Emily Eyefinger and the Secret from the Sea (6 page)

‘Give us an hour,' Emily said. ‘I think we can solve your problem.'

The general frowned and pressed his lips together.

‘You've got thirty minutes starting right now,' he said, pressing a button on his watch.

Emily had Professor Mousefinder, General Slimantrim and the soldiers leave the room. She then turned off the lights and she and Malcolm started playing a new game of Mouse Rage. As they played, Emily used her eyefinger to look all around for signs of mice.

‘They're not going to come out,' Malcolm said. ‘They're too smart.'

‘Let's wait and see,' Emily said.

Ten minutes went by and then ten more minutes. Then, when the half hour was almost up, Emily saw something out of the corner of her eyefinger eye. It was a little furry shape creeping out from the computer. This furry shape was soon followed by another and then another.

‘They're here,' Emily whispered. ‘Don't look, just keep playing.'

Soon there were six, then eight, then ten and then twelve. They moved closer and closer, looking at the running and jumping mice on the laptop screen.

‘They're right behind us,' Emily said. ‘Are you ready?'

‘I think so,' Malcolm said nervously.

Emily and Malcolm spun around in their chairs, throwing their mouse nets over the mice.

‘We got them!' Emily cried, turning on the lights. ‘Hey, I think we got them all!'

Professor Mousefinder shot through the doorway and gathered up the mice.

‘That was fantastic!' cried the general, giving Emily a snappy salute. ‘You have just saved the whole worl – ooops, I almost said it again. Anyway, what you did was truly wonderful. How did you know the mice would come out?'

‘Because Professor Mousefinder said so.'

‘I did?' the professor said.

‘Yes. You said that mice are very curious, and you know everything about mice.'

‘No one can ever know everything about mice. But I do know quite a lot,' the professor said. ‘And thank you, Emily, for finding some excellent students for The Mousefinder Mouse Academy.'

‘It isn't me you should thank,' Emily said, holding up her eyefinger. ‘It's my little mouse-finding friend.'

And everyone laughed a long and friendly laugh.

‘The island of the Sea People sank into the ocean hundreds of years ago,' Emily's great aunt Olympia said. ‘An earthquake opened up a crack in the earth and the island was gobbled up.'

‘That's terrible,' Emily said.

‘The Sea People got away in boats,' Aunt Olympia said, ‘but their city was gone.'

Emily was at her great aunt's house. The walls and bookcases were filled with old things that Aunt Olympia had collected. Mr Fusspot, Aunt Olympia's pet monkey, looked down from a bookcase while Emily took pictures with her new camera.

‘What are all those scratches on this shell?' Emily asked.

‘Writing, my dear. Sea People writing. Stories mostly.'

Emily picked up another shell.

‘This one has a picture of a lady with long hair. Who was she?'

‘She was their Sea Goddess. They worshipped her. Had a statue of her made of the purest marble. Travellers from around the world said it was the most beautiful statue they'd ever seen. Before cameras, of course. And no drawings. I'd give anything to see it.'

‘Why don't you go looking for it?'

‘Deep under the ground. Under the sea, Emily. Impossible. Besides, I've had enough. No more
digging. No more chopping through jungles, riding camels across deserts. No more fighting wild pigs, deadly snakes.'

‘But, Aunt Olympia, you love digging up old cities. You can't stop now.'

‘Nonsense, child. Can't do it anymore. Too old.'

Mr Fusspot jumped onto a chair next to Emily.

‘Fussy! What are you doing?' Emily said. ‘You're up to no good, aren't you?'

The monkey gave her a sad look and put his hands over his face.

‘Oh, Fussy, did I hurt your feelings?'

Emily stretched out her arms to give him a cuddle. But as she did, Fussy reached into her pocket and then shot up a bookcase.

‘Hey! Give me back my camera! Fussy, come down here!'

‘Leave him alone, dear,' Aunt Olympia said. ‘He won't do anything to it. Just likes a bit of a play. Did that with my watch the other day. Hmm, wonder where he hid it.'

‘Where exactly was this island of the Sea People?'

Aunt Olympia swung around to a map of the world that was hanging on the wall. She stabbed it with a finger.

‘Right there,' she said. ‘Middle of the ocean. Called Doughnut Island now.'

‘Doughnut Island?' Emily said.

‘Round with a hole in the middle. The Sea People's city went down the hole.'

‘Isn't Doughnut Island where that big earthquake was?'

‘Earthquake? What earthquake? Who told you this?'

‘It's been on TV for the past couple of days.'

Aunt Olympia jumped to her feet.

‘TV? Must get one of those. What are we waiting for, girl?! Start packing. Don't just stand there like an old boot, get a wriggle on!'

