Harper and Splash dived inside the cave. It was dark and Harper’s eyes had to gradually adjust to the dim light. But as they did, she gasped in alarm. A creature with two large eyes and eight arms was glaring at them through the gloom!
For Natalie Williams, who loves books and dolphins.
J.S. and L.C.
Dearest Robyn, wishing you lots of sparkly fun! Enjoy reading! x L.T.
First published in the UK in 2024 by Nosy Crow Ltd Wheat Wharf, 27a Shad Thames, London, SE1 2XZ, UK
Nosy Crow Eireann Ltd 44 Orchard Grove, Kenmare, Co Kerry, V93 FY22, Ireland
Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd
Text © Julie Sykes and Linda Chapman, 2024 Illustrations © Lucy Truman, 2024
The right of Julie Sykes, Linda Chapman and Lucy Truman to be identified as the authors and illustrator of this work has been asserted.
All rights reserved
ISBN: 978 1 80513 229 5
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. 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 written permission of Nosy Crow Ltd.
The publisher and copyright holders prohibit the use of either text or illustrations to develop any generative machine learning artificial intelligence (AI) models or related technologies.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, Elcograf S.p.A. following rigorous ethical sourcing standards.
Papers used by Nosy Crow are made from wood grown in sustainable forests. 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
www.nosycrow.com
CHAPTER ONE
“Ready, Splash?” Harper grinned at her dolphin, her green eyes sparkling with mischief. Splash gave an eager nod. “I’m ready!”
Harper stifled a giggle as she swam along the outer wall of her dormitory tower and peeped through the window. There was no glass in the windows of Mermaid Academy so the students could swim straight through, and this meant she had to be extra quiet.
Inside Lilac Star dorm, Harper saw her dorm-mates, Millie, Aurora and Lyla unpacking. Everyone had just returned from holiday.
Millie was carefully placing hair slides on a miniature coral tree. Lyla had emptied all her bags out and was staring at her heap of things in disbelief, while Aurora was curled up on her clamshell bed, reading a book.
“Three, two, one, go!” whispered Harper. She raised her voice and made it sound exactly like the school’s headteacher, Dr Oceania.
“Come along, Crystal. We’ll start our surprise inspection with Lilac Star dorm. If they haven’t unpacked their things yet then there’s going to be serious trouble!”
Splash whistled in agreement, pretending to be Crystal, Dr Oceania’s dolphin.
Hearing alarmed gasps from her friends, Harper struggled to hold back her giggles. Beside her, Splash shook with silent laughter.
She continued loudly, “If the dorm is a mess, I will deduct ten sea-star points…” When she heard Millie let out a horrified squeak, she gave up, exploding
with laughter as she looked through the window. “Tricked you!” she cried.
“Harper!” shrieked Millie. “Don’t do things like that!”
“You’re much too good at mimicking people,” said Aurora, picking her book off the floor where she had dropped it in panic.
Lyla nodded, heaving a sigh of relief. “I seriously thought we were going to start the term with negative sea-star points. Millie would never have forgiven us,” she said with a grin.
Lilac Star had nearly won the trophy for the dorm with the most sea-star points last term, until Moon Pearl leapt ahead at the last minute. Millie was determined to win it this time round.
Harper swam inside. “Have you missed me?” she asked, throwing her bag on her bed.
Everyone hugged her. “Definitely,” said Lyla. “Life is much quieter without you around.”
“I’ve missed everyone,” said Aurora.
Millie nodded. “It was fun to be home for a while. I loved seeing my little sisters, but it’s great to be back.”
“Did you have a good holiday, Harper?” Lyla asked.
Harper pulled a face. “Yes and no. It was nice
seeing Mum and Dad, but my brother’s fifteen now and he’s a real boring barnacle. He won’t hang out with me so I had no-one to play pranks on or do dares with which wasn’t much fun. And I really missed Splash.”
“I missed you too!” Splash whistled from outside the window. “Let’s go and play. Jewel, Charm and Storm are in The Singing Circle.”
“Sure! Come on everyone,” said Harper happily. She darted back to the window.
“Harper, wait,” called Millie. “We’ve already seen our dolphins. There’s a school assembly soon in the Grand Cavern and after that, lessons start.”
Harper spun round in dismay. “What? Are you sure?”
“Yes, our first lesson is Wildlife Studies with Mr Nori,” said Millie. “Our timetable is up on the noticeboard. Didn’t you check it?”
“But it’s our first day back! I thought we’d be
allowed to settle in and chill,” groaned Harper, who hadn’t even thought about checking the noticeboard. She gave Splash a longing look. Millie, Aurora and Lyla were great but Splash was her best friend in all the oceans and they had so much to catch up on.
