7 A change in Plans
Osch and Akca swam side by side. The fish conversed with one another and sometimes with Brina in their high pitched whistles. As the day wore on Ben and Brina had ample opportunity to share the story of their lives and discuss their respective worlds. Ben learned that land was rare on Lushaka. There were isolated islands, but few humans lived on them. Most lived on the lily pads and in the trees that grew up from the bottom of the sea. They even raised livestock on the lily pads, feeding them with sea grasses.
Ben learned that up to 50 years ago Fairwaters had human as well as mer students. A war in the world outside Fairwaters, between mer and Humans, divided the students. Most of the mer and all of the humans were expelled from the school.
While almost every other student was the child of parents with the ability to transform, Brina was the son of non-transformers. When he was young, his mother had taken him to see a nearby Island. Brina was fascinated by what he could see and reached out to touch a flower just beyond his reach. Brina was unaware as he did so that his tail disappeared, to be replaced by two very human legs. His mother cried all the way home. She never took her young son near land again. Over the next year she made some discreet inquiries that led to Brina’s enrollment in Fairwaters.
They stopped about midday and rested atop a cork lily pad that floated on the water. Akca and Osch disappeared. They soon returned with fish, which they tossed onto the lily pad at Brina’s feet. Brina took out a knife and filleted one of the fish, which he held out to Ben. Ben just stared at it.
“Don’t you want it?” Brina asked.
“What for?” responded Ben.
“To eat, of course,” Brina replied. “Don’t you eat fish on your world?”
“Yes, but not raw…at least I don’t eat it raw,” said Ben.
“Suit yourself,” Brina replied as he bit into the raw fish. Ben rooted around in his backpack for something to eat. There were eggs and dried sea cucumbers wrapped in seaweed. Ben ate two eggs. He was about to eat another, when Brina said, “Lea Waterborn told us to save the food she gave us for when we are on land.”
Ben wrapped the remaining eggs in the seaweed and returned them to his backpack.
After eating, they climbed aboard Akca and Osch and resumed their trip. In the afternoon they saw tregs more frequently than they had in the morning. Ben guessed that was because they were getting closer to the island where the birds nested. Twice they had to dive down to avoid the tregs. The second time it was a close call and Ben heard the bird shriek in frustration as the orcas dove under water, taking Brina and a terrified Ben with them. The treg’s shriek of frustration sent chills deep into Ben’s bones.
The treg’s third attack came from directly behind the two companions and caught them completely by surprise. Brina was the lighter of the two, and it was Brina the treg chose. The bird tried to lift the mer up and carry him away, but Brina was attached to Osch. The bird could not lift the combined weight of Brina and Osch, yet it was unwilling to let go. Brina tried to pull his knife out from the belt around his waist, but the harness connecting him to Osch broke, and the knife got tangled in it. Ben sat helpless, wanting to do something, but not knowing what he could do as he had no way to communicate with Akca and tell the Orca to move closer to Brina and the treg. So he screamed at the bird as Akca swam in circles. The treg lifted a struggling Brina up into the air. The bird’s triumphant shriek mingled with Brina’s terrified cry.
Osch and Akca whistled loudly and swam around in tight circles. Ben was afraid his harness was going to break with the strain. As he struggled to keep his balance, Ben tried to follow Brina with his eyes as the treg carried him off into the horizon. The orcas finally stopped circling and began to talk with one another in their language. They came to an agreement and turned and began to go back the way they had come.
“No,” Ben yelled. The orcas stopped. Ben tried to explain what he wanted. He wanted Akca and Osch to follow Brina, but he was not sure how much they understood. They listened attentively and then started to swim back the way they had come.
They had no sooner got started for the second time when a voice that was not Ben’s yelled out, “No!” It was Charla. Like Ben, she had a small pack with a short spear strapped to her back. Charla began to speak rapidly to the orcas in their language. They argued back and forth and then came to an understanding. Charla turned to Ben and said, “It is settled. Osch will go tell Lea Waterborn what happened. Akca will carry you to the human community and leave you where someone is sure to find you. I will follow Brina.”
