Read The Tail of Emily Windsnap for Free Online Page A

standing there, talking to Mr. Bird. The kids in the class were just milling around; some had thrown their bags on the ground.
    Next thing I knew, somebody had gotten back on the bus. I ducked down again and held my breath. But the footsteps came all the way to the back.
    “You’re not still tying your shoelaces, are you?” It was Julia.
    “Huh?” I looked up.
    “What are you doing?”
    “I’m just —”
    “Doesn’t matter anyway.” She sat down. “Swimming’s canceled.”
    “What?”
    “The pool’s closed. Budget cuts. They forgot to tell the school.”
    “You’re kidding!”
    “Do I look like I’m kidding?”
    I looked at her face; she was totally miserable. I stared down at my lap and shook my head. “God, it’s just not fair, is it?” I said, trying hard not to grin. “Wonder what they’ll make us do instead.”
    “That’s what Mr. Bird’s talking about now with Bob. They’re going to send us on a nature trail, apparently.”
    “Duh — boring.” I folded my arms, hoping I looked in as much of a huff as Julia. Bob soon turned back toward the building, and Mr. Bird announced with a smile that we were going to Macefin Wood.
    Mandy glared at me as she sat down across the aisle. I had to sit on my hands to stop myself from punching the air and shouting, “YES!”

    I went to bed really early so I could get a few hours’ sleep before sneaking out to meet Shona. I easily found my way to the rocks again and was there first this time. A familiar flick of a tail spreading rainbow droplets over the water soon told me she’d arrived.
    “Hello!” I called, waving, as soon as she surfaced.
    “Hi!” She waved back. “Come on.”
    “Where are we going?”
    “You’ll see.” She splashed rainbow water in my face with her tail as she dove under.
    We seemed to swim for ages. The water reminded me of those advertisements where they pour a ton of melted chocolate into a bar. Warm, and silky smooth. I felt as if I were melting with it as we swam.
    Shona was ahead of me, gliding through the water and glancing back from time to time to check whether I was still there. Every now and then, she’d point to the left or right. I’d follow her hand to see a hundred tiny fish swimming in formation like a gymnastics display, or a yellow piece of seaweed climbing up toward the surface like a sunflower. A line of gray fish swam alongside us for a while — fast, smart, and pinstriped, like city businessmen.
    It was only when we stopped and came up for air that I realized we’d been swimming underwater the whole time.
    “How did I do that?” I gasped, breathless.
    “Do what?” Shona looked puzzled.
    I looked back at the rocks. They were tiny pebbles in the distance. “We must have swum a mile.”
    “Mile and a quarter, actually.” Shona looked slightly sheepish. “My dad bought me a splishometer for my last birthday.”
    “A what ?”
    “Sorry, I keep forgetting you haven’t been a mermaid very long. A splishometer shows you how far you’ve swum. I measured the distance from Rainbow Rocks yesterday.”
    “Rainbow what?”
    “You know — where we met.”
    “Oh, right.” I suddenly realized I was out of my depth — in more ways than one.
    “I wasn’t sure if it would be too far for you, but I really wanted to bring you here.”
    I looked around. Ocean everywhere. What was so special about this particular spot? “Why here?” I asked. “And anyway, you haven’t answered my question. How did we do all that underwater?”
    Shona shrugged and tossed her hair. “We’re mermaids,” she said simply. “Come on, I want to show you something.” And with that, she disappeared again, and I dove under the water after her.
    The lower we went, the colder the water grew. Fish flashed by in the darkness.
    A huge gray bruiser with black dots slid slowly past, its mouth slightly open in a moody frown. Pink jellyfish danced and trampolined around us.
    “Look.” Shona pointed to our left as a slow-motion