Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist (11 page)

I stopped where we were and flicked my tail around in fast circles to tread water. “Look,” I said, pointing to the castle. It seemed to be looking back at me, willing me to approach it. Pulling me along. But there was a problem. A big problem.

Shona looked across at the castle. “What?”

“It’s no closer. It looks just as far away as it did from the boat.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Shona said with a laugh. “It’s just . . .” Then she glanced back to see where we’d come from.
Fortuna
was a dot in the distance. She turned back toward the castle. “But that’s . . . but it’s not possible.”

“It’s like a rainbow,” I said. “The nearer you get to it, the farther away it seems.”

“But how?” Shona’s voice broke into a whine. Her eyes moistened as her bottom lip began to tremble. I almost expected her to howl, “I want my mommy!” And why shouldn’t she? That was certainly what I wanted to do. I felt like a burst balloon.

“Come on,” I said flatly. “Let’s go back to the boat. Maybe Millie will have some idea what’s going on. You know she thinks more clearly in the morning once she’s had a cup of tea.”

“Or ten,” Shona added with a hint of a smile.

I smiled back. “We’ll figure it out,” I said. “Don’t worry.”

As we swam back, I didn’t tell her how stiff my tail was getting, how it was starting to feel as if I were dragging a lead weight behind me. Or how that was part of the reason I felt defeated. I pretended I wanted to go more slowly to take in the view: the sea, calm and smooth as we cut through it, the mist lying low and still on its surface.

Eventually we got back to the boat and swam in through the porthole. Almost as soon as we did, Millie’s voice warbled down to us. “Emily? Shona? Is that you?” she called, an edge of panic in her voice.

“Hi! We’re here!” I called back.

“Oh, thank heavens,” Millie breathed, her face appearing at the trapdoor as she leaned over it to look down at us. “Where have you been?”

“We just went out for a quick swim,” I said.

“Emily.” Millie’s tone had turned serious. Her voice a low rumble, she said sternly, “You must never, ever, go out without telling me again. I am responsible for you. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you. Do you hear me?”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “We were just —”

“It doesn’t matter now.” Millie waved the rest of my sentence away. Just then, I heard a cough from somewhere behind her.

“Who’s that?” I blurted out. My heart lifted. Mom and Dad were here after all! They were waiting for the right moment and were going to appear any second, with big smiles, and tell me this had all been a joke, or a mistake, or —

“There’s someone to see you,” Millie said in a voice as flat and lifeless as a dead eel. And then, cutting my hopes like the sharpest knife, a face appeared next to hers.

Mr. Beeston.

“Hello, girls,” he said, squinting down at me and Shona.

“What are you doing here?” I asked through a tight throat. “How did you find us? Where are my parents?”

“Now, now,” Mr. Beeston said with a crooked half smile. How could he smile? Didn’t he understand anything that was going on? Or was I mistaking him for someone who cared? “One thing at a time. You calm yourself down and then meet me on the front deck.” He nodded at Shona. “And you too, child,” he said. “You’ll all need to hear what I have to say.” He pulled back a sleeve of his old nylon suit to glance at his watch. “Let’s say ten minutes.” And then he was gone.

“I’ll be with you,” Millie said softly. “I’m not going to leave your side till we’ve got this settled, all right?”

I nodded. My throat felt too thick and too dry for me to speak.

Mr. Beeston was waiting on the front deck, sitting on a bench and looking around at the horizon.

“Now then,” he said as Millie and I sat on the opposite bench. Shona perched on the edge of the deck, her tail draped loosely over the side, flicking
the water with tiny splashes.
How much longer will I be able to do that too?
I glanced at my hands. The skin reached up along my fingers now, joining them together, lodging the ring even more tightly in place. What was happening to my body? It was just as Neptune had said. Until the curse was complete, I wouldn’t be one thing or another. What did that make me? A nothing?

I couldn’t bear to see the evidence, so I stuffed my hands in my jeans pockets and waited for Mr. Beeston to explain what was going on.

