Emily Windsnap and the Siren's Secret - Liz Kessler [21]
I was glad he could feel it too. Rainbow Rocks was possibly my favorite place in the world. My favorite place in Brightport, anyway.
It had been a magical week so far and I didn’t want it to end. Soon everyone would be done with school and it wouldn’t feel as though we had the whole place to ourselves anymore.
But the week would end.
And so would the wonderful, magical feeling.
Friday morning I was at home on my own when a thud on the front deck signified that someone had arrived. And by the way the boat rocked with their arrival, I had a good guess who it might be.
“Where is she?” Millie burst through the door, breathless and scarlet. “Where’s your mom?”
“At work,” I said. “Why?”
Millie shook her head. “Not there. Can’t find her.”
“She might have gone to the store,” I said. “Millie, what is it? Are you OK?”
Millie nodded as she caught her breath. “Oh, blast! We’ll come back for her as soon as we can. I can’t wait — I’ll have to take you on your own first. Come on!”
“Come on what?” I asked.
Millie grabbed my hand. “You’re not to say anything. We’ll bring them over as soon as your mom’s back, OK?”
I decided to overlook the fact that Millie wasn’t making sense. “OK,” I agreed, and followed her out of the boat.
Millie marched up the jetty, her cape billowing out behind her. I scampered along behind her. “Millie, are you going to tell me what this is about?” I asked when I caught up.
“You’ll see soon enough,” she replied in that mysterious way that she says most things.
We took a turn down toward the beach cottages where Aaron and his mom were staying. “Is it Aaron?” I asked. “Has something happened to him?”
“Nothing has happened to anyone. Come on. Nearly there now.” She took a sharp left turn, paced to the last cottage in the row and stopped. “This is it,” she said. Then she wiped her palms down the side of her dress, pulled a wisp of hair off her face, and swallowed hard.
She turned to me. “Ready?” Her voice had a breathless wobble in it. She was clearly nervous — but why? What was inside the cottage? What was I meant to be ready for?
“I guess so,” I said. Then I followed Millie up the path. She took a deep breath. And then she knocked on the door.
The door opened. A woman was standing in the doorway. She was thin and spindly, with gray hair and glasses hanging from her neck on a chain. She looked elderly, but kind of sprightly too.
A man came up behind her, same age, taller than she was, but thin and gray-haired too. They both stared at us.
“Can we help you?” the woman asked with a friendly smile. Her eyes crinkled up and turned green and shiny when she smiled. Something about her smile seemed familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. She couldn’t be familiar. I’d never seen either of them before!
“I — it’s — don’t you —” Millie began. She was even more flustered than she’d been before we knocked on the door.
The man came to the front door step. “You must be the lady from the competition,” he said.
Competition? What competition?
“Come on in,” he went on. “We’re so pleased to meet you. What a wonderful surprise, winning something like this out of the blue. It’s all happened so fast; lucky we were free! And the place is lovely.”
What on earth was he talking about? Had he mixed us up with someone else? I turned to Millie.
She just gave me a quick nod and ushered me in. The man spotted me. “Ah, you’ve brought your daughter with you.” He reached down to shake my hand. “Well, come on in, both of you.”
I glared at Millie. “Daughter?” I mouthed. She shook her head and frowned a silent Shhhh! at me.
The four of us stood in the front room in an awkward circle, looking at each other.
“Well?” Millie said, grinning broadly at the couple. “Now that you can have a good look, surely you remember me?”
The two strangers stared blankly at Millie.
“This is Emily!” she said.
They turned their blank stares on me. I stared blankly back.
I’d had enough. “Millie, are you going to explain