The Water Horse: Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

Melissa Brooke Rodriguez stared out the rental car's window, excitment running through her mind. Since her grandmother lived in England, they didn't ever visit her. Mel had met her gandmother once in her entire thirteen years, and she couldn't even remember!
Mel looked out at the bay with longing. She wanted to go for a swim so badly.
"We're almost there," Mom notified her.
"Good," Mel said. They had been driving for nearly two hours.
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Two minutes and thirty-five seconds later (Mel was keeping track), they pulled into the driveway of Myrtice Ramona Herman-Rockwell.
The house was a worn out brown that really needed a paint job. It was small too, and the door needed replacing. There were dead flowers and weeds growing in the flowerbeds.
"Yikes," Mel thought.
They walked up to the front door and Dad knocked.
"Come in!" a crackly voice called.
Mom opened the door to find Gram boiling some water in the small, outdated galley kitchen.
Mel was surprised. From the outside she would have guessed the place was a pig-stye, but it was actually very clean. Mel swore there wasn't a speck of dust.
"Oh, Deborah, Pablo, Melissa! It's been so long!" Gram said, rushing to them and sweeping them all into a big hug, no matter how difficult it was because of her decreasing size.
"My, I must say that you've grown since you were three! Look at those pretty curls, just like your mother," Gram exclaimed, running her thin fingers through Mel's thick hair, eye level with her.
Mel grinned. She liked her grandmother she barely met.
Out of the corner of her eye Mel saw her parents smile.
"Come, you can hang your coats on the rack by the door. I like to keep it warm during the winter," Gram instructed.
They did as she told them to. Mel almost didn't want to take her jacket off because of her blue (yes, blue) birthmark in the shape of a chariot pulled by seahorses. "Oh well," she thought, slipping the thin black jacket off of her skinny arms.
"Oh!" Gram exclaimed.
"What is it, Myrtice?" Dad asked.
"Tha-that mark!" she said, pointing to Mel's forearm.
"It's my birthmark," Mel said, putting her small hand over it, hoping it would cover it.
"Deborah didn't have it, I assumed she wouldn't either, I didn't notice when she was little! Well, my mother didn't have it but I do, so I suppose I have nothing to say for it but....." Gram blabbed.
"Mum, what are you talking about?" Mom demanded, walking in front of Mel in case Gram went nuts.
"The water horses! It happened to me once when I was ten. I heard a calling and so I travelled out to the bay in the middle of the night. I-I have been trying to find them ever since!" Gram explained.
Dad just stood there and looked at her funny.
"Mom, I'm scared," Mel whispered behind her mother.
"I know honey. I don't know what's going on," Mom whispered back.
"Let's sit down," Dad said.
"Right," Gram said.
They all sat on the old (and rather painful) couches.
Immediately, Gram lifted her dress sleeve to reveal an exact replica of Mel's mark.
"Only certain Herman women get these. Men cannot. It's a gift, Melissa, a gift. You can help me find the water horses. They're beautiful and mysterious. You would love them...." Gram said, getting lost in her own insane thoughts.
"Mel, why don't you go get some juice from the fridge. Dad and I are going to talk with your grandmother," Mom said.