Mermaids in the Backyard Read Online Free Page B

on the ocean side of the yard, don’t wade out any deeper than your knees, okay, kiddo?” her father added. “I hear there’s a wicked undertow just offshore.”
    “Don’t worry.” Lindy carried her bowl to the sink. “I’m not crazy enough to go swimming in the ocean. There could be sharks out there.”
    She went back to her room and put on her favorite pink and white swimsuit. Grabbing her backpack, she pulled out Tara’s going-away gift. It was a Chicago Cubs T-shirt signed by several players. Lindy didn’t care that much about sports, but Tara did. Lindy loved the T-shirt because it made her think of Tara.
    Tara had warned her not to wear the shirt much so the autographs wouldn’t fade. Lindy planned to ask her father to make a frame forit. She would hang it in her room to remind herself of Chicago.
    “Maybe I’ll wear it first, though,” she whispered. “Just this once.”
    Soon Lindy was hurrying down the wooden steps wearing the Cubs T-shirt and a pair of shorts over her swimsuit. Her mother was right—it was hot. By the time she reached the bottom of the stairs, Lindy was already sweating.
    She sat down on the beach just below the tide line. The waves were still rough and foamy after yesterday’s storm. They splashed over her legs, cooling her off.
    For a long time she just sat there looking at the ocean. Were there really merpeople out there? It was still pretty hard to believe, even though she’d seen them for herself.
    Or at least she
thought
she had.…
    After a while her parents came out. “We’re heading over to the dock now,” her dad said. “Sure you don’t want to come?”
    “No thanks,” Lindy said. “I’m okay here.”
    Her mother looked worried. “You should get out and see more of the island, Lindy. That will help you settle in faster.”
    “It’s not that,” Lindy said. “It’s too hot to walk that far, that’s all.”
    Finally her parents left. As soon as they were out of sight, Lindy felt lonely. This place was too empty. Too quiet.
    Well, maybe not exactly
quiet
. There was the constant pounding and sighing of the sea, plus the cries of seagulls overhead.
    Then she heard a different sound: “Lindy!”
    Lindy gasped. Bobbing just beyond thesurf were two heads. One had bright silvery-blond hair. The other had hair of coppery ginger.

    It was the mermaids!

Lindy waded out as far as she dared. The busy waves grabbed at her legs, soaking the hem of her shorts.
    Coral and Sealily waved, then dove beneath the surface. Seconds later they appeared closer to shore. The waves picked them up and carried them along.
    “You came back!” Lindy cried when they reached her. “Hi, Finneus,” she added when the sea horse popped into view.
    Finneus chirped and bumped at her leg with his head. Lindy smiled and patted him.
    Sealily laughed. It sounded like water trickling over bells. “We came to thank you again, Lindy the hero.”
    “Yes.” Coral glanced around nervously. “But we can’t stay long. It’s not safe for us to be so close to the Drylands.”
    “I still can’t believe you guys are real.” Lindy stared at the mermaids’ graceful, shimmering tails. “I didn’t believe there were really mermaids.”
    “We weren’t sure what Drylanders would be like,” Coral said. “We never know whether to believe the stories Pelagos tells us.”
    An extra-rough wave rushed past, shoving at Lindy’s legs so fiercely that it almost knocked her down. For a second Lindy panicked. What if she lost her balance and the waves pulled her out to sea?
    Then she remembered: Her new friendswere there. They wouldn’t let her get washed away.
    “Who’s Pelagos?” she asked them.
    “He lives in the next cave with his merlady, Thetis. They taught us everything we know about Drylanders,” Sealily said.
    “Oh! That reminds me,” Coral said. “Thetis told me something once. I’ve always wondered if it was true. Wait here—I’ll be right back.”
    She turned and swam back out to