Mermaids of the Deep Blue Sea Read online

  The Boxcar Children investigate legendary creatures

  As they got closer, the Aldens could hear their friend Katharine calling out. “I think something bit me!” she said, flailing about in the water.

  “Swim to the boat,” her grandfather called back.

  But Katharine didn’t seem to be listening, so her grandfather went to the edge of the boat and started to climb over.

  “We can help her,” Jessie called to him as their own boat approached.

  “Jessie, wait!” said Benny. “You don’t know what could be out there.”

  Jessie scanned the shallow water. “There’s nothing here, Benny. Don’t let those old stories of sea monsters worry you. Everything will be okay.”

  Benny wasn’t so sure. But before he could say another word, Jessie and Henry jumped into the water and started swimming toward their friend.

  Copyright © 2021 by Albert Whitman & Company

  First published in the United States of America in 2021 by Albert Whitman & Company

  ISBN 978-0-8075-0806-0 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-0-8075-0816-9 (paperback)

  ISBN 978-0-8075-0818-3 (ebook)

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  THE BOXCAR CHILDREN® is a registered trademark of Albert Whitman & Company.

  Printed in the United States of America

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 LB 26 25 24 23 22 21

  Illustrations by Thomas Girard

  Visit The Boxcar Children® online at www.boxcarchildren.com.

  For more information about Albert Whitman & Company,

  visit our website at www.albertwhitman.com.

  CONTENTS

  1. The House on the Hill

  2. Legends around the World

  3. Shimmering Shapes

  4. A Different Kind of Story

  5. Out at Sea

  6. Something in the Water

  7. Missing

  8. Mermaid Cove

  9. Swimming Free

  10. Case Closed?

  Myth of the Rain Forest Monster

  THE HOUSE ON THE HILL

  What brings you to Puerto Rico?” the flight attendant asked fourteen-year-old Henry Alden. “Are you visiting family?”

  Henry’s little brother, Benny, was following him up the aisle of the airplane. “We’re searching for sea monsters!” he said.

  The flight attendant chuckled. “Is that so?” she asked.

  “We really are!” said Benny. He held up a toy shark and a toy alligator and pretended they were chasing each other.

  “It’s kind of a long story,” Henry explained. “We’re visiting a friend of our grandfather.”

  “Well, this works out perfectly,” the flight attendant said. She stopped at a row where a young girl was sitting. The girl’s hair was tied in purple ribbons, and she had a purple stuffed animal on her lap. “This is Katharine. She’s visiting family too. And she’s ten, just like you, Violet. We’ve arranged to seat you all together for the flight.”

  “Hi,” said Violet. “I like your outfit. Purple is my favorite color.” Violet turned to Jessie, who was twelve. “I’ll give up my turn to sit by the window and sit by Katharine instead. Benny, you can have the window seat.”

  “Yay!” Benny cheered. “Maybe I’ll spot a shipwreck or a giant sea monster!”

  Before long the plane was in the air, and Katharine turned to Violet. “Is it true what your brother said? Are you really going to look for sea monsters?”

  “Benny can be a little bit…dramatic,” Violet said.

  She looked over at her six-year-old brother. He had taken out a plastic octopus and was making sound effects with his cheeks as it swam through the air.

  “We’re helping our grandfather’s friend,” Violet said. “She’s doing a television show for kids. It’s about legendary creatures. We’re helping her investigate.”

  “Wow, that sounds amazing,” said Katharine. “What kinds of legendary creatures?”

  Benny leaned around Violet. “First, we learned about bigfoots in Colorado. Then, in Iceland, we looked for elves and trolls. Now—sea monsters!”

  “We don’t know exactly what we’ll be looking for at this stop,” said Violet. “Just that it has to do with the water.”

  “Does your grandfather live in Puerto Rico?” Jessie asked Katharine.

  “No, but he’s writing a book that takes place there. He rented a big boat, and we’re going to stay on it while he does research.”

