Chapter Six

Eoin and Freya hadn't realised that Father Tim's volcano was so close to the sea, and almost as soon as they started following the passage they could see daylight in the distance. As they got closer they could see they were looking at a wide expanse of blue, and the fresh tangy air that swept up the lava tube was unlike anything they had felt before. The tube ended on a windswept beach of black sand and the three of them looked out over the sea for the first time. Freya instinctively hated it but Willow, once again in Freya's arms, giggled and spread her arms out wide into the breeze.

"Freya, do you remember when we were Willow's age?" asked Eoin suddenly.

Freya thought for a moment but shook her head. "No, not really. I remember things we did, you know, last year or whatever, but I don't remember how old I was."

"What about Willow? Do you remember when she was a baby?"

Freya frowned. "She's never been a baby. She's always been this big."

Eoin nodded. "That's what I remember. That's odd, isn't it?"

"I... yes, I suppose so. Eoin, let's just find Mum and Dad. I don't want to think about this any more. Look, there are the seastacks."

Off to the left the beach ended in a jumble of boulders and broken down cliffs. A headland jutting out into the sea had once been a row of arches, but the arches had collapsed to leave a series of pillars, towering proudly out of the rolling waves like the fingers of a giant underwater hand.

"That's where we need to go," said Freya. "We need to find Father Tim's daughter."

"Freya," protested Eoin, "I just think we need to talk about..."

"Listen! No, listen, Eoin! I can hear it again."

It was hard to hear over the sound of the waves surging up the beach, but from far up the passage came the same screeching noise they had come to dread.

"The Ice!" said Eoin, and the three of them hurried along the beach towards the seastacks.

A few moments later, a figure appeared in the passage. From the front, it looked exactly like Eoin, except it was pale blue and translucent. It stopped for a moment and looked at the sea. It looked at the distant figures hurrying towards the boulders. Then it started striding across the beach after them. 

The black sand was dry and powdery and Eoin's and Freya's feet kept sinking into it. At the water's edge the sand was wet and much firmer, but Freya refused to walk any closer to the sea. As they got close to the stacks Freya saw with despair that the beach stopped under the mass of boulders.

"We've got to go in the water to get round," said Eoin.

Freya shook her head. "I can't, Eoin. I can't go in the water."

"We could try climbing," said Eoin doubtfully, looking at the cliffs which towered up above them, but there was nothing to hold on to. The Ice-Eoin was still back down the beach but was marching steadily towards them. It would only take it a couple of minutes to catch up. "We're going to have to swim," he said. "It's the only way round."

"I can't!" cried Freya, her eyes wild. "Don't you understand? I can't touch the water!"

They looked up again at the cliff. Standing beneath it, it looked as tall as the volcano.

"We can't go round," said Freya. "And we can't go over. We'll have to go through."

Eoin frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Through, Eoin. You can do it."

Eoin turned to look at the solid rock in front of him. Tentatively, he reached out a hand and placed it on the rock. It felt soft and yielding. He gave it a push but nothing happened.

"Quickly, Eoin!" cried Freya, hugging Willow tighter. "It's getting closer."

There was a small crack in the rock. Eoin put both his hands into the crack and tried to widen it a little. To his surprise, the rocks parted like curtains, revealing dark emptiness behind.

"That's it!" cried Freya, and she ducked under his outstretched arms and into the darkness. Eoin stepped through and let go of the rock curtains, which slammed together behind him, closing the entrance.

He found himself in darkness. He could just about make out Freya's outline, just as he had been able to in the lava tubes. "Freya, we need light," he said.

"I haven't got one," said Freya.

"If I can open the rocks, then you can make fire," said Eoin.

Freya passed Willow across to him, then thought about how she might possibly make fire. No sooner had she thought it than her right hand burst into flames. She looked at it, mesmerised. It didn't hurt at all; on the contrary, it felt warm and comfortable, and it lit up the cave they were in.

"The sea caves!" exclaimed Eoin. They were in a series of huge interconnected caverns. Arches and pillars of all shapes and sizes reared up over their heads. Faint shafts of daylight trickled down in places through holes in the caverns' ceilings. Many of the caverns were flooded, and they could see the entrance where the sea poured in, wide enough to row a boat straight into the sea caves. There was enough dry ground for Freya to walk around clear of the water and they ventured further into the caverns, Freya holding her flaming hand in front of them. 

"Put that light out!" called a deep rasping voice from the shadows. 

"Who's there?" called Eoin.

"Put it out!" said the voice again.

Freya clenched her fist. She wasn't sure how to put the fire out, but as soon as she thought about it the flames died away and her right hand looked no different to her left. The two of them, with Willow peeking curiously around, ventured forwards warily. As their eyes grew accustomed to the half-light, they made out a figure, a very large figure sitting on a rock, half in half out of the water.

