Emily Windsnap and the Siren's Secret (3 page)

“She wants to go home,” I said.

Dad glanced at me. “We are home, little ’un,” he said with a quick laugh. Then he turned to Mom. “Aren’t we?”

Before she could answer, Archie broke in. “There’s something else,” he said. “I didn’t know how to ask, but maybe this is a good time.”

Dad turned to him. “What is it?”

“Neptune wants a team. If there’s going to be trouble, he needs more than just one of us there. Beeston is a good choice for keeping Shiprock under control, and his contacts make him ideal for getting information on the Brightport side of things, especially using the lighthouse keeper cover again.”

Mr. Beeston shuffled and flattened his hair down. Before he could launch into another Oscar acceptance speech, Archie added, “I put your name forward as his assistant.”

“Me?” Dad asked. “Neptune would put
me
in a position of responsibility, after — well, after where I’ve been?”

Dad’s not a criminal or anything, but he was sent to prison for marrying my mom. Intermarriage between merpeople and humans used to be highly illegal. But not anymore. In fact, Neptune had now decided that he wanted to bridge the gap between humans and merpeople — and he’d decided we were the ones to help him.

He’d told us we had to bring the two worlds together, get humans and merpeople to live in peace. And that was another thing: how could we change the world so that humans and merpeople lived in peace together if we were living out here in the one bit of the world where they already did? Everything was pointing to the same conclusion: we
had
to go back to Brightport.

Archie was still talking to Dad. “Neptune doesn’t hold on to the past,” he was saying. “He knows you are loyal and dependable.”

“And married to a human,” Dad said.

“Exactly. That’s the whole point. One of you to find out more about what’s going on with the Brightport folks and one of you keeping an eye on things in Shiprock. Between you two and Beeston, we might just be able to avert a major disaster for the entire town.”

“You’re not asking me to spy on my old friends, are you?” Mom asked.

“Not at all! Beeston and Jake will do most of the work. Just keep your eyes and ears open, in case you hear anything that the others miss — anything that could be a problem for the mer community at Shiprock. If anyone else needs to be rehoused, we’d rather they know in advance, so they can get all their belongings and move of their own accord, rather than wake up one morning to a bulldozer in their front cave.”

“Do you think that could really happen?” Mom asked.

“Absolutely. And I’ll tell you something else: if another house is destroyed, merfolk there will
really
start to panic. Neptune doesn’t like being in a position like this, where he has no control over what’s going on. He’s not used to it. If these plans cause more problems, he might decide to exhibit his power by ordering a full-scale evacuation — and most merfolk are
desperate
to avoid that.”

Dad looked up at Mom. “What do you think?”

Mom chewed slowly on a thumbnail. “I think we’ve been told to find ways to bring the human and mer worlds together,” she said. “If the human world is doing something that could threaten merpeople, then it’s our duty to stop that from happening.”

Dad reached up and took her hand. “I agree,” he said. “This could be our first chance to start putting into practice the instructions that Neptune gave us.”

“Exactly. That’s what Neptune said, too.”

Dad looked at Archie. “What do you mean? What did he say?”

“That it was time you got on with your task. He said to tell you this was an opportunity to prove to him that he picked the right family for the job. He said it would be your first test.”

Dad puffed his chest out and nodded firmly. “That’s decided it, then,” he said. “We don’t have a choice.”

I felt a bubble of excitement rise through my body, tickling my insides and snaking up through my throat. “We’re going back to Brightport?” I asked, then held my breath while I waited for their answer.

Mom and Dad looked at each other and nodded. Then Mom turned to me. “Yes, darling,” she said with the first smile I’d seen on her face in days. “We’re going home.”

It was only once we’d decided to go back to Brightport that I realized just how much I’d been missing it. It was as if a part of me had known all along that I wanted to go home, but I’d tried to ignore it because I didn’t think it was a possibility. Now that I knew it was definitely happening, I couldn’t wait to get going.

I just had two problems: Shona and Aaron.

Shona was my best friend. I met her when I first discovered that I became a mermaid when I went in water. We’d been best friends ever since, and she and her parents had come to Allpoints Island at the same time as us. The idea of leaving her behind — well, it was unthinkable.

I’d only met Aaron recently. He was a semi-mer like me. Apart from Mr. Beeston, he was the only one I’d ever met — and Mr. Beeston didn’t count, as far as I was concerned. Aaron and his mom used to live in a spooky castle out in the middle of the ocean. It was after Aaron and I overturned Neptune’s curses by bringing his old wedding rings together that Neptune told us we had to try to bring the two worlds closer, which we hadn’t gotten around to doing yet.

But hopefully we were going to start once we got back to Brightport.

The only problem was, I couldn’t imagine doing anything if I didn’t have Shona with me, never mind passing an important test set by Neptune! She’d shared every adventure I’d had so far. And Aaron — well, I don’t know if it was because of us both being semi-mers or because of what we’d been through together, but I couldn’t imagine leaving him behind, either.

