An Update

Hmm...well, I didn't quite mean for it to be the whole summer since I posted a Crystellen update, but that seems to have somehow happened.  (Not that being too sick to write for a whole week helped, which I got over just in time to take a planned trip, and now I'm plotting out the next element in my career change.)

Okay, enough whining on my part:  I guess what I'm wanting to say is that she's coming back, hopefully next week, but at this point my schedule's so up in the air I'm giving no guarantees (especially since my past guarantees have been, umm, well, let's just say "not faithfully executed.")

Fear not, fellow Treasure Hunters - She will return!*  

*unless the Manicotti get to me first  ;)

A Second Tale of Emerys Treasure!

Finally, "A Second Tale of Emerys Treasure" is available Here!  

Thanks for your patience and interest everyone...  :)

Just a Few More Days...

Okay, well, Crystellen was supposed to return this week, but I have been spending quite a bit of time on an unrelated writing project.

However, Crystellen will return next week, along with Emerys, Cat, Emily, Losten, and Robert, as by this time next week, the sequel should (hopefully) be available!!  :)

Cheers & thanks for your patience!

~Cliff

Crystellen Will Return...

Crystellen will return...just not this week.  :(

I have been busy getting "A Second Tale of Emerys Treasure" converted, as well as working on another novel not part of the Emerys Treasure series, but everyone's favorite slightly sassy mermaid will return next week!

Until then, happy Treasure hunting!  :)

As Perceived by Crystellen 13

I didn’t know what was wrong with Emerys, but unlike Cat, I didn’t rule out Broken Tail Syndrome.  Not that I thought Emerys had had sex with Losten; I knew my sister too well for that.  But, maybe she had fallen so deeply for the guy that the mer-gene had released the chemical into her body that starts Broken Tail Syndrome.  Given the sadness she was now experiencing, if the chemical had been released into her body previously, then perhaps the heartache she was now suffering was causing the chemical to attack the mer-gene and was slowly destroying it.  In a few weeks, would my sister start to age like a normal person?

 

Then again, sometimes I thought that nothing about our biology made any sense.

However, I needed to get to the bottom of my sister’s dismay.  Not that it was my fault, but still, I felt that I had probably contributed to their disagreement.  At the very least, I hadn’t helped. 

Thus, I made up my mind, once I had finished speaking to Cat, that Losten needed to make amends with Emerys.  For whatever he’d done.  Emerys still didn’t seem to be getting any better, so this might be a matter of life and death. 

However, after everything that had happened, there was no way Losten would come willingly.  After all, I had poisoned him once; he had no reason to trust me.  Plus, even though he wasn’t Manicotti, I still didn’t know what kind of man he was.  Could he be trusted with my sister’s heart? 

I was going to find out.

That evening I walked into my grandmother’s room.  “Grammy,” I said, “do you still have the shnarkite powder you told me about years ago.”

Grammy smiled and walked over to a box on her dresser.  She retrieved a bag of pale blue powder and handed it to me.

“Don’t use too much,” she said.  “This stuff’s potent.  You don’t want to kill whoever the boy is.”

I smiled.  “Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill anyone.  I just need to use it to persuade someone to come with me.”

That evening I took a small portion of the schnarkite powder and placed it on the end of my lipstick.  Then, I replaced the cap and put my lipstick in my purse.

The next day I drove to David L. Mays Community College.  Emerys had talked enough times about her tutoring sessions that I knew where she met Losten on campus.  And, if he was as clueless as I suspected he might be, he most likely would still be there.  I’d heard Emerys tell Mom the other day that he had called her cell phone and left a message like nothing had happened.

I parked my car and walked up to the library.  I didn’t know exactly where in the library they met, but I figured it couldn’t be too difficult to find.  I walked through the main door and looked around.  In front of me sat the librarian at the front desk.  At a table a little ways to the left sat Emerys’ brown-haired beau.

I walked over to where he sat at a table and stood beside him.

He didn’t take his eyes off his notebook.

Good grief, I thought.  Losten’s so into what he’s reading, he doesn’t even see me here.  How’d he and my sister ever meet, given how clueless he is to the world around him?  At this rate, I’d be surprised if he even knew that he was the cause of my sister’s vexation.

