Read Online The Voyage of Lucy P. Simmons by Barbara Mariconda - Free Book Online Page B

so much stronger.
    Another voice now, this one closer, penetrating the edges of my brain. “Stand yer ground! Don’t let go o’ yer mates! Pull back, I tell ye!” An inkling of something tickled my brain, slowing my steps. Grady? Where was I? What was I trying to do? Blurred and sluggish thoughts fought their way to consciousness. Something about a boat, a buried treasure, a coffin? Jumbled images. Confusion. I struggled against the hands determined to hold me back, heard a groan escape my lips.
    A sudden thrust, and I was yanked from the whirlpool of energy that held me bound. As the fog lifted a rush of fresh air filled my lungs. “Lucy! Lucy!” I turned toward the voice. Two voices. One with a brogue.
    â€œThe lass had the strength of two men, she did!”
    â€œNever mind that! Just pull her back!”
    Walter took me beneath my arms and Seamus grabbed my feet, rendering me helpless. “P-put me d-down,” I stammered, thrashing about, trying to get my feet back on the ground. There was Grady, Pru, and Old Peader looking once again like a ghoul, his mouth gaping and eyes popping.
    â€œShe’s safe now; the culprit’s drifted off to sea. Put ’er down there.” Following Grady’s instructions they set me on my feet, just a stone’s throw from the shore. It had been another close call. My eyes met Pru’s. But instead of relief on her face there was panic.
    Pru turned right, then left. “We’ve lost Marni!”
    We fanned out around the castle, calling her name. Old Peader stood like a pillar, eyes peeled. Grady’s mouth was pulled into a grim line, and he shook his head. It seemed she was gone without a trace.
    Pugsley and Rosie ran down the slope to the water’s edge. Refusing to give up, I followed them with Father’s spyglass and focused out to sea. The lens brought the water up close. There the black ship, the rowboat beneath its bow. I could make out the silhouettes of Quaide, the pirate, and the green-eyed man. Within feet of the rowboat I spotted something in the water. A porpoise, or maybe a seal. But even as these logical thoughts surfaced I knew it was neither. It was another kind of sea creature. The one who had saved me from drowning several times already. I suddenly heard Miss Oonagh’s words again— Is there a merrow about?
    â€œMaybe she went back to the cottage,” Pru suggested. But the look on her face told me she didn’t believe it. No one else did either. I thought about telling them that Marni was fine, that I thought I’d spotted her swimming all the way out by the black ship, treading water behind the rowboat. But I hesitated. I still wasn’t ready to believe that she was a merrow, wasn’t sure how that revelation might affect who we all were together. All I knew was that more than anyone I’d ever met, Marni had been drawn to the sea. More than my father, the sea captain. More than Capt’n Adams back in Ballyvaughan with Addie and the children. And even more than Grady, who’d left his father’s farm for a life at sea. A merrow? How would they make sense of it? I felt a peculiar loyalty to Marni. As though we shared a secret I was bound to keep. At least for now.
    I felt Grady’s wary eyes on me. He’d been suspicious of Marni from the start. I looked up and then away, hoping he couldn’t read my thoughts.
    â€œPru’s right,” I said finally. “Let’s go back to the cottage. I feel sure she’ll be there.” My voice sounded hollow, falsely bright. They stared at me, perhaps with pity at what they saw as my wishful thinking. All but Walter, who’d been with Marni the longest, after all. He nodded, eyeing me thoughtfully.
    We walked back in awkward silence.
    Seamus sidled up to me and whispered, “Ye don’t think the ol’ gal’s gone and drowned, do ye? Seemed t’ be quite the swimmer, she did. But what with the