Mermaid 41

Cordelia swam in circles, waiting for Dylan. He was working through the reeds at this end of the lake.

“Here,” he said, passing her yellow-green leaves.

“Uh, thanks.” He hadn’t told her what he was doing.

He crammed on in his mouth, so she copied. The leaves tasted strange and were fleshier than she expected. It popped and squished in her mouth.

As soon as she swallowed, her whole body woke up. The lingering ache in her tail from fighting the current day after day melted away. She felt like she could swim forever.

“There,” Dylan said. “Let’s go.”

They swam the length of his lake in no time and the fish swimming upstream led her. “Up!”

“Stupid salmon,” Dylan complained as several bumped him on their way. “Chara’s lake isn’t far.” He swam straight into the current as she had in the beginning. It was still very strong and Cordelia used Drake’s style of navigating through dips and rises to avoid the worst of the rapids.

She shot past Dylan in no time and he followed her. She swam a little ways, but when Dylan didn’t pass, she ducked into one of the pockets on the bank to let him lead again.

He tried to stop with her, but there wasn’t enough room. He put his head into the current and pushed upstream. He had started dodging, though and Cordelia did as well, though she was better at it.

She passed Dylan twice more, letting herself be dragged back. When he darted to the right, Cordelia almost missed the turn.