The Shell Princess (2 page)

Rani swam back to look at the gold lines from a greater distance, and then she knew. “It’s a map!” she said. “A golden map.”

“That’s right,” Morva nodded. “This map shows us the way home.”

She lifted her hand from the wall and the lines instantly disappeared.

“Bring it back!” gasped Rani. “We need it to find our way there.”

“I remember the way quite clearly. I don’t need a map,” Morva replied. “But the map has another purpose.”

Rani frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Any mermaid can follow a map and swim across the Deep Blue,” Morva said. “But only a magic mermaid can swim through the golden light to get to our home. And if a mermaid can
make the map appear, then it means her magic power is strong enough to let her in.”

“Please, can I try?” asked Rani excitedly.

“The magic in the hand that touches the picture must be very strong in order for the map to show itself,” Morva warned her. “If you try too soon, you may be
disappointed.”

“I still want to see if I can do it,” Rani said.

“Very well,” Morva said, moving back from the wall. “If you
really
want to put your magic to the test . . .”

   Chapter Two   

Slowly, Rani placed her hand flat against the picture on Morva’s wall. Nothing happened at first, then she felt her hand starting to tingle.

“Look,” she whispered, holding in her breath as gold lines began to appear on the cave wall. “I’ve done it!”

Morva nodded slowly.

“So my magic
is
strong enough!” Rani said, turning her head to look at Morva. “Does that mean I’m ready to visit my brother?”

“In a way, yes,” Morva replied carefully. “But there are different ways of being ready, Rani. Are you sure you’re ready to leave your family? And are
they
ready
for you to go?”

Rani frowned. The truth was that she hadn’t told her family anything about this yet.

“I’m sure they’ll let me,” she said. “I’ll go and ask them now!”

But as she swam back towards her own cave, she started to worry. What if her family were against the idea? Her parents could be so protective of her sometimes, especially her mother. She
couldn’t just leave Tingle Reef without telling them. She loved them too much to do that. She sighed. She would just have to
make
them see how important it was for her to make this
trip, that was all!

When Rani got back home to their cave, her mother, Miriam, was cooking dinner while her father, Murdoch, bounced her baby sister, Pearl, on the end of his tail. Rani’s other sister, Kai,
was peering into the cooking pot and complaining that they were having seaweed
again
. “Mother, Father, Kai . . . I’ve got something to tell you,” Rani began.

But before she could continue, there was a knock on the wall outside and four long wriggly arms pushed back their seaweed-flap.

“Good day, everyone,” said Octavius the octopus, as he peered in through one of the gaps he had made in the seaweed curtain. “May I come in?”

“Of course,” said Murdoch. “Though we’re just about to have dinner.”

Rani noticed that her mother was frowning. Octavius had a habit of visiting at inconvenient times and staying for ages.

“I’ve already had my dinner,” Octavius said, settling himself on the most comfortable rock. “Some of my delicious stew. Do you know, I don’t believe I’ve ever
tasted anything as fine as my very own cooking? I don’t know why I should be such a talented cook – unless it’s another consequence of having such a large brain. I suppose I
am
able to put a lot of thought into my recipes.”

Rani felt impatient. Once Octavius got started on the subject of his brain, he was impossible to stop. She would never get to speak to her family at this rate. Then she had an idea. As Octavius
continued to boast, Rani decided to try out some magic. As she focused on him she could feel her magic struggling against a very strong force indeed. She concentrated extra-hard, and was beginning
to feel a bit dizzy, when something weird started to happen. Golden sparks appeared around Octavius’s mouth as he said, “Of course, my brain is really just of average size for an
octopus.”

Miriam and Murdoch stared at him in disbelief and Kai nearly dropped the shell-cutlery she was putting on the table.

“And in any case,” continued Octavius, “quantity does not always mean quality.” And he gave them a humble smile as he exited their cave.

“I don’t believe it!” gasped Miriam.

They all started to laugh.

Rani decided that now was as good a time as any to break her news. “Mother, Father, Kai . . .” she began again firmly, and this time they all turned to listen.

“A magic stone?” frowned Miriam, when Rani had finished. “I don’t understand.”

“It’s a
message
-stone, Mother,” Rani said. “Morva showed me how to open the pendant and we found out that my real parents must have died when I was a baby. They
were in some sort of danger and that was why they put me inside the Clam-Shell. But I had a twin brother and they put him inside another shell or something because he’s still
alive.”

Rani’s mother sat on the seaweed mat, looking dazed. “And now you want to leave us in order to find him?”

“I don’t
want
to leave you,” Rani said, “but I have to find my brother. You can’t come with me because only magic mermaids can go to the place Morva comes
from.”

“It sounds far too dangerous,” Miriam said. “And you are too young to make such a big journey. Perhaps when you’re older—”

“It’s not dangerous!” Rani protested. “Morva will be with me. Please, Mother, I’m ready to go
now
!”

But her mother was shaking her head firmly.

Rani looked at her father. Surely Murdoch would understand. “Father?” she pleaded. “Please say I can go!”

“We think of you as belonging here with us, Rani,” Murdoch said gently, “that’s the problem.” He sighed. “I’m afraid I agree with your mother. I
don’t want you to go either. You don’t know what you will find there, Rani. It may not make you happy. And we don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t lose me,” Rani said, fighting back tears. Why couldn’t they understand? They
had
to let her go! Otherwise
she
was going to lose her brother!

   Chapter Three   

Rani’s pet sea-horse, Roscoe, was swinging himself on one of the seaweed swings in the shell-garden. He looked a bit huffy when Rani approached and flipped himself round
on the swing so that he had his back to her.

Rani realized that she hadn’t spent much time with Roscoe recently – she’d been too busy practising her magic.

“I’m sorry, Roscoe,” Rani said, stroking his bony head. “I haven’t been a very good friend lately – have I?”

“No, you haven’t,” Roscoe said crossly. But he couldn’t help smiling when Rani tickled his neck. He turned around and listened as Rani explained what had just
happened.

“So . . .” said Roscoe, when she had finished. “You don’t want to lose
this
family but you can’t bear not to find your other family as well. That seems fair
enough to me!”

“Try telling that to Mother and Father,” Rani sighed.

Roscoe looked thoughtful. “We need to think of a way of making them see this from your point of view,” he said.

“Yes, but how?” Rani asked him.

Roscoe thought about it. “I know! Who has more clever thoughts in one day than you mermaids have in a whole year?”

“Octavius,” Rani replied. “At least, that’s what he’s always
saying
, but—”

“Exactly.
This
is his chance to prove his point,” Roscoe interrupted her. “We’ll tell him the problem and he’ll
have
to come up with an idea just to
prove to us how clever he is!”

“But what if it isn’t a
good
idea?” Rani asked nervously.

“So?” Roscoe said, flicking her with his tail as he jumped off the swing. “Do you have
any
ideas
at all
?”

Rani shook her head.

“Well, come on, then!” And the little sea-horse bobbed ahead of her towards Octavius’s cave.

As soon as Roscoe tapped his bony tail against the cave wall to be let in, the octopus yelled at them to go away. “You know I always rest my brain at this time of the day!” he
shouted.