Water: The Mermaid Legacy Book One. Natasha Hardy

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СКАЧАТЬ Alex.” Luke grinned a naughty grin, the grin I remembered from the carefree days of our childhood. “What were you doing in my bedroom last night?”

      I froze, my spoon halfway to my mouth, in horror.

      “What do you mean?” I scowled.

      “I woke up to find you staring at me in the middle of the night. So what was your plan? Did you want to snuggle?”

      Matt giggled and Maryka chided him for asking me awkward questions.

      His teasing tone held a hint of something else, and while he continued to grin, his eyes were wary.

      “Of course not,” I snapped, recovering slightly from the shock. “I got lost on the way to the bathroom.”

      He smiled easily and dropped the subject.

      Did he believe me? I watched him surreptitiously as I finished my breakfast. The problem was, I didn’t know what I’d been doing in his bedroom, because I didn’t remember walking into it.

      I silently cursed my sleepwalking as an irritating and telling blush crawled up my neck.

      It bothered me a lot, not just that I’d made a complete fool out of myself by walking into Luke’s room, but because I’d never had the nightmare and gone sleepwalking on the same night before.

      Thankfully Allan rushed in shortly afterwards to hurry Matt and Maryka out to Matt’s Hockey camp. The kitchen was suddenly empty, the only sound the scraping of our spoons in the bottom of our bowls.

      “What you want to do today?” Luke asked, his eyes flashing briefly to mine.

      “Well…” I paused, feeling a little silly. “I was wondering if you knew anything more about the adventure in the Injisuthi that our parents were talking about last night?”

      He continued scraping his spoon in the bottom of the bowl, shrugging his shoulders.

      “They don’t talk about it very much. I’ve only heard them mention it once or twice before.”

      I slumped a little at his caginess as I stared into the milk and remaining soggy bits of oats. I’d been so sure there was something more interesting to their adventure, and even more sure that Luke was curious about it too.

      “But I have often wondered why Mom always looks so sad, and Dad gets so protective every time they mention it.”

      I looked up sharply to find him toying with the remains of his breakfast, his expression bemused. He continued to stare into his bowl vacantly as he spoke.

      “I wonder if Josh knows anything about it?”

      Josh was Luke’s lanky, good-natured, bubbly best friend. He was also an insatiable prankster which left me wondering if perhaps his so-called knowledge about our parents’ adventure was just an elaborate joke he’d made up to amuse himself at Luke’s expense.

      “He’s mentioned it once before, something about there being a local tribe that lived in this area a couple of decades ago. Josh’s grandfather is related to them somehow.” He frowned, chewing on his lip.

      “A local tribe?” I asked, glancing out at the slopes of the mountain framed in the kitchen window and picturing a scattering of traditional round thatch-covered huts dotted beneath the umbrella-shaped acacia trees.

      “Yeah, I can’t remember the name of the people that used to live here but we’ve found quite a lot of rock art when we’ve been camping in Injisuthi before.”

      “What did they do here?” I asked, fascinated as the life these people must have led came alive in my mind’s eye.

      “They were herders mostly, I think,” Luke replied, getting up from the kitchen table and clearing away his breakfast things.

      I followed him, helping to wash the dishes while fishing for more information. “What did they herd?”

      “Cattle and some goats.” He grinned at me as he handed me the bowls to dry. “Haven’t you learnt about this stuff at school?”

      “Yeah of course I have,” I replied, grinning back at him before turning to gaze out of the window again. “It’s just very different being able to see where they lived rather than reading about it.”

      He nodded. “I guess it would be. The paintings are pretty cool.”

      “Can we go and see them?” I asked excitedly.

      He switched from happy to sulky in an instant. “They’re a little far out of the ‘adventure zone’,” he muttered as he began putting the dishes away in the cupboards.

      My curiosity faded a little as the possibility of adventure died beneath our parents’ suffocating rules.

      We continued to move around the kitchen in silence for a while as I tried to find a way to rekindle the spark of comradeship we’d shared.

      “How does the local tribe fit into the story our parents were talking about last night?” I asked.

      Luke shrugged, hanging up the dish towel as he did so. “Josh knows more about it,” he replied sullenly. “He’s coming over in an hour or so to go fishing, you can ask him then.”

      “We’re going fishing?”

      “Yup, if you’re up for it?”

      I nodded smiling shyly, pleased that he seemed to be relaxing a bit around me.

      Fishing wasn’t exactly my ideal pastime, but I’d happily go along if it meant a semblance of the old friendship we’d had could be rekindled and, more importantly, if I could find out more about the mystery I felt sure was lurking in the folds of the mighty Injisuthi mountains.

      Chapter 2

       History

      Two old willow trees wept silently into the still, clear water, their shade providing a haven in which thick lush grass grew in great mushroom mounds.

      Luke, Josh and I’d cycled down to fish at the dam that served as drinking water for the livestock. It was on the very edge of the “adventure zone” bordering the lush green plain that swept sharply upwards into Injisuthi’s peaks and ridges.

      “Right, you’re on worm patrol,” announced Luke before showing me how to sift the mud at the edge of the pool through my fingers looking for insect larvae.

      While I shuffled awkwardly through the shallows looking for larvae, mud squelching through my toes and knees cramping, I couldn’t help but feel that the boys were taking advantage of my enthusiasm as they stretched out in the springy grass under the trees, chatting about sport.

      I should have minded, but the cool water underfoot and hot sun beating on my back was sheer bliss. Bright yellow weaver birds warbled cheerfully as they wove ball-shaped nests from willow leaves, their fussy partners chirping bossily. Glittering dragonflies flirted with the water as the crickets and other critters all sang their joy at surviving another day in Africa.

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