Читать книгу Forever and Ever - Amber Aitken - Страница 8

Nicks patted her pocket, the one containing the two free passes to the sea star exhibition at the aquarium. Yesterday’s visit to Deli Antonia had been a disaster with embarrassing consequences. Not that Coral really saw it like this. She was rather indignant about the whole affair, almost as if Mr Selvaggio had tricked them by being married all along. So much for Sunday Harbour community spirit, she harrumphed.

“Come on!” urged Nicks.

Coral ambled along with her hands buried deep inside her pockets and kicked a smooth pebble.

“Oh, get over it, Coral. So you didn’t know there were two Mrs Selvaggios–it’s no biggie.”

Actually, inside Coral felt disappointed. She definitely did not want Nicks to leave Sunday Harbour and she’d really (really really) hoped that this would be an easy Cupid Company case. But so far it was proving to be anything but easy!

“Here’s your pass,” said Nicks as they reached the aquarium admissions booth.

Coral took the pass from her friend and handed it over to the lady wearing a Sally Seal hat and T-shirt. The lady noticed Coral noticing her outfit and whispered conspiratorially, “My name really is Sally–isn’t that cool! We’ve all got our special aquarium names.” She pointed to Gary Great White standing nearby, handing out balloons. And then she laughed and clapped her palms together like a seal.

Coral stared at the woman. She really does throw herself into her job, she thought. Coral never did anything in half measures either, and suddenly she applauded the woman’s efforts (but not in a seal sort of way).

Nicks, meanwhile, was all business as she carefully scrutinised their surroundings. “Now, I suppose we can assume that everyone who is here loves the ocean, right?”

Coral nodded, vaguely distracted by Gary Great White who was doing shark impressions. He was really quite good. So Coral made a shark fin with her hand and held it on top of her head. Gary Great White certainly seemed to appreciate her efforts and took another great big shark bite out of the fresh air. And then Coral spotted Chris Crab.

“Oh, would you stop it!” snapped Nicks as she slapped Coral’s raised scissor-fingers. “Can we just get on? Now we just have to find a man who is kind, clever, funny and handsome. And not married.”

Ahead of them was a board with a colourful map of the aquarium’s layout. Nicks studied it closely while she decided on a plan. Up ahead was the Touch Tank. Then to the left was the twenty-metre-long underwater tunnel with its moving walkway. To the right was the half-moon shark tank. And further along was Reef Magic–Nurseries of the Seas. The aquarium wasn’t all indoors though. Visitors could go outside to admire the dolphin pool and seal enclosures.

Coral was reading from the board too, and suddenly she pointed a finger at the area called Coral Bay.

“That’s my favourite place,” she ooh’d.

Nicks stared at her friend and then returned to the map. It was only Coral’s favourite because her name was featured in the title. “Come on–let’s head for the Touch Tank,” she said, a little more sharply that she’d intended. It was in the opposite direction to Coral Bay.

They hadn’t walked for more than a minute or two when they were approached by Julie Jellyfish. Her arms were stiff and bent and trembled at the elbows. Coral grinned and did her own jellyfish impression, which involved wobbling her head too (something she felt Julie’s impression was missing). Julie was obviously impressed, because she laughed and added the head-wobble to her act as well.

“Welcome to the Sea Life Aquarium–home to global marine life,” warbled Julie Jellyfish as she handed both girls a shiny printed leaflet. “Would you like to adopt a sea creature?”

“Er…” Coral stared at the leaflet and read through the list of sea creatures up for adoption. She couldn’t see her mum letting her keep a hammerhead shark. Or a leatherback turtle. A pair of sea otters was probably out of the question too. The most she could probably do was a clownfish–a little swimmer like Nemo. But this didn’t seem to be on the list. She was about to raise this point with Julie Jellyfish, but Nicks had just noticed a board listing the feeding times. She pointed to it, checked her watch and smiled at Julie Jellyfish while she shoved the leaflet into her pocket.

“We’ve got to hurry if we’re going to make feeding time!”

So Coral followed Nicks over to the chest-high tank with a man inside wearing bright orange plastic waders and holding a bowl filled with food. A crowd had already gathered, but that was good; it was the crowd Coral and Nicks were interested in. They screened the hairy heads–searching for a handsome candidate for Mr Perfect. There were a lot of old people and a lot of young people in the crowd, but there weren’t many in-between.

Coral elbowed Nicks and whispered, “Perhaps we should move on.”

Nicks nodded like it was a good idea. They wandered through the aquarium–past a café called Fish Fingers and the half-moon shark tank and the aquarium novelty shop, but they could really only focus on the aquarium visitors. It was, after all, why they were here.

They came across a large poster inviting them to meet the new aquarium manager, which seemed a good idea. But as soon as they got to his office, it turned out the manager was off supervising the repair of a leak in a tank of electric eels. So they continued on their way until finally they came to Coral Bay, which was quite simply a tank packed with different types of coral and thousands of small, brightly coloured fish. Coral Bay did not draw as many spectators, although the girls did notice one possible candidate for Mr Perfect. This man wasn’t very tall, but he had a kind smile and was dressed well. And then they noticed the camera around his neck.

“A tourist–no good,” murmured Nicks. She wanted to stay in Sunday Harbour. So they continued on to the Touch Tank, which was just a short distance away. This was the attraction that had drawn the largest crowd. Nicks gazed around her with eyes like a hawk. Coral stared with eyes on stalks. And then Nicks nudged Coral. Coral nodded. She’d seen him too.

There, on the other side of the Touch Tank, was a tall man with black hair and friendly eyes. He gazed into the water intently and then turned to the teenage boys around him. He was clearly a teacher on a field trip and the boys seemed to be having a great time.

Turning back to the Touch Tank, he pointed out some of the sea creatures swimming or lolling about in the cool, clear water. The teenagers seemed especially drawn to the stingrays with their elegant wings that rippled like grey velvety cloaks in the water. Coral and Nicks moved into position, right beside the field trip group, and watched closely. The stingrays were captivating, with winning little smiles.

Potential Mr Perfect looked from the teenage boys to the stingrays. And then he slowly slipped his right arm into the cool water. Bending forward as far as he could, his hand reached towards the stingrays. The teenage boys fell silent and, like Coral and Nicks, all leaned forward–ever so slightly–watching, waiting. Potential Mr Perfect’s hand was heading for one of the largest stingrays in the tank. The stingray remained still and patient. And then it twitched.

Potential Mr Perfect leaped back and howled with fright. He clutched his heart and howled a few more times, but in a rather high-pitched, girly sort of way, like he was having a heart attack. Some of the passers-by clearly thought he might be and moved closer with looks of concern on their faces. But the teenage boys knew exactly what had happened and they howled with laughter. They laughed so hard they bent at the waist and thumped their knees or the backs of their friends. They laughed so hard they cried. And while all this went on, poor old Potential Mr Perfect still clutched his chest and breathed like he was going to have a baby.

“Come on, Coral,” grumbled Nicks. “He’s not our man.”