The Clamshell Show Read online

  Marnie’s head was still spinning as Miss Tangle took the next group of mermaids through the tune. She didn’t have the part yet, but she didn’t NOT have the part either. All she had to do was sing her best in this afternoon’s second auditions and maybe she would be Queen Maretta! She pictured the Clamshell Stage with its beautiful set, and all the musicians in the Seaharmonic Orchestra, and all the agents and record producers and friends and family listening to her. She wondered dreamily which of the merboys from Atoll Academy would play Prince Cobalt.

  “Psst,” Pearl hissed at her. “It’s Orla’s turn.”

  Marnie snapped to attention. Orla was on the stage with Finnula Gritt, Kerri Kelp-Matthews, and someone she’d never seen before. She stared at the unknown mermaid’s cloudy golden hair and upturned nose. Who was she?

  “From the top, please!” said Miss Tangle.

  Orla sang really well. Marnie had to admit that. She started worrying again. If Orla got the part, how was she going to feel? Marnie didn’t want to be a sore loser. She didn’t want to be a loser at all! This whole thing was giving her tail-ache.

  Now the new girl had started singing. She was really good too. Her voice wasn’t as deep as Orla’s. It was lighter and softer, more like Marnie’s.

  “Orla and Gilly, see you this afternoon for second auditions,” Miss Tangle trilled. “Finnula and Kerri, we need some mussel-drummers. I think that’s where your talents might lie. The orchestra auditions are after lunch.”

  The next four auditions got underway. Orla swam over to Marnie and Pearl, grinning.

  “Well done,” said Marnie, trying to smile.

  “Thanks,” said Orla. “You were good too.”

  “Wait,” Marnie blurted out as Orla turned to go. “Do you want to have lunch together?”

  Orla turned back. “You want this part, right?”

  Marnie bit her lip and nodded.

  Orla shrugged. “Well, I want it too. I think it’s best if we stay out of each other’s way until Miss Tangle makes a decision.”

  Marnie worried she was going to cry. “Fine,” she said, doing her best not to let her voice wobble. “And whatever Miss Tangle decides, we both accept it.”

  “Shake on it,” Orla said.

  They shook tails. Pearl watched them both with a frown.

  “Ellie Plankton, Salmonella Stone, Treasure Jones, and Jaya Wetson please!” Miss Tangle sang out from the stage.

  Marnie let go of Orla’s tail.

  “May the best mermaid win,” she said, trying to be fair.

  Orla tossed her long dark hair. “Don’t worry. She will.”

  Marnie sat on a rocky seat at the back of the Music Cave, swinging her tail as she waited for Pearl to finish with the Seaharmonic Orchestra. She could smell the scent of starfish fingers wafting up from the Dining Cave, and she was hungry. Normally she would have gone to lunch with Orla, but since Orla didn’t want to, she was waiting for Pearl instead.

  Although Pearl wasn’t auditioning, Miss Tangle had asked her to play the rock tuba—a huge spiral of stone studded with limpet buttons—to accompany the auditioning mermaids and get in a bit of practice before the rehearsals. A few strands of red hair floating around the sides of the stone instrument was the only proof that Pearl was behind the rock tuba at all.

  “No no no!” shouted Miss Tangle as one of the younger mermaids played a wrong note on her coral clarinet. “One last time from the top, the middle, and the bottom. Pearl, can you hear me?”

  The answering blast from the rock tuba made all the music stands wobble. Miss Tangle waved a few driftwood batons at the sea-glass violins, coral clarinets, sea-urchin ocarinas, bladder-wrack bagpipes, cuttlefish kazoos, and mussel drums, and the music started up again. Marnie leaned against the rock wall and tried to ignore her rumbling tummy. At this rate, there wouldn’t be any starfish fingers left. And she still had to check the time for the second round of auditions this afternoon.

  “Louder with those mussel drums, Kerri and Finnula!” cried Miss Tangle with enthusiasm. “More from the sea-glass violins! We really do need a razor-clam flute player. I hope Atoll Academy has one.”

  There was a burst of chatter among the mermaids. The merboys at Atoll Academy were always an interesting topic of conversation, and the Clamshell Show was one of the only times the two schools got to meet. Marnie found it a bit annoying how giggly some of the mermaids got when the merboys were mentioned.

  Pearl gave one final thunderous blast on the rock tuba as Miss Tangle produced a seaweed handkerchief and mopped her forehead.