  “You get to sleep on a boat?” Benny asked. “I hope we can do that.”

  Henry spoke up from across the aisle. “What kind of books does your grandfather write?”

  “Exciting ones!” Katharine answered. “Except they’re for grown-ups, so I haven’t read them. Are you going to learn about luscas too? My grandfather is putting one of those in his book.”

  “What’s that?” Benny asked.

  Katharine shuddered. “They are terrible sea monsters that come up out of the water and wrap their tentacles around you.” She hugged her stuffed animal close.

  Benny’s eyes grew wider. “Really?”

  Katharine nodded. “Some of them are so big their tentacles can wrap around boats and sink them. I wish I had some paper. I could draw you a picture.”

  Violet took out a notepad and a pencil case and handed them to Katharine.

  “I’ve heard of the lusca before,” Henry said. “It’s another legendary creature, Benny.”

  “Luscas aren’t just a legend,” Katharine said as she started to draw. “I’ve read about them on the Internet.” The girl drew a creature that had a shark’s head and a body like an octopus with too many tentacles. “There are lots of websites about it.”

  “Some things on the Internet aren’t true,” said Jessie.

  “You check them out. You’ll see.” Katharine added in some sharp teeth to the creature’s mouth. She held up the drawing. “Isn’t it scary?”

  Benny looked at Katharine’s picture. He didn’t mind sharks and octopuses, but he didn’t like the thought of both of them together. “Maybe I don’t want to stay on a boat after all,” he said. “I hope that’s not what we’re looking for.”

  “I don’t like them either,” Violet said. “But it’s a good drawing. Do you want to draw mermaids with me? That’s one legendary creature I want to learn more about.”

  “Sure,” Katharine said. “I’m better at drawing manatees though.” She held up her stuffed animal. “This is Winston. I draw him all the time.”

  Violet noticed Winston had a polka-dot tail. “Do real manatees have polka dots on them?” she asked.

  Katharine giggled. “No. A friend made Winston for me. Real manatees aren’t purple either. They’re gray. But I wanted to see what a purple manatee with a polka-dot tail would look like.” Then Katharine got a little shy. “I know it’s silly, but I like it.”

  Violet smiled. “I like it too.”

  Violet and Katharine talked and drew for the rest of the trip. Henry and Jessie read. And Benny went back to playing with his sea animals. Before long the plane wheels touched down, and everyone on the flight began to cheer and clap.

  Benny clapped along. Then he looked up at Jessie. “What’s going on?”

  A woman in the next row turned around and smiled. “It’s a tradition for people from Puerto Rico,” she explained. “We always cheer when we return. We’re happy to be home.”

  “I like that tradition,” said Benny.

  The Alden children
got off the plane with Katharine, and an airline employee brought them to pick up their bags.

  “Don’t we have to go through customs?” Violet asked. “We had to do that when we visited Iceland.”

  “No,” Henry said. “Puerto Rico is part of the United States.”

  “I never knew this was a state!” said Benny.

  Jessie shook her head. “Puerto Rico is a territory, not a state. But all of the people here are American citizens.”

  “That’s right,” the airline employee said. “Many younger visitors don’t know that. I’m glad you do.”

  Jessie nodded. She liked to be prepared for their adventures. “I read that this airport is pretty small. We should be able to find Dr. Iris in no time.”

  “I can’t wait to see my grandfather,” Katharine said. She peered around the people passing by. “There he is!”

  A bald man in a bright, flowery shirt waved at her, and she ran toward him. Then Katharine took him by the hand and pulled him over to the Aldens.

  “These are my new friends from the plane,” Katharine explained. She introduced them.

  Katharine’s grandfather greeted the Aldens with a smile. “Nice to meet you,” he said. “I’m sorry we can’t stay and chat. We have lots of exciting adventures planned.”

  “We heard you were going to look for a lusca,” said Jessie. “Is that true?”