I pulled the chair back from the table.

As Perceived by Crystellen 12

The next day I saw little of Emerys.  When she did leave her room, she ate and then sobbed some more.  And when she didn’t sob, she looked glum.

When Cat and Robert came over Thursday afternoon for supper, Em still wasn't herself.  She didn’t cry anymore, but she still looked down.  Not to mention, she had skipped school most of this week.  Before they left, Cat asked how our sister was.

“I don’t know,” I whispered, since in our house, it seems voices can be heard everywhere.  “I’ve never seen her act like this.  I’m not even sure what happened.”

“Mom told me she had a spat with Losten, but that’s all she would say.”

I led Cat to the back porch, where we could talk more freely.  I had always liked Cat, even though she was considerably older than me.  Plus, when I was with her, it felt nice be around someone who wasn’t blonde.

“I’m getting worried about Em,” I said.  “She seems to be really into this guy.  Do you think-” I paused.  “Do you think she might be suffering Broken Tail Syndrome?”

Cat appeared shocked.  “Crissy, don’t be ridiculous.  You know our sister would never dishonor herself with a guy.”

“I wasn’t suggesting she had sex with him.  It’s just, she seems so down and unlike herself, I was wondering if she might somehow be going through it without having been physically intimate.”

Cat smiled.  “There are some things, my little sister, that you won’t learn until your wedding night.  Trust me, there is no way she could have bonded with him that deeply without being physically involved.”

Robert stepped onto the porch and asked if Cat was ready to leave.

“Keep a close eye on our sister,” she said, “and let me know if anything changes.”

She stepped away from me but I grabbed her arm.

“What if I can get Losten to talk to her?  Do you think that could clear things up?”

Cat nodded.  “We should probably talk to him first, though; otherwise, he might not have a clue how bad Emerys feels.”

I paused a moment.  Cat did have a point; we should probably talk to him before we just throw him in front of Emerys.

“Alright," I said, "how about tomorrow then?”

Cat leaned back.  “Tomorrow for what?”

“How about I bring Losten by your house tomorrow evening?  Em’s on patrol then, and we can see if we can straighten things out between them.”

Cat bit her lip.  “That might work,” she said.  For several seconds she didn’t speak.  “Hmm, Robert will be packing tomorrow night, so what if I arrange for the two of them to talk?  He might be able to shed some light on things for Losten.”

“That’s sounds great,” I said.

Cat looked at me with suspicion, probably because I had shown so much excitement at fixing this mess.  “Now, how are you going to get Losten to come?”

I smiled.  “Don’t worry, I’m sure I can convince him.”

Cat gave me a worried look.  “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but please don’t do anything to make this any worse.”

I put my hands on my hips and smirked.  “Sis, would I ever do anything like that?”

As Perceived by Crystellen Treasure 11

That afternoon, while I was helping Mom fold laundry, Emerys came home.  Mom went out to greet her, but didn’t come back to help me.  Great, I thought, here I am stuck folding laundry all by myself.  Not that it was difficult, but it would have been nice if Mom appreciated me enough to not leave me just because Em was here.

I placed the last towel in the laundry basket and carried it upstairs to the closet.  As I passed the railing that looked out over the parlor, I heard a sob.  I glanced over the edge.  On the couch in the parlor sat Emerys with her arms around my Mom.  She was crying.

            I put the laundry basket down and knelt beside the railing.

“I don’t understand it,” my sister said.  “He accused me of leading him on.”

“There, there,” Mom said.  She stroked Em’s hair.  “I’m sure it was all a big misunderstanding.”

I pressed closer against the railing.  What had happened, I wondered.

“Losten said I had led him on by not telling him about my tail sooner.  He also blamed me for the fact that he has to keep this secret from his family.”  She sobbed some more.  “Mom, I don’t know what to do.”

Wow, she was really into this guy.  I mean, I knew she had strong feelings for him, but I hadn’t seen Em cry since Dad died.  Losten must really be a jerk, I thought, to make my sister cry like that.

               Emerys continued to sob, so I picked up the laundry basket and put the towels in the closet.  Whatever he’d done though, Em would forgive him tomorrow.  She was that forgiving and she liked him too much not to do so.