  “That will do for now,” she said. “You’ve all made it through this audition. Congratulations. The Seaharmonic Orchestra will meet for our first rehearsal next week.”

  There were a few claps and cheers.

  “Will the boys from Atoll Academy be there, Miss Tangle?” asked Finnula Gritt. Kerri Kelp-Matthews giggled.

  “I certainly hope so,” said Miss Tangle.

  Pearl swam out of the rock tuba’s stone coils. “Where are the rehearsals going to be?” she asked, a little breathlessly.

  “In Clamshell Grotto, of course,” said Miss Tangle. Gasps of excitement rippled around the room. “We must get used to the new acoustics!”

  “I can’t believe I’m going to play the Clamshell Grotto rock tuba next week!” Pearl said as she and Marnie swam as fast as they could to the Dining Cave. “Apparently it’s ten times bigger than the school one. I haven’t been this excited since I spotted an albino catfish.”

  Marnie looked anxiously at the starfish clock above the door of the Dining Cave. What time was the second round of auditions? Miss Tangle had said they were this afternoon, but when? It was already almost a quarter past. Would she have time for lunch? She was starving.

  Suddenly there was a flash of purple tail and the gleam of a pearl necklace as Orla swam past with Mabel. Just as Marnie was wondering whether to ask her about the audition times, Orla turned around.

  “Our audition time this afternoon has changed. It’s at half past, not quarter past,” she said. “I thought you should know.”

  Marnie felt a stab of relief. She would have time for starfish fingers after all!

  “Thanks!” she called as Orla and Mabel vanished around the corner. The faint sound of Mabel’s laughter floated back down the corridor toward her.

  Marnie joined Pearl in the lunch line, humming “Over the Water.”

  “Marnie?” said Pearl.

  Marnie heaped starfish fingers on to her plate and scooped up a heap of sea-cucumber salad. “What?”

  Pearl scrunched up her freckled face. “I think Mabel and Orla are up to something.”

  Marnie carried her plate of food to a table. “What do you mean?” she asked as she gobbled down her first starfish finger. Auditioning made her hungry.

  “I don’t know,” Pearl admitted. “But—”

  “Marnie Blue?”

  Marnie swung round. Ms. Mullet, the crab deputy head of Lady Sealia’s, was swimming past with a starfish-finger sandwich in her claws.

  “Shouldn’t you be heading for your audition?” said Ms. Mullet. “Your name is on Miss Tangle’s list, I believe.”

  Marnie tried to swallow her food and answer at the same time. “It’s at half past, Ms. Mullet,” came out as “Harf parf, Miff Muwwef!”

  Ms. Mullet’s sharp eyes bobbed on their stalks. “I think you will find Miss Tangle is taking your auditions at a quarter past,” she said. She waved her claw at the wall. “It’s spelled out very clearly on that bulletin board and it’s very unprofessional for a performer to be late.”

  The deputy head scuttled on through the Dining Cave. Marnie gaped at the large notice barnacled beside the doorway. She hadn’t noticed it on the way in.

  Marnie couldn’t believe her eyes. Quarter past? But that was . . . now.

  “I told you Orla and Mabel were up to something,” said Pearl.

  Marnie crammed the rest of her lunch into her mouth as fast as she could. Orla had
lied. May the best mermaid win, indeed!

  “Come on, Pearl.” Marnie shoved herself away from the table and thrashed her tail against the current. “Orla isn’t getting away with this.”

  “What about my lunch?”

  “Bring it with you!”

  The Dining Cave was right at the bottom of School Rock, under the seabed itself. Marnie fought her way through the crowds, swimming up the rocky tunnels back to the Music Cave. She should have stayed there after the Seaharmonic Orchestra auditions, she realized. Lunch could have waited.

  “Excuse me!” she cried as she battled through the mermaids surging through the corridors. “Can everyone get out of the way please? Swimming late for an audition! Thank you . . . Thanks . . .”

  Past the stables. Through the Sports Caves, dodging the mermaids playing fishball in the high nets. Past the library—quietly, to avoid annoying Len the venomous lionfish librarian. Marnie beat her tail as hard as she could as she swam up through the Oceanography Cave and past the practice rooms. Her breath was coming in short gasps. The words I’m going to be late, I’m going to be late, I’m going to be late drummed through her head on an awful loop. Miss Tangle wouldn’t listen as she tried to explain what had happened. Miss Tangle would give the part to Orla . . .

