Free Storm Singing and other Tangled Tasks by Lari Don Page A

swooped in with a dagger.
    “Too late, boys!” spluttered Helen. “Rona has already rescued me.”
    Yann splashed into the water, lifted the chain and carried it to the highest point of the cave, Helen following awkwardly, her head still attached.
    “I think those mermaids tried to drown me,” Helen coughed, as she sat down slowly.
    “First things first,” said Lavender. “Let’s get this chain off you.”
    “I can cut her hair free,” said Yann, waving the axe.
    “ No !” said Rona, Lavender and Helen all at once.
    “I’ll try to untangle each plait with magic and my fingers,” said Lavender, “and if I can’t, we’ll use Catesby’s dagger to slice them carefully right at the end, so we don’t cut too much off.”
    Helen lay down on her side, and Lavender started to loosen the plaits one at a time.
    “Who tried to drown you?” asked Yann.
    “The mermaids. They brushed my hair when you went out for your tug-of-war …”
    “Which I won, in case you were wondering.”
    “I wasn’t wondering, I was drowning. They brushed my hair, and sang to me, and I was so tired after rowing some great lump across the bay that I fell asleep, and everyone went away and left me.”
    Lavender broke off her spell. “You looked so peaceful, and the selkies called us through for the speeches. We were coming to get you in time for the starters.”
    “Did you leave me tied to a chain?”
    “Of course not! We left you safe on the bench, withno chain in sight. You did have these plaits, though. Your hair will be nice and crinkly when I’m done. The hair you have left anyway.”
    “So, either the mermaids came back during the speeches, found a chain and tied me to it, or someone else did. But who, and why? And what is this chain anyway?” Helen thumped it with her fist.
    “It was left here by smugglers,” explained Rona. “A couple of hundred years ago, smugglers hid brandy and tobacco in these caves, and we had to have our pups on open beaches in the autumn. Then one of our chief’s daughters started flirting with a Custom and Excise officer’s son, and told him about the cave, so the smugglers were arrested and we got our home back. The officers took the boxes and barrels, but the chains and ropes were left behind. That chain was still attached to the wall, which was why you couldn’t sit up until I unhooked it.”
    “So did the mermaids plait my hair so they could tie me to that chain?”
    “Serena and her friends just like doing hair,” said Lavender, breaking out of her spells again. “I’m sure they didn’t plan to hurt you.”
    “Whoever tied you to the chain couldn’t plan it in advance,” Yann pointed out, “because no one could know you would fall asleep here.”
    “The mermaids sang me to sleep,” Helen said stubbornly, “so they could come back and drown me.”
    “Why would they do that?” asked Rona.
    “Why would anyone do it?” said Helen. “And why did the sea-through attack Roxburgh? There are more questions than answers today. Are you finished, Lavender?”
    “Nearly. The last dozen are all really knotted. We’ll have to use the dagger.”
    “No! You are not cutting my hair with a dagger! Rona, there are scissors in the outside pocket of my rucksack. They’ll be too big for Lavender, so could you cut my hair free?”
    “You have cutting tools in your bag?” Lavender squeaked. “Why didn’t you tell me when I was standing there, watching you drown?”
    Helen sighed. “I didn’t think. I must have been panicking a little bit after all.”
    Helen spent an uncomfortable five minutes listening to snipping sounds behind her. She didn’t care that much about her hair, not like Lavender did, certainly not like the mermaids did. But having chunks of hair cut out, just before a feast with Rona’s family and picture-perfect mermaids, made her feel like a toddler with chewing gum stuck in her hair.
    “Ouch! Careful!”
    “Sorry!” Rona said. “That’s the last of it.”
    Helen