He cleared his throat. “Now then,” he said again, “you are probably wondering why I’m here.”

D’you THINK?

I bit my lip. It was never a good idea to interrupt Mr. Beeston. It only took another half hour for him to get going again. He wasn’t a big fan of sarcasm either — or of nerviness. Or of me. So I kept my mouth shut and counted to ten.

“As you know, I was entrusted by Neptune with a most important job. And, as you also know, there had been a certain amount of disturbance, which I was in the process of endeavoring to correct. In fact, even as I speak, some of the folk at Allpoints Island are gathering the final few items of lost treasure. The project has been very successful, largely thanks to your resourceful teacher. All of which helps make Neptune happy. However, as we
all
know . . .” At this point, he looked around at the
three of us with one of his crooked smiles, trying to include us, as though we were all in this together. How could we be, when he was the only one who had any idea what was going on?

Again, I stopped myself from saying anything. I counted to twenty this time.

“As we all know,” he repeated, “the situation has changed somewhat. Since events took the turn they did, Neptune’s attention has wandered from his initial intentions. And so we have found ourselves in this situation.”

He folded his hands in his lap.

“What situation?” Millie asked. “I don’t have the slightest idea what you are talking about. Now, are you going to explain what in the cosmos is going on here, or am I going to have to —”

“Calm down, calm down.” Mr. Beeston waved a hand at her. “I am getting to it.”

Then he fixed his eyes on me. “Emily here has found something we never even realized was there, something that Neptune wants back, and perhaps if I tell you a little bit about it, you will understand why. Then maybe we can work together to solve the problem, and all will be well.”

“‘All will be well’?” I exploded. I couldn’t stop myself this time. There weren’t enough numbers to count to that would halt my rage. “All well? We’re lost out in the middle of the ocean with nothing but sea and mist and a spooky castle that doesn’t
even seem to exist. Shona’s parents haven’t seen her since yesterday morning.
My
parents have been arguing and probably never want to see each other or me again —”

“Come on, Emily. You know that’s not true,” Millie interrupted me.

I ignored her. “And, to top it all off, Neptune’s done
this
!” I pulled my hands out of my pockets and held them out in front of me. The skin had reached even farther up my fingers. They were joined at least a third of the way up, lodging the ring so tightly on my finger it hurt.

“Emily!” Shona gasped, edging forward to look more closely at my hands. “What’s that?” She looked disgusted. I knew she would.

“I didn’t want to tell you,” I said. “I didn’t know if you’d still want to be my friend if you knew.”

“Knew what?”

“The curse. It’s already started,” I said. “I’m not a real mermaid anymore, or a real girl. I’m nothing.”

I felt a couple of tears roll down my cheeks, salty drips running into my mouth.

“Oh, Emily,” Millie said. Her voice cracked — with what? Sadness for me or disgust at the sight of my horrible, strange hands? Without thinking, I twisted the ring around, trying to make it feel more comfortable on my finger.

“What in the name of the goddess is that?” Millie suddenly gasped. “And where did you get it?”

Mr. Beeston pulled at his tie. “Millicent, if you will allow me to explain.”

Millie waved a hand at him. “Go on. Whatever you’ve got to say can’t make things any worse, I suppose. Just say what you’ve come to say and get on with it. And then maybe you can go away again and let us figure out what to do next.”

“I shall indeed say what I have come to say,” he said in that annoying I’m-so-much-more-important-than-you voice of his, “if you will let me.”

Mr. Beeston pulled on his tie and flattened down his hair again, and eventually said, “You need to understand the importance of what you have here, Emily.”

“What I have where?” I asked. As if I didn’t know.

Mr. Beeston pointed at my hand. “There,” he said simply. “You see, this ring has lain out of sight, hidden and protected by the kraken, for many years. For generations.”

“How can it be so important if it’s been buried all that time?” Shona asked. “Why was it buried at all if it’s that important?”

