Mermaids in Turkey

Chapter Three

"I am not a Sancak" 

"Then why did the woman throw you out of her bakery?"

Ayça huffed slightly. "Im not going to argue with a stranger about whether or not I'm a Sancak" 

As if reading her mind, he answered the question that had been eating away at her since yesterday. A question she had been unsure about how to ask her aunt. 

"The Sancaks and Kozcuoğlus have been rivals on this island for years, out of loyalty each store will sell to one but not the other" 

"Are you a Kozcuoğlu?"

He stroked his chin while shaking his head. "Im a visitor, the rules don't apply. If they did it would be bad for business." 

He opened his mouth to say something else but his phone rang. He answered it and spoke to someone named Ugur. Alps voice was calm and collected but she could hear shouting from the other end. He stood up collecting the leather bound book beside him and his hat. 

He stopped in front of her and stretched out his hand.

 "Im Alp" 

Ayça noticed he had a freckle on his left cheek beside his nose. She shook his hand, her tiny hand disappearing under his bear like one.

 "Ayça".

"Try to stay out of trouble Sancak" 

Ufff she could feel her blood boil as he dashed off, leaving her to her own thoughts in the forest. 

The sun had already made its way up the sky by the time Ayça started to make her way back to the hotel. She noticed at least ten white caravans parked near the junction between the forest and the beach. There were many people fluttering and buzzing about, a blonde was hurrying from one spot to another. Ayça chuckled to herself for it reminded her of Sadik running around on set. They were no doubt filming something probably a commercial or ad.

When she got back to the hotel she found her aunt sitting at one of the tables fanning herself, the fan moving rapidly like the wings of a hummingbird. 

"Oh thank Allah! I was worried sick kızım!" 

"Aunt, I have travelled the world on my own. I think I can handle myself on a small island" 

"Of course, but after what happened this morning with Namik -" 

Ayça raised her hand to stop her as she served herself water from the pitcher. "I don't want to talk about what happened this morning" she took a big sip eager to change the subject. " By the way I saw some white caravans are they filming something?" 

Selma nodded. "Yes a series. Some famous actor has come from Istanbul, they have been here about three months now. But we rarely see them as they keep to themselves" 

"Is it true you plan to sell the hotel?" asked a voice behind them.

Nehirs face was puffed out like a puffer fish and her eyes were swollen. 

"Nehir I haven't-"

"Don't bother lying, the whole town is talking about how Leyla Sancak's daughter has returned to sell the hotel!" 

"I was going to tell you both but I-"

"WHAT FORGOT?" Nehir asked exploding "You can't do that to us! This is our home! What about grandma, have you forgotten about her lying in that coma? You really are heartless! I guess I shouldn't be surprised after how you treated aunt Leyla" 

"NEHIR!" Selma said sharply.

Ayça felt a sharp pain in her chest as she got up, forcing herself to keep her composure. "I had planned on getting you all a cottage in town. I would never abandon you guys, which is more than can be said about that woman you admire so much." 

She slammed the door shut to her room and collapsed to the floor. The force was enough to cause the the painting of the marigolds among buttercups to come crashing down. Revealing a hidden 6 x 6 tile of a hand painted mermaid. She ran her fingers tracing the vibrant blue border, inscribed next to the mermaid was the year 1953. The year that the hotel had been built. Thats odd the border isn't flush with the wall 

She was startled by a knock at her door as she tripped on the painting on the floor and pushed herself against the wall to regain her footing. While doing so she pushed on the tile, it sunk in. The barely audible sound of gears turning as the tile swung open. 

"Ayça are you okay? Please forgive Nehir she is young and doesn't know what she says." 

"I am fine, just please leave me alone." 

Ayca waited until she heard her aunts footsteps retreat. She reached into the space and pulled out a leather bound journal that was thick and wrapped with leather straps to hold its contents. She let out a small yelp as a spider trapeze along one of the straps, throwing the book to the ground. When she gathered the courage, she picked it up by one end and inspected it to make sure none of its friends were near by. 

Carefully she unwrapped the leather ties and opened it. Mehmet Sancak was written on the first page in perfect cursive. Mehmet, her grandfather who had abandoned his family when her mother and aunt Selma were young. She quickly closed it. It felt like an invasion of privacy to read this. But what if it provided clues as to why her grandfather did what he did. As she settled on her bed to read the first page her cell phone rang. 

"Honestly Ayça, I suggest you sell the whole thing and take the profits." her father said to her.

"I don't know...I feel guilty about displacing them."

"We buy them a house on the island or on the mainland, whatever they want"

"What about restoring it?" 

"If you are asking me for money, I can't give you anything for something that's not going to be a profitable investment. Its going to be a money pit. I might as well just take that money and light it on fire"

"And if I stayed? I have money saved up from my last project-"

"Honey, what do you know about restoring a hotel? It is hard work and lets be honest you were raised a princess, you haven't had to work hard a single day in your life"

"Dad, if I put my mind to something I never give up until i accomplish it" 

She heard another muffled voice on the line.

"Listen Ayça I have to go. Im sorry"

Before she could even say goodbye, the line clicked off. 

Her heart sank a little at the lack of her fathers belief in her. He no doubt was with a new woman this week, given the speed which he ended the call. Not that he had ever been present much when she was child, she had been mostly raised by her firm but loving governess Miriam. 

She opened the journal to the second page If you are reading this then I fear the worse has come to pass. I only pray that this journal has not fallen into the wrong hands for the secrets contained here may help to save my family or it can lead to their ruin....but she didn't get far as her heavy lids finally gave way to a deep sleep. She dreamt that she was running through the woods and someone was calling her name. The voice sounded familiar but she couldn't remember who it belonged to. There was a loud banging sound closing in on her, the sound appeared to be coming from the trees. The banging got louder and louder, until her eyes fluttered opened. It wasn't until she woke up that she realized that the banging was coming from her door. 

"Coming!" she answered groggily as she tripped for yet a second time on that painting. She opened the door her aunts eyes were large and frantic. 

"Otel* Hezen is engulfed in flames!" she motioned towards her suitcase "Hurry we may need to evacuate" 

*Otel: turkish word for hotel