  “Luscas aren’t the only interesting things I’ll be looking for,” he said. “Just since I’ve arrived, I’ve heard stories of even more interesting things in the deep sea. Now let’s go find your bag, Katharine.”

  “Okay. Bye, Aldens,” the girl said as she followed him.

  “Bye! Watch out for sea monsters!” Benny called.

  Violet was sad to see her new friend go. “I wonder if we’ll see her again.”

  Jessie shrugged. “You never know. It sounds like her grandfather is interested in just the types of things we’ll be looking for with Dr. Iris.”

  The Aldens grabbed their bags and went with the attendant. While they waited for Dr. Iris, Violet noticed a bright advertisement. “It’s a sign for a mermaid tour!” she said.

  The sign had a picture of a pretty mermaid with a sparkly green-and-silver tail.

  “Mermaid tour, huh?” said Henry. “I wonder if that’s the creature we’ll be looking for.”

  Benny tipped his head to the side. “Why would we look for it? There’s one right there.”

  Jessie laughed. “I think that’s a picture of someone dressed up as a mermaid, Benny,” she said. “We’re here for the real thing.”

  “That’s right,” said Henry. “Remember, we need to find evidence if we are going to say that something is real.”

  “Did I hear my favorite word?” said a woman with short gray hair.

  “Dr. Iris!” Benny gave her a hug. Then he pulled away. “Is mermaid your favorite word?”

  “Evidence is my favorite word,” Dr. Iris said. She gave a little smile. “But mermaid is a good one too.”

  “Is that what we are going to be learning about?” Violet asked.

  “It sounds like you children have solved one mystery already,” said Dr. Iris, nodding. She signed a piece of paper from the airline employee, and they made their way out of the airport.

  “Where are we going first?” Henry asked. He couldn’t imagine what the first step in studying mermaids would be.

  “Are we going out to sea?” Benny asked.

  “Not just yet,” said Dr. Iris. “First we’re going home.”

  Benny stopped walking. “Home? But we just got here!”

  Violet leaned over to her brother. “I don’t think she means our home, Benny.”

  It didn’t take long to reach their first stop. Dr. Iris turned her car up a narrow road, and a big house at the top of a hill came into view. It was made of white stone blocks and had three levels, each with big windows and balconies that wrapped around the building.

  “It’s so…round,” said Benny.

  “That is because this house was designed to withstand hurricanes,” said Dr. Iris. She pointed up to the circular-shaped house. “When the wind hits the walls, it flows around the building.”

  “Wow,” said Violet. “That’s very smart.”

  “The weather and the sea affect a lot of things on this island,” said Dr. Iris. She added, “From the shapes of the buildings to the stories people tell.”

  When the group got closer, they could see the bottom level was a parking area. “The garage was built to be partway open so the winds can blow underneath the house and through this level.”

  “Dr. Iris, you know a lot about this place,” said Violet. “Do you know the person who lives here?”

  Dr. Iris gave a small smile. “Yes, but it has been some time since I have visited.”

  “Is that an elevator?” Henry asked, pointing to a metal door.

  Dr. Iris nodded. “Should we take the elevator or the stairs?”

  “Elevator!” Benny cried. “Do you think Grandfather would put an elevator in our house?” he asked Jessie. “I like to push the buttons.”

  Jessie laughed. “I don’t think so, but it would be fun.”

  “I got a text message that says we are to go on in,” Dr. Iris said, punching a code into a keypad on the elevator. “Something has come up, but the person we’re meeting will be back as soon as she can. Gina, her assistant, will meet us.”

  When the elevator dinged, the door opened to a large room. Bookshelves filled the center of the room. Beyond those were tables and chairs next to windows that looked out over the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other. Framed maps hung on the walls between the windows, and a large desk and chair sat near the elevator.

  “This is the library,” Dr. Iris said. “It is one of the largest collections of books on legendary creatures in the world. Scholars and artists from all over come to visit.”

