Read The Water Queens (Keeper of the Water) for Free Online Page A

dealt with her the same harsh way they did other intruders to camp. But for that matter, I also stumbled close to the Amazons at one point in my previous life and they didn’t punish me.
    Besides, Cassie duped me too many times growing up for me to expect others to see through her.
    I slowly sit up and look around the haze hanging above the swamp. My strength hasn’t completely returned but I feel better than yesterday, well enough to get out of here and chase after the queens. Apparently Amelia and John have the same thought. Once again I feel like the lazy one since I’m the last to wake. Amelia is already on the airboat a few feet into the water. She’s fiddling with the airboat’s fan but she’s by herself. I quickly glance around the rest of the inlet but see nobody else. My heart sinks.
    “Where’s John?” I ask, more panic in my voice than I intended. My cheeks blush, not that anyone could notice in the heat; it’s still embarrassing to admit my concern about a man to a fellow Amazon.
    Amelia looks up from her work and points toward the other airboat farther away, just beyond the bluer water. The second boat is empty and I’m worried about John spending time in the swamp water near it. Hopefully the gators stay away during the hotter parts of the day. The other airboat is more destroyed than the one Amelia works on so I wish John wouldn’t take such a risk being over there. Then I realize he’s probably checking for any sign of Celeste. He must’ve done this while I was sleeping to spare me anything he did or didn’t find. I don’t bother asking Amelia about it and she doesn’t bother bringing it up.
    “John salvaged some materials from the other boat,” Amelia says. “This would be much easier if I had the right tools and intact parts but I should get this thing working enough to get us back to the mainland. Putting aside everything awful that’s happened, trying to get this thing running is pretty fun. Reminds me of the old days working on Electra. We used to make repairs with far less than this.”
    Between Amelia’s ‘fun’ repairs and John’s swim, I can’t stop myself from feeling annoyed. I know these two aren’t enjoying themselves but they don’t seem to be as impatient as I feel.
    “We don’t have time for this,” I say. “Maybe we should try walking out of here. The water’s not so deep.”
    “The water’s not too deep here and there’s not much other dry ground,” Amelia says. “It’s a long way back to the mainland; a lot of alligators between here and safety. I don’t want to think what would happen if we made a wrong turn on foot. Trust me, I know a thing or two about what happens after making a wrong turn.”
    I know she’s right but don’t want to admit it. Before I have the chance to head out on my own, John wades back through the blue water. He smiles at me but must be able to tell I’m not in the mood.
    “Celeste?” I ask.
    He frowns and slowly shakes his head. “I did find the body of a woman with an arrow sticking out of her throat.”
    “Must be Elizabeth the First,” Amelia says. “Catherine mentioned you hit her with a shot, Mentor.”
    Before being shot myself, I fired an arrow toward the area where we were being ambushed. A part of me feels bad for killing a fellow Amazon, though I’m sure the Queen Clan feels no such guilt about what they did to Celeste and my mother. Suddenly I wish I’d taken aim for Cassie instead.
    I shake my head at the thought, which causes light tingling in my body. I have to remind myself that Cassie is still the Keeper, whether that idea makes me sick or not.
    “I also found these,” John says.
    He lays a bow and several arrows on the ground, as well as a gun. The sight of the metallic weapon appalls me; when I look at Amelia, she appears just as disgusted.
    “The queens are modernizing already,” I say.
    “Didn’t take them long to abandon more of our traditions,” Amelia adds, though she doesn’t look up