“No. I want to go after Brina,” said Ben. “And besides, Lea Waterborn said to stay away from the humans.”
“That was before Brina was taken. The best place for you now is with other humans. A human alone on the sea with a war about to break out is not very safe. Someone better suited will be sent to help us get the crown back, and when things settle down you can be sent back to earth. If the Guardian does not send someone then Lea Waterborn will have to send some of our own people, which is what should have happened in the first place.”
“Lea Waterborn does not know you are here, does she?” Ben asked.
“That is not your concern.”
“You should go back to Fairwaters.”
“I’m not going back. Osch will tell Lea Waterborn what happened. I am going to rescue Brina.”
“I should go with you then,” Ben stated.
“There are two problems with that. First, I don’t want or need your help, and second, Akca wants to get rid of you as soon as possible. He was all for leaving you here, but I convinced him that Lea Waterborn would appreciate it if he took you to the human community.”
Ben looked around him. All he could see in every direction was water. The thought of being left here with nothing to keep him afloat was terrifying. Ben’s fear of water pushed every other thought from his mind. He made no further arguments.
Charla had not looked at him when she had said these last few words. She had told a lie. Akca had been willing to take Ben back to Lea Waterborn even though the Orca was tired of his burden; however, Charla had convinced him that the best thing to do was leave the boy in the care of humans. Charla had her own reasons for doing this. She had convinced Osch and Akca not to mention her presence and she did not want Ben to go back to the Watcher with tales of how Charla followed them. Charla wanted to find a way to prove herself to Lea Waterborn before she went back. Charla had asked to be the one to go with Ben, but the Watcher had said no. Thinking of the watcher’s words still brought angry tears to Charla’s eyes. The words still rang in her ears, “I am thinking of sending someone with Ben, but it will not be you. You are not ready now and I sometimes doubt whether you will ever be ready.”
What Charla did not know, is that Lea Waterborn guessed the missing mermaid had followed Ben and Brina. Lea Waterborn had thought of sending someone to bring the disobedient mermaid back, but decided against it. Lea Waterborn reasoned that sometimes it is a wild card that saves the day. And since the chance of success seemed slim, perhaps a wild card was a good idea. Lea Waterborn had a growing fear that she would not see Ben and Brina again.
Osch went one way, Charla another, and Akca and Ben traveled towards the human community. When it got dark Akca was to take Ben to a lily pad near the human settlement so that the humans could find him in the morning.
Akca swam quickly, too quickly. He wanted to be rid of the burden on his back as soon as possible. Akca and Ben arrived on the outskirts of the human community just as the sun was sinking out of sight. It was not dark enough.
Ben knew they were close when the enormous trees could be seen off if the distance. As they drew nearer there was other plant life: grasses, seaweed, and cork lily pads, all with roots deep in the sea. The trees were some of the biggest Ben had ever seen. Brina had told Ben that several families could live in the branches of the largest trees. He did not find it difficult to believe as they drew ever closer.
Akca headed for a lily pad on the other side of two small trees. He was just past the trees when disaster struck. Something heavy came down around the two of them. A voice somewhere above yelled, “Here! Come quick! Jared and I have something. I think we’ve caught a mer.”
Akca dove down into the water. He had to make his escape quickly. The humans had thrown a net over them. Weights on the outer edges made it sink down when it was thrown. As soon as the net was thrown a rope was pulled, closing the bottom of the net. Akca might have escaped, had Ben not been strapped to his back. The extra weight slowed him down.
Ben fumbled to find the release on the harness. When he finally found it, the harness came off Akca and fell through the ever shrinking hole at the bottom of the net. Ben bobbed up to the surface and grabbed one of the buoys that kept the net from sinking. Akca sought to escape through the closing net, but it was too late. The net had been drawn tight and there was no escape.
