Emily Windsnap and the Siren's Secret - Liz Kessler [71]
“My family and I recently made a promise.” A voice had come from behind me, continuing from where I’d left off.
I spun around. The spotlight searched the back of the stage for whoever had spoken. And then in the water, it found him.
Dad!
He held out a hand, and I ran over to the water’s edge and grabbed it.
“We made a deal,” he went on. “We committed ourselves to bringing together the world of the mer and the world of humans. And tonight, you can help us do this. If you like what you heard, if you’d like to know more, you must allow the reality of merpeople into your lives, and into your hearts. Tonight’s performance is taking place on land that the council wants to use to build houses on. What you don’t know is that this building work will devastate the nearby community . . . of merpeople.”
Dad paused as a series of gasps and mutters went through the crowd. “I knew it!” I heard someone say. “I told you!”
“Yes,” Dad went on. “There is a town of merpeople living nearby. The folks of Shiprock want nothing more than to carry on with their lives in peace — as I’m sure the people of Brightport do too. Only now, their survival is in your hands.”
He paused again and took a breath. This was it. The part where he had to convince them they could make a difference.
“Tomorrow, the council will make a decision about this land,” he said. “This decision will devastate Shiprock and its inhabitants. But if we all work together, we can stop that from happening. You can stop that from happening. If you are with us, if you want more nights like this, if you want to turn this land from a bulldozing disaster into a bridge between two worlds, you have to tell the council. Go to their meeting tomorrow. Make them halt the plans. If the town is united, they will listen. Ladies and gentlemen, if we can count on you to do this, please show us your support by joining us now. Some merpeople and humans have already united to try to halt this project. Let’s turn the whole town against it! Thank you.”
With that, he held tightly on to my hand, and we waited to see what would happen next.
I looked out at the auditorium. The first person I noticed was Mom, getting up from her seat. Next to her, Nan and Granddad were standing up too. A moment later, they’d shuffled to the end of the row and were clambering up the steps to join us onstage.
Mom took my hand, Granddad holding firmly on to her other hand. Nan came around to the other side of me.
“Let go,” she said to Dad — and with those two small words she destroyed the hope that had been building so high inside me. After everything that had happened, in front of the whole town, she was still trying to separate us. No! How could she?
“Emily, it’s not what you think,” she said. “Please.”
Dad nodded to me, and I reluctantly let go of his hand. Nan instantly stepped in between us. Then she took my hand in one of hers, and with the other she reached out to Dad.
“We’re your family too, Jake,” she said firmly. “We’ll build this new world together.”
Then she squeezed my hand and turned toward the auditorium. I did the same. Everywhere I looked, people were standing, all clapping, all smiling.
And then someone else was behind me. “Hey,” she said. I turned to see her, in the water beside Melody.
“Shona!” I let go of Mom’s hand and beckoned her over. She swam to my side and took my hand in one of hers. Mom grabbed Shona’s other hand.
I searched out Aaron among the crowd. There he was with his mom, next to Mandy and Millie, with our empty seats around them. He was getting out of his seat. A moment later, Millie got up too. Grabbing Aaron with one hand, Mandy with the other, and nudging Aaron’s mom, she barged her way to the end of the row.
When she got there, she stopped and said something to Mandy and Aaron. Aaron nodded. Mandy hesitated, then whispered something to her parents in the