Emily Windsnap and the Monster from the Deep Part 7

"I'm thinking," he said without turning around. "Just give me a minute."

I counted to ten. "What are we going to do?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, Em. I just don't know."

I looked out to sea with him. The water lapped gently into the cove behind us. Daylight was starting to fade.

I stared out at the horizon. So much ocean, stretching for miles and miles and miles - forever, it seemed. Nothing but water. And the monster. Somewhere. A cold shiver rattled through my body. The water lay still, but how long till it would seethe with the kraken's rage? The stillness was almost worse - knowing it was out there, waiting.

Something flickered on the horizon. A brief flash of light. I jerked upright and peered so hard my eyes watered. There it was again.

"Dad!"

"Emily, will you leave me alone! I've told you, give me five minutes. I need to think."

I shook his arm. "Look!" I pointed out to the horizon.

Dad followed the line of my finger. "Mothering mussels," he breathed, squinting into the distance. His words came out like a whistle. "What's that doing there?"

"What is it?"

"Look - red, then green." Dad turned to me. "It's a ship, Emily."

A ship had gotten in! The kraken had already pierced the Triangle's border.

"It's not coming any closer, is it?" I asked with a gulp. What if it was? One way or another, that would spell disaster. Either the kraken would destroy the ship - or the ship would discover us. Either way, it was completely unthinkable.

"Doesn't look like it. Doesn't mean it won't, though." Dad pushed off from the rock and started to swim away. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"We'll have to say something."

"Say something?" My words jammed up my throat. I swallowed hard. "Who to?"

"I don't know. Archie, I guess." Dad took hold of my hand. "Emily, there's a ship coming toward the island. The others need to know that the kraken's gotten out."

"No! Dad, they'll want to know everything. They'll make you tell them it was all my fault."

"Em, love, the monster could attack that ship. Or the ship could discover us here. That'll be the end of us all. You heard what Neptune said. We can't stay here if the secret gets out. Can't you just see it? Hordes of tourists swarming the place? They'll turn us into a zoo or something." He turned to swim away.

A zoo. My old fears of discovery resurfaced in a wave of anguish. That was one of the nightmares I used to have in Brightport. What had I done?

"There must be something we can do," I said, swimming hard to keep up.

"This is the only thing." Dad's voice was firm.

He didn't speak again. The water soon grew warmer as we reached the shallow sand, rippling like tire tracks across the sea floor.

Dad wouldn't look at me. "You go along home. Mom'll be worried."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to see if I can find Archie."

I didn't move.

"It'll be all right," he said with a tight smile. Then he turned and swam toward the end of the bay, taking my last shreds of hope with him.

Mom threw her arms around me the second I arrived back at Fortuna. "Emily! I've been worried sick. Where've you been?"

"With Dad. I felt claustrophobic in the caves and we - we went exploring." My cheeks burned. I hate lying to Mom.

"Mary P., you really should listen to me. I told you she was safe," Millie said, pouring some herbal tea from a pot and settling down on the big sofa.

"Millie saw a ship," Mom said.

"She saw it?" I burst out.

Mom looked at me quizzically. "When she did Neptune's reading. She had a vision of a ship. What ship did you think I meant?"

"Oh. No. Nothing. Yes, that's what I thought you meant," I bl.u.s.tered. Great move, Emily. Just give the game away to everyone. "I thought you'd said something about gold." I tried to keep my voice even.

"Yes, well, you can't be expected to get everything right, all the time," Millie replied, sniffing as she picked up a magazine.

"So what did Neptune say about the vision?" I asked, holding my breath.

Millie flipped the pages. "Not everyone appreciates my gift."

"He told her he'd throw her off the island if she wasted any more of his time with her hocus-pocus," said Mom, smiling.

How could she smile? I could hardly speak. I had to get away from here. "I'm going to my room," I said. Before they had a chance to argue, I'd gone through to the back of the ship and closed my door behind me. Shaking, I sat down on my bed and looked around. Like all the others, the room had a trapdoor that led to the floor below, to the sea. I'd hardly used it yet. The one in the living room was open all the time and it was bigger.

I crept over to the trapdoor next to my bed and opened it. Maybe . . .

"Emily." Mom was at my door.

I jumped away from the trapdoor. "I was just looking at the fish," I said quickly.

"Are you all right?" Mom stepped into the room and came over to me. She lifted a strand of hair off my face, stroking it behind my ear. "If there's anything you want to talk about . . ."

"There isn't," I said, trying to make myself smile. I imagine I looked like a scared rabbit with a twitch. A while ago, I could talk to Mom about anything, and didn't know how to relate to Dad at all. Funny how things had changed. If funny was the right word. Which it wasn't.

"I'm fine, honestly," I said. "Just a little tired." I stretched my mouth into a yawn. "Look, see. I think I'll have a nap."

Mom stared at me quizzically for a moment before shrugging. "Well, we'll be next door if you need anything." She kissed my forehead and left.

I waited five minutes. She didn't come back. OK, this was it. I knew what I was going to do.

I had to get to the ship, make it change its course or something - just stop it from causing disaster to everyone on board, and probably all of us on the island too. I didn't have a clue how I was going to do it; I just knew I had to try.

I eased myself through the hole. Then, dangling over the side, I lowered myself down as gently as I could and let go. I dropped with a splash. Had they heard? I held my breath and waited. Nothing.

I waited a little longer, to make sure my tail had fully formed. When the tingling and numbness had completely gone, I ducked under, swam through the big open porthole, and headed toward the ship.