‘I thought you said you weren't going to dig anymore, Aunt Olympia.'

‘Dig? Of course I'm not going to dig! Earthquakes are the greatest gift to people like me. They do the digging for us. You are coming, aren't you?'

‘I'd better check with my parents to see if I can go,' Emily said.

‘Of course it'll be okay. Fussy! Come down! You're coming too. Time's a-wasting. Into the car!'

 

Aunt Olympia was not the greatest driver in the world but she may have been the fastest. Within minutes they were at the airport piling things into the back of Aunt Olympia's little plane. Soon they were flying high above the clouds towards Doughnut Island.

‘ARE YOU SURE YOU KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING?!' Emily yelled over the engine noise. ‘WHERE'S THE MAP?!'

‘MAP? DON'T NEED A MAP! BEEN THERE BEFORE! YEARS AGO.'

Emily took photos of the great blue ocean and the puffy white clouds dotted all around. Aunt Olympia flew the old plane for hours and hours. All the while, Fussy slept in Emily's lap with his arms around her.

Finally Emily saw something on the horizon.

‘LOOK!' she called. ‘SMOKE!'

‘NOT SMOKE, STEAM!' Aunt Olympia called back. ‘STEAM FROM THE FAULT! THE EARTH IS OPENING UP. THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA IS BEING PUSHED UP! THIS IS WONDERFUL!'

Sure enough, there below was Doughnut Island, making a perfect circle around the mountain that had come up from under the sea.

‘IT'S THE SEA PEOPLE'S MOUNTAIN!' Aunt Olympia cried.

‘WHERE ARE WE GOING TO LAND?' Emily asked.

‘LAND?' Aunt Olympia replied. ‘OH, YES. I SUPPOSE WE SHOULD LAND. LOOK FOR A NICE FLAT PLACE! NO ROCKS, NO TREES.'

Aunt Olympia flew her plane around and around Doughnut Island.

‘THERE'S NOWHERE TO LAND,' Emily yelled. ‘THERE ARE TOO MANY PALMS. BEACHES ARE NO GOOD. WHERE DID YOU LAND WHEN YOU CAME HERE BEFORE?'

‘CAN'T REMEMBER, OH, YES. CAME BY SHIP.'

‘OH, NO! THERE'S NOWHERE TO LAND, AUNT OLYMPIA!'

‘NOW I REMEMBER, THAT'S WHY I CAME BY SHIP!'

Aunt Olympia flew around the island once again.

‘LET'S GO HOME!' Emily yelled.

‘GO HOME? BUT WE'VE COME ALL THIS WAY. CAN'T JUST LEAVE NOW, GIRL … NEED PONTOONS.'

‘WHAT ARE PONTOONS?'

‘FLOATY THINGS FOR LANDING ON WATER.'

‘BUT WE DON'T HAVE PONTOONS,' Emily said. ‘AUNT OLYMPIA, WE HAVE TO GO!'

Emily looked down at the new mountain. There were huge cracks in it and at the bottom of one Emily could see the shapes of old buildings.

‘CAN'T GO NOW,' shouted Aunt Olympia. ‘THE SEA PEOPLE'S CITY IS BACK FROM UNDER THE SEA! THIS IS A DREAM COME TRUE! WAITED ALL MY LIFE FOR SOMETHING LIKE THIS! DON'T JUST SIT THERE, GIRL! FIND A PLACE TO LAND!'

There was no place to land so Emily thought and thought and then she thought some more. Then, while she was untangling Fussy's arms from around her waist, she saw behind her seat with her eyefinger. Everything was stored there, including two big bags with ‘Inflatable Kayak' written on them.

Emily undid her seat belt and climbed into the back of the plane. She pulled the kayaks across to her seat. Then she stepped onto the lower wing
and crawled down onto one of the wheels. She tied a kayak under the wheel and started blowing it up.

‘WHAT'S THAT?' her great aunt cried out from above.

‘A PONTOON!' Emily shouted back.

‘A PONTOON? DIDN'T KNOW I HAD A PONTOON! WELL, FANCY THAT!'

After Emily had blown up one kayak, she tied the other one under the other wheel and blew that
up too. She made it to her seat as Aunt Olympia brought the plane down on the water next to the new mountain.

‘Good work, Emily,' her great aunt said. ‘I knew I'd brought you along for a reason. Now, how will we get ashore? There are a couple of kayaks in the back of the plane.'

‘Not anymore,' Emily said. ‘Here, grab a paddle.'

Emily and Aunt Olympia paddled the plane to the edge of the mountain.

‘What do we do now?' Emily asked. ‘The city is way up there.'

