Emily Windsnap and the Siren's Secret - Liz Kessler [40]
Shona stared at me. “What d’you mean, Em? Why in the ocean shouldn’t I?”
“They aren’t what they seem! They’re evil and mean, and they want to use you for their own purposes.”
“What purposes?”
I hesitated. “I don’t know,” I admitted, lowering my head. “But believe me. You can’t trust them!”
Amara let out a soft laugh. “Oh, dear — have we made someone jealous?” Then she reached out with one of her spindly thin fingers and stroked Shona’s hair. “So pretty,” she said. “If your singing is anywhere near as beautiful as the rest of you, I’m sure we’d all love to hear it.”
Shona beamed at Amara.
“Shona, please don’t trust them,” I pleaded. “Don’t be fooled.”
Shona turned to me. “She’s right,” she said, jutting a thumb at Amara. “You’re jealous. You just don’t want me to get all this attention, do you? It’s usually you at the center of attention, and now it’s my turn and you don’t like it!”
“Shona, that’s not it at all!” I said. “Why on earth would I —?”
“Enough of this!” Lorelei suddenly butted in. “Let’s go tell the others we’ve found ourselves the little siren.”
Shona looked so pleased at being called a siren, you’d think she’d just been crowned queen of the sea.
Amara and Lorelei began to swim away, escorting Shona between them. Before they left the room, I grabbed Shona’s arm.
“Shona, when have I ever lied to you?” I asked. “When have I stopped you from getting attention?”
She held still in the water for a moment, her tail splishing around nervously, her forehead creased into a frown. “I don’t know,” she said. “I suppose you haven’t.”
“Then believe me,” I said urgently. “They’re not to be trusted!”
Amara picked up a brush from the rocky side cabinet in Morvena’s room. She brushed Shona’s hair with it in a couple of long sleek movements. “So smooth,” she said gently. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen hair so soft and perfect.” As she smiled at Shona, her face was such a picture of wonder and admiration that I was almost taken in myself.
“You must be mistaken, Em,” Shona said softly. “I’m sorry. I know you wouldn’t deliberately stop something nice from happening to me; I shouldn’t have said that. But I’m being treated like the siren I’ve dreamed of being my whole life! Please don’t try to take that away from me,” she pleaded.
Before I had a chance to say anything, Lorelei took hold of Shona’s arm. “Come on,” she said sweetly, between gritted teeth that Shona clearly hadn’t noticed. “Let’s go.”
“What about Emily?” Shona asked.
Amara left her side and swam over to me. “I’ll tell you what,” she said. “As a special treat, I’ll take Emily off for a special seaweed wrap: our very own spa treatment. How does that sound?”
It sounded like she’d probably rather wrap me up in the seaweed and leave me to rot. It wasn’t much use complaining, though, as she was already leading me out the door. Shona was swimming ahead with Lorelei, so she didn’t see Amara’s hand clutching my arm so tightly her nails left red marks in my skin.
It took a few moments to realize where Amara had taken me. I was back in the well, only this time the hole in the wall was blocked. She’d dragged a rock in front of it, and it was too heavy for me to push out of the way.
I swam around, feeling my way along the walls for a way out. Nothing. I tried to swim upward. Impossible. The invisible waterfall just threw me back down again and again.
I slumped down on the sandy floor and tried not to think too hard about the stupid, hopeless, awful mess I’d gotten myself into. How did I do it? Every single time I tried to do anything to solve a problem, I always managed to create a bigger one in the process.
I looked down at the murky seabed. Two round blue fish with large orange fins floated toward each other. Flapping gently, they skirted the surface of the well, chasing each other around in a circle. I was busy chasing my miserable thoughts around in a circle of their own.
I pulled myself into a ball, huddling my arms over my tail. Then I heard a noise. Must be one of the