Sprite

“Who—? What do you mean? That was just—I—“ Norah stuttered.

“Don’t give me that,” Roselle said implacably. “I should have guessed you knew more than you were saying. Will told you everything. Now, tell me, who is the sprite?”

Norah wondered at the slight hint of bitterness in Roselle’s voice. Was Roselle jealous—of her? She lowered her head. “I can’t tell you.”

“But you know who he is.”

“I—yes.”

Roselle gave a little laugh and sat down on the riverbank, pulling Norah down beside her. “I should have known,” she said again, this time with amusement. “Tell me, what does he look like? Is he handsome or scary? Does he talk to you? Did Will send him to you?”

Norah laughed shakily. “You’re not mad?” she asked.

“Of course I’m mad! You left me out! But now I’m back in and I want to hear all about it.”

Roselle was back ‘in.’ What did that mean, Norah wondered. Was Roselle intending to help changelings escape from Datro now? Had she really changed that much? “There’s not much to tell. The sprite found me, I guess.”

“Was it because you saved one of them in the forest like I told those mutant—I mean changelings? Will told me the story that last night, right before he told me he was a—you know. So I would understand why he had to go.”

“Maybe.” Norah hated lying to Roselle like this.

“So how did the sprite find you?” Roselle wasn’t ready to let the matter go. Her eyes still shone with excitement. “Did he come to our window like Will used to? Oh, I wish I’d seen him!”

“No, nothing like that,” Norah said quickly. “I was swimming. I—met the sprite while I was swimming.”

Roselle looked at her oddly. The one time Roselle had ever seen Norah in the water was when she had fallen out of the rowboat that first summer when the girls met. Roselle had been under the impression that Norah didn’t know how to swim. “How do you contact him if you want to talk to him? In the river? You meet him in the river?” She didn’t wait for Norah to answer. “Next time, I want to go with you.”

“The sprite doesn’t always appear,” Norah began. “He doesn’t like to meet strangers.”

“Nonsense! I’m not a stranger—I’m your best friend! He’ll be fine if you bring me. I know he will! Now, at least tell me his name.”

Norah blinked in surprise. “His name?”

Roselle snorted. “You mean you never asked? I’ll ask him! Just tell me what he looks like.”

Norah figured it couldn’t hurt, and might even set some of the rumors straight. “Well, he has long hair.”

“Like a girl?” Roselle interrupted.

“Maybe,” conceded Norah. “And fins on his neck and ankles, like this.” She fanned her fingers out behind her neck, feeling very self-conscious. “His fingers and toes are webbed. But he’s not green and he’s not any bigger than a normal sized human being,” she finished defensively. “He’s just a very, very good swimmer.”

“And he helps the changelings because he has a good heart and is one himself,” Roselle added sarcastically.

“Yes, yes! Exactly!”

Roselle rolled her eyes. “Saturday we go swimming,” she decided.

Saturday dawned sunny and warm, and Norah had no choice but to go along with Roselle’s demand that they go swimming later that afternoon. “He’s not going to come,” Norah objected. “It’s still daylight.”

“Then we’ll wait until it gets dark,” Roselle said. “In the meantime, there’s no reason we can’t cool off now.” She led the way to the same clearing where Norah had met with the changelings a few nights before. “Is this the right spot?”

“Close enough,” Norah said. The place where she entered the water was a little farther up.

Roselle didn’t seem in the mood for swimming at the moment, so Norah relaxed. She untied her braids and let her hair cascade down her back. The two girls spread out their blankets and lay in the sun. If the school found out they were there, they would get in trouble. But that was half the fun, according to Roselle.

“Come on, let’s go swimming,” Roselle said, pulling Norah up with both hands. “I’m hot already.”

“No, I don’t think I want to get wet,” Norah said, pulling back.

Roselle’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to fool me again. I know you can swim. You said so the other night.”

“Yeah, but not right now,” Norah protested. “I usually swim only at night.”

“You have nothing to be embarrassed about! Look at you—you’re tall and slender with not an ounce of fat on you! Besides, no one else can see us over here.” Roselle peered forward, but their clearing was secluded from the main campus by a tangle of trees and bushes.

Norah shook her head. “You go on. I’ll watch. Maybe later I’ll go in, when it’s dark.”

“Fine! I’ll introduce myself to the sprite while I’m at it!” Roselle stamped off to the water’s edge and neatly dove in.

Norah sighed, and ran her fingers through her deep red hair, which was starting to curl. If she went in the water, Roselle would notice her webbing and discover that her best friend was really a mutant. Maybe Norah could pretend that she was sick, and they could leave.

Water dripped on her exposed legs, making Norah look up.

“You have a choice,” Roselle said, hands on hips. She was dripping wet. “Either you go in on your own, or I throw you in. Choose. One—two—three!” She didn’t wait for Norah to make up her mind. Reaching down suddenly, she wrapped her arms around the thinner girl’s waist and pulled, half-carrying, half-dragging Norah to the riverbank.