‘Then let's go way up there,' Aunt Olympia said. ‘Come along, girl. Don't just stand there like a chunk of cheese.'

As they started to make their way up, the earth shook.

‘Ooops,' Aunt Olympia said, ‘I suppose the mountain is still coming up. This is so exciting!'

Suddenly the earth shook again and this time there was a loud rumbling. Rocks rolled down to
one side. Mr Fusspot screeched and Emily picked him up.

‘It's okay, Fussy,' she said. ‘Everything's okay.'

But she wondered if it was.

For the next hour, Aunt Olympia marched up the mountain with Emily just behind. Every time the earth shook Fussy clung more tightly to Emily.

As they neared the top Emily saw it.

‘It's here!' she called out. ‘The city of the Sea People!'

There in front of them were the broken buildings of the ancient city. Aunt Olympia threw down her backpack.

‘Get to work, girl!' she cried. ‘Take some photos! Collect things! Yiiippppeeee! This is the happiest day of my life!'

Emily took pictures as her great-aunt searched among the ruins.

‘And don't forget to look for the statue of the Sea Goddess,' Aunt Olympia said.

That afternoon, the ground shook again and again. Emily was very tired. She sat down and closed her eyes. But the moment she did, the ground shook with a terrible roar. A narrow crack opened up beside her and down below she could see something gleaming. She waited till the earth stopped shaking and looked down with her eyefinger.

‘Aunt Olympia!' Emily exclaimed. ‘I think it's her! Come quickly!'

Aunt Olympia looked up from the other side of the ruins.

‘What did you say, Emily?'

‘I think I've found the Sea Goddess!'

Emily took out her camera again and pointed it down at the statue. But before she could take a picture, Fussy grabbed the camera and darted away.

‘Fussy! This isn't a game!' Emily yelled. ‘Come back here!'

Emily chased Mr Fusspot around a boulder and, just then, the ground shook more violently than ever. A huge crack opened up and Fussy fell into
it. Before Emily could grab him, the ground shook again and the crack slammed closed.

‘Fussy!' Emily cried. ‘Where are you?!'

Aunt Olympia came running.

‘What happened?' she cried. ‘Where's Fussy?!'

‘He fell down a crack. He fell down into the ruins below!'

The ground shook again, this time knocking Emily and Aunt Olympia off their feet. And when they got up they were knocked down again. The earth was shaking all the time now.

‘We've got to get off the mountain!' Aunt Olympia yelled. ‘It's sinking again!'

‘But what about Fussy?' Emily cried. ‘We can't go without him!'

‘Emily! We have to! If we stay here we'll be killed. Quick! Follow me!'

Emily and Aunt Olympia scrambled down the mountainside. Rocks rolled down around them as they ran, skidding and jumping, and jets of steam shot up high in the air. Towards the bottom of
the mountain they just tumbled and slid till they landed in the water next to the plane.

‘We have to get away from the shore!' Aunt Olympia said, as they climbed into the plane. ‘Quick before a rock hits us.'

They paddled as fast as they could. Rocks kept falling into the water, splashing noisily. As Aunt Olympia and Emily watched, the mountain got smaller and smaller, disappearing under the sea. Waves crashed against the plane. Emily hoped she'd see Fussy racing down the mountain.

But he didn't appear.

‘We've got to get the plane into the air!' Aunt Olympia yelled.

‘But what about Mr Fusspot?' Emily said. ‘We can't just leave him here.'

‘Have to,' Aunt Olympia said. ‘Have no choice.'

Emily was crying now from all three eyes and she could see tears escaping from under Aunt Olympia's flying goggles. Soon the two of them were in their seats and the engine was going.
They watched as the last bit of the mountain sank beneath the sea.

Now a huge wave started moving out from where the mountain disappeared.

‘Hang on, Emily!' Aunt Olympia yelled.

She turned up the engine and the plane raced over the water ahead of the giant wave. Just as the wave slammed against its tail, the tiny plane took to the air and the rest of the wave passed beneath them.

As they flew through the night Emily couldn't sleep. She kept thinking about Fussy and the wonderful times she'd had with the mischievous monkey.

Finally they were safely home and Emily started unpacking the plane. It was then that she noticed something. She looked closely with her eyefinger into the back of the plane and there looking at her were two shiny eyes.

‘Fussy!' she cried. ‘It's you! We thought we'd lost you!'

The little monkey climbed out and looked around him.

‘Good old Mr Fusspot,' Aunt Olympia said. ‘I knew you'd look after yourself.'

‘You're safe now, Fussy,' Emily said.

When Emily picked him up, she saw her camera hanging around his neck.