An Ordinary Drowning, Book One of The Mermaid's Pendant Read Online Free PDF

his neck and he bent
forward….
    The
water turned playful, rolling and ducking him. John, water sheeting over his
face, laughed and began splashing. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he
realized that he’d look totally bonkers to anyone who stumbled upon him, but he
didn’t care. Nothing held him back, entangled him, under this infinite sky.
     “Where’s
my lady del mar when I need her?” He didn’t realize that he’d spoken
aloud until he heard an answer.
    “Will I
do?” Ana stood at the mouth of the trail; her wild white hair spun wisps around
her face. “Or are you looking for something else? You seem recovered.”
    John
hung suspended in the water, which had lost its charm. He felt vulnerable to
the old woman’s sharp gaze. “I am.”
    As
dainty and graceful as a mountain goat, the old woman picked her way across the
stony shore. She squatted down and toyed with some broken bits of shells. “Saw
your flyer at Isla Encantada. Think to catch your mermaid, eh?” Her rough voice
stayed even, but John heard the scorn in it.
    “I never
said that.”
    “Tomás
thinks you did.”
    John
sighed. “No.”
    “Don’t
believe in mermaids, do you? Why not? Maybe one is swimming right beside you.”
The old woman’s right eye glittered. “Close to us vile humans, eh?” She chortled.
    John
squirmed. “Look, you see who pulled me out of the canal or not?”
    “I saw
no woman. Either there’s a lady del mar or you made the whole thing up.”
    “Why
would I do that?”
    “Hm.”
She picked at some seaweed on the sand, swirling its limp strands on the
stones. “Ask yourself.”
    He had
to get out of the water, fast. He lurched upright and strode to the shore,
water spraying from his quick arms. He stopped next to her, but she didn’t look
at him. “I’m not making this up. I didn’t imagine nearly drowning. I didn’t
imagine the woman who saved me.” He paused and then braved a question. “Do you
know more than you’re telling?”
    She
swiveled and looked up at him. A sly smile oiled her wrinkled cheeks. “Maybe I
pulled you out.”
    John
ignored her. “How’d you happen to find me?”
    Ana
shrugged, stood up, and brushed her hands on her threadbare skirt. “Came here
to gather this and that for my remedies.”
    “Maybe
you’re not the only one who gathers ‘this and that’ for her remedies.”
    “Perhaps.”
She shrugged again. “Whatever makes you happy.”
    John
watched her bend over the stones, dismissing him. He didn’t need to stay and
watch her pick over rocks, to have her pick over his story. What did it matter
what she thought? He’d already passed her and reached the trail before something
in her manner made him turn around. She seemed to scour the rock where he’d
found the sea star. After a minute, she turned to stare at him.
    “Maybe
Tomás has found her for you.”
    “I’ll
ask. Good hunting.” He nodded and turned back to the trail.
    If he’d felt
perplexed before, now he felt angry. He stopped walking after ten minutes and
closed his eyes. The memory of saltwater filling his lungs choked him. Fresh
panic shocked his heart into erratic beating. His eyes flew open. Brilliant
light haloed his vision in the rising heat. He had almost drowned. But.
He tried to recall the feel of her arms around him or the sound of her voice.
All he summoned was a feeling of warm security, of relief from suffocation. Had
his oxygen-starved brain hallucinated her? The inexplicable image of curly hair
and brilliant blue eyes returned as if to confirm this.
    John
returned to his campsite. He couldn’t go to Isla Encantada for hours. He didn’t
want to read. He couldn’t snorkel. He wanted to know who had pulled him out of
the water. He wanted to know why she’d left him. He stuck the island map into
the waistband of his shorts and hopped onto the bike. He would distract himself
with a tour of the island. He pedaled so furiously that he lost himself under
the hard blue sky until a headache