Emily Windsnap and the Siren's Secret - Liz Kessler [30]
We bobbed up to the surface, still holding hands, both bedraggled and breathless.
“What — what happened?” I asked.
Aaron shook his head. “It stopped,” he said, pointing out the obvious.
“Neptune’s whirlpools don’t just stop,” I said, looking around to see if there was someone nearby. Maybe even Neptune himself was here, watching us, ready to tell us off for going where we shouldn’t and then start the whirlpool spinning again.
Then Aaron started swimming to the edge of the pool, his grip loosening on my hand.
That was when everything suddenly clicked into place.
“No!” I held tightly on to his hand.
He stopped and turned to look at me. “What is it?”
“Wait! Don’t let go of my hand.” Could it be? Could I be right?
Aaron smiled again. “OK,” he said, turning slightly pink. He seemed to do that quite a bit lately.
“I just had a thought,” I said. “I know it’s crazy, but — well, you and I both had curses on us, didn’t we?”
“Had, yes. Not anymore.”
“No, I know. But how did we overturn Neptune’s curse on us?”
“We found the rings he and his wife had given to each other. What are you —”
“We didn’t just find them,” I went on. “We wore them, and then what did we do?”
“We brought the rings together,” Aaron said. “Emily, I don’t see what this —”
“Our hands! We held hands! We brought our hands together and overturned Neptune’s power!”
Aaron’s eyes opened wider. I could see that he was starting to catch up with my thinking. I struggled to remember what Mr. Beeston had told me. What was it exactly? “‘Only the hand that is mightier than my own,’” I began.
“‘May undo the magic from my throne!’” Aaron finished.
“That’s it!” I stared down at our hands, locked tightly together. “We broke the curse when we held hands.”
“In other words, our hands together were mightier than his,” Aaron said.
“Exactly! Which means that maybe we can undo his magic power.”
“As long as we hold hands.”
It fit with what had happened with Mandy and my grandparents. Except — well, it seemed so incredible! We could overturn Neptune’s power?
“Aaron — it’s crazy,” I said. “Surely it’s not possible!”
We both looked down at our hands, and then at each other.
“We can really do it,” I said in a whisper. If I said it too loud, maybe it wouldn’t be true. “We really can overturn Neptune’s power.”
“Which means . . .”
“Which means perhaps all’s not lost with my grandparents,” I said.
“Or with the peacemaking mission!”
We locked eyes, making a silent deal with each other.
“Come on,” Aaron said.
We swam back to Brightport as fast as we could. We both knew what we had to do.
Sunday morning I woke up early with the biggest smile on my face. I couldn’t think why I was in such a good mood at first. Then I remembered. We’d overturned the memory drug! Mandy and I were friends again! And I thought I could even break the spell on my grandparents.
Surely that was a start! For the first time, I really believed we could do what Neptune had ordered us to do. We’d create a new world, just like he’d said. One where humans and merfolk would live together in harmony, side by side. And it was all going to start in Brightport! We would pass Neptune’s test!
I jumped out of bed. It was still early, and I could hear Mom’s snores coming from her bedroom. I decided to go up to the shop and get her a newspaper and some fresh bread as a treat.
I crept quietly out of the boat. Dad had already gone off to Shiprock. He and Mr. Beeston had a meeting with the mer-mayor today. They were going to explain what was going on and see how they could work together to deal with the situation. I smiled to myself. The “situation” wouldn’t be a problem much longer. I just knew it. We were going to mend fences, join the worlds together. Things were going to be great.
I was still smiling to myself as I headed down the pier.
I was still smiling as I walked into the store and picked out the bread.
I was even still smiling as I walked over to the newspaper stand.
And that was the point at which I stopped smiling.
“I — can I have a —” I pointed to the pile of