“That was our big close-up!” Zadie said. “And those smiles weren’t fake—we were genuinely having fun. We thought we had the best job in the world!”
We all clapped after the grand finale, when the two of them were once again lifted out of the water on a platform with Esther Williams and a bunch of other swimmers, this time against a backdrop of fireworks that fizzed and flamed.
Zadie sighed with satisfaction. “Esther really knew how to make an entrance—and an exit.”
“How come they don’t make those kinds of movies anymore?” asked Cha Cha.
“Aqua-musicals, you mean?” said Zadie.
“There’s an actual name for them?” Cha Cha’s deep voice went up an octave.
“Oh yes. Aqua-ballet, aqua-musicals—they even named us in one of the films. We were billed as ‘the Neptunettes’ in Neptune’s Daughter.”
For some reason this struck Mackenzie as funny. She started to laugh. “That could be your mermaid name, Truly—Neptunette!”
I gave her the stink eye. But she’d reminded me that I still needed to pick a name and a backstory. So far, I had nothing.
“Were you ever in the Olympics?” asked one of the girls from St. Louis.
Zadie shook her head. “No. By the time synchronized swimming became an Olympic sport in 1984, we were way too old. But they asked Esther to be an official commentator. She was wonderful! We watched together from my house that year, cheering her on.”
Sirena stood up. “Ladies, you have about an hour of free time until our afternoon pool session. If anyone wants to make a trip to the Brewster Store, the van is available.”
“Or you can walk,” suggested Delphine. “It’s less than half a mile from here.”
My cousin and friends and I chose that option, and a few minutes later we were crunching down the shell-covered driveway toward the road.
“I’m going to live here when I grow up,” Jasmine announced. “Cape Cod is so cool! I love being near the ocean.”
Cha Cha shook her head. “Not me. New York City is where I want to be. It’s the only place for a dancer. Well, that or San Francisco or London, maybe.”
“I’m a Texan through and through,” said Mackenzie firmly. “It’s the Lone Star State for me. You too, right, Truly?”
I lifted a shoulder. I had no idea where I wanted to live when I grew up. I was still trying to get used to Pumpkin Falls.
Just as Jasmine had promised, there was a long counter at the Brewster Store where they served ice cream and fudge and penny candy. I looked around as we waited for our cones. The creaky wood floors and high ceilings and big windows reminded me a bit of our bookstore back home. The rest of it was similar to the Pumpkin Falls General Store, as Jasmine had said, except that instead of selling mostly practical everyday stuff like seed packets and tools, the Brewster Store was geared completely to tourists. The displays were crammed with postcards and souvenirs, sweatshirts and T-shirts and baseball caps with I LOVE CAPE COD on them, plus beach toys and knickknacks and that sort of thing.
“Hey, check it out!” Cha Cha pointed to a sign in the window:
BOOK SIGNING THURSDAY NIGHT!
AMANDA APPLETON, PHD, PRESENTS HER NEW BOOK—
SAGA OF A SHIP: THE LOST TREASURE OF THE WINDBORNE
“Isn’t the Windborne that wreck we learned about at the pirate museum?” she asked.
“Yeah,” said Jasmine. “Let’s tell Sirena. Maybe she can schedule a field trip.”
Fine by me, I thought. Pirates were more interesting than mermaids any day of the week.
CHAPTER 14
By four o’clock, we were back in the pool.
“Lenore and I spent our siesta with Sirena, working up a routine for the revue,” Zadie told us.
“We focused on simple moves that should be easy to learn and easy to perform,” Sirena added, “but the girls”—it took me a moment to realize she was talking about Zadie and Lenore—“put them together in combinations that will add a little razzle-dazzle.”
Razzle-dazzle? Did anyone actually use that term? Anyone except Sirena, that was? My eyes slid over to Mackenzie, but predictably, there was no answering smirk.
“And,” Sirena continued, “we’ve got a killer finish that will really show off our mermaid queen.”
I wasn’t sure I liked the sound of that.
Hayden definitely didn’t. I could tell by the look on her face.
“You’ll probably recognize a few of the moves,” said Zadie. “It’s a bit of a nod to Million Dollar Mermaid—but without the fancy special effects.”
“Unless you call sparklers special effects,” said Delphine.
Sirena beamed at Zadie and Lenore. “I can’t thank you two enough!” she gushed. “This is going to be our best revue ever! I’m going to call it A Tribute to Esther Williams. Delphine, you can help me make up flyers tonight, and we’ll distribute them around town tomorrow.”
Zadie had us all take seats on the edge of the pool opposite the bleachers while Sirena and Delphine headed for the cabana. They emerged a moment later with a boom box and a whiteboard on an easel. Zadie wrote DECK WORK on the whiteboard.
“We’re going to break it down into individual positions and strokes,” she told us. “Then we’ll work on transitions—the movements that connect everything into a routine. But first we’re going to start with some deck work.”
“Think of deck work as a preshow routine,” Sirena added. “You’ll perform this part right where you’re sitting now, before you get in the water.”
Zadie nodded at Delphine, who fiddled with the boom box. A moment later, music wafted from its tinny speakers.
“As the lights go up and the music starts,” said Zadie, “you’ll all be sitting along the edge of the pool just like you are now, but with your backs to the bleachers and your knees drawn up to your chins. Would you try this, please, ladies?”
We pulled our tails out of the water and swiveled around obediently.
“Sirena? Delphine? Can you see the tails?”
Sirena and her daughter, who had taken seats in the bleachers, both shook their heads.
“Now, I’ll be positioned here