A long note from a conch shell rang out around the school.
“Assembly is about to start,” said Aurora.
“Boring snoring!” grumbled Splash.
Harper swam over the window ledge. “We can swim down to the Grand Cavern together at least, Splash.” She grabbed the fin on his back.
“Race you all!” she called to her friends. “Last one there’s a stinky skunkfish!”
She giggled at their indignant exclamations as Splash shot away, pulling her with him. When mermaids and dolphins linked their energy together, they could swim much faster than
either could alone. Harper made use of that magic a lot. Her tail fin was smaller than most of the other mermaids which meant she couldn’t swim as fast. It didn’t bother her. She just worked harder or found a different way to achieve her goals.
Harper held on to Splash as they zoomed down through the turquoise water and across The Singing Circle. There were stone benches to sit on, large sea fans, impressive statues and a pedestal with a giant golden harp. Two nibbler fish who had been snacking on a section of coral arch scattered as Harper and Splash raced past.
The school buildings all surrounded The Singing Circle. Some were made from coral
and others from stone. The Grand Cavern where assemblies were held was a huge cave carved out of a rocky cliff on one side of The Singing Circle. Its entrance was covered by a thick curtain of seaweed.
“Winners!” said Splash, play-bumping Harper with his nose as they stopped in a cloud of bubbles outside it.
“Yaaay!” Harper said. “You’re the best, Splash. Meet me at the Wildlife Sanctuary at breaktime and we can catch up properly then.”
“OK,” said Splash.
“Don’t have too much fun without me!” Harper called as he swam away.
Her friends arrived and they entered the Grand Cavern with the other students. The rocky ceiling of the Grand Cavern arched high overhead, decorated by bioluminescent algae that sparkled like stars. Sconces of green mermaid fire flickered on the walls and a huge magical globe hung above
Dr Oceania’s magnificent chair. Every body of water in the world – oceans, seas, lakes, lagoons – were charted on the globe, their names written in swirling gold. If a student or teacher wanted to travel somewhere, the globe could transport them. Last term, Harper and her friends had travelled
to some beautiful sea grass meadows where they’d rescued a family of fairy whales. Harper felt a fizz of excitement as she remembered.
“I hope we have another adventure this term,” she announced.
“Ssh!” hissed Millie, glancing round. “Dr Oceania asked us to keep it a secret.”
“Whoops!” Harper’s hand flew to her mouth. “Sorry!” she whispered. Luckily everyone else seemed too busy chattering to their friends to have overheard her. “It was brilliant though, wasn’t it?”
Her eyes shone as she thought about how they had saved the whales from the Mal Mer, a secretive and dangerous clan of merfolk. The Mal Mer, having plundered their own ocean of everything beautiful, had started taking things from other oceans. They had also learned to use mind control magic to force sea creatures to work for them.
Over the holiday, Harper had heard her parents
talking about how three of the Mal Mer were under investigation by the Mer Council for trapping sea creatures and stealing rare plants and corals. Extra guards had been sent to patrol the oceans to prevent other Mal Mer from making similar raids. Harper was very glad the oceans were safer now but still hoped she and her friends would have another adventure. If we do, maybe I’ll find my magic and bond with Splash, she thought hopefully.
All merfolk could pull green mermaid fire from the seabed and create bubble tunnels to transport themselves places, but everyone had their own special magic too. Last term, Millie had discovered she could conjure up clouds of black ink. She was the only one of Lilac Star to have found her magic so far – and to have bonded with her dolphin. When a mer and their dolphin bonded, their tail fins changed colour, so Millie and Storm
now had matching pink, gold and purple fins to show they were partners for life. Harper couldn’t wait to bond with Splash!
Feeling restless, she stirred the water with her tail, causing a ripple which made all the students in the line in front bob up and down. Harper giggled and nudged Lyla. “Watch this!” she said, doing it again but this time stirring the water more forcefully.
The other students gasped and squealed as they
fell around. Harper creased up laughing.
Maya from Moon Pearl dorm righted herself and swung round. “Stop it, Harper!” she exclaimed.
Harper couldn’t contain her giggles. “But it’s so funny! You all look like jiggly jellyfish...” She broke off as she realised all the other students had fallen silent.
Dr Oceania, and her enormous dolphin, Crystal, had appeared through a shell curtain. Harper gulped as they both fixed her with icy glares.
Clattering clams! She was in trouble now!
CHAPTER TWO
“Harper!” snapped Dr Oceania. “Unless you want to be the first student to receive a behaviour mark this term then I would suggest you stop that.”
Harper blushed as she squirmed under the headteacher’s stern gaze “Sorry, Dr Oceania,” she muttered, noticing Mr Nori, one of her favourite teachers, shaking his head in disappointment.
