Free Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist by Liz Kessler Page B

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, flickingthe 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