Free Deep Trouble by R. L. Stine

left. It looked as if it had been slammed by a huge wave.
    The kidnappers cried out as their boat began to rock back and forth. Slowly
at first. Then violently. Gripping the sides of the dinghy, I watched them
clinging to the rail, screaming in confusion and surprise.
    Dr. D. slowly stood up, trying to see what was happening.
    The boat tossed violently, as if bucking tall waves.
    The mermaids. I could see them now.
    They had surrounded the kidnappers’ ship and were rocking it hard.
    Hard. Harder. The kidnappers hung on helplessly.
    “Mission accomplished!” Dr. D. cried happily. He started up the motor and we
roared off.
    Turning back, I could see the boat tilting and rocking in the water. And I
could see our mermaid swimming free, behind the other mermaids in the shimmering waves.
    “She got away!” I cried. “She’s free!”
    “I hope she’ll be all right,” said Sheena.
    “We’ll look for her tomorrow,” said Dr. D. as he steered us back to the sea
lab. “We know where to find her now.”
    Sheena glanced at me. I glanced back.
    Oh, no, I thought. After all this, it can’t be true.
    Is Dr. D. going to catch the mermaid again—and give her to the zoo?
     
    Sheena and I met in the galley the next morning. Since Alexander was gone, we
had to fix our own breakfasts.
    “Do you think the mermaid went back to the lagoon?” asked Sheena.
    “Probably,” I replied. “That’s where she lives.”
    She spooned some cereal into her mouth and chewed with a thoughtful look on
her face.
    “Sheena,” I said, “if someone gave you a million dollars, would you show them
where the mermaid lives?”
    “No,” Sheena replied. “Not if they wanted to capture her.”
    “Me, neither,” I said. “That’s what I don’t get. Dr. D. is a great guy. I
just can’t believe he’d—”
    I stopped. I heard a noise. The sound of a motor.
    Sheena listened. She heard it, too.
    We dropped our spoons and ran up on deck.
    Dr. D. was standing on the deck, staring out to sea.
    A boat was approaching. A white boat with Marina Zoo stenciled on the side in
large letters.
    “The zoo people!” I said to Sheena. “They’re here!”
    What would our uncle do? I wondered with growing dread. Would he tell them
where the mermaid was? Would he accept the million dollars?
    Sheena and I ducked behind the cockpit. We watched the Marina Zoo boat tie up
beside the Cassandra. I recognized Mr. Showalter and Ms. Wickman.
    Mr. Showalter tossed a rope to Dr. D. Ms. Wickman jumped aboard.
    The zoo people smiled and shook Dr. D.’s hand. He nodded at them solemnly.
    “We had word from the fishermen on Santa Anita that you found the mermaid,”
Mr. Showalter said. “We’re ready to take her with us now.”
    Ms. Wickman opened her briefcase and pulled out a slender envelope. “Here is
a check for one million dollars, Dr. Deep,” she said, smiling. “We’ve made it
out to you and the Cassandra Research Lab.”
    She held out the check to my uncle.
    I peered out from behind the cockpit. Please don’t take it, Dr. D., I
pleaded silently. Please don’t take the check.
    “Thank you very much,” my uncle said. He reached out a hand and took the
check from her.

 
 
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    “A million dollars means a great deal to me and my work,” Dr. D. said. “Your
zoo has been very generous. That’s why I’m sorry I have to do this.”
    He raised the envelope and tore it in half.
    The two zoo people gasped in surprise.
    “I can’t take the money,” Dr. D. said.
    “Just what are you saying, Dr. Deep?” Mr. Showalter demanded.
    “You sent me on a wild goose chase,” my uncle replied. “I have searched these
waters thoroughly ever since you left. With my equipment, I searched every inch
of the lagoon and all the surrounding waters. I am now more convinced than ever
before that mermaids do not exist.”
    “Yaaaay!” I screamed to myself. I wanted to jump up and down and cheer my
head off—but I stayed hidden with Sheena behind the