  Waiting outside the Music Cave, Orla and Mabel jumped as Marnie came pelting around the corner. Marnie swam up to Orla and poked her hard in the chest. Pearl floated anxiously in the background.

  “You cheated!” Marnie gasped.

  “You should have gotten to the Dining Cave in time,” Orla said defensively. “Then you would have seen the notice for yourself.”

  “I thought we were going to play fair!”

  Orla looked sulky. “You said ‘may the best mermaid win.’ Well, maybe the best mermaid just plans ahead.”

  Marnie had never felt so upset in her life. “If you’re going to cheat, then I don’t want to be friends with you anymore!”

  Orla turned bright red. “Well, maybe I don’t care!”

  “What in Neptune’s name is this awful racket?”

  Miss Tangle appeared at the door of the Music Cave with her tentacles folded across her chest.

  Marnie pushed Orla out of the way. “I’m here for my Queen Maretta audition, Miss Tangle!”

  Orla pushed Marnie back. “So am I, Miss Tangle!”

  “Don’t worry Miss Tangle,” Pearl said, finishing her starfish fingers. “I’m just here to watch.”

  “I suppose you want to be Queen Maretta too, Mabel?” Miss Tangle said, looking at Mabel Anemone.

  Mabel blushed. “I want to be a storm sprite, actually.”

  Miss Tangle nodded. “Come on in then,” she said. “I’m still looking for storm sprites.”

  “But Miss Tangle—” Marnie began.

  “But Miss Tangle—” said Orla.

  “What about Queen Maretta?” they said at the same time.

  Miss Tangle looked over her glasses at them. “I’m sorry, girls, but I’ve already found my Queen Maretta,” she said.

  The new mermaid with the golden, cloud-like hair and the upturned nose swam out of the Music Cave. She grinned at Orla and Marnie.

  “This is Gilly Seaflower,” said Miss Tangle. “Such a voice! Such a talent! Gilly is going to make a marvelous Queen Maretta. I can feel it in my suckers!”

  Just then Treasure Jones swam round the corner, panting loudly.

  “Did I miss it?” she asked.

  Marnie, Orla, and Pearl shut themselves in a practice room to recover from the shock.

  “Who the flippering flatfish is Gilly Seaflower?” said Orla.

  “She speaks fluent Octopus and has a brother at Atoll Academy,” said Pearl.

  “How do you know that?” said Marnie in surprise.

  “Because I listen during the morning assembly,” said Pearl. “She started yesterday.”

  Orla thrashed her tail. “Who speaks fluent Octopus? I bet that’s why Miss Tangle gave her the part.” She reached for Marnie’s hand. “I’m really sorry about the way I’ve acted, Marnie. I was horrible to you.”

  Marnie felt giddy with relief. “You were,” she agreed. “But I forgive you.”

  “You’re too nice to be my friend,” Orla said. She looked embarrassed. “I wouldn’t forgive me.”

  “I know,” Marnie said. Orla laughed.

  “At least we can play storm sprites in the show,” Marnie added. “They’re good parts and we’ll still be on the Clamshell Stage. So that means hopefully there will be some record producers and agents listening to us.”

  Orla stuck out her bottom lip. “I don’t WANT to be a storm sprite.”

  Marnie didn’t want to be a storm sprite either. The storm sprites were the bad guys. The storm sprites would wear horrible costumes, and everyone would boo them. She sighed as she thought about the beautiful costumes that Gilly Seaflower would wear and the lovely songs she was going to sing.

  “It’s not fair,” growled Orla.

  “You promised you’d accept Miss Tangle’s decision,” Pearl reminded Orla. “You and Marnie even shook tails on it.”

  Miss Tangle pushed open the practice room door. She peered at Orla, Marnie, and Pearl. “You three should be in your art class by now,” she said. “Can you take Gilly with you? She’s new and isn’t sure where the art studio is. I’m sure you’ll look after her.”

  Orla gave Gilly a dirty look and swam away with a flip of her purple tail.

  “Poor Orla always struggles with defeat,” said Miss Tangle. “Now, I can offer you a little extra practice after school, Gilly. Queen Maretta has a LOT of music to learn.”

  “I don’t need any extra practice, Miss Tangle,” said Gilly.

  Marnie thought that was pretty rude.

