The maidens were up next, and after their opening chorus, Cha Cha—as Mabel—took center stage and belted out “Poor Wand’ring One” to Frederic, who had fallen in love at first sight.
Another synopsis from Dr. Calhoun followed. He explained that the girls were all the high-born daughters of the Major-General, and thus not marriage material for lowly pirates. Then it was Hatcher’s turn. I held my breath as he began:
I am the very model of a modern Major-General,
I’ve information vegetable, animal, and mineral…
The lyrics to his rap-style song were complicated and silly. “Patter” was the term for it, Dr. Calhoun had explained to us, and it was one of the hallmarks of Gilbert and Sullivan. I sang along under my breath as the tempo increased. Had we practiced enough? Would Hatcher mess up? Faster and faster the music and lyrics went as the song neared its end, until Hatcher was flying along so fast I was sure he’d stumble.
But he didn’t!
When he finished, the audience leaped to its feet.
“Bravo!” shouted Aunt True, and my brother took a bow, smiling his Gifford sunflower smile and looking enormously pleased with himself. I saw him shoot a glance at Cha Cha, who smiled back at him.
“There you have it, folks,” said Dr. Calhoun, “a sneak preview of our upcoming performance at the Pumpkin Falls Grange, where we hope you’ll join us for an evening of musical fun and fantasy! Tickets are available now at the General Store!”
While Artie returned with the water-ski boat to tow Dreamboat back to the cove, my little sister and a gaggle of her cabin-mates came rushing over to ooh and aah at the shimmertail. My parents trailed along behind them.
“Is it real?” asked one of the little girls shyly, reaching out a finger to touch it. I was pretty sure her name was Meri.
I shook my head. “No, but wouldn’t it be cool if it were?”
Pippa gave me a hug, and so did my mother.
“Your daughter is doing a splendid job!” Dr. Calhoun told my parents. “Both as a mermaid and on our stage crew. She’s proved herself an invaluable member of our team this summer and you should be proud of her.”
My father leveled a gaze at me. “Should we now.”
My mother elbowed him. “J. T.! For heaven’s sake lighten up!”
He sighed, then leaned down and gave me an awkward one-armed hug. “Sentence completed with honor, Truly-in-the-Middle,” he said gruffly. “But fair warning—the punishment will be worse next time if you lie to us again.”
“I won’t, I promise,” I told him. “Thanks, Dad.”
I couldn’t believe my ears—I wasn’t grounded anymore! I could hardly wait to get out of my shimmertail and join the Pumpkin Falls Private Eyes again.
CHAPTER 37
“Now that was awesome!” said Scooter, basking in the afterglow of a successful performance.
Jasmine nodded. “It’s so different with a real audience.”
My brother and friends were clustered around me, chattering gleefully as they waited to make their move. Our move now, since I was free to join them.
“Hey, guys, I’ve been thinking,” said Lucas. “When we get to the island, I think one of us should take some rope and go to the tunnel by the boulder, just in case—”
Scooter’s hand shot out, muffling him.
“Scooter!” I protested.
He jerked his chin toward something behind me. I whipped around to see Amanda Appleton standing there.
“Just in case what?” she said. Her eyes were hidden behind her sunglasses, but I knew they were focused on us with hawklike intensity.
“Nothing,” I told her, smiling sweetly. “We were just talking about the play.”
“Of course.” She smiled back equally sweetly and walked away.
I looked around wildly for my brother. “Hatcher! Diversion! Now! I think she overheard us.”
“One diversion, coming right up,” he said, pulling a bottle of Terminator hot sauce from his pocket. He grinned and waggled it at me.
I frowned. “What are you planning to do with that?”
“Spike the lemonade.”
“That’s your diversion? Hot sauce in the lemonade? Hatcher, what are you thinking? You can’t do that! Remember Uncle Rooster’s reaction? These are little kids we’re talking about! Somebody could get hurt!”
My brother’s face fell.
“You’ll have to think of something else—and fast.”
In the end, though, he didn’t have to. Whether inspired by Frederic and Mabel’s romance onstage, or by the sunset over the lake, or by something else entirely, Bud Jefferson chose that moment to drop to one knee and ask Lucas’s mother to marry him.
Beside me, Lucas went rigid.
We couldn’t hear Mrs. Winthrop’s response from where we were, but it was obvious from the whopper of a kiss that Bud planted on her that she’d said yes.
As everyone rushed to congratulate the happy couple, I scanned the crowd for Amanda Appleton, then turned to my brother and friends. “She’s going for her kayak! Grab that wheelbarrow and stick me in it—there’s not a moment to lose!”
They manhandled me in, shimmertail and all, and thirty seconds later I was jouncing down the beach as Calhoun trundled me off in hot pursuit.
Cha Cha trotted alongside me. “Where are we going?”
“Bud’s canoe,” I said. “He left it on the far side of the H dock.”
When we reached Mr. Jefferson’s boat, my brother and our friends ran over and started dragging it toward the water.
“Paddle as fast as you can for Cherry Island,” I told them. “I don’t know how the finders keepers law works, but my guess is whoever stakes their claim first wins. And she is not going to win!”
“What about you?” called Hatcher as he jumped in and grabbed a paddle.
I glanced back down the beach. Dr. Appleton was headed for the lake, kayak in tow. That gave me an idea. “As soon as I take this shimmertail off, I’ll borrow one of Camp Lovejoy’s kayaks,” I called back. “You guys go on ahead.”
“I’ll stay behind
