Read Online To Catch a Mermaid by Suzanne Selfors - Free Book Online Page B

that Jay was trying to tell me something.”
    How in the world could a fish be trying to tell a person something? That was completely nuts. That was something Mertyle would believe.
Someone should check the drinking water on this island,
Boom thought.
    The phone rang and Ms. Kibble disappeared into another room. The fat white cat jumped onto the coffee table and began to bat mischievously at the side of the fishbowl with its claws. Jay and his companion started to swim frantically. Bat bat bat. Swim swim swim. As the cat continued to tease, the fish beat their tails in a furious rhythm. Then the cat stuck its paw into the water.
    “Bad kitty, bad kitty,” Ms. Kibble scolded, returning to shoo the fat cat off the table.
    “Ms. Kibble,” Boom said, wanting to get back to the issue at hand. “I just want to buy some —”
    “I’m not finished.” She tightened her fur-covered robe and settled back onto the stool. Boom curled his toes in frustration. “One morning, I came into the parlor and Jay was lying on the carpet, covered in carpet fuzz — all dried out and stiff as a potato chip. ‘Don’t be dead,’ I cried. ‘Not my poor little fish.’ I put him back into the bowl but he just floated at the water’s surface.” She took a dramatic pause. “He was dead. No doubt about it. I left him in the bowl, planning on burying him that evening after the shop closed. But when I came back at five thirty, there he was, swimming again. It was a miracle.”
    Some miracle. Jay swam sideways, moving only one of his little fins. Probably had brain damage from lying on the carpet all night. It would be an act of mercy to feed him to the merbaby.
    “Great story,” Winger said.
    “Where are the goldfish that are for sale?” Boom anxiously asked. Ms. Kibble’s story was stalling his mission. His kicking foot began to twitch.
    Ms. Kibble cleared her throat and peered at Boom over her glasses. “There is a moral to this story, dear boy. Patience is a virtue, don’t you know?”
    Patience would be all well and good if this were an ordinary trip to the pet store. But, of course, it wasn’t, and Boom thought his head might explode at that very minute. How far down Prosperity Street might the baby’s shriek be heard? Would it carry on the morning wind?
    Ms. Kibble cleared her throat. “I realized that Jay was throwing himself from the bowl because he was trying to tell me that he was lonely. As you so poetically stated earlier, fish are no different from any other creature. They have feelings. They have needs. My opinion, exactly. So yesterday I added Walter to the bowl.” She indicated the smaller goldfish. “And here it is, the time of day when Jay usually throws himself out. Look how happy he is. All he needed was a friend.” She tilted her head and sighed. “And that is why I let you boys into my parlor today, even though I am suffering from a most horrid head cold. I am delighted by your noble purpose. Come, let’s go find a friend for your sister’s fish.”
    Finally! “How much does a friend cost?” Boom asked, pulling out the three dollars.
    “In this situation, a friend is free.”
    Ms. Kibble walked down the hallway that led to her shop. As soon as she left the room, the fat white cat jumped back onto the coffee table. It stuck its paw into the bowl and gave Jay a flick, sending the goldfish soaring through the air and onto the table. Winger and Boom looked at each other.
    “Bad kitty, bad kitty,” Winger said, putting Jay back into the bowl.
    Boom followed Ms. Kibble. “If friends are free, can I get about a dozen?”

Chapter Thirteen:
    Daisy Mump

    T o the Brooms’ house they made their way, taking the shortcut that ran behind the Fairweather deli. Boom carefully held a bag of one dozen free goldfish. He tried to run, but the motion churned up the fish like a hurricane, so he somewhat scurried and somewhat walked.
    Mr. Mump had parked his truck at the end of Prosperity Street, where Hurley, Daisy, and