as the female lifted it from the side, cradling it over her arm.
An object zipped by her face, landing in the water beside her.
Pearlina kicked away from it, creating a splash loud enough for the humans to hear. She ducked under the dock in time before the three humans glanced over the side of the craft. Her heart hammered in her chest, enough that she thought it would burst from under her skin. The world shifted on its axis. For the first time in her life, she was out of control.
‘Sorry about that,’ a female voice said. It wasn’t Carolina.
‘Mrs. Jones,’ one of the males said.
‘Hi, there!’ she chirped. ‘Harry, Ben, does your father know you’re on his boat?’
‘No, ma’am.’
‘I’m looking for my wallet,’ the hidden male said.
‘You’d better keep hold of that.’ Mrs. Jones let out a laugh that pierced Pearlina’s chest, pleasantly. It sounded like the song of the sky fliers. Birds. ‘Well, I’ll leave you all to it. I was going for a stroll when I accidentally kicked a rock.’
‘It’s a good thing you didn’t hit the side,’ the hidden male muttered.
‘It’s a good thing,’ Mrs. Jones repeated. ‘I might have had to explain to your father who I saw before damaging his boat.’
A long silence stretched on before several sets of the booming sounds thundered over Pearl’s head. Now she understood that the noise was humans walking above her.
The hidden male appeared. He shared the same pale hair as Carolina.
Syrene would never believe Pearlina encountered four humans within minutes of being near land. Yet, none of them were drowning in the water beside her.
Pearlina let out a breath. It was hard enough to breathe above water. She didn’t need her body to stop working before she completed her mission.
Slower movement shuffled above her, then stopped. A human groaned, and then Pearlina came face to face with a female one. The human’s upside-down lips curved. Her skin was dark, like Kaito’s, but not taut like his. Deep wrinkles creased the corners of her eyes and mouth.
If Pearlina ever came across a large predator, her reflexes always followed through for her. With one flick of her fin, she’d out-swim it in seconds. The same instinct came to her, but she still tried to keep afloat. Instead of withdrawing from the human, she shoved water away from her and kicked her useless legs.
‘It’s a good thing they didn’t see you,’ Mrs. Jones said. ‘Especially in your condition.’ She eyed Pearlina up and down.
Pearlina sunk below the surface but kept her head visible. Still, she couldn’t believe the water, which had given her comfort earlier, now only made a pit widen in her stomach.
‘You kids and your skinny-dipping,’ she said with a huff. ‘Though I’m not sure why you’re by the docks. I don’t want to pretend I know why you all do the things you do.’
Pearlina had no idea what to say, but she knew what she needed.
‘I need clothing,’ she said. The human way of speaking still foreign to her but the words came to her as if they were always there, waiting for her to release them from her mouth.
‘You came here without clothes?’ Mrs. Jones asked.
Pearlina nodded.
The human made a sound that reminded Pearlina of a dolphin’s click.
‘Can you help me?’ If the human came close enough to the water, she could take her. But she was already exhausted and would never make it back to the cove today. This human didn’t feel right. She had kind eyes, like Daryah’s. She hated thinking of the banished one, but there was no helping it.
‘I can,’ Mrs. Jones said, pointing toward land. ‘I have a place over here. You follow me, and I’ll get you a coat. Then we can talk about how you ended up here.’
As much as Pearlina didn’t trust humans, she had no choice. She swam as silently as possible, keeping Mrs. Jones above her.
‘You wait here now,’ Mrs. Jones said, peering over the side of the dock once they reached the land. ‘I’ll be back in a jiffy.’
Pearlina grabbed a rock that led up to the land and stayed put. A cool breeze clung to her, and she dipped under the water again. She turned toward the cove in the far distance, and closed her eyes, hoping to go back soon. Once she was out of the water, she wouldn’t return without completing her duty to the troop.
Mrs. Jones returned to the docks with a covering, like the outer layer Carolina wore. This one had fur around the edge. It wasn’t damp or matted but moved as the woman walked. Pearlina had never seen anything like it before.
The newness of the clothing interested her, but an opportunity neared, and she couldn’t ignore it. With one sharp movement, Pearlina could smash the human’s head against the rocks. If she grabbed Mrs. Jones and swam under, maybe she’d be home quicker than she thought. Though diving into the water with the human in tow would take forever. And she didn’t have the strength after her swim to shore. As much as she disliked the humans, she had to carry out her plan the first time without fail.
Mrs. Jones tossed the covering onto the rocks and stepped back from the water’s edge. It was as if Pearlina had spoken her plan aloud. This human had shown her kindness. Pearlina admitted to herself she was curious about land. There was no harm in learning about humans for one day. Pearlina lifted herself from the water, and Mrs. Jones turned away.
Were these humans that modest? She slipped the covering over her shoulders. It was long enough to cover her down to the knobby bones halfway down her new legs. Knees, she recalled from her conversation with the other females.
‘You decent?’ Mrs. Jones said.
Pearlina shivered. ‘Y-yes.’ She tucked the sides of the covering over her bare chest. She climbed onto solid land, pressing her feet against the rocky surface. She wobbled, but Mrs. Jones grabbed her arms.
Those kind eyes lifted to Pearlina’s once more. ‘You’re going to get hypothermia. Come inside.’
It took a few steps to get her footing before Pearlina walked closely behind Mrs. Jones.
The creaking of the docks and the gentle lapping of the water against the boats became distant sounds as they walked further from the sea.
Similar-looking structures rose from the land. Houses. The dwellings where humans lived. Mrs. Jones led Pearlina to a door. She took out a tinkling set of keys and fished through them for the correct one. When Pearlina was young, she had found some at the bottom of her cove. She had kept the shiny metal for a time, even though she had no clue about their use. After Daryah’s betrayal, she’d rid her home of all human trinkets. She had dropped them over the ceremonial cliff into the depths of the ocean, forcing them to disappear with the humans the Drywalkers
