Free The Wide-Awake Princess by E. D. Baker Page A

toward it; the kelpie saw her and struck out with its hooves, catching her with a glancing blow that spun her around in the water and left her dazed, disoriented, and out of air.
    Annie surfaced long enough to get a breath before diving again. She saw the kelpie swimming toward the edge of a drop-off. Liam was trying to dismount, but the beast’s magic kept him on its back as surely as if he’d been glued there. Annie could tell that he was struggling for air and was beginning to look frantic. Afraid that she would lose Liam for good if they reached the deeper water, Annie swam as fast as she could, reaching them just as the beast was about to plunge over the edge. A few more quick strokes and she grasped the kelpie’s flowing tail, which she used to pull herself closer.
    The kelpie spun around and snapped at Annie. Grabbing a fistful of its mane, she used the momentum of its next lunge to pull herself up and flip over its back, landingin front of Liam. When he didn’t seem to notice her, Annie feared she might already have lost him.
    It took only seconds for Annie’s presence to affect the kelpie. At first it twisted its neck and tried to snap at her, but then it faltered and shook its head as if something was wrong. Showing the whites of its eyes, it suddenly began to act as if it, too, were running out of air. With two powerful kicks, the kelpie surfaced. It was gasping for air, its nostrils flaring, when Annie pulled Liam from its back.
    Although his feeble flailing made it harder to swim while dragging him, Annie was just happy that he was alive. When his flailing became strong enough to drag them both under the water, however, she began to lose patience with him. “Stop struggling or I’ll have to knock you out,” Annie told him, even though she doubted that she could carry through with such a threat. For one thing, they were too far from shore and there was nothing to use...
    “Let go,” said Liam. “You don’t need to rescue me. I can swim.”
    “I’m sure you can,” said Annie, “but you’re weak as a kitten now. I told you, stop flailing.”
    Suddenly Liam went limp and became a dead weight in her arms. Annie shook him, worried that the kelpie might have given him a serious injury that hadn’t been fatal until now. “Are you all right?” she asked.
    “You told me to stop moving, so I did,” said Liam, grinning up at her.
    Annie let him go for a fraction of a second. His face went under and when he came back up, he spluttered and spit out a mouthful of water. “If you’re rescuing me, would you mind not dunking me like that?”
    “Sorry. I had to change arms. You’re no lightweight, you know.”
    “I’m fine now. You can let go.”
    “Okay.” Annie let go and Liam sank, but he didn’t go far. They had reached the shallow water and he hit the sandy bottom as soon as he kicked his feet. She smiled when he gave her a reproachful look, and glanced back toward the middle of the lake. “You can stand, can’t you? That kelpie is looking this way.”
    Liam scrambled to his feet and staggered with his first step. Taking his hand, Annie helped him out of the water.
    Satisfied that the kelpie wasn’t following them, they trudged back to the campsite to collect their things. Although their clothes were dripping wet, the air was already warm and Annie wasn’t cold. “Do you want to rest or change your clothes?” she asked.
    Liam shook his head. “I should be asking you that. Do you have a change of clothes with you?”
    “Just an old gown. I wouldn’t want to try walking through a forest in it. The hem would snag on everything. It’s warm enough that this should dry pretty quickly though,” Annie added, squeezing the water from a sodden sleeve. She glanced up and saw that Liam was scowlingdown at the ground where his sword and knife still rested. “What’s wrong?”
    “I can’t believe that kelpie fooled me like that. I’ve never gotten on a strange horse that just walked up to me