The Mermaid's Gift: The Mermaid Island Trilogy, #2

By Judith Wade

Bonnie Campbell is back on Mermaid Island. She can hardly wait to visit her favorite places and see her friends, Bobbie and Moonie. But all is not well on the island. Search boats seeking a long-lost shipwreck are anchoring in the quiet waters off Yeoman's Beach. Will they discover the secret Bonnie has tried to hard to protect? The Mermaid's Gift is the second book in The Mermaid Island Trilogy by Judith Wade.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Riley Press
• Release date: Dec 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386320609

Book preview

Message for a mermaid

The beach was empty , but for a gull standing on one leg and leaning into the wind. Gazing out over the tossing waves, Bonnie saw to her relief that the blue boat had gone. She was alone.

She reached into her pocket and drew out a glass bead, letting the late afternoon sun sparkle on its shining surface. Then she walked quickly out onto the old log and, bracing herself against the gusting wind, she knelt and tucked the bead into the notch of the tree.

Back on the beach, she paused and gazed out at the water, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand. It would begin, she knew, with the colors—pastels and light golds and bronzes, growing stronger and deeper and brighter until they were a riot of different shades. Then, in the middle, in a glowing indigo pool, the water would grow oddly quiet and the mermaid would arrive, in all her incredible beauty.

Please come! Bonnie whispered into the wind.

To Sarah, who loves pears.

1

B onnie! shrieked a voice, and Bonnie scrambled over to the port side of the ferry, shading her eyes against the bright sun to peer toward the shoreline.

There, sprinting up the beach, was a girl dressed in bright green, her red hair glowing in the sunshine and all coming loose from its ponytail as she ran toward the ferry dock.

Hi Bobbie! Bonnie shouted in reply, hopping up and down and waving her arms in excitement.

Bobbie, dancing happily, beckoned behind her, and another girl appeared, moving at a slower pace but smiling just as broadly. It was Bobbie’s cousin, Moonie, carrying a book under her arm, her hazel eyes shining in welcome.

Look, Mom! Bobbie and Moonie VanGelderen came to meet us! Bonnie exclaimed, waving to the cousins standing on the beach. And there are the bait shop and the Town Hall. Everything is just the same as when we left last summer!

Seems like nothing ever changes too much on Mermaid Island, replied Bonnie’s mother, who had come to join Bonnie at the railing, the wind ruffling her short blonde hair.

She smiled at the two girls on the shore, then, spying a woman standing near them, she exclaimed, There’s Bettina VanGelderen, too!

Well, if it isn’t Caro and Bonnie Campbell! called Mrs. VanGelderen from the dock, cupping her hands around her mouth so her voice would carry up to mother and daughter. Caro, isn’t this just like when we were kids and you came over on the ferry?

You used to wear a pink sailor hat so I could pick you out in the crowd! Caro Campbell called back, teasing, and Bettina VanGelderen grinned.

The gangplank thumped down, and Bonnie hurried across it to greet her friends. For a few moments, they were all talking at once, laughing and hugging each other. Then their celebration was interrupted by a loud snort.

Bonnie looked down. Moonie, you brought Carlotta Anastasia! she exclaimed, bending to pat the small, tan dog at Moonie’s heels. Remember when I first saw you? Bonnie asked the little animal. I thought you were so funny looking, with your flat face and big eyes. And you’re still snorting as much as ever!

Carlotta Anastasia, her curly tail wagging madly, climbed into Bonnie’s lap, giving a contented sigh. Bonnie giggled.

That’s a pug dog hello! declared Moonie, and they all laughed.

Bonnie spied her mother and Bettina VanGelderen moving suitcases into the Campbells’ station wagon. Maybe I’d better go help my mom, she said to her friends. Can we get together later?

Sure, answered Bobbie. Call us once you’re settled in. Moonie and I are working on a project. Maybe you’d like to come help.

A project? asked Bonnie, but Bobbie just smiled mysteriously.

You’ll see! she answered slyly, and she wouldn’t say another word.

So Bonnie waved good-bye and went to join her mother at the car, helping to load several boxes and her mother’s laptop computer, and throwing her backpack in on top of the pile. Then she climbed into the front seat and Caro Campbell pulled the car away from the parking lot.

For a few minutes they drove in silence, winding south through the Mermaid Island village. Bonnie said curiously, Bobbie and Moonie said they’re working on a project. I wonder what it is?

Seems like Bobbie’s always up to something! answered her mother. She smiled at Bonnie. I’m sure you’re excited to go visit her and Moonie. As soon as we get these suitcases carried in, why don’t you run over there?

Okay, answered Bonnie, gazing out the window of the car and fingering the pearl on a thin gold chain around her neck. The pearl was a gift from her grandmother, and she wore it always.

So far nothing at Mermaid Island seemed any different from when she’d left last summer. But was everything really still the same? When she went down to the beach, would she see ...

Here we are, Caro Campbell announced happily, interrupting Bonnie’s thoughts.

She braked the car to a stop in the gravel driveway of a small cabin on the beach, and Bonnie opened the car door. In the distance she could hear the waves washing to and fro across the white sand.  The sound of the surf had sung her to sleep night after night last summer.

It was hard to imagine that at first she hadn’t wanted to come to Mermaid Island. Now she thought it was the most wonderful place on earth. Grabbing her backpack and a suitcase, Bonnie hurried to the front door of the cabin and burst inside, pausing to take a deep breath as the familiar odor of pine paneling and the tang of the wind off the water filled her nostrils.

Running to the window, she stared south toward Yeoman’s Beach, remembering its glittering white sand dotted with driftwood, the way the grass along the shoreline bent nodding toward the water, and the woods beyond where trails led to and from the main road. She would visit the beach just as soon as she had unpacked her things.

Carrying her bags, Bonnie climbed up the stairs to the