Rani’s Sea Spell (2 page)

“Well done!” Morva smiled.

The shell-dish was all in one piece again, surrounded by a golden glow.

Rani grinned. “I did it!”

Morva nodded, still smiling. “Now, let me tell you about my special sea-spell . . .”

   Chapter Two   

On the morning they were due to set off for the shipwreck, Rani and her family got up very early indeed. The shipwreck was a long way away and it would take them most of the
day to get there.

As they got ready, there was a knock at the door of their cave.

“That will be Morva,” their mother said. Morva had offered to look after Pearl while they were gone.

“Come in!” everyone shouted, and Morva swam inside the cave, her red hair streaming out behind her.

“Octavius is here too,” Morva said.

Octavius, the octopus, followed her into the cave. He had tied two of his long wriggly arms together to make a loop and hanging from the loop were lots of shell-containers and bulky seaweed
bags.

“Pat told me about the party and I’m coming too. My sister, Flora, lives on the shipwreck,” Octavius explained. “I can’t think why she didn’t send me an
invitation!”

“Why are you taking so much stuff?” asked Kai.

“Ah, well . . . That’s the trouble with having a huge brain like mine – one thinks of so many things to pack.” He sighed as he readjusted some of his bags.

“I didn’t know your sister lived on the wreck,” Rani said.

“Oh, yes. Flora works there as a hairdresser,” Octavius told her.

“Maybe we’ll ask her to do our hair for the party,” Rani’s mother said, as she swam over to make sure they were ready. “Now, have you girls got your seaweed belts
tied nice and tightly?”

Rani and Kai nodded. They each had a packed lunch tied to their belts, and a little purse containing the jewellery and hair decorations they were going to wear at the party.

“We’d better get going,” said Murdoch.

“Bye, bye, Pearl,” the girls said, rushing to give their baby sister a final hug. “We wish you were coming with us.”

“Pearl will be just fine with me,” Morva reassured them, as Pearl beamed happily at everybody from Morva’s arms.

Just as they were leaving, Morva fastened a gold-coloured shell to Rani’s belt. “The sea-spell is inside,” Morva whispered. “And remember – it can only be used
once, so don’t use it unless you really have to!”

Rani promised that she wouldn’t, as she gave Morva a goodbye hug.

They swam through the Deep Blue for a long time, with Murdoch leading the way. Rani and Kai swam behind him, with Octavius and Miriam swimming behind the girls. Every time
Roscoe got tired he grabbed hold of one of the mermaids’ hair and caught a ride with them for a while until he felt like swimming again.

The water in the Deep Blue was darker and colder than the water in Tingle Reef. The further out they swam, the more strange the plants and rocks that surrounded them. Rani and Kai, who had never
been this far out in the Deep Blue before, couldn’t stop pointing things out to each other.

“Look!” gasped Kai, as a shoal of enormous fish swam by. Murdoch explained that a lot of the fish in the Deep Blue were bigger than the ones they were used to seeing at home.

“Octavius, what have you
got
in those bags?” Kai asked the octopus, as they rested at the bottom of a large rock to eat their packed lunches. Murdoch was sitting on top of the
rock acting as lookout.

“I have brought some of my famous stew for the party,” Octavius said grandly, “since I know how much everyone likes it.”

“Yes, but you don’t eat
stew
at a party,” Kai pointed out. “You eat mer-cakes and sea-trifle and—”

“What’s that noise?” her mother interrupted.

There was a definite banging noise that seemed to be coming from very close by.

“Murdoch!” Miriam called up to him, anxiously. “Can you come down here?”

“What’s wrong?” Murdoch asked, swimming down to join them. Then he heard the noise too.

“There’s a creature inside that rock. I can sense it,” Rani said, frowning. Rani’s magical powers often helped her to sense the presence of other creatures before they
appeared.

Her family looked at her in disbelief. How could a creature be
inside
a rock? “I’m going to have a look,” Rani said, swimming away from the others before they could stop
her.

As she swam round to the other side of the rock she noticed a bush growing out of it. The bush was swishing from side to side even though the water here was quite calm.

“Rani!” Her father appeared by her side just as a huge fish with sharp fins, a jagged tail, a huge mouth and very sharp teeth indeed, swam out from behind the bush.

“
SHARK
!” yelled Murdoch, pulling Rani behind him.

Rani started to fumble for the little golden shell that Morva had fastened to her belt – the shell with the sea-spell. But in her panic, the shell slipped from her fingers and floated away
from her.

The huge shark was heading straight towards them, its white teeth flashing. Then it seemed to sniff something it liked better. It batted Murdoch and Rani to one side and swam past them, heading
straight for the others.

Rani and her father yelled out a warning, but it was too late. The shark had already trapped Miriam, Kai, Octavius and Roscoe. As they trembled against the rock face, the shark’s evil
black eyes glinted in pleasure at the prospect of such a yummy dinner.

That’s when Rani heard the shark’s thoughts floating towards her through the water. Rani’s magic meant that she could often hear the thoughts of other sea creatures. The shark
was smelling a mixture of mermaids and . . .

“Octavius! Throw him your stew!” Rani shouted. “That’s what he can smell!”

Octavius hastily untied his arms and pushed all the containers of stew towards the shark’s open mouth. As the shark started to crunch it up greedily, Octavius and the others slipped past
to join Murdoch and Rani.

“Quick!” said Murdoch urgently. “It won’t take him long to get through that lot.”

“Where’s Rani going?” Kai asked suddenly.

Rani was swimming away from them, back towards the bush which had concealed the entrance to the shark’s cave. “I have to get Morva’s shell!” she called back. “You
go on. I’ll catch up with you in a minute!”

Rani spotted the shell straight away, gleaming up at her from a bunch of dark green seaweed. She picked it up and fastened it securely to her belt just as Murdoch caught up with her. He grabbed
her firmly by the arm.

“I’m sorry, Father, but this shell is important,” Rani said.

“So are you!” snapped her father. “Now, just
swim
! Before that shark realizes that the stew he’s munching doesn’t contain any mermaids at all!”

   Chapter Three   

“It’s not far now,” Miriam said, when Rani and Kai started to protest that they were getting tired. As they swam over a sandy opening in the rocks where lots
of colourful fish darted about, Miriam became excited. “I recognize where we are! We’re nearly there.” She started to swim faster. “Look.” She pointed ahead.
“There it is!”

Rani and Kai looked ahead of them and couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Even the descriptions their mother had given them hadn’t prepared them for
this
.

Towering up from the sea-bed was the strangest structure they had ever seen. As they swam closer they saw that it was white because it was totally covered in limpet shells. There were many
openings along the sides of the vessel – entrances to individual homes with colourful plants and flowers growing around the doorways. On top was a massive roof garden which stretched out over
the whole area of the wreck. The garden was filled with all sorts of flowering shrubs and plants. Seaweed hammocks, strung up between the bushes, were swinging in the gentle current and there were
lots of rock seats dotted here and there amongst the greenery. Some mermaids, who were relaxing in the garden, smiled and waved to them.

“It’s beautiful!” gasped Kai and Rani together, as they waved back.

“Miriam!” someone called.

They turned to see an old mermaid with white hair swimming towards them.

“Mother!” cried Miriam, rushing forward.

The girls swam forward too, and soon their grandmother was hugging them tightly as she stroked their hair and told them how much they’d grown.