Emily Windsnap and the Siren's Secret - Liz Kessler [46]
Morvena shook her head. “That isn’t the full story,” she said. “In fact, I’m certain that the singing doesn’t have anything to do with our being trapped here. I had suspected it for a long time, but today confirmed it for me.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “I thought you told Shona all about it earlier.”
“We did — or at least the others did. I kept quiet, as I often do if I have nothing helpful to say.” She turned again to Shona. Tilting her head, she spoke gently to her. “Your singing was the most beautiful thing these caves have heard for many years. It could probably have rivaled Melody’s own voice when she was your age.”
Shona’s face flushed in an instant. “But the others,” she said. “They told me it was terrible. They said my singing was useless!”
“That’s because they thought the sound of a beautiful siren song would open our prison and let us out. Then when you sang, nothing happened, and they were angry. But, you see, I wasn’t, because I know better than they do.”
Aaron swam forward. “What do you know? Why would you know more than they do?” he asked, folding his arms. “And why should we believe you, anyway?”
Morvena drew a breath. “Listen,” she said. “I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll tell you everything I know if you promise to try and help.”
Shona and I looked at each other. She gave me a tiny nod. I glanced at Aaron, and he did the same. “OK,” I said to Morvena. “We promise.”
“Well,” Morvena began, “many years ago — so long ago, now, it’s like a different lifetime — Melody came to me. I was her best friend. I still am.” Morvena paused. “I’m her only friend now.”
“Why?” Shona asked. “What about the others?”
“They blame her for everything that’s happened here. And in a way they’re right. But what’s the use of blame? It won’t get us out of here. All it will do is make our lives even more unpleasant than they already are.”
“You were her best friend . . .” Shona prompted.
“Yes. We told each other everything — or at least I thought we did. Until the day she disappeared.”
“She disappeared?” I said. “What happened to her?”
“That I’ve never known. She was gone almost a year. Then one day, she turned up, completely out of the blue, and in such distress that at first I thought she was dying.”
“What happened then?” Aaron asked.
“She said that something bad had happened. Something so bad that she was terrified. She decided that she had no option but to go into hiding, although she was sure it would only be for a while. Then she asked three things of me. One, that I never ask her what she’d done; two, that I never tell the others about the state she was in; and three, that I would never desert her.”
“What did you say?” Shona asked, her eyes wide, her tail flicking gently.
“I agreed without hesitation. Like I said, she was my best friend. That’s how it works.”
I gave Shona a quick look. She smiled at me, and her cheeks colored a little. “I know what you mean,” she said.
Morvena reached out to stroke Shona’s cheek. “I know you do,” she said with a sad smile. We all fell silent. Even the fish seemed to slow down and swim more solemnly.
After a moment, Aaron asked, “So what happened next?”
“I told the others that Melody and I were going away for a bit, and they all wanted to come. None of us had seen Melody for so long; we all wanted to be together. We were all such good friends back then. Always smiling, always singing. Melody didn’t want them to come; she didn’t really want me to come. She seemed to think she’d be putting us in danger. But she was scared, too, and I insisted on coming with her.”
“And the others?” I asked.
“Melody couldn’t put them off without seeming rude or ungrateful, so she agreed. Remember, we thought it was only going to be for a matter of days. That was what Melody told me; that was what she believed.”
“Did the others know about the bad thing, whatever that was?” Aaron asked.
“Melody tried to hide it, but they knew there was something. For one thing, she didn’t sing. She never has since the day she came back. We thought at first that she just