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me,” Mr. Beeston called as he stepped onto the boat and looked around. “Ah, good. I’m glad you’re all here. I have some important news.”
    “Sounds ominous,” Millie said.
    “Not at all,” Mr. Beeston said. “In fact, it’s very exciting news.” He turned to Aaron and me, then looked back at the others and smiled his wonky smile. “It concerns Emily and Aaron.”
    “Uh-oh,” Dad said with a wink. “What have they been up to now?”
    Mr. Beeston gave Dad one of his
I’m-very-important-and-I-know-a-lot-more-than-you
looks. “What they have ‘been up to’ is impressing Neptune so much with all their recent actions that he has decided to reward them,” he said.
    “What kind of reward?” asked Mom.
    Mr. Beeston cleared his throat. “He’s sending them on a vacation.”
    “A vacation? Oh, how wonderful!” Mom said, almost bouncing in her seat. “Where are we going? When are we off?” She jumped off the sofa. “Ooh, what do I need to pack?”
    “Ah, well, that’s the thing.” Mr. Beeston reddened.
    Mom stopped bouncing. “What’s the thing?”
    “You . . . er . . . well, you don’t need to pack anything, actually. At least, not for yourselves.”
    Mom stared at him for a moment, and then she brightened again. “You mean Neptune is providing us with everything we need?”
    “Neptune is not providing
you
with anything!” He fiddled with the bottom of his jacket as he added, “I’m afraid you won’t be going.”
    Mom and Dad exchanged a glance. “They’re going
alone
?” Dad asked.
    Mr. Beeston flushed even deeper. “No, not alone,” he said. “They will, of course, have a chaper one to escort them. Neptune has thought carefully about this important decision, and he has come to the conclusion that he must send one of his most highly trusted, elite, superior —”
    “YOU?” Mom burst out. “He’s sending
you
?”
    “Er, yes,” Mr. Beeston said, suddenly noticing something very important to look at on the deck.
    “Why not us?” Dad asked.
    “He . . . er . . . well, I mean, apart from the fact that I have been a highly trusted member of his staff for many years, I suppose he —”
    “He wanted someone with a tail
and
legs,” Aaron cut in.
    “At least, that’s what we would guess,” I added quickly, glaring at Aaron. We weren’t supposed to know anything about this yet!
    “Yes, that’s what I meant,” Aaron blustered. “I mean, it makes sense, doesn’t it?”
    Mr. Beeston gave us one of his funny sideways looks. Did he know we already knew about this? That we knew more than
he
did?
    “The children are probably right,” he said. “Neptune would have wanted a semi-mer to go with them.
And,
of course, someone he trusted. Someone of a high rank. We leave on Friday.”
    Mom tried to look pleased for us, but failed. “You will look after them, won’t you?” she said eventually.
    “Of course I shall look after them,” Mr. Beeston said. “That is precisely my job.”
    Dad smiled at us. “Well, I think it’s great,” he said. “I’m proud of you both.”
    “Me too,” Aaron’s mom added, coming over to give Aaron a hug.
    It was only when Dad said, “Hey, kids, you could look a bit happier about it, you know,” that I realized we were supposed to be acting as though we really
had
just found out we were going on a wonderful, all-expenses-paid holiday.
    “We were just in shock,” Aaron said woodenly. “It’s great news, isn’t it, Em?”
    “It’s fantastic,” I said, pinning a smile on my face. “Yay,” I added for good measure, trying very hard not to let anyone see how much I was shaking.
    Just then, there was a noise from the lower deck. Dad looked down. “It’s Archie,” he said. “Come on up,” he called to Archie. “You’re just in time to hear the news.”
    Archie swam up and joined Dad, leaning on the trapdoor. Millie went over and bent down to kiss him.
    “What news is that?” Archie asked, smiling broadly at Millie. Honestly, those