Emily Windsnap and the Siren's Secret - Liz Kessler [42]
“A second might be all we need,” Aaron called. “Stay there — don’t go anywhere.”
I would have laughed if I’d had the energy. Where exactly was I likely to go? That was the whole point, wasn’t it?
“I’ll be right back, OK?”
I slumped back on the seafloor, bedraggled, exhausted, and out of ideas.
Ten minutes later, Aaron’s face reappeared at the top of the well.
“I’ve got it!” he said. “I’ve tied a long trail of seaweed around my waist and secured it to a rock at the top here. I’m going to lower myself slowly. When I say ‘now,’ drag yourself as high up as you can. If we both reach out at the right time, maybe it’ll work.”
It sounded like a slim chance to me. But then a slim chance was better than anything I’d managed to come up with. “OK,” I called up.
I watched as Aaron lowered himself into the well. Instantly, he shot down in a rush, whirling about in the water, banging against the sides. But then he stopped going any lower. Dangling halfway down the well and bouncing around in the current, he grabbed the seaweed around his middle, letting it out bit by bit. Then he gave me a thumbs-up sign. I whirled my tail around, preparing to swim the hardest I’d ever swum. I felt around the rocky walls, searching for the best grip to pull myself up.
Aaron edged closer and closer, gradually letting himself drop down toward me. I gripped the wall, digging my fingers hard into the rock.
“Now!” he yelled.
Spinning my tail so fast it felt like a propeller, I heaved myself up as hard as I could with one hand, reaching upward with my other arm. I couldn’t see anything — the force pushed my head down. Nothing, nothing. Just whirling, crashing water. I gripped the rock harder, dragging myself a tiny bit higher, flailing around with my arm, searching blindly for Aaron’s hand. Come on, Aaron, where are you?
And then I felt it! His hand touched mine. Just a flicker — just for a fraction of a second as our hands brushed past each other. Not long enough. The waterfall still raged.
Come on — I can’t fight it much longer.
I was slipping down. We didn’t have long. Aaron’s hand brushed mine again. This time, I grabbed hold of it as though my life depended on it. Maybe it did.
His hand was warm against mine. He held on just as tightly — but nothing was happening. Please stop, I said silently to the waterfall. Please calm down.
And then, exhausted and empty, I closed my eyes. I’d run out of energy. My hand slipped from the wall, my tail flapped lifelessly. It was all over.
When I opened my eyes again, Aaron was in front of me, grinning widely. I was dreaming. I must have blacked out. Well, it was a nice dream. I hoped no one was going to wake me up any time soon.
“We did it!” he said, untying the seaweed from around his waist.
“Huh? You mean I’m awake?”
Aaron let go of the seaweed. It floated slowly downward, swaying gently as it fell. “Look around you,” he said.
That was when I realized there was no ground underneath me. We were floating freely — inside the well!
“We did it!” I said.
Aaron laughed. “I’m sure someone around here has already pointed that out!” He took my hand and started swimming upward. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
I snatched my hand away. “We can’t. Not without Shona.”
“She’s down here, too?”
I nodded. “I’m not leaving her.”
“No. Of course you’re not,” Aaron replied. He flipped over and swam downward. “Come on, then. What are we waiting for?”
We swam down to the bottom of the well — and then I remembered. “Aaron, we can’t get out. They put something in front of the door.”
Aaron swam over to the rock. Grunting and grimacing, he pushed hard against it. The rock tilted slightly. “We can do it between us,” he said. “Push it with me. If we work together, we can get it out.”
I joined Aaron, and we pushed and heaved and propelled ourselves forward with our tails. Eventually, the rock budged. Only a bit, but enough for us both to slither through, one behind the other.
I led the way through the opening. “Come on,” I said. “Let’s go find Shona.”
We swam