Emily Windsnap and the Siren's Secret - Liz Kessler [66]
“Exactly. We’ll never manage to make a difference in that time. And you haven’t seen what he’s like when he’s disobeyed,” I said with a shudder. “I can’t be on the receiving end of that again. I just can’t!”
Aaron patted my arm. “Hey, we’ll think of something,” he said with a weak smile. He sounded as though he believed it about as much as I did. “Look, you got all the sirens out from that cave where —”
“We got them out,” I reminded him.
“OK, we got them out. But what an amazing achievement, right? They’d been in there for years! You saw how grateful Melody was that we rescued her. Remember the look on her face the next time you need something to remind you how swishy you are!”
I smiled. Aaron seemed to have picked up Shona’s knack of saying just the right thing at just the right time to make me feel better. “Thank you,” I said.
Just then, a door behind us opened, and Mandy’s parents came in, laughing and chatting with a man I’d never seen before.
“Who’s that?” I asked.
Mandy glanced over her shoulder. “Oh, him. That’s Mr. Beckett, the editor of the Brightport Times. He and my parents have been best buddies ever since they all made thousands of dollars from Mom and Dad’s sea monster photos.”
“Hi, kids!” they called, and disappeared into the sitting room.
“Anyway, it’s not just that,” I went on. “It’s Mom. If she knew we had a week to prove to Neptune that we can do this task, I don’t know what she’d do. She already feels terrible that we haven’t managed to achieve much so far.”
“Not managed to achieve much?” Mandy spluttered. “After what you’ve just done?”
I shook my head. “I know, but — well, she’s still upset about the other thing.”
“What other thing?” asked Aaron.
“My grandparents,” I said. “We still haven’t found them. Now that she’s seen them once, she’s been thinking about them more than ever. If only we could get them back here somehow. I can’t help feeling the same way as she does. How can we bring two worlds together if we can’t even bring our own family together?”
“Have you tried to get in touch with them?” Mandy asked.
“Millie has. She’s called them over and over again but they won’t answer. With the memory drug in place, all they’ll remember is that she’s the one who told them they’d won a competition, and then they got here and found it was all a setup. They’re not likely to listen to her again.”
“Why can’t your mom just call them?” Mandy insisted.
“She won’t. She’s too proud — or too stubborn. And after what happened when they came here, she’s not going to put herself up for another rejection.”
“Why don’t you call?” Aaron suggested.
“And say what? ‘Hey, you don’t know I exist, but I’m your granddaughter and if you could just come over to Brightport, you’ll suddenly remember me, honest’? I don’t think so!”
Mandy looked over to the sitting-room door with a strange expression on her face. A sparkle appeared in her eyes. “Hang on a minute,” she said. “I might have an idea. Listen up.”
Mandy’s idea was a good one, and we left her to try it. But any hope it might have given me that we were on our way to getting this whole thing sorted out was obliterated when I got home.
Mom and Dad were outside together, Dad in the sea, Mom’s dress trailing in the water as she sat with her legs dangling over the side of the boat.
“Hey, sausage,” Mom said flatly.
Dad gave me a weak smile.
“Mom, Dad, what’s up?” I asked.
Dad shook his head and didn’t reply.
“We’ve just found out the council met this afternoon,” Mom said.
“And?”
“Well, Mr. Beeston had been trying to get them to drop their development plans,” she went on. “But they’ve just voted unanimously in favor.”
“So what does that mean?” I asked.
“It means they’re still going to go ahead with one of the original schemes,” Dad said. “Both of which spell disaster for Shiprock.”
And for any hope of us miraculously doing something to please Neptune. Shiprock was doomed — and so was I.
“They’re going to decide which one at their next planning