Emily Windsnap and the Siren's Secret - Liz Kessler [58]
He pulled himself together first. “Come on,” he said, shaking himself and flicking his tail as he set off. “Let’s go and find Morvena and Shona.”
We swam carefully through the tunnels, dodging from rock to rock and hiding behind thick trails of weeds in case any of the others might be around. The last thing we could afford to have happen now was to get captured again before we’d even found Shona and Morvena. I led the way this time. I was pretty sure I knew where they’d be.
“Around this corner,” I whispered over my shoulder.
We swam along the rocky ledge till I saw the entrance to Morvena’s room. “This is it,” I said. “They’ll be in here, I bet.”
With one more look behind us, we swam inside. The two of them were sitting together on Morvena’s big jelly cushion. Morvena was sitting behind Shona, combing her hair. Shona sat still and straight, a faraway look on her pale face.
“Shona!”
She looked up at me and her face broke out into the widest smile. “Emily!” She jumped up from the cushion and swam over to me. Grabbing my arms, she said, “I’d started to think you weren’t coming back!”
“I wouldn’t leave you here!” I said.
“I thought something had happened to you. I’ve been so worried. Morvena has too, and so has —”
“We all have,” said a soft voice in the far corner. I hadn’t noticed anyone else when we came in. My heart plummeted. The others had found them. We were all doomed.
But the siren swam forward, and I realized she wasn’t one of the ones I’d met. For one thing, she didn’t have a tight, mean face like theirs. And for another, she spoke so softly, her voice could almost have been mistaken for a swish of seaweed in the current. Her face was soft, her eyes were large and round; she shared the long, silvery hair that the others had, but she had none of their sharpness, and the lines on her face seemed to dance around her eyes.
Aaron swam forward and stopped at my side. “Who are —?” he began. And then he stopped. He must have realized in the same moment that I did.
I swam toward the mermaid in front of us. She was smiling down at us. She wasn’t likely to smile at us much longer, not once we told her what we’d done — and what we’d failed to do.
“Are you Melody?” I asked hoarsely.
She nodded. “And you must be Emily and Aaron,” she said gently. Her voice was so kind, I wanted to cry. I wanted to break down and confess, but at the same time, I wanted to spare her from it. I never wanted her to know that we’d lost her shell. Looking at her now, I could tell it would break her heart. How could we do that?
Before I had the chance to think any more about it, Shona grabbed my arm. “Did you find anything?” she asked eagerly. What could we say? How could we do it? We were about to take away the one thing that was keeping everyone in here going: hope.
I looked at Aaron. I could see he was thinking the same thing. I lifted my shoulder in a tiny shrug. He gave me the slightest nod in reply. We had to tell them.
“Look,” I said. “I’ll tell you everything. But please, please don’t be mad. We’ve tried everything. And it wasn’t our fault. OK?”
Morvena swam toward me. “It’s OK, Emily. You don’t need to be afraid of us,” she said. “We’re on the same side.”
Melody crinkled her eyes in a sad smile. “You don’t need to worry, little ones,” she said. Her words hit something inside me. Dad always calls me little ’un. I suddenly realized how much I wished I had him with me — how much I needed him and Mom. There was something about the way Melody spoke to us that reminded me of them both. She talked to me as gently as if I were her child. In that moment, I knew there was nothing to fear.
I took a breath. “OK,” I said. “Here’s what happened.”
But then Morvena suddenly shushed me and swam to the entrance. There was a noise outside.
“The