Dr Oceania fixed her with a stare for a moment longer and then to Harper’s relief, turned away.
Crystal clapped her flippers and a choir of stripy diva fish surrounded the headteacher’s chair.
Dr Oceania began to sing the school song.
The fish shimmied around her, their bubbly voices accompanying Dr Oceania’s melodic tones.
The rest of the school joined in, their voices soaring to a crescendo as the song came to a close.
As the last note faded, Dr Oceania smiled and sat down in her chair.
“Welcome back, everyone! I hope you are all rested after the break and ready to work hard as you and your dolphins train to become guardians of our beautiful world.”
The students nodded eagerly.
“First years, I have some exciting news,” Dr Oceania continued. “This term you will be studying coastal areas and are going on a field trip with Mr Nori and Ms Samphire where you will get a chance to swim to the surface and see land.”
A ripple of excitement ran through the first years. Dr Oceania smiled. “I know that many of you whose clans live in the deeper oceans will never have been to the surface before and this will be a great adventure! You will be split into two groups. One group will visit the mangrove swamps tomorrow and the other will visit a coastal kelp forest next week. You will share information about what you see with your classmates. Those of you who choose to go to the mangrove swamps may also be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Wise Sage. She was sighted there two days ago.”
The first years all started to whisper excitedly.
Wise Sage was an extremely ancient and magical turtle with a golden shell. As she travelled through the underwater world, she released pure wild magic which helped make everywhere beautiful and sea creatures and plants flourish. It was very unusual to see her.
Dr Oceania held up her hand for silence. “Although I am sure you would all like the chance to see Wise Sage, please think carefully about whether you want to visit the mangrove swamps. They are perilous and we do understand that some of you may prefer to visit the peaceful kelp forests instead.”
Harper’s hand shot up.
“Yes, Harper?”
“Why are the mangrove swamps perilous?” Harper asked.
“The waters are tidal,” Dr Oceania replied. “It is all too easy for a mer to swim up one of the small
creeks that wind through the mangrove trees and then find themselves stranded when the tide goes out and the water drains leaving just mud behind. Predatory crocodiles and big cats roam the land and they will not hesitate to attack a stranded mer if they are hungry. You may also encounter troops of spitting frogs and poisonous snakes.”
Aurora gave a frightened squeak but Harper thought the mangrove swamps sounded awesome – much more exciting than a boring kelp forest! “We have to go to the mangrove swamps!” she whispered to Millie, who nodded hard.
“Please decide which field trip you wish to go on and give your name to Mr Nori,” continued Dr Oceania. “If there are more of you who wish to go to the mangrove swamps than places available, Mr Nori will decide who goes based on merit and good behaviour.”
She smiled round at the first years. “I am sure
you will have a wonderful and fascinating time wherever you go. Now, second years, this term you will be studying ocean botany…”
As Dr Oceania talked to the other year groups, Harper stopped listening. Her mind raced with the thought of tigers, crocodiles and snakes.
When the assembly finished and everyone started to file out of the Grand Cavern, Harper spun round excitedly. “Let’s put our names down for the mangrove swamps!”
Millie and Lyla nodded. “Just imagine if we get to see Wise Sage!” breathed Lyla.
Aurora looked uncertain. “But what if we meet a crocodile?”
Harper grinned. “Tigers eat crocodiles, so I’ll do my tiger impression and frighten it away.” She roared loudly, making the students around her scream.
“That’s enough, Lilac Star!” snapped Marianna,
a prefect who was making sure everyone left the hall in an orderly manner.
“Harper!” Millie hissed. “Remember Dr O said places on the trip could end up being decided on good behaviour.”
“Whoops!” Harper pretended to zip her lips, but she couldn’t stay quiet for long. “We are all going to put our names down for the trip to the mangrove swamps, aren’t we?”
“Definitely!” said Millie and Lyla.
“I’m not sure...” Aurora hesitated. “They sound quite scary.”
Harper grinned at Aurora and imitated her voice perfectly. “But even though they sound scary, of course I’m coming. I love reading about adventures in books, but I’d much rather go on a real one involving tigers and crocodiles with my three besties.”
Millie and Lyla fell about laughing. Aurora shook her head but she couldn’t keep a straight
face for long. “OK. I’ll put my name down for the mangrove swamp trip too. It’ll be really exciting to go to the surface and see land. I’ve only ever read about that.”
“We’ve got Wildlife Studies with Mr Nori now,” said Millie. “Let’s swim there as quickly as we can and tell him we want to go.”
Harper grinned and grabbed Splash’s fin. “Mangrove forests, here we come!”