Fresh Water

By Isabella Gibson

Growing up with a single mother, Perce knows little about her father, who vanished when she was just a toddler. During her holidays, she and her cousin Peri spend their days exploring the woods behind her uncle’s house and making dens in the trees. But when they encounter some mysterious visitors, they uncover secrets that their parents have been hiding from them both – secrets that reveal the truth about Perce’s father and an incredible, otherworldly heritage.

As Perce struggles to come to terms with her ability to breathe underwater and her rightful place as the heir to an undersea throne, her aunt is kidnapped and she and Peri must race against time to rescue her. Along the way, they discover the true strength of their blended family and their ability to embrace both their land-dwelling and sea-faring cultures. Despite the traditions that seek to divide them, they fight to stay together and make peace with their past, bound by the unbreakable bond of love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Mar 3, 2023
• ISBN: 9781035804740

Isabella Gibson

Isabella Gibson has been writing stories since she was a little girl. Taught to read by her grandmother before she started school, she spent her childhood reading fairy tales and making up stories where she was the main character. Turning her hand to poetry and song writing through her teens, she returned to her love of creating fairy tales when her first child was born. Known as the ‘aunty who does the good voices in stories’, Isabella hopes to share her grandmother’s legacy by instilling the love for reading in her own children and niblings. Isabella lives in Dorset with her three children, two cats and several thousand books.

Book preview

About the Author

Isabella Gibson has been writing stories since she was a little girl. Taught to read by her grandmother before she started school, she spent her childhood reading fairy tales and making up stories where she was the main character.

Turning her hand to poetry and song writing through her teens, she returned to her love of creating fairy tales when her first child was born. Known as the ‘aunty who does the good voices in stories’, Isabella hopes to share her grandmother’s legacy by instilling the love for reading in her own children and niblings.

Isabella lives in Dorset with her three children, two cats and several thousand books.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my daughter, Sunrise, the inspiration to my imagination.

If you were a mermaid, you would have a shimmering pink tail.

Copyright Information ©

Isabella Gibson 2023

The right of Isabella Gibson to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781035804733 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781035804740 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Before

All day the mist had clung to the ground, shrouding the buildings in a white cloak and muffling sounds that echoed eerily through the air.

After work was done and food was eaten, things tidied away and the house finally quiet, she took tea and a book and went to draw a bath.

She dropped a silver ball of oil into the swirling water. It dissipated quickly in the heat and clouded the water to mimic the mist outside.

With Sospiri by Elgar on the radio, she sank into the water and tried to read the book.

For no reason that seemed obvious, maybe it was the music, her heart started to race at the same time that the panic rose in her throat. She sat up and leant her head against the edge of the bath to cool it down. Her heart was thundering in her temples and making it hard to breathe.

Suddenly a memory pierced her consciousness, causing a stab of pain and sorrow.

He used to go out every Thursday evening for an hour or two and she would bathe while she waited. Coming home, he would wash her hair as she sat. He always loved her hair. He would massage her head with strong fingers and use a cup to rinse away the lather slowly so that she could relax and enjoy the feeling of being cherished.

A hot tear escaped, stinging her eye and leaving a burning trail down her cheek. It must have been ten years since. Why was she remembering now? Remembering that nobody loved her like that anymore. Nobody cherished her and called her their love.

The tears tumbled faster down her cheeks and her breath hitched in her throat. She gripped the side of the bath and concentrated on breathing slowly. In and out. In and out.

There was a gentle knock at the door. Mummy, can I use the loo please?

She washed her face with the misty water and pulled the shower curtain across the bath.

Yes darling, come in. She picked up her book and lay back down in the water.

Autumn Half Term

It was the end of October and autumn was in full swing. The air was crisp but not biting, the trees were golden but not yet naked, and the sun was low but still bright.

As Perce walked home from school, her bag heavy with homework, she smiled to herself with a little excited skip. She was going to stay for the whole week with her cousin Periwinkle, known to all as Peri.

Peri lived with her parents in an old miller’s cottage attached to an old water mill at the edge of woodlands. Peri was home-schooled, so while Perce’s mum had to work through most school holidays, she was able to stay with her cousin.

The last time Perce had stayed, it was in the summer holidays and they had spent every day down by the river, building a den in the trees.

There was an ancient oak that grew 100 paces from the river bank. Perce and Peri had found it easy to climb and had stored a tin of custard creams and an old blanket up there. They would sit up high in the branches and watch the creatures that used the water as their home.

The summer had flown by and Perce looked forward to going back to their spying tree.

She arrived home and let herself in. Her mum would be home by 4:30 p.m. and Perce needed to be changed, packed and ready to go by then.

She dropped her school bag in the hall, ran upstairs and started to throw random warm clothes into a large travel bag, including her favourite hand-knitted hooded cardigan. Bag packed, she added her journal and pencil case (you can never have enough pencils) and lugged it all downstairs.

She was just pulling on her converse when her mum came in through the door.

All packed Percy? asked Mum.

Yep! said Perce. Her tongue was poking out of the corner of her mouth as she struggled to force her left foot into the boot. Her mum laughed.

If you loosened the laces properly, your foot might go in.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Perce smiled as her heel finally plopped into place. She quickly tied the lace and stood up. There, all done.

Her mum raised an eyebrow…

Including your homework? she queried, eyeing up the discarded school bag that was spilling its load of books across the hall.

Oh that, yes, I was just about to get it… cough, cough… Grinning at her mother, she fished her homework book out of her bag and slotted it in her holdall next to her journal.

Perce’s mum, Scarlett, grinned back, flashing her green eyes.

Let Peri help you, it will be a novelty for her. Peri never got any homework. Perce huffed.

It’s so unfair, why can’t I be homeschooled too?

Scarlett sighed to herself; they had had this conversation before.

You know I have had to work full time so we can afford to live. Your aunt is fortunate enough to be able to stay at home with Peri because Uncle Peter earns enough from his job.

I know Mum, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring Dad up. Her dad had gone to work one day when she was four and had never come back. There had been no warning, no news and no sign of him for ten years. She remembered her mum crying in her room every night for months, but eventually, after about four months of abject despair, Scarlett had picked herself up, got herself a better-paid job and supported herself and Perce ever since.

With the help of her sister Saffron, she had