The Mermaid's Mirror - L. K. Madigan [55]
"Dad," said Lena. "I get it. She was under a spell. But you let me think she was dead all these years! There is no excuse for that."
After a long time, voice cracking, he said, "You're right. I'm sorry. I am so sorry. But you don't know ... you don't know how hard it was. You were four years old, and your mother was gone. You were traumatized. You even stopped talking. For months!"
"I'm not four anymore," said Lena bitterly. "I haven't been four in a long time."
When her dad put his hand over his eyes again, Lena snapped, "Stop doing that!"
He dropped his hand, which trembled. "I'm—" He stood up and paced. "Cole will be home soon. We'll have to talk later." A troubled look came over his face. "Allie. She'll be home soon, too."
Lena suddenly remembered the photo of her father, her mother, and Allie, sitting together in a restaurant. Smiling. As if they were the best of friends. "Mom knows, doesn't she?"
"Yes, she does. She was closer to Lucy than any other human besides me. She's wanted me to tell you about her for a long time. And ... Grandma Kath knows, too. She was present at your birth. We ... we weren't sure what would happen when you were born."
Lena blinked. Oh, she thought. They didn't know if I would have legs or a tail. Then a surge of fury flooded her mind. That's really great, she thought. Everyone knew about my mother but me. "Fine," she said, standing up. "If you don't have time to talk, I guess I'll read my letter." She pulled the wrinkled envelope out of her back pocket, darkly pleased to see the expression of pain that crossed her dad's face.
But he didn't try to stop her.
Carrying the comb and mirror and letter, Lena went upstairs to her room. She set the comb down on her desk, then just stood for a long moment staring at the envelope with her name on it.
It was too much. First finding her mother's death certificate saying she'd killed herself ... then finding out she wasn't dead, she was inhuman ...it was too much. Lena's heart felt ragged and damaged. She set the letter down on her desk.
Picking up the mirror, she lay down on her bed, wrapping the sun-moon quilt around her. Stroking the satiny white moon, she gazed into the mirror again, hoping to see the mermaid. Her mother.
But it showed only her face ... her father's blond hair and her mother's pointed chin and her own stormy eyes.
***
Time, faraway and formless, spun out while Lena lay wrapped in her quilt. The light in her room changed from the soft gray of a cloudy afternoon to the deepening shadows of evening.
I must be in shock, she thought, because I can't move.
She heard Allie come home, and pictured her dad breaking the news to her about Lena's discovery. The absence of normal Mom sounds from below—keys landing on the counter, closet door opening and closing, chatty conversation—s old Lena the news was being absorbed in silence.
Then Cole came home, filling the house with his high-pitched voice and happy babble. The noise was a welcome relief to Lena.
But no one came to talk to her.
After a long time, Lena mustered the energy to roll over. She pulled the quilt tighter around her and closed her eyes. But the sound of Cole's Mindbender game kept her from escaping into sleep. The murmur of her parents' voices intruded on her thoughts, and finally she sat up. She pulled out the mirror from under her pillow, but there was no magic in its reflection. She slid it back under her pillow and got out of bed, padding to the top of the stairs.
Lena paused. Part of her wanted to go back to her room ... but the larger part of her was lonely. She wanted to see Allie, and Cole. And even her dad. He'd been such a wreck earlier, she was worried about him.
Lena went down the stairs. When she walked into the family room, Cole jumped up to greet her, as he did every time they were separated for more than