LEGEND OF THE MER (37 page)

“I do not believe that you would do such a thing
.
”
Titus winked with a smile.  Then he came and kissed Lana and took her and cradled her in his arms as she held Tarrock.

Rose was sleeping peacefully next to them while clinging to Tempest’s tailfin.

“I think we have both spoiled Rose with Tempest,”
Titus
chuckled.

“Yeah, and I think Tempest does his part too
.
”
Lana
grinned and then they all fell asleep to the tune of the Seahorse Lullaby.

~~~

It was only one week
later that Lana’s father sent word for the mer to prepare for a storm.  It definitely looked as though they were going to be hit full force by a hurricane.  All of
Safe
Harbor
Island
began to board up windows and bring everything inside.

King Titan had extra food brought into the city which included cages of
herring,
crabs and lobsters.

Micah even stocked the cavern with the supplies that they would need to ride it out.  The weather bulletin was sent out warning all ships to clear the area.  Micah had already taken the
Island Traveler
to safer waters.

Cole began to worry when he couldn’t reach his friend Marty on the radio.  He owned his own lobster business and had gone out the day before with his crew.  He knew that Marty’s busines
s had been slow and that he’
d wait until the
last minute to pull up his Lobster Pots
.  Cole
was
worried that he might not realize how quickly the hurricane was coming, especially if he was having trouble with his radio. 
Marty couldn’t afford a new ship
and his was quite a relic.

Despite the crazy weather that was beginning to roll in, Cole began to row the dinghy out to
Gull
Island
.  To his relief, Titus spotted him and met him halfway.

“Cole, why are you out here?” Titus asked worried that something might have happened to Rose or Jedediah.

“I am fine, so’
s the family, it’s my friend that I’m worried about.  Titus, if I had an
y other way, I’
d never ask...”

“What can I do?”
Titus knew that he was struggling with the request.

“My friend Marty Thompson and his crew of six men went out for lobsters.  They’re usually gone a few days; I’m not sure he really knows how serious this hurricane is,” Cole said with apprehension.

“Where would he be?”

“He’ll be at least twenty
miles straight out; he’s kind of a creature of habit.  I tried telling him once where a better location was for lobsters, but he didn’t believe me,” Cole chuckled.

Titus had to laugh at that too, “I will bring some of the guard; we will find him.”

“You can’t miss his ship
; it’s black and white and you’ll see the name
CRUSTACEAN
in bold black letters across her stern
.
”
Cole grinned.

“Yes, I think I will be able to spot her
.
”
Titus also grinned.

“Titus, if he wasn’t such a nice guy, I’d never have asked.  I know that he and his crew have heard rumors of the mer, especially after Darious three years back.  Son, just be careful,” said Cole seriously.

“I will Dad
.
”
Titus
smiled
widely and then he gave a slight bow of his head and dove below.

Lana was worried when Titus told her that he had to go.  She knew how bad a hurricane could be.  She had lived through several before on th
e island; but
she was even more afraid of what the men might do to Titus and the others.  They
might not understand that they’
re coming to help them and not hurt them.  She knew how much the island was stirred up by the trouble three years ago.  Now all she could do was wait.

Titus, Makoa
and Tristan led five of t
he other guardsmen to the area where
Cole believed the
CRUSTACEAN
would
be.  Sure enough, the tiny ship
was being tossed about while it
s crew quickly tried to cut their trap lines.  She was taking on more water than the crew could keep pumping out.  The old bilge pump had seen better days.

The first thing the mer began to do was
see if they could push the ship
back to the island.  It worked for a little while, but even that proved to be impossible as the waves only grew in strength and worked against them.

Between the high winds and waves, it was obvious even to the crew that it was on
ly a matter of time before
the
CRUSTACEAN
would sink.  Each of the men beg
an to jump from the sinking ship
wearing their life vests.  They tried to stay together as best they could.

Titus was the first to surface next to, who he believed to be, Marty.

When the man saw him, his eyes widened with fright and he tried to swim away.

“Is your name Marty Thompson?” Titus called out.

“Yes, but who or what are you?” Marty answered trembling with fear.

“I am a friend of Cole Prentis and he has asked that I help you and your men
.
”
Titus smiled trying to calm his fears.

“Why would you do that?”

“Because, that is what we mer do
.
”
H
e smiled once more.

All of the men began to cry out as the other mer surfaced next to them.

“Please do not be afraid; we do not wish you harm. 
Cole Prentis has sent us to you!
” Titus shouted so all could hear above the howling winds.

“What’s going on Marty?” called one of the men.

“I’m not sure, but at this point, I’m accepting any help they can give.”

Each of the mer greeted the man they were closest to and told them not to fear.  The mer grabbed onto their life vests and helped them on their
backs and told them to hold on
to their necks.  The men were in shock, but did as they were told.

Titus and the others swam as quickly as they could towards the island.  Makoa swam behind to make sure that none of the men fell off.

Titus led the
m
all
right up to Cole’s dock.

Cole quickly came out and helped the men out of the water.  When all of the men were safely on the dock, he looked to Titus and told him in his mind that he was grateful and that he would talk with the men.  He would try and get them to keep their secret.

Titus nodded in agreement and then he and the mer swam away.

Cole quickly led the tired men into the keeper’s house where Rose had put on two pots of strong hot coffee.

“Who are they Cole?” Marty asked as they entered the house.

“They’re called the mer; they’re not the ones you heard about three years ago.  These help men; not hurt them.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said one of the younger crewmen.

“No, not many of us have.  I was saved by them once myself and have kept their secret.  That’s how I knew that it wasn’t them that wre
cked those ships three years back
,” Cole said as he handed them some warm towels that Rose had brought and she gave them each a cup of hot coffee.

“How long have you known them?” Marty asked curiously.

“Awhile now; I hope you’ll all keep their secret.  If you don’t, you know what’ll happen to them.  Then where would any of us be when we need them,” said Cole seriously looking to all of the men.

“I don’t think anyone would believe us; they’d think we were all crazy!” laughed one of the men.

“Yeah, why do you think I’ve never told any of you?” Cole chuckled.

All the men agreed to keep the secret of the mer and they were grateful to Cole for sending them to their rescue.  They each knew that they would most likely be on the bottom of the ocean if it hadn’t been for the mermen coming to save them.

Later, the men began to leave.  When Marty was the last one, he looked seriously at Cole and said, “Now do you want to tell me the truth Cole?”

“What do you mean Marty?”

“I’m not blind Cole.  That one in charge; he looks just like your daughter Lana.”

“You caught that did you?”
Cole smiled.

“Yeah, and if my men weren’t so scared stiff, they might have had their eyes open long enough to see it too.”

“Let’s just say that they’re part of my family and we’ll leave it at that, okay?”

“Sure
, if that’s the way
you want it.  I’m just glad
you have such great connections or I wouldn’t be standing here tonight,” said Marty as he smiled gratefully and shook Cole’s hand firmly.

“I’d appreciate it if you’d keep that bit to yourself Marty,” Cole said s
tern
ly.

“Yeah, yeah, who’d believe me anyway?  Seriously Cole, thanks again and thank you Rose for the warm towels and hot coffee.”

“You’re quite welcome and I’m glad that you’re all home safe
.
”
Rose
smiled
.

Marty nodded back with a smile and then headed out the door.