"Freya, she's a mermaid, look!" Eoin said.

"She's a very big mermaid," said Freya. "And I thought all mermaids were supposed to be young."

The mermaid didn't seem to have heard them. She sat listlessly on her rock, staring vacantly at the water.

"She must be Father Tim's daughter," whispered Eoin. "We're supposed to ask her for help. Hello, there," he called out. "We're Eoin and Freya. Father Tim sent us."

The mermaid made no move to show she had heard.

"Hello?" said Eoin again. "Can you hear me?"

The mermaid looked up at him, and Eoin suddenly felt as though the breath had been drawn out of his body. He felt cold and alone, and felt that things were very wrong and couldn't be put right. He heard Freya gasp beside him and knew she felt the same. Willow began to cry.

"What is this?" said Freya. "What's happening, Eoin?"

Eoin shook his head. "I don't know. We've got to get out of here. We've got to get to..." All of a sudden, he couldn't remember where he had to get to. He looked round the cave, but now he had no idea where he was. 

There was a little girl crying in his arms. A little girl he'd never seen before. He put her down on the ground.

"Who are you?" said a voice beside him. He turned, and a girl with fiery red hair was standing next to him looking at him in confusion. "Where are we? What have you done to me?"

Eoin shook his head. "My name's... my name's..." But he couldn't remember.

"Come into the water," called a deep rasping voice, and they both took a step forwards.

"Don't move, don't look at her, just stay there!" cried a voice they'd never heard before and a figure with black hair and a purple dress rushed up to them, grabbed the little girl that was standing sobbing at their feet and ran off.

"Who was that?" said Eoin to the girl with red hair.

"Who was who?"

"That person that grabbed the, um..." What had they grabbed? Something important.

"Come into the water," said the voice again, and they took another step forwards.

"Don't move, don't move, don't move!" cried a voice and a figure with black hair and a purple dress rushed up to them, grabbed them each by the hand and pulled them away from the water, away from the mermaid, and half-dragged them through cavern after cavern until they felt daylight on their faces and suddenly they were in bright sunshine, gasping for breath and looking around in confusion.

They were standing on a ledge about half-way up a cliff, like a natural balcony overlooking a small bay between two headlands. 

Eoin and Freya felt like they were waking up from a bad dream. "Freya!" said Eoin. "Freya, I forgot who you were! I forgot who I was!"

"That's Nullie," gasped their rescuer. She was a girl, about their own age and height, with long black hair in hundreds of tiny plaits. She wore a heavy glove on the hand holding Freya and was struggling to breath normally. "She takes everything. She takes light, hope, even your memories. Lucky I turned up just in time, before she did any permanent damage. A few minutes later and you would have forgotten how to breathe."

"Thank you," panted Freya, her eyes on the heavy glove the girl was holding her hand with. "You didn't get burnt. How did you know?"

The girl smiled. "Oh, is that why? I found the glove lying around this morning and thought I might put it on for the day. And before you say it, yes, that was extremely lucky."

"Who are you?" asked Eoin. 

"Serena," said the girl. "Short for Serendipity. Know what that means?"

Eoin and Freya shook their heads.

"It means good luck," said Serena. "I am good luck. You two look like you could do with some good luck. What were you doing in Nullie's cave?"

"Father Tim sent us," said Eoin. "He told us to find his daughter in the sea caves."

"Father Tim? You mean Dad? Well, by amazing good luck, you have found his daughter." She smiled again and did a little bow.

"You're his daughter?" said Freya in surprise. "But... you don't look like him." Serena's skin was much darker than Father Tim's.

"I look like my mum," she explained, and winked. "Luckily for me."

"Willow!" exclaimed Eoin suddenly. "Where's Willow?"

Serena stopped smiling and looked round in confusion. "The little girl? I brought her out first and put her down here," she said. "I thought she'd still be here. It's not like she can walk off anywhere." 

Eoin and Freya looked at each other and groaned. "She floats," said Eoin. "In air."

"Oops," said Serena. "Sorry. Didn't know. Well, she's not down in the water, so she must have gone up the cliff."

They all turned to look up the cliff. There was nothing to be seen above them, but Freya suddenly gasped and pointed to the headland on the other side of the bay. Willow was standing at the top. 

"Oh, no," cried Freya. "No, no, no, no, no. Willow! Willow!"

But Willow was too far away to hear her. Instead, she looked like she was chatting to someone else. Someone pale blue and translucent, who looked remarkably like Eoin.

As they watched, Ice-Eoin held out his hand. Willow took it, and the two of them walked away from the edge of cliff and out of sight.