“It wasn’t. It was discarded.”

“Discarded?” Millie burst out. “Who by?”

“By Neptune.”

For a moment, we all fell silent. Then, in an even voice, Millie quietly said, “Charles, we would appreciate it if you could stop talking in riddles and please explain what is going
on
here.”

“I shall tell you everything!” Mr. Beeston blustered. Then he paused for ages, clasping his hands together and looking out to the still sea that lay waiting silently — like the rest of us. “Many, many years ago, Neptune was in love,” he began. “As you know, he loves easily and has many wives, but none like this one. None like Aurora.”

“Aurora!” Shona interrupted. “But I’ve heard of her! She’s the human. The one who broke his heart. The one who turned him against intermarriage and everything. We studied it last year in history!”

Mr. Beeston nodded. “Exactly.”

I couldn’t help holding my breath while I waited for him to continue.

“Aurora was the only wife Neptune truly loved with all his heart. When they married, they had rings made to symbolize their love. One contained a diamond, to represent land. The other held a pearl, to represent the sea. On the day of their marriage, they exchanged these rings. Aurora gave the diamond ring to Neptune. He gave her the pearl.”

I touched the diamond as he spoke. I was wearing a ring that was given to Neptune on his wedding day? Given to him by a wife who left him and broke his heart? No wonder he had gone into such a rage! But how was I to know? It wasn’t my fault!

No, it
wasn’t your fault,
a voice seemed to echo. Not even in words; it was just a feeling. A feeling
of comfort and reassurance — and it was coming from the ring. Twisting it back again to hold the diamond against my palm, I curled my fingers around it, my heartbeat settling as I did so.

“On the day she broke his heart, Neptune took her ring from her and buried it.”

“Where?” I asked.

“That I cannot tell you,” Mr. Beeston said. “That information is not something you need to have.”

He spoke so haughtily I knew it wasn’t worth asking again. It would only give him the chance to refuse me again and make himself feel even more self-important than he already did.

But I couldn’t help wondering about it. There was another ring similar to mine buried out in the sea somewhere. A ring Mr. Beeston didn’t want me to ask about — which in itself meant it was probably important!

“What about his own ring, the diamond one?” Millie asked.

“In his rage, Neptune hurled it with all his might across the oceans. This is the first time it has been seen since that day. No one knows when the kraken found it. All we know is that it did, and it kept it safe and hidden with the many other jewels at Allpoints Island.”

“And when the kraken awoke, the ring was disturbed along with the rest of the jewels?” Shona asked.

“Exactly.”

“And now Neptune wants it back.” I swallowed. “But it won’t come off me.”

“Why not?” Millie asked.

Mr. Beeston looked down, flattening his jacket and picking off an imaginary speck of dust. His suit was shabby as usual, a button missing on one side, a hole overlooked on the other. “The rings can only be worn by certain folk. Either by a couple in which one is from land and the other is from the sea or by a child of such a couple. It was in the wedding vows between Neptune and Aurora, and the rings were infused with this power. Worn by a semi-mer, this ring cannot be removed.”

“Sharks!” Shona breathed.

“So how did he remove their rings in the first place?” Millie asked.

Mr. Beeston sniffed. “The love was dead. The connection was broken.”

“That’s why he cursed me,” I said quietly. “So he can remove the ring.”

“Correct. When the moon is full, the spell will be complete. You will no longer be a semimer. You will not be able to touch the ring — and it will not be able to touch you. It will fall from you as you would jump from a fire.”

“And Neptune can have it back,” Shona said.

“He wants it hidden again, along with his memories and his long-buried grief. He cannot
exist like this, and if Neptune can’t live, none of us can. You yourselves have felt the effect of his current state. It will only get worse. That is what we all have to look forward to if the ring is not buried again. Just more of that and nothing else, for the whole merworld.” He turned to me. “Is that what you want, Emily? Is it not an honor to make a sacrifice like this for your king?”