Then the dark girl coughed and another stream of salt water gushed down her chin. Luce hurriedly grabbed her head and held it angled down. Then, for what must have been the first time in an hour, the mermaid inhaled freely, with a drawn-out, rasping sound. Luce heard her sigh. She had a crow’s nose and a thick cloud of black, savage, looping hair; she was beautiful, Luce thought, in the way a thunderstorm at midnight is beautiful.

A pair of greenish black eyes turned sidelong to look into Luce’s, calm and curious. Seeing those eyes was like gazing far into the past, into ancient memories and impossible distance. It took Luce a moment to recover from that glance and remember that they were still far from safety. If only there was a nearby island, even an outcropping of rock, they could rest before they attempted the journey back to shore. Luce scanned from one horizon to the next, seeing only the repeating peaks of tall gray waves. The cliffs of her own coast were strangely shrunken, no more than a zigzagging band of gray and green. Now that her frantic race for the fishing trawler was over, Luce’s muscles seized up with pain. Reaching that distant land seemed impossible, especially with the addition of this strange girl’s weight dragging on her arm.

The mermaid said a few words in a low, singsong language Luce didn’t recognize, and laughed. She was probably in shock, Luce thought. She didn’t understand how awful the situation really was.

Then Luce thought of something. Her tail was gripped by cramps, her body was trembling from weariness, but she still had her voice. It seemed like too much to hope for, but once they were far enough from the ship she could at least try. Slowly Luce began towing her strange companion along the surface, and to her surprise the other mermaid inhaled sharply, then began driving her own tail as well, although from the heaviness of her movements it was obvious that her strength was almost gone. But at least, Luce thought, she wouldn’t have to fight all alone to get them back to shore.