thing has been happening where Chime broadcasts tunes that aren’t tunes.’
‘What? I don’t get it,’ said Clancy, scrunching his face up like he had just eaten a bad snail or something.
This always got on Ruby’s nerves: trying to explain something when someone was looking at you like this was off-putting. ‘Quit making the face, would ya?’ said Ruby.
‘Sorry,’ said Clancy. ‘I don’t do it on purpose; it’s just how my face goes.’
Ruby continued. ‘I mean the music is untuneful, as in very un-Chime-like, sorta avant-garde – like music but super modern,’ she said.
‘Has anybody been complaining about it?’ said Clancy.
‘They apologised on the show and Talk Radio said it might be due to asteroid interference.’
‘So maybe that’s it,’ said Clancy. ‘Maybe it’s just some old asteroid.’
Ruby didn’t say anything, but Clancy recognised the look in her eye. ‘What are you thinking it is?’ he asked.
Ruby sighed. ‘I’m thinking there are a lot of strange things all going on at once and it’s hard to imagine they aren’t all connected in some way.’
They were deep into this animated discussion when Red and Del showed up. They slid into the seats next to Clancy and Ruby.
‘So Coach is pretty over the moon,’ said Del. ‘Says he hasn’t had so many great swimmers all in one grade for at least a decade. He can see big opportunities for the Twinford swim team – wants to make sure old Crew here joins up, says he’s a great ocean swimmer, which means he wants you coming to swim practice. You ready for that Crew?’
Clancy put his head in his hands.
‘What’s the matter with him?’ asked Del.
‘He’s just feeling lucky to be alive,’ said Ruby.
‘And this is how he expresses it?’ said Del.
‘You mean something happened out there?’ asked Red.
But Clancy didn’t want to talk about it.
‘He thinks there’s something out in Twinford Bay that might nibble him,’ said Del.
‘You know what?’ said Red. ‘I think he might be right. I heard something when I was swimming. Something not normal.’
‘How could you?’ said Ruby. ‘You were wearing earplugs.’
‘Well, that’s the thing,’ said Red. ‘I lost them.’
Ruby wasn’t surprised to hear that; Red lost things a lot. She was a dropper, a breaker and a loser of stuff.
‘When I was almost out to the buoy,’ said Red, ‘I heard this kind of singing.’
Ruby sat up. ‘Really? What do you think it was?’
‘Could have been a mermaid or something. It was kind of sad-sounding,’ said Red.
‘Oh geez!’ said Del. ‘Trust you to believe in mermaids.’
‘I’m not saying it was one,’ said Red. ‘I’m saying it coulda been one, if there were mermaids I mean. I’m not saying there are, but if there were.’
‘There aren’t,’ said Del. ‘Not even slightly, you can take my word for it.’ Ruby agreed with Del on this point. Red’s mermaid theory was unlikely, but it was kind of strange that she claimed to have heard a voice in the ocean. Ruby was thinking back to Agent Kekoa’s briefing – the strange sounds people had been hearing in the bay. Could Red have heard the same thing?
Clancy was feeling a little cheered by this conversation; he didn’t mind talking about mermaids because, as far as he understood it, all they did was sit about brushing their hair – they weren’t particularly threatening as sea creatures went, and what’s more they didn’t exist so it wasn’t really something he had to worry about.
‘Hey you guys, I’ve been looking all over for you!’ said Elliot, spotting them at their table. ‘Dya wanna come to my place late afternoon? We’re having a barbeque – Mouse’ll be there.’
Clancy looked at him warily. ‘Seafood?’ he asked.
‘Burgers,’ said Elliot.
‘Sure,’ smiled Clancy. ‘That would be great.’
However, it turned out not to be so great because Elliot’s mother’s friend, Tilly Matthews, dropped by to update the world and his wife on the latest rumour going around Twinford. Tilly Matthews had a lot of time on her hands and most of it was spent telling folks other folks’ business; this time though she had some real news.
‘Apparently, fourteen-foot sharks have been spotted moving along Twinford Bay, and not one or two either, a whole batch of them.’
Ruby was considering correcting Tilly on the collective for sharks, but was interrupted by the clattering of Clancy’s salad fork as it fell from his hand onto his plate.
‘Are you OK sweetie-pie?’ asked Elliot’s mom. ‘You look like you might actually faint.’
‘To tell you the truth Mrs Finch, I don’t feel so good,’ replied Clancy earnestly.
His imagination had instantly supplied him with an image of him being swiftly devoured by a fourteen-foot-long shark, and he couldn’t think of anything a whole lot worse than being eaten by a fourteen-foot shark. Perhaps being eaten by a whole batch of fourteen-foot sharks would be worse, but it was marginal.
‘Would you mind if I called a cab and went on home?’ he asked.
‘Well, now I’m really worried Clancy. Do you want to lie down?’ asked Mrs Finch.
‘No, I’ll be fine,’ said Clancy. Promptly fainting.
WHEN RUBY WOKE UP THE NEXT MORNING, she called Clancy right away, but he wasn’t answering his phone. In the end she had to call the main line and ask Drusilla the housekeeper to get him to pick up.
‘Hello,’ came a weak voice from the end of the line.
‘Clance? What are you doing?’ demanded Ruby.
‘I feel lousy,’ said Clancy. ‘Real sick.’
‘You’re not sick, you’re just freaked out. Yikes Clance,’ she said. ‘I mean I knew you were shark phobic, but I didn’t think that just talking about them could actually be terminal.’
‘That’s not it,’ said Clancy. ‘It’s just I knew I shouldn’t swim in the ocean. Now, it turns out I was right. I came this close to actual death.’
Ruby