The first voice was joined by others. “Let’s see what you have there, Ratore.” Hand over hand three humans pulled the net towards them. Ben did not try to talk. He had enough trouble just holding onto the buoy and keeping his head above water as the net was dragged in. The part of the net Ben was tangled in reached the cork lily pad and the three humans pulled him onto it.
Harbo, an older man with a receding hairline said, “This ain’t no mer. It has legs.”
“I tell you, I saw a fish tail,” Ratore stated firmly.
“Jared, bring the lamp so we can see what we have here,” Harbo instructed.
Jared, a boy about Ben’s age, brought a lamp and held it up so that the three humans could get a good look at Ben. They saw a boy with dark hair and brilliant green eyes, eyes that had a mingled look of fear and relief in them.
Ratore, a young muscular man said, “I swear I saw a fish tail. Maybe we’ve caught ourselves a changeling.” With those words Ratore’s voice became very harsh and he appeared ready to strike Ben with an oar he picked up.
Ben choked out the words, “not…a…changeling.”
“There’s something else in the net,” Jared piped in.
“Pull it in,” said Harbo. “Let’s find out what it is.”
They left Ben tangled in the net as they dragged the rest of it up onto the lily pad. “See, what did I tell you?” Ratore said, as they dragged the struggling orca out of the water, “A mer fish friend. We have caught a changeling.” Ratore appeared ready to bash Ben’s brains out with the oar.
“I’m not a changeling!” Ben said strongly. Ben knew from the tone in Ratore’s voice that a changeling was not a good thing to be in the present company.
“That’s for the council to decide,” Harbo stated with finality.
Ben started to explain who he was. “I am…,” Ben began, but then hesitated. I am a chosen sent to this world from another. Yeah right. He wasn’t sure he believed that. I came through a door that links your world to mine. Definitely, not believable. The two men and the boy stared down at him. Their faces showed their growing suspicion.
Akca flopped about in the net and made a high pitched squealing sound. Ratore said, “Tell your fish friend to be quiet or we’ll cut his throat here and now. At least we’ll eat well tonight.” Akca either understood what was said or guessed by the note of threat in Ratore’s voice. He was quiet and stopped flopping.
Harbo grunted, “We have never eaten the mer fish friends before. It is part of the agreement between the mer and us. However, tonight, the council might make an exception. Food is becoming scarce. There are some hungry people in our Treehold. All of us will soon be starving if that crown is not found and returned.”
Ratore tied Ben’s hands and feet none too gently while Harbo untangled him from the net. Ratore tied a rope around Akca’s snout, but left the fish in the net. Jared brought over a large canoe shaped boat. Ratore and Harbo dragged the net into the boat. It was not an easy task for the fish weighed at least three hundred pounds. As Jared held the boat steady, they dumped Akca into the bottom of it. Ratore and Harbo picked Ben up and threw him in on top of Akca.
They had not traveled far when the sound of humans living together was heard. There was talking and laugher, arguments and tears, children playing and people working. The same kind of sounds can be heard when you walk down an Earthen street on a hot summer day.
The boat bumped up against something solid and Jared jumped out. He tied the boat and steadied it as Harbo rolled Ben out of the boat onto a lily pad. Ratore and Harbo dragged Akca out of the boat and left the fish on the lily pad tangled in the net.
“Ratore, you and I will take the stranger to the council,” said Harbo. “Jared will stay here and guard the mer friend.”
“There’s no point in carrying the changeling when he has two good legs,” said Ratore. He used a knife to cut the rope around Ben’s legs. He was none too careful and a line of blood appeared on Ben’s left leg. Ben bit his lip and glared at Ratore.
Jared and Harbo stood Ben up. Ben had longed to have something solid under his feet, but now found that his legs would not hold him up. He’d been in the water a long time, with little to eat since breakfast. But to be honest it was fear that made Ben’s legs weak. What was he going to say to this council to convince them that he was not a changeling?”