  Miss Tangle blinked. “OK then,” she said. “We’re meeting outside the Oceanography Cave next week and swimming in formation to Clamshell Grotto for the first rehearsal. It’s all going to be wonderful, so make sure you know all your words by then, practice some of those dance moves I’ve just shown you, and give me a shout if you need any help.”

  The octopus teacher swam away, humming to herself. At least someone was happy, Marnie thought gloomily. Her mom had always taught her to be polite, so she did her best to give Gilly a welcoming smile.

  “Hi, I’m Marnie,” she said.

  “I’m Gilly,” said Gilly, crinkling her green-gold eyes. “In case you haven’t figured that out.”

  “I’m Pearl,” Pearl added.

  Gilly ignored Pearl and studied Marnie. “Everyone says you’re Christabel Blue’s niece,” she said. “Is that true?”

  Marnie felt her cheeks flush. “Yes.”

  Gilly linked her arm through Marnie’s. “That’s so cool. I think she’s amazing. Can I meet her?”

  “I’m Pearl,” said Pearl a little louder.

  “Whatever,” Gilly said, glancing at Pearl without interest. “Can we be friends, Marnie? Please say yes.”

  “Sure,” Marnie said uncertainly. “You can sit with me and Pearl in art if you want.”

  Gilly clapped. “That would be off the reef! And can we go meet your aunt after school?”

  “I don’t know—” Marnie began.

  “She’ll enjoy meeting me,” said Gilly confidently. “I’m going to be a star one day. She’ll probably want to interview me. Oh, and can I bring my brother?”

  “Um,” said Marnie. “I don’t—”

  “Great!” Gilly sang. “You’re the best! Whoops, we’d better get to art. Is it this way?”

  And she tugged Marnie down the hall, leaving Pearl to catch up.

  “Gilly Seaflower is horrible,” Orla announced as Pearl and Marnie joined her in the hall after art class. “Did you hear her in there? She was all, ‘Oh, the art at my old school was SO much better’ and ‘I can draw stonefish in my sleep.’ Urgh!”

  Gilly had sung throughout most of the class, and at one point she swam up to the ceiling to perform a verse of “Over the Water.” The class h
ad gone wild. Everyone loved it. Even Ms. Mullet, who was the substitute that afternoon, had cracked a smile.

  “Gilly’s pretty full of herself,” Pearl said. “But you have to admit that she’s an amazing singer.”

  “She’s not THAT amazing,” Orla muttered.

  Marnie didn’t know what to think. Gilly had been really nice to her in art, telling her jokes and complimenting her on her conch shell painting. But she’d also been rude about pretty much everyone else, whispering in Marnie’s ear about Pearl’s crooked teeth and Ms. Mullet’s cracked old shell. That had made Marnie feel guilty.

  “I think she’s just trying to fit in,” she said.

  Orla snorted. “Gilly Seaflower doesn’t want to FIT IN. She wants to STAND OUT. Someone needs to teach her a lesson.”

  “You can’t be mean to her,” said Marnie in dismay.

  “Why not?” said Orla.

  “Because she’s new and it’ll make us look like sore losers.”

  “Well maybe I am a sore loser,” Orla said with a frown. “And besides, she’s pretty mean herself. Don’t think I didn’t hear her whispering to you about Pearl and Ms. Mullet.”

  Pearl looked worried. “What did she say about me?”

  “Nothing,” said Marnie quickly.

  “She said you look like a viperfish, Pearl,” said Orla.

  Pearl’s eyes filled with tears, but she tried to laugh it off. Marnie felt awful.

  “The only viperfish around here is Gilly Seaflower,” said Orla.

  “Did someone say my name?”

  Gilly had come out of the art studio and was floating toward them. She gave Marnie a big smile. Feeling embarrassed and not wanting to be rude, Marnie smiled back. Orla made a disgusted sound, grabbed Pearl by the hand and pulled her away. Gilly didn’t seem to notice.

  “Hey!” Gilly’s green-gold eyes were bright. “So we’re going to meet your aunt at Radio SeaWave, right? I’ve always wanted to see inside a radio studio. I already sent my brother a scallop, telling him to meet us outside.” She linked arms with Marnie again. “You’ll love Jet. He’s almost as talented as me. He’s going to play Prince Cobalt in the Clamshell Show. When we drop in to your aunt’s show, she’s going to be so surprised!”