Free The Potion Diaries by Amy Alward Page B

for Arjun, grabbing him by one leg each.
    ‘Keep hold of him!’ Kirsty cries as she fumbles through her bag. Between us, we are stronger than the sea creature and she surfaces again, hissing and spitting through her teeth.
    Then with a powerful flick of her tail she bends forward and bites his upper arm. Arjun’s screams fill my ears and I beat at her with my fist while still maintaining my fierce grip on Arjun.
    ‘Sam, pull him back!’
    I throw my other arm around Arjun as Kirsty tosses a handful of powder in the mercrone’s face. Now it is her turn to scream and she releases Arjun, her hands clawing at her face. She dives. With a final tug we pull him into the middle of the rowing boat, collapsing on top of one another in a big pile.
    ‘Alkali,’ Kirsty says. ‘It reacts with the salt in their skin and burns them.’
    ‘Serves her right,’ says Arjun, wincing as Anita wipes his bite wound with a natural anaesthetic.
Aelgi, for wounds of the sea – to help the blood clot, to prevent scarring.
    ‘As does this . . .’ He opens his palm, and in the centre of it is a little pearl.
    Anita and I let out a
whoop!
of joy. The first ingredient is ours!
    I catch Kirsty’s eye as she pulls the first stroke back towards shore. She shakes her head at me.
    ‘Hey, Arjun, can I take a look?’ I ask.
    He places the pearl in my hand. I roll it between my fingers, and it disappears into the pads of my fingertips as I press down. I pass it back over to Anita.
    It’s too small for two teams to share. Less than twenty-four hours into the Hunt, and the Kemi family are already out.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
    Samantha
    K IRSTY DROPS ME OFF IN SILENCE. WE’VE been silent most of the way home. Anita and Arjun offered me a lift back in their car, but I couldn’t face the excited talk. Plus, I didn’t want them to have to feel sorry for me – they have more important things to worry about, like figuring out the next ingredient.
    Oblivion, or permanent amnesia: mix four strands of jellyfish stingers with two cups of Lethe water. Heat until warm and then drink from favourite mug.
    That’s what I need right now. Anything to forget that I disappointed Kirsty, disgraced my parents, disobeyed my grandad and failed at the first hurdle.
    I stand in the alleyway for a moment, my back up against the wall. I close my eyes and breathe – anything not to cry. The first signs of light are creeping onto the horizon, the dawn of a new day. It was stupid to try. Who do I think I am, going out into the Wilds with Kirsty without a plan? My first taste of adventure, and it’s bitter.
    At least I can get out of my wet shoes.
    I pluck up the courage to walk through the side door and into the kitchen. The whole family – except Grandad – is sitting at the table, waiting for me. They don’t immediately look up, and for a split second I wonder if they don’t know the news yet. Except that Mum gets up and takes a plate out of the oven, a plate piled high with a stack of pancakes – my favourite. There’s real maple syrup out on the table, the expensive kind. And that’s when I realise, they know. Of course they know.
    Suddenly I can’t help but let the tears well up in my eyes. Mum is over to me in a flash, and I fall into her open arms. ‘It’s okay, sweetie,’ she says, brushing her hand over my hair, like I was Molly’s age all over again. ‘You tried.’
    I nod into her shoulder, then finally extricate myself from her embrace. ‘I just thought . . .’
    Dad and Molly are behind her. Dad looks at me with a mixture of concern and I-told-you-so, whereas Molly is distraught that her big sister is in tears. I really thought we had a chance to change things here. Now I have to put my hopes back on the shelf.
    I wipe my cheeks and Mum walks me over to the table, sitting me firmly down with her hands on my shoulders. ‘Eat, young lady. You’ve had a long night . . .’
    I pour the red-gold maple syrup over my pancakes (
maple – for comfort and