Mermaid 16

"Father says she won't come to the ocean anymore."
That led to more questions and answers about Cordelia's birth and how she could find her mother.
"Your father will help you? That's awesome. You have to go. How cool would it be to find meet her?"
"And scary," Cordelia added.
"Scary? Why?"
"We don't know what mountain water is like. Here we know about the sharks and killer whales and avoid them, but what lives in the rivers and lakes of mountain water?"
Meri didn't answer immediately, but when she did, it was supportive. "I'm sure you'll know what's dangerous." Her smile grew. "It's probably in your scales," she teased, flicking her tail against Cordelia's. There was a difference between them, Cordelia's being very slightly bluer.
Maybe Meri was right.

Mermaid 15

Neither was the case.
"No way! Your mom lives in mountain water? That is so cool!" She swum in circles around Cordelia, drilling her with questions. "What does she look ike? How did you find out? Can you live in mountain water?"
Cordelia relaxed. Meri's response wasn't a whole lot different from her own.
"That fish you found is from mountain water. My father recognized it and told me about her."
"Have you seen her?"
Cordelia shook her head and turned toward home, knowing Meri would follow. "Father says she won't come to the ocean any more."

Mermaid 14

"Take all the time you like to decide."
Dallas and his friends dove through then, distracting both father and daughter.
"I'm going to Meri's," she shouted, fleeing the exuberant boys.
It took a long time and a good bit of courage to tell Meri what she had learned. They'd swum a long way, following a pod of whales and spinning in the debris stirred up by their passing. The tiny brush of plankton and other microscopic creatures tickled, making the girls giggle from time to time. It was after one ticklish pass that Cordelia told her friend about her mother. Cordelia was afraid Meri would be frightened of her, or worse, angry.
Neither was the case.

Mermaid 13

"Promise me, Cordelia?"
She blinked, looking at the dead fish floating away from her open hand. She let it go.
"I promise, though I'm not sure I want to go. I think I do." She was so confused, flooded with so much new information. She had gone from knowing nothing about her mother to considering seeking her upstream in just a few minutes.
"You don't have to go." Her father sunk to her side and squeezed her shoulder. "Never have to go. And take all the time you like to decide."

Mermaid 12

"I'll never see her."
"I don't know about that," her father said. "Although you needed salt water to thrive, unlike me, the river didn't hurt you. If you wanted to find your mother, I would help you as far as the delta. But you must promise, if it hurts you, turn around and come home."
Cordelia was still in shock from the prior statement, so she didn't answer her father.
"Promise me, Cordelia?"

Mermaid 11

"Why?" Cordelia asked in alarm. "She didn't want to see me again?"
Her father wrapped his strong arms around Cordelia, hugging her tightly. "She never said, but yes, I think she knew it would be terrible to see you and not take you home with her."
Cordelia blew out the aid she held, sinking to the broken deck boards of their home. "I'll never see her," Cordelia said, embarrassed at how close she was to tears.

Mermaid 10

"She just swam away?"
"Yes," her father said, and Cordelia could tell he missed the mermaid of mountain water.
"Then how did I get here?" she asked, very confused.
"Your egg was laid in her lake, and when the tide was high again, I went looking for your mother. She held you on her back, tiny and green. She told me that you had recently hatched but weren't growing the way you should. Based on your colour, we assumed you need saltwater. I had to say goodbye to your mother one more time. I wanted to see her again, meet her there every tide, but she said she wouldn't come again."
"Why?"