Read The Tail of Emily Windsnap for Free Online Page B

tornado of thin black fish came toward us, whirling and spiraling as it passed us by.
    I shivered as we swam deeper still. Eventually, Shona grabbed my hand and pointed down. All I could see was what looked like the biggest rug I’d ever seen in my life — made out of seaweed!
    “What’s that?” I gurgled.
    “I’ll show you.” And with that, Shona pulled me lower. Seaweed slipped and slid along my body, creaking and popping as we swam through it. Where was she taking me?
    I was about to tell her that I’d had enough, but then the weeds became thinner. It was as though we’d been stuck in the woods and finally made our way out. Or into a clearing in the center of it, anyway. We’d come to a patch of sand in the middle of the seaweed forest.
    “What is it?” I asked.
    “What d’you think?”
    I looked around me. A huge steel tube lay along the ground; next to it, yards of fishing nets sprawled across the sand, reaching up into the weeds. A couple of old bicycles were propped up on huge rusty springs. “I have absolutely no idea,” I said.
    “It’s like our playground. We’re not really meant to come out here. But everyone does.”
    “Why shouldn’t you come here?”
    “We’re all meant to stick to our own areas — it’s too dangerous, otherwise. Too easy to get spotted. And this is really far from where we live.” Shona swam over to the tube and disappeared. “Come on,” her voice bubbled out from inside it, echoing spookily around the clearing.
    I followed her into the tube, sliding along the cold steel to the other end. By the time I came out, Shona was already flipping herself up the fishing net. I scrambled up behind her.
    “Like it?” Shona asked when we came back down.
    “Yeah, it’s wicked.”
    Shona looked at me blankly. “Wicked?”
    “Wicked . . . you know, cool . . .”
    “You mean like swishy?”
    I laughed, suddenly getting it. “Yeah, I guess so.” I looked around me. “Where’s all this stuff from?”
    “Things fall into the sea — or get thrown away. We make use of it,” she said as she pulled herself onto one of the bikes. She perched sideways on it, letting herself sway backward and forward as the spring swung to and fro. “It’s nice to have someone to share it with,” she added.
    I looped my tail over the other one and turned to face her. “What do you mean? What about your friends?”
    “Well, I’ve got friends. Just not a best friend. I think the others think I’m too busy cramming to be anyone’s best friend.”
    “Well, you do seem to work pretty hard,” I said. “I mean, sneaking out at night to study for a test!”
    “Yeah, I know. Do you think I’m really dull?”
    “Not at all! I think you’re . . . I think you’re swishy!”
    Shona smiled shyly.
    “How come there’s no one else around?” I asked. “It’s kind of creepy.”
    “It’s the middle of the night, gill-brain!”
    “Oh, yeah. Of course.” I held on to the handlebars as I swayed forward and back on my swing. “It would be cool to meet some other people like us,” I said after a while.
    “Why don’t you, then? You could come to my school!”
    “How? You don’t have extra lessons in the middle of the night, do you?”
    “Come in the day. Come on Saturday.”
    “Saturday?”
    She made a face. “We have school Saturday mornings. Why not come with me this week? I’ll tell them you’re my long-lost cousin. It’d be evil.”
    “Evil?”
    “Oops — I mean, wicked. Sorry.”
    I thought about it. Julia actually had invited me over on Saturday. I could easily tell Mom I was going there and then tell Julia I couldn’t make it. But I was only just getting to know Julia — she might not ask me again. Then who would I have? Apart from Shona. But then again, Shona was a mermaid. She was going to take me to mermaid school! When else would I get a chance to do that ?
    “Okay,” I said. “Let’s do it!”
    “Great! Will your parents mind?”
    “You’re kidding, aren’t