It was almost like the old days: swimming out to sea under a sky gradually filling up with stars. A striped b.u.t.terfly fish raced along beside me before slipping away into the darkness and disappearing under a rock. Shoals of silver bar jacks hovered nearby, shining like pins in the darkness. Purple fans waved with the current, caressing me as I sailed over them.

It was nothing like the old days.

In the old days, I was swimming out to meet my best friend; now I didn't even know if I still had one. Shona would have been by my side on an adventure like this. My chest hurt as I pushed myself to swim harder, swim away from the painful thoughts. The water grew colder and darker. I picked my way out toward the ship, praying there was no current around this side of the island.

After a while, I stopped to scan the horizon. Two dim lights, facing me. It was a long way out, but definitely inside the Triangle. I couldn't even see the island anymore. Just blackness, except - what was that? Something flashed through the water. A boat? I held my breath while I watched. Nothing. It must have just been the moon's reflection.

I swam on toward the ship. I had to stop it from finding us, get it away from the island. I had to buy some time.

Eventually, I was close enough to study it: a cruise liner with three levels of portholes and balconies, all lit up with lamps. The sides rose steeply out of the water.

I swam all around it, looking for a way in. There was a rope ladder hanging down at the back. I tried to make a grab for it but missed by inches. I heaved and jumped up in the water. No good - it was just out of reach.

I swam around again, looking for something else. And right at the front, I found it. The anchor!

Gripping the chains, I pulled myself out of the water. My tail dangled and flapped in the sea. Panting and gritting my teeth, I managed to inch my way up. Eventually, I'd done it. I clung onto the chain like a koala, my body clear of the water. Within moments, I got that tingly sensation I knew so well. My legs had come back.

I hooked my feet into the loops, then slowly and carefully climbed up to the ship's deck.

Hauling myself over the metal rail, I landed heavily on the deck. A quick look around. No one. Just me and the darkness and a row of deck chairs. I dried myself on a towel someone had left on one of them and pulled on the shorts I'd brought with me. Then I went to look for some signs of life.

It didn't take long.

Halfway down the side of the ship, I found some stairs and a door that led inside. There were sounds, somewhere near. I followed the noise, almost sniffing my way toward it. Music. Laughter.

Soon I came out of the narrow corridor into an open s.p.a.ce with a few people dotted around. I tried to saunter in casually, as though I belonged there, even though I knew I'd be spotted in a second.

But I wasn't. Some kids were playing in a tiny arcade on one side; on the other, a couple of men were drinking at a small bar. A man and woman behind the bar laughed together. No one even looked up.

A flight of stairs led up toward where the real noise was coming from. Okay, you can do it. I took a deep breath, twirled my hair a few times, nibbled on my thumbnails - and went upstairs.

It wasn't till I saw all the food that I realized I was starving! I'd hardly eaten all day.

I grabbed a paper plate and joined the line behind a girl who looked about my age. Maybe she'd know something.

"It's great, this vacation, isn't it?" I said as we shuffled along the food table, shoving tiny sausages and crackers and chips onto our plates.

"Mm," the girl replied through a pizza slice.

"Wonder how long before we shove off," I said casually.

She swallowed her bite of pizza. "My mom says we're not even supposed to be here. She thinks we've gone off course. Doesn't matter though, if we see it."

See it?

"Yeah, that's what I thought," I said, trying to stay calm. I popped a mini sausage into my mouth. "So has anyone seen it yet?"

The girl put her plate down. "Don't you know?"

"Oh, I, um - I forget. Remind me?"

"That's why we're here! Mom says more than half the pa.s.sengers canceled at the last minute. That's how we got our places. I bet Carefree Cruises is totally fed up with that captain!"

What was she going on about?

"Yeah, I bet," I said seriously. "What did he do again?" I asked, quickly turning away to grab another handful of chips.

"How can you not know? He saw Triggy, of course! First sighting in absolutely YEARS!"

A chip got stuck halfway down my throat. "Triggy?" I asked, swallowing hard.

"Don't tell me you haven't heard of Triggy."

I tried a lighthearted shrug and a frown.

"Triggy! The Triangle Monster! I've always believed in it. Mom said it was just a silly fairy tale, but now she's not so sure. I hope we see it, don't you?"

I couldn't reply. I couldn't do anything. I tried. I opened my mouth, even moved my lips a little, I think. But nothing came out. Triggy? It sounded like a cartoon character. She had no idea! I thought of the slimy tentacles racing down the tunnel toward me, the suckers all along it, grabbing at the walls, the way it extended out, the hairy tapered end touching me.

The bones.

Now these people were hunting it down. Which either meant it wouldn't be long before they found us - or they'd be its next victims.

"I - I've got to go now," I said eventually. I staggered away from the food table.

"See you in the morning," she called before going back to the table.

"Yeah." Whatever.

I stumbled back down the stairs. At the bottom, I took a turn that I thought led back to the corridor I'd come down earlier. But I emerged into another open s.p.a.ce. I was about to turn back when I noticed a shop just ahead of me. It was closed now, but there was a poster in the window. I went over to take a closer look.

It was the front page of a newspaper: the Newlando Times.

BRAVE CAPTAIN TELLS OF HORROR AT SEA the headline screamed across the top of the page. I read on.

The old myth of Triggy the Triangle Monster rose up again today when Captain Jimmy Olsthwaite was rescued from stormy seas by a local fisherman.

Captain Olsthwaite lost his boat when it was attacked by what he described as "a monster beyond imagining. The size of a dinosaur! And a dozen tentacles that wrapped around the boat."

His story has horrified and delighted tourists in equal measure.

Katie Hartnett was among those setting sail today with Carefree Cruises. "It's so exciting," she told the Newlando Times. "My parents used to tell me stories about the Triangle Monster when I was little - but we never thought it might exist for real!"