Fathom L. Standage (books for 8th graders .TXT) 📖

“You have made a terrible mistake, Olivia. You and all your little friends here. You see, I am an honest man. And you made me into a liar.”

I cowered away from him, but it only made him laugh.

“Apparently, I didn’t make myself clear enough when I invited your friend Samantha for a visit. I specifically told Dr. O’Dell I wanted a mermaid and he gave me a farce. A farce that has ruined me…probably for the rest of my life. Now, you know the only way to fix it. Don’t you?”

I shook my head, feeling the spray of a wave as it crashed against the side of the Imbali.

“You tell one of your mermaid friends to come up and see me right now. If they come back and fulfill the promise you gave to me, I’ll leave you alone and never bother any of you again. If not, people are going to get hurt. Starting with this one.” He pointed at Calder.

“No!” I shrieked as he aimed the gun. I sprang at Linnaeus, bumping into him as the gun fired.

Natasha screamed. Calder cried out. I gnashed my teeth together as Linnaeus swore and kicked me away. I looked up where I landed. Calder stared at Natasha, unhurt, but she shook in agony. Blood coated her thigh. Marinus murmured something in her ear, stroking her hair and rocking her like a baby.

“What happened?” Samantha cried, looking out from the door to the cabin.

“No, Samantha, go back! Go back!” I cried. She slammed the door.

“No, come back, Samantha,” Linnaeus taunted. “Come back here and talk with us.” One of the other men crossed the deck as if to bring Sam out himself, but the door to the galley opened and out stepped Eamon, Walter, and Uther. My heart leapt as I saw the shine of Uther’s gun in his hand.

“Ah, Dr. O’Dell.”

“Mr. Linnaeus,” said Eamon with a cordial nod and an expression as fierce as a hardened battle general. Meanwhile, the boat rocked all the more. The worsening waves weren’t my imagination, nor were the thick mists and clouds gathering overhead.

“Tell the German to remove his weapon and drop it overboard,” Linnaeus continued. Uther frowned and holstered his gun.

Linnaeus shook his head. “Drop it.”

I watched as Uther scanned each person, looking for a way, any hope of escape. Come on, Uther. You can get us out of this. But after a few more seconds, he put his gun on the deck. In the tilt of the boat, the gun slid across the deck and fell into the water. His scowl deepened.

“Call for them, O’Dell,” Linnaeus continued. “Bring me the mermaid you promised me. Or the next shot will spill her blood all over your boat.” He cocked the barrel of his own weapon and pointed it at me. Calder struggled to free himself from Linnaeus’s men. One of them shoved his gun into Calder’s ribcage. He groaned and bent away.

“For them to come is their decision alone,” said Eamon. “I cannot command them one way or another. You know that.”

“Do it now, O’Dell.”

“I told you—”

“Do it now!”

The door to the cabin opened again. Cordelia emerged. She stepped onto the deck. I looked up at the mermaid who now stood straight and poised before Linnaeus, the wind whipping her curls and tugging at her clothing. The first drops of rain fell.

“And who are you?” Linnaeus said to Cordelia with a tone of heavy interest. He looked her up and down.

“Tell your men to drop their weapons,” she said, her voice loud enough for everyone to hear over the sounds of the rising storm, “and you may have what you seek.”

“No, Cordelia, don’t do it!” I shouted.

“Quiet, Olivia,” she snapped, her gaze never straying from Linnaeus’s eyes. “Take me. I am the one you need.”

Linnaeus walked away from me and stood in front of Cordelia.

“Prove it.”

She pulled her hair away from her neck and turned her head to the side. Linnaeus reached out and touched her gills as a look of deepest rapture crossed his face. He then grabbed her by the hair, pulled her into a wrestler’s grip, and held out her hand.

“Let us make sure. See what color your blood is,” he said.

The English guy left guarding Calder to his companion and stepped forward, unfolding a knife.

“No, stop!” Seidon shouted, shoving his way through. A wave crashed onto the deck and soaked us in salt water. The English guy reacted as quick as the forks of lightening flickering overhead. He grabbed Seidon by the neck and threw him down.

“Reflexes, Your Highness,” Marinus said with a tsk, Natasha still in his clutching embrace. “You, of all people.” He turned to Linnaeus. “You’ll want to take this one too. He’s one of the royal family. They can’t bother you with him as a hostage.”

“Get back on board,” Linnaeus said to his men. “Oh, and if either of you creatures decides to make a break for it, I’ll kill every person on this boat one by one until you return.”

I sobbed into my wet fists, clinging to the slippery handles on the boat. I tried to get up to plead with Linnaeus, to beg him to let us go. But the ocean tossed violently and I couldn’t move.

As one of the men climbed across the ladder, he fell overboard. His scream cut off as he disappeared. His comrades shouted in alarm.

“Leave him!” cried Linnaeus through the rain. “But take the rest of these people across!”

Marinus, his arms tight around Natasha, eased his way toward the other boat while another pulled Seidon. Then the Englishman shoved Calder along, the gun in his ribcage.

“No, wait, stop!” I said. “Leave him alone!”

I stood and slipped. A gun fired. I screamed, but the bullet missed.

“No, Olivia!” Calder shouted.

They continued to pull my friends toward the ladder. What could we do? Linnaeus had won. The world would learn about the existence of mermaids. Seidon and Cordelia would be displayed like a freak show for