Emily Windsnap and the Monster From the Deep (5 page)

Swimming up the jagged east side of the island, we came to a channel leading into the rock.

“Now this is something you must see,” Althea said.

We set off in single file along the channel. The sides became steeper and higher as we swam; the water grew deeper and colder, and so dark it was almost black. A soft wind whistled through the chasm. Then nothing. No movement, no sound, the sun beating silently down. I’d never experienced such stillness. It felt as though it was inside me, as though it was part of me. For a moment, there was nothing except me and the stillness, silently winding through my body like a snake. Was it a pleasant feeling? I couldn’t even tell.

I shivered and shook myself. The others had swum ahead — again. I tried not to show them how tired it was making me to keep up. And I decided not to mention the weird snakelike feeling either. Somehow I didn’t think it would help me come across as normal.

As we wound our way along the channel, Althea and Marina kept pointing things out in our path: a fossil on the canyon wall, hairline cracks in the rocks making tiny channels that split off from the main one.

“Look.” Althea pointed ahead, to where the
channel seemed to come to an end. I couldn’t see anything at first, just a lot of overgrown bushes and reeds lining the walls. Then I noticed what she was pointing at. A gap in the rock, through the reeds. There were pieces of driftwood attached to either side of the gap, covered in plants and algae.

We parted the reeds as though they were curtains and peered through the gap in the rock. On the other side, a shimmering blue lagoon sparkled with diamond glints. The water lay virtually still; green ferns hung down across gaping holes in the rock; a group of flamingos gathered at the edge, standing motionless on spindly legs, their long pink necks stretched straight and high. Two pelicans flew past, their wings reaching wide as they skimmed the water’s still surface.

It was like paradise. How you’ve always imagined paradise would look.

“Swishy!” breathed Shona.

I stared so hard my eyes watered.

Marina looked nervous. “Come on. We need to get back.”

“But we just got here,” I said.

“We shouldn’t be here at all.”

“We’re not really supposed to,” Althea said, swimming closer and lowering her voice. “But
you
don’t know that. You could go in and find out what it’s like. I’ve always wanted to know.”

I stared at the lagoon.

“I’m not sure,” Shona said. “I mean, if we’re not allowed . . .”

“None of the kids is brave enough. We’ve been told not to go in there so many times,” Althea said. “But you haven’t. You’ve only been here five minutes! Who’s going to tell you off?”

“She’s right,” I said.

Althea smiled at me. “Exactly,” she said.

This could be just what I needed! My chance to make sure Althea and Marina would definitely accept me. If I did this, they’d have to see me as one of them. That was it, I’d decided. I was going to do it. I wasn’t going to be whispered about and made fun of again. And I
wasn’t
going to be the odd one out. This was my chance to make sure of it.

Besides, it looked
so
tempting in there. I could almost feel it inviting me in, beckoning me in, almost pulling me. What was it? Was I imagining that, too?

Shona edged away from the reeds, her tail fluttering nervously. “Let’s think about it,” she said.

We dropped the reeds and drew back, but I couldn’t get the image out of my mind. The stillness of the water, the ferns hanging down like delicate chains. And more than that, the chance to seal my place as one of the mermaids. I had to
do it — but I wasn’t brave enough to do it on my own. I would have to persuade Shona.

We set off in silence. All around us, nature bustled. Tiny brown lizards raced across rocks. Crabs scuttled under large stones, sneaking into the safety of their hidden homes. Above us, white birds with long sharp tails pecked at the cliff, disappearing into invisible holes in the rock. Eventually, the channel’s walls widened once more and the sun warmed our necks as we arrived back at the open ocean.

When the others left us, Shona came to North Bay with me. I grabbed her before we went into the boat. “We’ve got to go back,” I said.

“Oh, Emily, I don’t know,” Shona said. “I mean, we’ve only just gotten here.”

“That’s the whole point!” I said. “Like Althea said, we’re new, we don’t know our way around, it would be
easy
for us to get lost. Think how impressed they’ll be. Please!”

Shona half smiled. “It did look amazing,” she murmured. “And I suppose we haven’t really had long enough to properly understand the rules yet.”

