“Is it for yourself or the young lady?”
The old woman hadn’t recognised Cordelia. She’d never met her but you’d think with all those customers in and out all day she’d have heard about the girl with grey hair. Perhaps it was the dim lighting that made it hard to tell what colour her hair was. Perhaps her eyesight was failing.
“It’s all for Cordelia,” smiled Mazu and she slowly made her way along the rail of clothes, picking out items as she went. “She’ll need dresses and nighties, skirts and blouses, a jacket or two, and underwear of course.”
Cordelia tried on some of the outfits and one by one the old woman wrapped them in brown paper. After almost an hour in the shop, Mazu had one last request.
“Do you happen to sell bathing costumes?”
“Sure we do,” said the old lady who was already half way up a ladder. She climbed far up the ladder to the top shelf where she located a box and blew the dust from the lid. “We don’t get many requests for bathing garments, not for women but I’ve started keeping a couple in stock just in case. There’s talk that sea bathing will become quite popular.”
“I’ve no doubt that it will,” said Mazu.
“Well, that’s if you can believe what you read. Mind you, I wouldn’t want to be in the sea myself now, not after that storm last week. Did you hear about that poor fisherman?”
Cordelia turned to face the door and took a deep breath as she fought to hold back the tears.
“We really ought to be going,” said Mazu. “You’ve been awfully kind.”
“I hear he left that young girl all alone. It’s terrible really. Not to mention poor Jerry. He’s nobody to catch fish for him now. His business won’t survive on perrywinkles.”
As Cordelia edged nearer to the door, the light from the window caught the silver strands in her hair. The old woman’s mouth fell open and before she could say anything else, Cordelia let out a mighty shriek that shattered the windowpanes. She ran into the street and Mazu followed close behind, her arms laden with brown paper parcels.
“I’m sorry,” said Cordelia as they travelled back to the lighthouse. “I didn’t know I could break windows by screaming.”
“No harm done,” said Mazu. “You’ll soon discover the extent of your abilities and those jewels I left will more than cover the cost of the clothes and new windows. Don’t you worry about that.”
Back at the lighthouse, Cordelia sat in her chamber looking at her jar of gemstones, trying to understand how she had broken the windows. Trying to understand who she was. Wondering what she would become. She was on the cusp of something new, something she would try to accept, even though her heart was aching. She put on one of her new outfits and glanced at herself in the mirror. She hardly recognised herself. She’d thought it had looked okay in the shop. She liked the lace up boots but she wasn’t used to dresses and frills. Life on a boat hadn’t really lent itself to fancy dresses so Flynn had raised her wearing trousers, which were much better for climbing about on the rocks. She slumped down on the bed and sighed.
“At least you won’t smell now,” said a strange voice.
“Who’s there?” asked Cordelia, startled.
The candles flickered as a girl appeared by the fireplace.
“You’ve been wearing this outfit all week,” she said, picking the garments up in turn between one finger and thumb as though they were the grubbiest things she had ever seen and tossing them on the fire. “They must wreak by now.”
“How did you get in?!” asked Cordelia.
“I have my ways.”
“You can’t burn people’s clothes like that.”
“I can do whatever I like,” said the girl and she walked straight through the cave wall into the tunnel.
Cordelia sprung from her bed and opened the door to see where the girl had gone but there was no sign of her.
The smell of food wafted through the tunnel; Cordelia followed the scent to another chamber where rows of students were seated for lunch. She stood in the doorway. Slowly the chatter stopped and they all stared at her.
“Don’t just stand there,” said Morwen Vanora as she beckoned Cordelia into the room.
“Look at her hair!” said one of the boys.
“She looks like she’s seen a ghost!” said another.
“I heard she broke all the windows in town with her shrill screaming.”
“Can you believe she’s nearly sixteen and she didn’t know she’s a mermaid?”
“She’ll never be a mermaid. Not a good one anyway.”
“I thought this school was supposed to be for the elite.”
The comments were coming from two boys at the far side of the room.
“Enough!” said Triton, entering the room. He was standing with a student who made her way over to Cordelia.
“Hello, I’m Lana. Lana Seymour. Please, come and sit with us.”
Cordelia followed the tall redhead to a table where she was introduced to identical twins, Masika and Nerissa Murphy.
“Pleased to meet you,” they said.
Nerissa leaned across the table with wide eyes, “Is it true?” she asked. “Did you really have no idea you’re a mermaid?”
Cordelia shook her head. “Have you always known?”
“Of course,” explained Masika in a matter of fact tone, “our parents are merfolk so it’s natural that we would be too.”
“I’ve always known too,” said Lana. “It’s hard not to when your father’s a teacher here.” Lana looked towards the table of teachers and sure enough, there was a man sporting the same red hair as she.
“Irvin Seymour, the lighthouse keeper,” smiled Nerissa.
“Lighthouse keeper?” questioned Cordelia.
Nerissa nodded. “They need someone to play the part if anyone should come knocking, but they never do.”
“Play
