I'm sad to hear this is so hard to find, because it sounds lovely. I've made a note in case I ever stumble across it!
It's worth checking the library systems near you, especially if you have access to a university library. There's a very fine mer-person in it, too!
In size, including her tail, she was about the size of an earth-child of four years old, but no earth-child ever had such an exquisitely fragile body or such a smooth and silvery skin. Her pointed little face was as silver-white as her body, and there was no colour in her cheeks or lips, but the laughter in her lips and the dimples in her cheeks made them warm with friendliness. Her eyes were round and green, and they were not like human eyes, for they had no lashes and there were no eyebrows above them. The strands of her hair were light as gossamer and waved all about her head as though each strand had a life of its own. Her hair was green, so much the green of the air behind her that had it not been for its movement one would scarcely have seen it. Worn like a jewel in her hair, just above her forehead, was a tiny silver starfish that shone faintly. The little teeth that showed between her parted lips were like pearls, and so were the nails on her fingers; her hands were tiny and lovely, but a bit web-like where the fingers joined on. It would have been an insult to her beauty to say that at the waist she became a fish, but it was the truth to say that if you did not look at the top half of her, the bottom half of her might have reminded you of a fish, for it was a tapering affair of silver and green scales, ending at the bottom in a sort of shimmering fan that reminded Tabitha of Silkin's en-tout-cas. She wondered what it was used for. Just at present it was lying just submerged beneath the water, moving gently to and fro like the tip of a cat's tail and sending half-moons of ripples across the pond.
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It's worth checking the library systems near you, especially if you have access to a university library. There's a very fine mer-person in it, too!
In size, including her tail, she was about the size of an earth-child of four years old, but no earth-child ever had such an exquisitely fragile body or such a smooth and silvery skin. Her pointed little face was as silver-white as her body, and there was no colour in her cheeks or lips, but the laughter in her lips and the dimples in her cheeks made them warm with friendliness. Her eyes were round and green, and they were not like human eyes, for they had no lashes and there were no eyebrows above them. The strands of her hair were light as gossamer and waved all about her head as though each strand had a life of its own. Her hair was green, so much the green of the air behind her that had it not been for its movement one would scarcely have seen it. Worn like a jewel in her hair, just above her forehead, was a tiny silver starfish that shone faintly. The little teeth that showed between her parted lips were like pearls, and so were the nails on her fingers; her hands were tiny and lovely, but a bit web-like where the fingers joined on. It would have been an insult to her beauty to say that at the waist she became a fish, but it was the truth to say that if you did not look at the top half of her, the bottom half of her might have reminded you of a fish, for it was a tapering affair of silver and green scales, ending at the bottom in a sort of shimmering fan that reminded Tabitha of Silkin's en-tout-cas. She wondered what it was used for. Just at present it was lying just submerged beneath the water, moving gently to and fro like the tip of a cat's tail and sending half-moons of ripples across the pond.
(Her name is Miranda. Her hair is tentacles.)