Chapter Text
“Hey Lukey boy!” Clyde called as he walked up the driveway of 13 Bannerman road. Luke was waiting for his friend by the door and let him in. They sat in the living room and Clyde looked through the video games on the coffee table.
“Where’d you get this?” Clyde asked.
“Mum has a friend who’s a game developer, he sends the games he works on early.”
“That’s incredible! This won’t be put in stores for another two months!”
“Yeah, that’s what’s great about having a journalist for a mum!”
Clyde turned the game on and Luke looked through the newspaper. He observed the front page, particularly the images in the sand.
“What are those anyway?” Clyde asked, looking over Luke’s shoulder.
“According to Mr. Smith and mum it’s nothing. I feel like it might be something though.” Clyde raised an eyebrow and Luke continued to explain. “Maria left this book for me to read about myths and mermaids. She’s convinced mermaids could exist and the images in the sand might be a clue.”
“Half human, half fish? Really? And I bet there’s an octopus lady down there who wants to steal the red haired mermaid's voice.” Clyde laughed but Luke wasn’t joking.
“They might not necessarily look like these pictures or the cartoon. But I don’t think these were man made.”
Sarah Jane and Maria walked through the door, they had just gotten back from the beach. “What’s not man made?” Sarah Jane asked.
“The sand drawings.”
“That’s what I said earlier! We checked them out actually.” Maria said she was smiling.
“Yes, they’re not alien and they aren’t man made. Not too sure what they are, my watch didn’t pick anything up.” Sarah Jane sighed and sat on the couch next to Luke.
“I should get going, mums stopping by.” Maria said goodbye and ran across the road.
“I forgot to give her book back.” Luke sighed and Sarah Jane reassured him that he can bring it over to her later.
*****
“Ah there’s my favorite daughter! Come give your mother a hug!” Chrissie hugged Maria and quickly let go. “OH- EW- what is that smell?”
“Oh, Sarah Jane and I were down at the beach. We walked into this one fish shop and the smell followed us out.” Chrissie rolled her eyes and sat down.
“What was Calamity Jane doing at the beach? Why were you there?”
“Sarah Jane, Sarah Jane, her name is Sarah Jane.” Maria sat across from her mum. “She’s a journalist and those sand image things were interesting to her. I wanted to help her investigate!”
“What’s there to investigate?” Chrissie said and Maria sighed. There was a knock at the door which Maria ran to answer.
Luke walked in holding her book. “Thanks for letting me borrow it. I found it really interesting.”
“I thought you would!”
Chrissie walked over to Luke and Maria. She looked him up and down before saying hello. Luke left quickly since Clyde was waiting for him.
“Do you fancy that boy?”
“LUKE? No, not at all. He’s like a brother to me.”
“Brother? He’s a bit weird isn’t he?”
“He’s not weird!” Maria walked away from her mum and up to her room. She slammed the door and threw her book on the bed.
*****
Luke sat down by Clyde and they continued to play their game. Sarah Jane walked down from the attic holding some articles.
“I looked into the beach and mermaids around the area. I actually found something!” She told the boys and they paused the game.
“What did you find? Please tell me there isn’t an octopus lady at the bottom of the ocean.” Clyde joked again.
“She’s not an octopus, she’s a squid.”
“Anyway, there have been ‘sightings’ over the last few years. Look at these articles Mr. Smith found for me. I think Maria might have been onto something. I mean this one even has a picture.” Luke and Clyde examined the photos and news articles. There was a tail in the waves of one picture and Clyde laughed.
“That has to be fake!” He told Sarah, who shook her head.
“Mr. Smith checked and it’s real! The tail is a little off looking; it doesn't belong to any fish or sea creature. Not that I know of and Mr. Smith couldn’t identify it either.”
“We should set up camp! Get cameras and big nets, human sized nets!” Clyde jumped out of his seat and began to plot. Luke and Sarah shook their heads.
*****
Sarah Jane had only met Chrissie briefly. She was a journalist and she’s traveled enough to read people with ease. Sarah always felt a little awkward around Chrissie, she knew Chrissie didn’t like her. When Sarah Jane moved to Bannerman Road she got the title of ‘weird old woman in the giant house’ which Sarah didn’t love. But she was used to working alone and not interacting with her neighbors. Kelsey, the girl that brought Maria and Sarah Jane together, was the perfect example. She saw Bane and knew everything about Luke, once it was over she ran off. Ignored Sarah Jane and Maria, went back to gossiping about them. Kelsey’s mother was similar to Chrissie, loved gossip and found Sarah Jane and her son weird.
Sarah had become close with Maria and her father. They lived across the road from each other! Without Maria, Sarah wouldn’t have met her son. Sarah would be dead without Maria and her meddling. But Chrissie didn’t know this, Chrissie knew nothing about their adventures. All she saw was a woman who spent more time with her daughter than she ever did. A woman who Maria looked up to and admired.
Maria would run off to Sarah Jane’s house all the time. But for her to go up to her father and say ‘I wanna go to mum's place’ was a rare occurrence. That was mainly because Chrissie stopped by almost every other day. Even during arguments Maria would choose to go to Sarah Jane’s house. She found comfort in Sarah and the attic and all the wonderful things hidden up there.
Sarah Jane knew all of these things and she knew that Chrissie was there now. She walked cautiously to the front door and knocked lightly. Alan answered the door and Sarah Jane let out a sigh of relief.
“I was just wondering if Maria would like to join Luke, Clyde and I on a trip to the beach tomorrow.”
“Mermaid hunting?” He asked and Sarah Jane laughed.
“No, no, I just thought there might be a story there. Plus the kids would get a change of scenery. I regret telling them about my game developer friend.” She shook her head and Alan smiled.
“MARIA?” He called and she ran down the stairs to see Sarah Jane waiting by the door. Maria smiled and hugged her. Chrissie walked out of the kitchen and watched, she was more than a little jealous.
“Would you want to go to the beach with Sarah Jane and the boys tomorrow?” Alan asked and Maria nodded.
“Sounds great!”
“Not so fast!” Chrissie walked up to the door. “How can you trust her with our daughter's well-being Alan? What does she know? What do you know Calamity Jane?”
“Mum!”
“It’s alright Maria.” Sarah Jane reassured her. “I have a son, and Maria, Luke, and Clyde are with me all the time. There is nothing dangerous about the beach and we will be very careful. I promise you she will come home in one piece. And it’s Sarah Jane, Sarah Jane Smith.”
“Right, well it’s up to your father Maria.” Chrissie said quietly and Alan gave Maria the ok. She ran back to her room and began to pack a bag.