Free Mermaid Magic by Gwyneth Rees Page A

and Father,” Rani sighed.
    Roscoe looked thoughtful. “We need to think of a way of making them see this from your point of view,” he said.
    “Yes, but how?” Rani asked him.
    Roscoe thought about it. “I know! Who has more clever thoughts in one day than you mermaids have in a whole year?”
    “Octavius,” Rani replied. “At least, that’s what he’s always saying , but—”
    “Exactly. This is his chance to prove his point,” Roscoe interrupted her. “We’ll tell him the problem and he’ll have to come up with an idea just to prove to us how clever he is!”
    “But what if it isn’t a good idea?” Rani asked nervously.
    “So?” Roscoe said, flicking her with his tail as he jumped off the swing. “Do you have any ideas at all ?”
    Rani shook her head.
    “Well, come on, then!” And the little sea horse bobbed ahead of her towards Octavius’s cave.
    As soon as Roscoe tapped his bony tail against the cave wall to be let in, the octopus yelled at them to go away. “You know I always rest my brain at this time of the day!” he shouted.
    Rani sighed. Still, at least that meant that Octavius had returned to his usual self.
    “Octavius, this is an emergency!” shouted the sea horse. “Rani needs your help.”
    “Rani?” Octavius grumbled as he swam over to his seaweed-flap and lifted it up. “Can’t she use her magic to sort it out, whatever it is? I’m really very tired.”
    “This isn’t a problem for magic,” Roscoe continued perkily. “This is a problem that can only be solved by some clever thinking .”
    “Well, really,” grunted the octopus.
    “Very clever thinking, Octavius,” Roscoe repeated, and paused dramatically. “That’s why we’ve come to you.”
    “I see. Hmm,” Octavius looked flustered. “Well, I suppose you’d better come in and tell me what the problem is. I’ll certainly have some clever thoughts about it – but my clever thoughts can sometimes be too clever to actually put into action, you understand.” He coughed.
    “Octavius, I don’t know what to do ...” Rani began to explain her problems.
    As Octavius listened, his big forehead formed a very crinkly brow.
    “I’ve got to persuade Mother and Father to let me go, or I’ll never get to meet my brother,” Rani finished, starting to cry.
    “Oh dear, oh dear,” muttered Octavius, who was really very softhearted when it came to mermaids crying. He placed all his arms round Rani in a very complicated hug.
    “You look like you’re trapped inside a cage of octopus-arms,” Roscoe joked, trying to cheer her up.
    And it was then that it happened. Octavius grunted out loud as the idea hit him. It was a very clever idea – the cleverest he’d ever had!

    “Leave it to me,” he told Rani, extracting his arms one by one. “You go back home and wait for me. I won’t be long. I just have to make something first.”
    And he dashed outside his cave, churning up the water in his hurry.
    Later on that day, Rani’s family were sitting quietly in their cave. Things had felt very tense when Rani returned although no one had said any more about her request to leave Tingle Reef. It seemed that as far as her parents were concerned, the matter was closed. Kai was hardly speaking to her, though, and even Pearl seemed to sense that something was wrong, refusing to settle down to sleep even with Rani’s mother singing to her.
    Pearl had just about dropped off when Octavius arrived. He was carrying a strange contraption which he set down proudly on the floor of the cave.
    “I have to show you this,” he said. “It’s a special cage. I made it out of razor shells and spider-glue – and the mesh is made out of bind-weed. A very clever invention, don’t you think?”
    “What’s it for?” Miriam asked.
    “I’m going to use it to catch a magic fish!” Octavius said. “They live way out in the Deep Blue and are said to be very beautiful indeed. A whole shoal of them is coming to visit Morva