Emily Windsnap and the Monster From the Deep (16 page)

“Surprised to see me?” he asked, his voice slipping across the room like slime.

“Of course I’m surprised to see you! Who’s taking care of the lighthouse in Brightport?”

“The lighthouse?” Mr. Beeston laughed. “Emily, why would I be taking care of a lighthouse?”

“It’s what you do!”

“The lighthouse was a cover. You know that.”

“Oh, yes. Of course,” I said numbly. I’d found out before we left Brightport that Mr. Beeston was one of Neptune’s agents and that he’d been spying on us to make sure we never found out about Dad. Well, it didn’t work, did it? I found my dad. I’d beaten Mr. Beeston once. Maybe I could do it again. “But that still doesn’t explain —”

“I was promoted,” Mr. Beeston said, a crooked grin twitching at the side of his mouth. “For my bravery and good work.”

“Good work?”
I spluttered. “Is that what you call turning me and Mom over to Neptune? You were supposed to be our friend. We could have been thrown in prison, like my dad.” I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my fingernails tightly into my palms. I wasn’t going to cry. He wasn’t having that satisfaction.

Mr. Beeston flicked his tail nervously. “I — well, Emily, I did my duty. And look, I was needed here. They’re working on rebuilding this palace, and there’s a lot to do, monitoring activity in the area and keeping a gill open for any kraken-related incidents.” He narrowed his eyes at me accusingly.

“So what are you going to do with me?”

“Do with you? It’s not about what I want to do with you. It’s about what you need to do for us.”

“What d’you mean?”

Mr. Beeston shuffled forward in his cushion. I shuffled backward in mine. He tightened his lips. “I am still an agent of Neptune’s, you know,” he said sharply. “One of the highest ranking of all, now. And if I tell you that you are going to do something, you will do it. You don’t question my authority.”

I folded my arms, anxiously flicking my tail while I waited for him to continue.

“We are all in grave danger. The kraken is on the loose. It has to be calmed and brought back to Neptune.”

“But what’s that got to do with me?”

He held my eyes for a long time before replying.

“You, Emily, are the only one who can do it.”

Someone was banging on the outside of the shell. Mr. Beeston opened the porthole-shaped door we’d come through. Kyle surged into the room on a sudden wave. It flung me against the wall.

“Sir,” he said breathlessly. “I’ve had a sighting. It’s coming closer. The sea — it’s getting rough.”

“Thank you, Kyle. Good work,” Mr. Beeston said.

“It’s heading toward the palace!” Kyle panted. “I think it’s going to get us all. We might have to make our escape.”

“Make our escape? Are you off your fins, boy?” Mr. Beeston barked. “Have you been given the wrong job? You have one purpose and one
purpose only. You have a wonderful opportunity to return to the old days and restore the power of the kraken. Do you hear me?”

“Yes, sir.” Kyle reddened. “I’m sorry.”

“Now, don’t let it out of your sight. I’m dealing with it. Have some faith.”

Kyle retreated, leaving a swirling cloud of silt behind him.

“Are you going to explain any of this to me?” I asked as Mr. Beeston swam back into the room. A tiny silver fish swam toward him, slithering across his stomach. He batted it away.

“The kraken is Neptune’s pet,” Mr. Beeston began.

“I know that.”

“And it sleeps for a hundred years. Without its full sleep, it wakes in a murderous rage.”

“I know that too.”

“Stop interrupting me, child! I shall tell you the story my way or not at all.”

I slammed my mouth shut.

“All but Neptune are forbidden to approach the kraken during its sleep. Neptune is the only one who should wake it. And only at the specified time. You see, when it wakes, the only person it will listen to is the one who wakes it, the one it sees first on opening its eyes. This should always be Neptune. But this time, it was you.”

“You mean . . . ?”

“Yes, Emily. The kraken will obey you and only you.”

I realized I wasn’t saying anything. My mouth moved. Opened. Closed. Nothing. The kraken would obey me and only me? I slumped back against the wall, my mind empty, my limbs numb. A thin ray of sunlight threw a diagonal line across the room like a dusty laser beam, lighting up barnacles that lined the walls. The beam shimmered and broke, rocked by the constant water movement.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked eventually.

“We need to move quickly. Neptune’s power over the kraken is fiercely protected. It wasn’t expected that anyone else would ever wake it.
Most
merfolk obey his rules.” He paused to scowl briefly at me. “First, you have to go to the edge of the Triangle, where its magic is strongest.”

“The edge of the Triangle?” I gasped. “You mean the current that leads to the deepest depths of the ocean?”

“Nonsense!” Mr. Beeston snapped. “It doesn’t do that. That’s what we tell folks to keep them out of the way.”

“So where does it go, then?”

“It leads into the realm of the kraken.”

“The realm of the kraken?” My voice cracked. Somehow, that didn’t sound much more inviting than the deepest depths of the ocean.

“The place where you can communicate with it. You must go to the edge of the Triangle and come face to face with it.”