I swam around in the downstairs part of the boat, back and forth from bow to stern, trying to think. What was I going to do? Five minutes ago, I’d been giddy with excitement at the prospect of going home; now I felt I was being torn in two.

I was about to let the miserable half win when a familiar voice called from outside the boat. I swam over to the porthole. Shona! She’d cheer me up; she always did.

Except that the look on her face made me think this time might be different.

“Shona, what is it?” I asked as she swam into the boat, a couple of silver fish swimming in with her, their sides glinting in the sunlight like shiny new coins.

“Oh, Emily! We just had some news from Archie.”

“About Brightport?” I asked. So she’d already heard that we were leaving. That explained her miserable face.

Her eyes widened. “How do you know so soon?”

“He’s just been here. He told us all about what’s going on there and —”

“Oh, Emily, I’m going to miss you so much!”

“I know,” I said. “Me too. But we’ll be able to keep in touch, won’t we? We’ll find a way.”

Shona nodded as she gulped back a tear. “I hope so. I just hate the thought of being so far away from you.”

“I hate it, too.” I tried to think of something positive to say. I couldn’t bear seeing Shona so unhappy. “Maybe you’ll be able to visit us in Shiprock sometime.”

Shona frowned. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“Well, you know. Maybe you could come to visit. I mean, I know it’s thousands of miles away from here, but —”

“Emily, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you! That’s what I’m so upset about — we’re going back to Shiprock!”

I gaped at Shona. “
You’re
going back? But —”

“Archie dropped off a letter for us from my auntie Corella. She says that there’s been a disturbance of some sort. I don’t know what it is exactly, but she’s really worried about her home. She says they all are. Mom says we have to go back. Oh, Em, I’m going to miss you so much!”

I grinned. “No you’re not!” I said.

“What d’you mean? How can you say that?”

I flicked my tail and swam a full circle around her. Then, grabbing her hands, I burst out laughing. “Because we’re going, too!”

Shona stared at me. “Really?” she asked. “You’re not pulling my tail?”

“Promise!”

Shona squeezed my hands. “Emily, that’s sooooooo swishy!” she said, swimming up and down in a bouncy dance. “I’m so happy! Are you?”

“Totally!” I said. And I almost completely meant it. There was only
one
problem now, only one thing stopping me from being as happy as Shona was about her news. I still had to leave Aaron behind.

“Dad says we should be ready to leave by the end of the week.”

Aaron and I were sitting out on our front deck in the sunshine. Dad was out with Archie and Mr. Beeston getting our travel plans finalized. Mom and Aaron’s mom had become really good friends since we’d all been back here, and they’d gone out for a walk on the beach.

I stole a quick glance at Aaron. He was looking out to sea and hadn’t responded yet.

“Which means that by next week we’ll be gone,” I went on. Still no response. “For good,” I added, in case he hadn’t quite gotten what I was telling him: that from next week on, we’d probably never see each other again.

He turned to me and smiled. “OK,” he said.

OK?
That was
it
? So he
had
understood what I was saying — he just wasn’t bothered.

Fine, then. Neither was I.

“So maybe I’ll see you again before then, and maybe I won’t,” I said casually. “Anyway, have a nice life, if not,” I added, getting up to go. I’m not sure where I thought I was going. I think I was hoping he’d call me back before I had to worry about that.

Which, thankfully, he did.

“Emily!” Aaron grinned up at me and patted the deck beside him. “Sit down.”

I sat down and folded my arms.

“I was just teasing you,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“Acting like I’m not bothered about you leaving.”

I shrugged.

“I mean, to tell the truth, I’m
not
bothered,” he went on.

I rolled my eyes and shrugged again. “Me neither,” I said. “I was only letting you know to be polite.”

Aaron burst out laughing. “Emily! Don’t you get it? The reason I’m not bothered is because we’re coming too!”

I stared at him, forcing my face not to register any response in case he was teasing me again.

“Honestly,” he said, reading my mind in that way that usually only Shona does.

I unfolded my arms, unshrugged my shoulders, and realized I was smiling. “How come?” I asked.

“Your mom came over last night and told us your plans, and Mom and I decided on the spot that we’re coming with you.”

“But why?” I asked. “Aren’t you happy here?”

“Of course we are!” Aaron said. “How could anyone not be happy here? Just —” He stopped. His pale cheeks showed a hint of pink.

“Just what?” I asked.

“Well, you know . . .” he said, turning away to pick at a loose bit of wood on the deck. “After everything you’ve done for us. For my mom, really. She’d be lost without your mom.”

“Oh,” I said. So it was only his mom who wanted to come with us.

“And anyway,” he mumbled, “it wouldn’t be the same here without you.”

I grinned. “Really?”

He looked up and grinned back. “Really!”

I got up from the deck and skipped over to the jetty. “Come on,” I said, stepping into the sea. My toes tingled instantly, tickling all the way up my legs as my tail started to spring into life. “Let’s go tell Shona!”