Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist Part 13

"Come on," I said, "let's get going. Shona needs to get back to her parents!"

We'd hooked Fortuna up to some ropes so we could tow it back. I don't know what Neptune had done, but the lower deck was dry and sealed up so it floated like a normal boat. "We'll put it back to normal when we get home." Dad smiled.

With a bit of help from Aaron's maps, we'd set a course back to Allpoints Island. Dad reckoned it would take only a few days if we took turns pulling. He had left it to the three of us for now while he hitched onto the side of the boat near Mom.

Shona and Aaron and I pulled on the ropes as we set off, flipping our tails to make rainbows with the water, ducking under to see the rubbery round yellow fish with big black eyes bouncing on the seabed, racing and chasing each other.

As we pa.s.sed the castle, we fell silent. Without the mist, it looked almost naked. Lonely, even. "We'll come back," Aaron's mother called down. "Even if it's just for a visit."

Aaron smiled up at her, then splashed me and grinned. He pulled his rope taut. "Race you to the next wave!" he said.

Shona dived down to follow him. But I stayed close to the boat for a while. The sky was growing lighter and lighter. Up behind me I could hear Mom and Dad talking.

"I've got nothing against rulers," Dad was saying. "But protractors? I mean, come on, does she really need one of those?"

"I tell you what," Mom replied. "I'll let you have the scale polish if you give me the algebra set."

"The scale polish and a kiss," Dad said.

"Done."

They were quiet for a while after that.

I smiled to myself as we swam on. What lay ahead for us? Where would we go? What would the future hold?

I couldn't answer the questions spinning around in my head any more than I could stop Mom and Dad from bickering about my schooling, or Shona from worrying about her hair, or Millie from trying to tell fortunes with coat hangers.

It didn't matter. What mattered was what I could see around me: my best friend racing our new friend along the waves; Mom and Dad smiling at each other and joking and kissing; Millie spreading the tarot cards out on the deck for Aaron's mom.

And beyond that? Well, beyond that lay a brand-new day.

Liz Kessler is the author of the books in the best-selling Emily Windsnap series as well as the Philippa Fisher books. She lives in Cornwall, England.

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