“Face to face?” I burst out. “With the kraken?” I couldn’t face the monster again. Please no! An image squirmed into my mind: those horrific tentacles, searching, batting and thrashing, smashing into the tunnel. My eyes began to sting with tears. I didn’t care anymore if Mr. Beeston saw me cry. I couldn’t hold it back.

He spoke softly. “It’s the only way.”

“What happens then?” I asked, swallowing hard. “When we’re at the Triangle’s edge?”

“It will come to you. It will listen to you.”

“And I can save the day?”

“What? Yes, yes, of course you can save the day.”

“And it’ll do what I tell it?”

“As I told you, it will listen only to you. Its power lies in your hands.”

I suddenly realized what Mr. Beeston was telling me. I could end all of this. I could bring the kraken into my power. It would listen to me. I could calm it down and everything would be all right. I just had to face it one more time.

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll do it.”

Mr. Beeston smiled his crooked smile. “I knew you would.”

He turned to leave. “There’s just one last thing,” he said, pausing at the door. “You
were
on your own when you woke the kraken, weren’t you?”

“I — why do you want to know that?” I blustered.

Mr. Beeston darted back toward me. Coming so close that I could see the jagged points of his crooked yellow teeth, he leaned into my face. “If someone else was with you when the kraken woke, we need them too.”

“Why?” I asked in a tiny voice.

“Emily, if there was someone else there, it means the kraken will not obey you on your own. Whoever it saw on waking, that is who it will obey — whether that is one person or twenty. We need them all or the plan will fail.”

“I . . .”

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t! Not after everything. I wasn’t going to drag Shona into this. They’d have to think of something else. “There was no one,” I said eventually, my cheeks on fire.

Mr. Beeston grabbed my arm, jerking my body like an electric shock. “You’re lying! You
have
to tell me. There was someone with you — I know it. Who was it?”

“I can’t tell you!” I cried. Tears slipped down my cheeks. “I can’t do it! You can’t make me.”

“Oh, I think you’ll find we can,” he hissed.

I gulped. “What if I refuse?”

Mr. Beeston twitched slightly. “Then the kraken won’t stop until it has destroyed everything in its sight. These waves we’re seeing — you know they’re just the start of it.”

I thought back to what I’d seen: the kraken smashing up Mandy’s boat, what it did to the reef, the rocks . . . the whale. But could I really make Shona face it again? Could I betray her like that? It would finish off our friendship forever.

“I — I’ll think about it,” I stammered.

He swam over to the door. “Don’t think for too long, Emily,” he said quietly. “Time is an option we don’t have.”

Now, this is more like it! This is what our vacation was supposed to be like all along. Luxury cruise liner, lounge chairs, swimming pool, free drinks. We’re even getting special attention from the crew because of our trauma.

Yeah, it’s all great.

Except. Well, except Mom and Dad haven’t spoken a word to each other since we were saved. The atmosphere’s so cold when they’re around, you’d think we were on a cruise to Antarctica. They’re so busy ignoring each other, neither of them has even asked how I am. I sometimes wonder if they’d even notice if I disappeared. I’m tempted to try it — but I’m too much of a coward. What if it only confirmed my worst fears — that no one cares about me?

And then there’s Emily. Apart from wondering what she’s doing here anyway, and not to mention the fact that she happens to be a
mermaid,
I just can’t believe I let her put one over me, yet again. OK, and I’m worried about her, too, all right? Just
because she hates me doesn’t mean I want her dead.

We set sail again soon. They’ve been trying to get away from here, but there’s something wrong with the ship. It keeps going off course for some reason. They’re trying to figure it out, and once they do and we’re away from here, I’ll
never
get a chance to repay her. She’ll always have won.

For once, Dad had actually come up with a brilliant plan, and we let it slip away. If only I could find her. Kill two birds with one stone. Get fish girl back AND save our home. Now
that
would be satisfying!

Maybe I could. Who says it’s too late?

I’m wandering around the back of the ship trying to think of something when I hear voices. Three people are standing near the lifeboats. One of them’s waving her arms in the air, shouting at someone in a Carefree Cruises uniform.

“But why on earth can’t you just let it down?” she’s yelling. “I know you used one of them to let a family come aboard. We have to get off the ship! I have to find my daughter!”

“Madam, they were in trouble. We couldn’t leave them to drown,” the Carefree Cruises person replies. “And you won’t tell me anything about your daughter’s whereabouts. You won’t even give me your name. You can hardly expect me to break ship’s
regulations just because you and your friend here feel like taking a ride in a lifeboat.”

The other one looks up. That’s when I see who it is. A big woman in a black cape. It’s Mystic Millie, the crazy lady who used to read palms on the pier in Brightport! What the —

“A child is in trouble,” she says. “That’s all you need to know. We’ve seen things.
I
have seen things. And if you don’t mind my saying so, I am rather known for the accuracy of my visions. Isn’t that right, Mary Penelope?”

The other woman turns her head as she nods. I duck behind a plastic box full of diving equipment before she can spot me. But I’ve seen her face. It’s Mrs. Windsnap! What are they doing here?

They’re moving away. I can’t hear the rest of the conversation. But then a thought occurs to me. They want to get off the ship to find Emily. That means she must be nearby.