“Stop, stop! I’ll do it myself!” yelled Norah, laughing helplessly despite her growing panic. She couldn’t get her feet up under her, and Roselle deliberately kept her off-balance.

“I don’t trust you,” grunted Roselle. She gave a final half twist and shoved Norah over the edge into the water.

Instantly Norah transformed from an awkward, land-locked creature to a sleek sea serpent. The black water hid her momentarily, so Roselle missed her friend’s transformation. Norah aimed straight for the river bottom and swam as far away as was humanly possible. She made sure she surfaced before Roselle could panic, splashing loudly with her arms somewhere close to the middle of the river. “No fair!” she called back to Roselle, who still stood on the shore, staring at Norah in astonishment.

Roselle recovered quickly. “Oh, you know you love it!” she called back. “Wait for me!” She dove in once more and started swimming hand over hand towards Norah.

Norah felt the tingling which meant her fins and webbing were starting to manifest. She couldn’t let Roselle see her like this. Immediately, she dove underwater, swimming deep, and easily passing Roselle’s clumsy surface swimming. She climbed out and stood on the bank, wrapping her hair around her to hide the fins that had sprouted out behind her ears. “Here I am!” she called, laughing as Roselle treaded water out where she had been just moments earlier.

However, when Roselle immediately began swimming back towards shore, Norah realized her mistake. She hesitated between running for their room or diving back into the water, where at least Roselle wouldn’t be able to see her webbing so clearly.

“What’s your prob—oh, oh!” Roselle cried out, suddenly flailing in the water.

“What! What is it?” Worried now, Norah perched at the edge of the river while her friend struggled briefly and went under. In a flash, Norah was in the water and knifing through to Roselle’s side, webbing forgotten. She caught Roselle from underneath and pushed her towards the surface, holding her lightly from behind. Roselle gasped and took a deep, choking breath. “Sprite,” she said weakly. “I thought I saw the sprite.”

Behind her, Norah stilled. Her hair floated like a curtain all around them, appearing black in the dark water. Norah was very aware of her webbed fingers resting lightly on Roselle’s shoulders. The girl began to struggle. “Norah?” Roselle’s eyes darted quickly to shore and back again. She tried to turn her head, but Norah wouldn’t let her. “Is that you?”

“Be still,” Norah hissed, disguising her voice. “You almost drowned.” Steadily, Norah began propelling Roselle towards the distant shore, never letting the girl get a clear look at her.

“You’re the sprite!” Roselle realized. A note of awe crept into her voice. “Can I see you? I want to see you!” She tried to twist around one more time but Norah’s arms tightened until Roselle, with a shuddering sigh, let herself go limp.

Norah towed her to the shallows at the other end of the clearing where they had left their blankets. As soon as she felt Roselle’s feet touch the ground, she spun away, hugging the bottom of the river, and aimed for the small spot downstream where she kept her razor. Quickly cutting away the telltale signs of her mutation, then loosely braiding her hair to cover the breathing lines on the sides of her neck, Norah raced back to where she had left Roselle.

Roselle was already on the beach, making her way towards the spot where they had left their things. “Norah?” she said when she spotted her friend sitting quietly on her blanket. “Didn’t you hear me call you?” Roselle dropped down beside her and grabbed a towel. “You’ll never believe what I saw—the sprite! He saved me from drowning! You were right, he has webbed fingers—I felt them touching me!”

Norah smiled in relief. Roselle hadn’t realized the sprite was her. “I’m sorry I missed him,” she said, emphasizing the pronoun. Why was Roselle so sure the sprite was a boy? “What was his name?” she asked sweetly.

“He didn’t talk much,” Roselle said, missing the sarcasm. “He was probably looking for you, and I ruined it—I’m sorry! No I’m not. I’m glad I got to meet him. Oh, no! I forgot to ask him if he knew Will!”

“Roselle.”

“What?”

Norah smiled and shook her head. “Nothing. I’m glad you met the sprite. We can probably go home now. I doubt he’s still there. What were you thinking, swimming so far out? You could have really drowned.”

“I was going to say the same thing to you,” Roselle said tartly. “Where did you learn to swim like that?”

Laughing, Norah began gathering up her things. “I don’t know. It just comes naturally, I guess. I love the water.”

“Is that how you met the sprite? While you were swimming?”

“Something like that,” Norah replied, smiling. It had turned into a good day after all. Roselle was full of surprises. “Roselle, the next time I need to contact the sprite to take a changeling away from Datro, would you be willing to help me? You saw how shy he is. It’s not easy for me to bring the changelings to the water and signal the sprite at the same time.” Not easy for Norah to be in two places at once! “If you could lead the changeling here, then I could swim out and contact the sprite. That would make the rescue go much smoother.” Norah wondered if she had said too much. “Of course, you don’t have to. I shouldn’t have asked. The less people who are involved, the safer for all of us. Can you forget I mentioned it?”

“Oh don’t be stupid!” Roselle said. “Of course I’ll help. I thought I already made that clear. So when do we get to rescue a changeling?”

“Tomorrow night,” Norah said. “Just after midnight.”

Roselle gave her a sly grin. “Perfect.”