“Not long enough at all,” I said, my tail flicking with excitement, and something more than that. A need, almost a hunger. “We’re just having a look around our new home. We’re curious, we’re a little vague about directions, and — whoops — we’ve gone the wrong way. No one will be upset with us.”

I’m the first one to the door when the mail arrives. I flip through the pile: just more bills for Mom and Dad to argue about.

But there’s something else. A letter in a shimmery pink envelope. I turn it over.
Mermaid Tours!

“Mom! Dad!”

They’re at the door in seconds.

“Oh, my God!” Mom says, snatching the letter from me. “Who’s going to open it?” Her hands are shaking.

“You do it, love,” Dad says. “You entered the contest.” He holds my hands. I’m shaking, too.

“It’s probably just some junk mail or something,” Mom says, tearing at the envelope. “Let’s not get excited.”

She reads aloud. “‘Thank you for entering our contest. We are delighted to inform you that you have won our —’ Jack!” Mom drops the letter and stares at Dad.

I pick the letter up and read on. “‘. . . delighted to inform you that you have won our Bermuda-and-the-Caribbean cruise vacation. You and your family will spend two weeks aboard one of our luxury ships and experience all the delights of a Mermaid Tours vacation. Many congratulations and have a good trip!’”

For a second, there’s silence. Then Mom grabs me and screams. She pulls me into a tight squeeze. She’s jumping up and down. “We won! We won!” she yells. “We’re going on vacation! Oh, my God, we won, we won!”

I jump up and down with her till I can hardly breathe. She’s holding me too tight. I pull away. Mom grabs Dad around the neck and kisses him. Kisses him! I don’t think she’s done that for about five years.

It worked. She won us a vacation! Maybe they’ll start getting along again and everything will be all right. For a couple of weeks, at least.

Wonder if anyone will notice I’m gone. Julia might. She’s kind of my best friend, not that she acts like it. She never really wanted to be my best friend. She always preferred that Emily Windsnap. I was just someone to fall back on when Emily wasn’t around. Julia was really upset that day when Emily didn’t show up. What am I supposed to do? Turn my back on her? Well, Emily wasn’t there and I was. So Julia and I are best friends now. Fair’s fair.

I wonder what happened to Emily and her mom. It feels kind of weird without them. Not that I miss her or anything. No way. Just that, well, it’s kind of quiet around here without her. Sometimes I find myself looking out to sea, wondering if they’ll ever come back. Stupid, huh? I’m not saying I want them to, don’t get me wrong. Just, I don’t know, maybe it could have been different. I mean, if she hadn’t gotten me into trouble last year when she told on me for cheating in the arcade, then I wouldn’t have had to hate her. I wasn’t even cheating; I was trying to help her. Trying to be nice. Taught me not to bother trying
that
again in a hurry. It never works. Better just to keep your mouth shut and not get your hopes up.

Anyway, we’re out of here. We’re going on a cruise!

We swam side by side to begin with. Below us, occasional shoals of parrotfish and bright red snappers swept across the sandy bed. When the channel narrowed, I swam ahead, slinking along the silent passageway. The ground soon became uncluttered: clear golden sand beneath us, the sun shining down, almost directly above our heads. Two silhouetted mermaid figures gliding along below the surface, our shadows came and went, appearing briefly before suddenly growing distorted with the splash of a tail breaking the water’s still surface.

We came to the curtain of reeds draped down the channel’s walls and the algae-coated wooden plaques. That’s when the feeling started inside
me. I didn’t know what it was. A quivery kind of sensation jiggling around in my stomach. Nervous. Waiting for something — and a feeling that there was something waiting for me, too. Trying not to let Shona see my quivering hands, I parted the curtain and looked through the hole in the wall. The water sparkled and fanned out into a wide lagoon. Ferns hung down over cracks and gaps in the walls. A white tropical bird flew into a hole behind me, its long tail disappearing into the rock. Nothing else moved. Shona stared.

I turned to her. “Ready?” My voice shook.

She broke her gaze to look at me. “Let’s just get this over with.”

I glanced around to check that no one had followed us, then I squeezed through the gap and swam into the lagoon. The sun burned down, heating my neck and dancing on the water. Its light rippled below us in wavy lines across the sea floor.