  “Wow,” said Violet, walking up to one of the shelves. “Whoever lives here must be very important.”

  Everything was so neat; Violet was afraid to touch any of the books. Then Dr. Iris picked one out and handed it to her.

  “I think you might find this one particularly interesting,” she said.

  The book had a picture of a creature with a lion’s head and an eagle’s body on the cover. Inside, Violet noticed handwritten words on the first page: For Iris. From your tía.

  “Dr. Iris, this book has your name in it,” said Violet. “Does that mean it’s yours?”

  Dr. Iris smiled. “You children don’t miss much, do you? I was going to wait until my tía got here to tell you, but I guess the secret is out. This house belongs to my aunt. Growing up, it was like my second home.”

  “This was your house?” asked Violet. She knew that Dr. Iris was smart. As a paleontologist, it seemed like she knew all there was to know about every animal that had ever existed. She also seemed to know all about creatures that might exist. Now Violet could see why.

  Benny looked confused. “If this is your home,” he said, “why didn’t you clap and cheer when we got here?”

  Jessie explained about the people returning to Puerto Rico on the airplane.

  Dr. Iris chuckled. “I will have to do that in the future, Benny,” she said. “Just not when I am the one driving the car!”

  The children roamed the library, looking at books and admiring maps. Some of the creatures in the books looked scary. But somehow, knowing Dr. Iris had grown up in the library made it less scary.

  The elevator dinged, and a woman hobbled out with a cane. She looked very much like Dr. Iris, except her hair was white instead of gray. The two greeted with a big hug.

  “This is my aunt, Professor Marcela Reyes,” said Dr. Iris.

  “Call me Tía Chela,” the woman said. “Everyone in my family does. I’ve heard so much about you that I think of you as my family too.”

  She turned back to Dr. Iris. “I am sorry I was not here when you arrived.” The woman’s smile faded.

&nbsp
; “What is it?” asked Dr. Iris. “Is something wrong?”

  Tía Chela sighed. “It’s a friend of mine. You know him, Iris—Antonio Amador, the ecologist who lives out on the island?”

  “Yes, of course,” said Dr. Iris. “Has something happened?”

  Tía Chela nodded slowly. “I think he might be missing.”

  LEGENDS AROUND THE WORLD

  Antonio hasn’t been heard from in two weeks,” Tía Chela said. “The last boat to leave him supplies just dropped them off at the dock on his island. Antonio wasn’t there to receive them like he usually is.”

  Tía Chela sat down in a chair. She winced as she straightened her leg. “He’s my age. He shouldn’t live alone, but he won’t listen when I tell him that. He’s never listened. I’ve just finished arranging for a boat to take me out to check on him.”

  “That is worrisome,” Dr. Iris said. “I remember Antonio from when I was little. The other children were scared of him, but I loved listening to the stories he told. He talked about animals like they were friends of his. People joked that he liked creatures of the sea more than he liked creatures of the land—humans. His nickname is Doc Pez.” She turned to the children. “Pez means ‘fish’ in Spanish.”

  “Doctor Fish,” said Benny. “That’s a funny nickname.”

  “It is,” Tía Chela agreed. “But he likes it. And yes, he’s happy being alone on his island. He’s always thinking of ways to keep boats from bringing people there, but he’s never been out of contact for this long.”

  “You shouldn’t go out on a boat until your leg is feeling better,” Dr. Iris said. “Why don’t the children and I go? Doc Pez was one of the first people I wanted to talk to about our investigation.”

  Tía Chela seemed unsure. “The island is quite far by boat. Are you children up to it?”

  “Yes!” Henry said. The others agreed just as readily.

  Tía Chela smiled. “I admit, I’m relieved I don’t have to make the trip. I’ll have to introduce you to Gina, my assistant. She was one of Doc Pez’s students. She’s the one who told me he was missing. Have you seen her?”

  Dr. Iris shook her head. “There was no one here when we arrived.”