Page 46 of Finding Love at the Magical Curiosity Shop
‘Are you interested in the Arfordir-Môr-Forwyn mermaid, dearie?’
There’s an elderly man sitting on a bench nearby, looking out to sea, obviously near enough to overhear our conversation.
‘Yes!’ Ava goes over to talk to him. ‘Was she real? Do you know anything about her?’
‘It’s been said that these waters were full of mermaids, once upon a time. They say that if you walked on the beach on a quiet night, when the wind was dancing across the sea from Ireland, you’d be able to hear them singing. Mermaids sing songs to find love, you know.’
‘Can you still hear them now?’
‘My wife used to say that all the ships and marine traffic these days has scared them away, but maybe if we’re really quiet, they’ll come back one day.’
Ava is watching him like he’s an oracle on all things mermaid.
‘They used to rescue sailors who got into difficulties. The sea out there is treacherous. Where the Irish Sea meets the Atlantic, there’s a maelstrom of tidal currents, and there are rocks and sandbanks lurking not far beneath the surface. Many a ship met its maker in those waters, but the mermaids would drag the drowning sailors to the safety of the beaches. They saved countless lives. That’s why we chose that statue – a tribute to not just one mermaid, butallmermaids and want-to-be mermaids.’ He looks at her. ‘My wife wanted to be a mermaid. She was just like you when she was a youngster. Every night, we used to walk along the sand, listening for the sounds of a mermaid singing in the distance.’
‘Did you ever hear one?’
‘I didn’t need to. My wife sang the only songs I ever needed to hear.’
I feel my heart jolt in my chest, because he’s obviously talking in the past tense and his eyes have taken on a watery look, and it makes my heart thump harder as I think of my own mum, who spent many a night on the sands of darkened beaches, wishing to see something magical. When I glance at Ren, he’s looking more touched than I expected him to.
‘That’s why I sit here now. My wife always said that when she passed, she’d come back as a mermaid, so I come here every day and watch the waves, hoping I might see her, and I feel like she’s still here with me, in these sands, in every shell that washes ashore, every breeze that whispers off the sea. The statue is a tribute to everyone who’s ever stood on the shore and wondered if they belong out there rather than on land.’
Ren goes to speak but his voice doesn’t work and he has to clear his throat to hide the emotion in it. ‘Any of those islands occupied?’
‘Aye, some of them, others are rare seabird colonies that are off-limits to the public, but there are regular boat trips around them, weather permitting.’
‘Anywhere a mermaid might have lived?’ Ava asks him.
‘Well, mermaids live in the ocean, young lass. I don’t think they have much use for islands.’
Ava looks disappointed, but it’s a good point. Our mermaid is seemingly living on an island. I glance out at the rocky silhouettes again. They all look like the kind of places you’d need a good pair of sea legs to climb on to. How would it ever have been physically possible if she really did have a tail?
‘Do you know anything about a shipwreck around these parts?’ I ask the man.
‘There have been many ships run into trouble around here, dearie. Narrow it down?’
‘End of the nineteenth century. Two men on board. We don’t know any more than that. We’re trying to find out.’
He thinks about it for a while before shaking his head. ‘As I said, these waters are perilous, even more so in the days before modern technology. The local council office will have records, just along there, up on the hill.’ He gives us directions to a building that Ren has already marked on his map.
Ava looks like she wants to question him further, but Ren cuts her off. ‘Thanks for your help, enjoy the rest of your afternoon.’
‘What a lovely young family. Enjoy your stay!’
‘Oh, we’re not?—’
Ren cuts me off by dropping an arm around my shoulders and leaning his head against mine. ‘Thanks, we will.’
It’s a deliberate non-correction of the man’s assumption, and at first I think Ren is just trying to hurry away, but when his arm stays around my shoulders, I wonder if there’s a deeper meaning, and get a little flitter-flutter inside that there might be.
The hotel is a short walk along the promenade, right on the harbour front, and a cuddly looking middle-aged lady greets us with an enthusiastic welcome when we walk into the reception area.
‘What brings you to Arfordir-Môr-Forwyn?’ After introducing herself as Caryl, she gets us checked in on the computer.
‘We’re looking for a mermaid,’ Ava tells her.
‘Well, you’ve come to the right place. We have a lot of mermaids around here. Look.’ She points out the canvases of mermaids hanging around the walls, and Ava goes over for a closer look at the paintings by local artists.
