Mermaids in the Backyard Read Online Free PDF Page B

at her.
    Lindy hesitated, touching her shirt. She thought about Tara, and Chicago, and her old life. Then she thought about Coral and Sealily. And Finneus.
    “It’s a deal,” she blurted out.
    “Huh?”
    Lindy pulled the T-shirt off over her head. “Here,” she said. “I’ll trade.”

Matthew looked surprised. Then he grabbed the T-shirt out of Lindy’s hand. “No backsies,” he said.
    He hurried toward the tide pool. “What are you doing?” Lindy asked.
    “What does it look like?” He dumped the bucket into the shallow water. “I traded you the sea horse, not my bucket. You’ll have to catch it again yourself.”
    With one last smirk, he raced away.
    When Lindy peered into the tide pool, Finneus was huddled beneath a rock. “It’sokay, Finny,” Lindy said softly. “He’s gone.”
    It took a few minutes to coax him out. At last the sea horse seemed to recognize her. He swam over and bumped her fingers with his head.

    Lindy smiled. “You’re safe now. Let’s get you home.”
    She scooped him up carefully. Then she scrambled up the hill and down to the beach. Kicking off her sandals, she waded into the surf.
    But releasing Finneus wasn’t as easy as she’d expected. He was very small, and the waves tossed him back to shore as soon as Lindy let go of him.
    “Sorry, Finneus!” she cried as he landed on the beach, flopping around and gasping for breath. She scooped him up and tried again, wading out farther this time. And even farther the time after that. Every time, Finneus ended up back on the beach.
    Finally Lindy put him back in the tide pool. The little sea horse seemed relieved to be away from the rough waves.
    “Now what?” Lindy whispered as she watched him swim around.
    She wondered if she should carry him over to the cove, where the water was calmer. But she didn’t have a bucket, and she didn’t trust Matthew not to come back and capture Finneus again while she looked for one.
    Besides, Matthew’s house was on the cove. What if he spotted the sea horse over there? Or what if Finneus couldn’t find his way out of the cove to the ocean?
    Lindy felt like crying. “I need to get you out to deeper water,” she told Finneus. “But how?”
    Suddenly she had an idea. She raced to the house and grabbed a life jacket. Slipping it on, she fastened the buckles tightly.
    There. Now she wouldn’t have to swim. If the water got too deep or a wave knocked her over, she would float.
    Lindy was shaking as she waded into the surf again, holding Finneus. But she knew what she had to do. She had to get out past the breaking waves. Then Finny could swim away without being tossed back to the beach.
    Soon the water was up to Lindy’s knees, then her thighs. She realized she’d forgotten to take off her shorts. She didn’t want to turn around now, though. If she did, she might be too scared to try again.
    “Almost there,” she chanted. “Almost there.”
    Finneus wriggled in her hands, but she held on to him. They weren’t quite deep enough yet.
    Just ahead, she saw the spot where the waves started to swell up and get pushy. All she had to do was get past it. Then she could release Finny and go back.
    She took another step. The waves splashed up past her waist. Almost there …
    “Whoa!” she cried as her foot stepped forward—into nothingness!
    She dropped Finneus and swung her arms, trying to push herself back onto the edge of the drop-off. But the push and pull of the waves dragged her. Her other foot lost its grip on the sandy seafloor. Just like that, Lindy was floating!
    There was a happy chirp nearby. Finneus popped to the surface. He darted over and bumped her with his head.
    “You’re welcome,” Lindy said breathlessly, realizing that she’d done it. The rough, breaking waves were behind them.
    Way
behind them. Lindy glanced back and gulped. The shore looked very far away.
    Finneus chirped again. A second later hedisappeared beneath the surface, leaving Lindy all alone. The life