrance there was a flurry of splashing ahead, and a voice called Lizzy’s name.

  ‘Kes!’ She waved, and her brother came speeding to meet her. Though they were twins, the only remarkable likeness was in their vivid blue eyes, for while Lizzy had the same pale blonde curls as Morvyr, Kes had inherited the jet-black hair of their human father, Jack Carrick. And, at least here under the sea, there was another great difference between them. Instead of human legs like Lizzy’s, Kes had a shining, fishlike green-blue tail.

  He gave the tail a flip as he reached her and somersaulted in the water amid a whirl of bubbles, bringing himself to a stop. Grinning at him, Lizzy felt a familiar pang of envy. Growing up on land and knowing nothing about her undersea heritage, she had never learned to change her shape at will between human and mermaid. To Kes it was second nature, but though she had tried and tried and tried, Lizzy couldn’t make it happen. If it was a matter of willpower, as Kes said, then it seemed Lizzy’s willpower just wasn’t strong enough.