Son of a Mermaid by Katie O'Sullivan Read Free Book Online Page A

open with his nose. The dog spotted Shea and wagged his tail as he trotted across the small room. “Hey, boy.” Shea scratched the dog’s ears with both hands. The wagging grew faster until Lucky’s entire backside was swaying to the rhythm of his tail and Shea couldn’t help but smile.
    The sound of running water stopped and the sudden silence seemed as loud as the noise had been. He heard the door to the bathroom creak open, and moments later another door slammed shut. The dog whimpered, his grey eyes looking toward the window. Blue sky and bright sunlight shone through the thin curtains.
    “You can’t come with me back to the beach,” Shea told Lucky, shaking his head to answer the dog’s unspoken question. “The lifeguards will be showing up soon.” Martha had warned him that the lifeguard stands would be manned on weekends through Memorial Day, and then on a daily basis after that. Beach walks would have to be an early-morning only kind of thing. When he told Martha about his run-in with Officer L. Tandy, she laughed and told him not to worry. “Officer Tandy’s more of a cat person,” she explained, but Shea didn’t want to push his luck too far. The officer had let him off with a warning that first time, but Shea thought it wiser to avoid a second confrontation. It didn’t mean he’d stop taking Lucky to the beach – as far as Shea was concerned, that particular rule was meant to be broken.
    The dog walked to the window. Putting his paws up on the sill, Lucky looked down to the street and gave a short bark. Shea rose from the bed, and went to stand next to him. Down on the street, a bicycle whizzed around the corner, out of sight. Could it be Kae? He took the stairs two at a time, Lucky close on his heels. His hand was already on the brass handle of the front door when his grandmother called from upstairs in her room. “Shea?”
    “What is it, Gramma?” He quickly crossed back to the bottom of the staircase.
    “What’s all that racket?” Martha now stood at the top of the stairs, a faded terrycloth robe tied tightly at her waist.
    “Lucky needs to go outside,” he answered, which was true. But not the whole truth. He hadn’t told Martha about his new friend just yet, and wasn’t ready to do it now. Not when he needed to run after her and catch up.
    “Don’t be long,” she said, turning toward her bedroom. “I’m coming down in a few minutes to cook breakfast. The most important meal of the day,” she reminded him. Shea heard the bedroom door snap closed once more, and headed out the front door, Lucky following.
    The street was empty. He stood on the grassy part of the yard between the house and the street, looking in both directions. Tilting his head to one side, he listened for clues as to where the bicycle might have disappeared. Lucky stood watching the boy, and cocked his head the same way. Suddenly the dog took off running, headed toward the end of Pine Street away from the beach.
    “Lucky! Come back here right now!” He started to run after the dog, and caught up with him in a yard further down the street. The dog skidded to a stop at the base of an oak tree and stood looking upward into the branches, barking madly.
    Shea looked up and spied a small orange and white cat clinging for dear life to one of the lowest branch. He let out an exasperated sigh. The dog was chasing cats, not bikes. “That’s enough, Lucky. Leave the little guy alone.”
    The dog looked at him, still wagging his tail in triumph. Seeing the disapproval on Shea’s face, Lucky’s tail slowed. He walked over and nudged Shea’s hand with his nose.
    He couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s okay, I’m not mad.”
    Lucky wagged his tail faster. He lay down in the fallen leaves at Shea’s feet as the door to the house swung open with a bang. “What’s going on out here?” called an elderly woman from the shadows of her doorway. The orange cat yowled, and the woman stepped out into the morning sun.
    She