Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist by Liz Kessler Read Free Book Online Page A

inside.”
    We swam silently through the porthole into the downstairs floor of the boat, the part that was filled with water, where Dad lived. I knew exactly what Millie was telling me or, rather, what she wasn’t telling me. It was obvious they’d had an argument. They’d been heading in that direction for days.
    I’d managed to push the morning’s fight out of my mind for most of the day, what with everything else that had been going on. But now, well, that was it. They’d walked out. On each other, and on me too. Was it because of me? If they didn’t have to argue about how to bring up their daughter, everything would probably be fine between them.
    I know, I know. Overactive imagination again. I was probably blowing it out of proportion. But what if I wasn’t? I just couldn’t stop the questions from pushing everything else out of my mind. What if they really were going to separate? What if neither of them ever came back?
    Shona tried to humor me out of my mood by making silly faces behind the fern curtains and offering to share the bottle of glitter she’d brought home from school. But it was no good. Nothingcould lift the heaviness of my mood or the dark cloud of my thoughts.
    Mom and Dad were going to split up, and it was all my fault.

    “Emily, are you down there?” Millie called from the kitchen.
    I raced up to the little trapdoor. Maybe she wanted to tell me Mom and Dad had come home! “Are they back?” I asked.
    “I — I’m sorry, dear,” Millie said. “I was just thinking I’d make us a snack. I thought you might be hungry.”
    I suddenly felt empty, but not from hunger.
    “No, thanks,” I said sullenly, and slipped back down without waiting for her to reply. I twisted the ring back around and studied the diamond, as if it could make me feel better.
    Shona was busy painting swirly patterns on her tail with scale polish. She looked up as I swam back toward her.
    And then it happened. The shaking, the rocking, waves rolling over one another; even the boat seemed to be moving. Water sploshed in from the trapdoor above us.
    “What’s going on?” Shona shouted, smearing the swirly patterns into a smudge down her tail.
    “I don’t know!” I called back, half relieved that at least I wasn’t imagining it this time. “Hold on to the porthole!”
    We swam as hard as we could to get to the front end, where the large open porthole seemed like the steadiest thing to hold on to. Gripping the sides of it, our tails flailing out all over the place, we waited for the shaking to stop.
    “Are you all right down there, girls?” Millie’s voice warbled from upstairs.
    “We’re fine!” I yelled back. “Hold on to the rails, Millie!”
    “I am!” she replied. “I’m fine. It’ll be all right, don’t worry,” she added, her voice wobbling with fear. “I’ll take care of you!”
    Though we gripped the sides tightly, our bodies were flung from side to side, our tails hitting the wall as the boat rocked and shook. It was like an underwater roller coaster ride! Up, down, thwacking us all around, the motion slapped our bodies backward and forward in the water so violently I was nearly sick.
    And then it stopped. Just like that. The boat stopped rocking. Shona and I looked at each other for a moment as we became still. Just for a second.
    In that second, a sharp pain stabbed my hand.The ring! It was digging into my finger! Aargh! I curled my hand into a ball, the diamond tight inside my fist. Catching my breath, I looked up to see a dark shadow fall over the porthole.
    Something was outside. Something big. And it was heading toward the boat.

“I might have KNOWN!” The voice boomed into the boat like an explosion.
    Surely this couldn’t be real. Neptune! He was outside the boat, his chariot gleaming in the sunlight, dolphins surrounding him as he raised his trident. The sea around him bubbled like burning lava.
    “Come HERE!” he bellowed.
    I looked around, desperately hoping I’d spot who