Emily Windsnap and the Siren's Secret - Liz Kessler [29]
Aaron and I swam out to Rainbow Rocks. Swimming along with him, with my tail swishing through the silky sea and groups of fish darting purposefully this way and that all around us, I let myself get distracted by staring at Aaron a bit.
I think he might have caught me staring at him, because he turned a little red and said, “Race you to the farthest rock!” as he dove deep into the water. Then he spun around and darted back up and through the surface with a huge splash. A moment later, he’d gone.
“How come whenever we race anywhere, you always seem to have a head start?” I asked when I finally caught up with him at the rocks.
He grinned and flicked water at me in reply.
“Hey!” I flicked water back at him.
He laughed and flipped over on his back. “Let’s keep swimming,” he said, spinning like a dolphin and diving with another loud splash.
I followed him around to the other side of the rocks and out to sea. We talked as we swam, trying to figure everything out — but we kept coming up with blanks.
Suddenly Aaron stopped. “Wow!” he said.
“What?” I stopped next to him. Up ahead, a wavy line of rocks blocked our way. There was a gap in the middle of them — but the water in the gap was different from the rest of the sea. It looked like a cauldron, bubbling and frothing. As we got closer, I could see that it was spinning furiously.
“A whirlpool,” I said. I turned to head back.
“Let’s go across it,” Aaron said, his eyes shining like dots of sunlight on the sea.
“You can’t get across a whirlpool!”
“Why not?”
“I’ve heard about these in school. This is one of Neptune’s pools.” I pointed to one of the rocks lining the whirlpool. There was something etched on its side. “Look.”
Aaron squinted at the rock. “A trident?”
I nodded. “That means he created it. He must have been in a rage at something — or someone.” I shuddered as I remembered getting caught in a whirlwind created by one of Neptune’s furies. We had enough trouble already. I wasn’t about to swim into more if I could help it. “Come on, let’s go back.”
But Aaron was insistent. “Look over there.” Beyond the rocks, the sea looked clearer than ever. The sun shone brightly down, bouncing and catching the surface of the water as though an invisible giant in the sky were sprinkling diamonds across it.
The whirlpool was the only way to get there. On either side of it, jagged rocks spread out as far as we could see.
“Take my hand,” Aaron said. “We’ll go across it together. I’ll look after you.”
I’d been wondering if we’d get to hold hands again, wondering if he wanted to, or if earlier had just been to make me feel better, wondering if he’d felt the same tingling feelings that I had.
I held my hand out.
Aaron smiled and gripped my hand in his. “Ready?”
I nodded, and we swam together toward the pool. The water frothed and swirled angrily. What were we doing? Aaron’s ability to hurl himself headlong into crazy situations was starting to feel like a match for mine.
Aaron turned to me. “Let’s go.”
I held tightly to his hand and we dived together over the low layer of rocks on our side of the whirlpool. Instantly, we were sucked under the water, flung apart, and hurled around and around so fast that I didn’t know which way was up. I felt like a ragged piece of clothing in a spin dryer.
“Emily!”
Aaron was calling out to me through the whirling, crashing water. I tried to find him, but all I could see was froth and foam. Then I felt him careen into me and we started to spin together, banging against each other.
“Take my hand!” he shouted. “It’ll keep us from getting separated.”
I fumbled and flailed around, and eventually found his hand. I took hold of it, gripping hard and wondering how long we could survive, and why I’d agreed to this ridiculous idea in the first place.
And then something really weird happened.
It stopped.
Just like that.
The whirlpool suddenly wasn’t a whirlpool anymore. It was the stillest, calmest pool you’ve ever seen in your life, so smooth and gentle you’d think it had been lying empty