Fathom by L. Standage (spanish books to read .TXT) 📕

“Mermaids don’t wear seashells over their breasts,” she said. Uther coughed.

I groaned and covered my face. “I’m not going topless,” I murmured into my hands.

“What are you talking about?” said Cordelia. “I said we don’t wear seashells, not that we fin about uncovered. What do you think we are, animals?” She got up and walked out. Had I offended her somehow?

“What are my options?” I asked Natasha in a panic.

“Don’t listen to Cordelia,” said Seidon “She just thinks wearing seashells is for commoners. You’ll be fine wearing them.”

“No, you won’t,” said Cordelia as she came back in. “You’ll wear this.” She tossed something into my lap. It looked like a shredded piece of silvery, scaly leather.

“What is it?”

“It’s called a sark,” she replied. “My fellow mermaids and I all wear them when not on patrol duty. I wore it when I came out of the water. And no, there’s nothing special about it, so don’t get any ideas about sealskin, or whatever old mermaid legends humans tell each other for entertainment.”

I held it up. It looked almost like a halter bikini top. Humbled by her offering, I looked up at her in disbelief. “Wow. Uh, thank you. Captain.”

She offered a quick, very small smile.

I didn’t get to bed that night until two a.m. I camped on a rollaway bed in our motel room while Cordelia and Natasha each got a bed of their own. The men had two other rooms nearby. While everyone else slept, I stared at the dark ceiling and listened to the traffic outside through the thin walls. My eyes couldn’t close, despite my exhaustion. I kept envisioning Samantha with those horrible men. Was she tied up? Had she been beaten as Seidon had been? Were they giving her food and water? Were they keeping her in a cell?

The visions grew steadily worse as I wept into my pillow and clutched my blanket.

Thanks to the internet, we found a costume store the next morning, only a few miles away from the motel. Uther wanted me to stay in my room, but I insisted on going.

“I’m pretty sure we’re going to be the only ones in a costume store at this time of year,” I said. I couldn’t stand staying cooped up in the motel room any longer. And anyway, Calder was going.

It came down to me, Calder, and Seidon. Calder kept casting me discreet glances as he drove, as if I were on the verge of flying into hysterics again. Once, I caught his eye before he looked away.

“In case someone starts to question us, you should probably do the talking,” he said. “Say you’re going to a costume party or something.”

We got out of the car in front of Pitty’s Party and Costume Supply. The large store sat sandwiched between a locksmith shop and a Water ‘n Ice. In the front, a flashy glass window framed in black tinsel contained several dressed-up mannequins. One was a pirate, one a wizard, one a Jedi knight, and one a princess.

I followed Calder through the glass door. A small bell tinkled overhead. Shelves stuffed with kitschy novelties and Halloween makeup covered the walls. Rubber masks, both the grotesque and the familiar variety, sat on ledges above the aisles—everything from goblins to previous presidents.

A curvy young woman with long brown hair looked up from behind a tall checkout counter, where she sat reading a novel. Her eyes brightened. A sweet, eager smile spread across her friendly face—a nice contrast from all the animosity we’d been hit with lately.

“Hi there,” she said, putting down the book. She wore a tee shirt with a big heart on the front and a name tag reading Amber. “Anything I can help you with?”

“Uh, yeah,” I said. “I’m, uh, looking for some things for a costume.” I sounded like an idiot, but Amber smiled again, looking as though nothing could have brought her more pleasure than to help us out. She probably didn’t see much action during the summer.

“You’ve come to the right place. You guys from a production company? We provide stuff for costume departments all the time. What do you need? We’ve got everything.”

A production company? Okay, I could go with that.

“I’m not sure. I’m new to the whole costume department thing.”

“What kind of production is it?”

“It’s a movie about…mermaids.” Though I was reluctant to give out too much information in case Linnaeus’s cronies went digging, we needed help to make my disguise look as real as possible.

“Ooh, I love mermaids!” She came around the counter and led us down an aisle. Her long, loose skirt swished around her bare feet. “What’s the movie called?”

“Mermaids.” I couldn’t think of anything more inventive on the spot. I heard Calder snort behind me, but the girl didn’t notice.

“Hm, sounds quick and to the point. Over here we have various fish tails, sea-shell bras, starfish, wigs, glitter…” She walked deeper into the store, down an aisle displaying the items she described. The fishtails she pulled off hangers were wispy and corny—a lot less realistic than the one Samantha made. I felt a pang of admiration for her skill and a new sting of worry for her predicament.

“Actually, we already have the tail,” I said. “We just need some things to make gills with.”

“Gills! How creative!”

By the time we finished, we had some liquid latex, special heavy-duty adhesive, and some thin strips of flesh-colored rubber we could use to make gills.

“Thanks for stopping by, come back again if you ever need anything!” Amber handed me the plastic bag of merchandise with one last enthusiastic grin.

“Thanks for your help,” said Seidon as we walked out of the store with our purchases. A few minutes later, we arrived back at the motel.

“Did you get it?” asked Eamon when we walked into the motel room where he and the others waited.

“Yes. Everything we need.”

“Excellent. Sit down. Listen to what we’ve come up with.” Eamon ushered Calder, Seidon, and me to sit in whatever space was