Read Online Enchantment by Pati Nagle - Free Book Online

onto it.
    â€œCareful,” Pam said. “It’s kind of rickety. I think it’s pretty old.”
    â€œWhere did you see the mermaid?”
    Pam gave a sheepish grin and nodded toward the lake. “Out at the end.”
    Holly started walking along the dock, watching where she stepped. Occasionally a board was loose or a little rotten, but mostly they were sound. Probably whatever government agency maintained the lake kept an eye on it, and if it was really unsafe they’d have cordoned it off as dangerous.
    The draping willows made a lacy green tunnel over parts of the walkway. The muted gold-green light inside felt magical. Holly’s arms began to tingle with excitement.
    â€œThis is cool!” she said as Pam caught up with her. “Man, if I were you I’d be out here all the time!”
    â€œI used to come here a lot, actually. Haven’t had much time lately.”
    They walked out from under the last willow branches a little before they reached the end of the dock. Holly knelt down and peered into the deep water. She couldn’t see the bottom.
    â€œWas it here?”
    â€œYeah. It was at night, but there was a full moon, and it glowed down into the water a little bit. Have you ever seen that?”
    Holly shook her head. “I’m a desert rat. Haven’t spent a lot of time around lakes or anything.”
    â€œWell, I was sitting here dangling my feet over the water and staring down into it. I was kind of depressed, actually, and thinking about falling in.”
    Holly looked at her in surprise. Pam always seemed sunny happy; it was hard to picture her depressed.
    â€œAnd then she swam by, just underneath the surface, lit up by moonglow.” Pam’s voice had dropped, and her face softened with memory.
    â€œThe mermaid.”
    Pam nodded. “She looked up at me, then swam around the end of the dock here and headed toward the shore. I jumped up and followed her, but she was too fast for me to catch up. I ran all the way back to the shore before I lost sight of her.”
    Holly waited, biting back questions. Pam was looking over her shoulder, toward the shoreline.
    â€œAnd then I realized I must be more stoned than I thought, so I went home.”
    â€œWhere did the mermaid go? Along the shore?”
    â€œI thought she ducked under the dock, but you know, it was dark and I was pretty blitzed.”
    Holly sat back and drew up her knees, hugging them. “Do you think she was real?”
    â€œThen I did. Now … I think she was probably a hallucination.”
    Holly sighed, frustrated. “Maybe she was a—a guardian spirit, ready to protect you from drowning if you fell in.”
    â€œHm. If nothing else, she got me to back off on some of the crazy shit I was doing.” Pam glanced at her, smiling. “Sorry. I try to watch my mouth.”
    â€œIt’s OK.” She watched Pam gaze at the water for a moment, then added, “It’s still a cool story.”
    Pam chuckled. “Thanks. So, should we go back? It’s probably getting close to six.”
    Holly checked her watch and stood up in a hurry. She’d left the sauce on low, but they’d been out here longer than she’d planned. As Pam started toward the shore, Holly glanced down into the water once more.
    A pale girl’s face looked up at her from beside a pylon, then darted beneath the end of the dock.
    â€œHey!”
    Dropping to her knees, she leaned over to look, gripping the thick ends of the old boards.
    â€œHolly, be careful!” Pam came running back.
    â€œI saw something!”
    â€œProbably a koi.” Pam knelt beside her.
    Holly frowned, staring into the water. “It was bigger than a fish.”
    It had a face. She was sure it had been a water spirit. She wanted Pam to see.
    â€œCome back!” she called, but there were no more flashes in the darkness. She knew it was down there, the spirit. It was hiding from her.