Sink or Swim by Sarah Mlynowski Read Free Book Online

Vivian lives in the basement with Carolyn and the other staff, or she would definitely hear us right now.
    “Got it?” I ask. “Lift on three and then we’ll carry it out. One! Two! Three!”
    We lift. But it’s so heavy that we end up dragging it across the foyer and out the back terrace to the sand, as close to the water as we can get.
    “Do you really think this is going to work?” Jonah asks when we’re finally outside.
    “Hopefully the Little Mermaid will see this and want to swim right up to it,” I say. “She is madly in love with him.”
    “Unless she hates him now that the story’s already different,” he says.
    “Then all of our problems would be solved,” I say. “But I doubt it.”
    “I just hope she can see it,” Jonah says. “I could figure out how to build a fire.”
    I snort. “You could not.”
    “I could so,” he huffs. “You just need the sun and a piece of glass. How hard could it be?”
    “Hard, considering it’s the middle of the night.”
    “Oh, right.”
    Luckily it’s a full moon, so we don’t need to rely on my brother’s nonexistent fire-starting skills. Everything on the beach is lit up. Including the portrait. Including the water lapping at the base of the portrait. Wetting the paint.
    “Quick! Jonah! The prince is losing his feet!”
    We hurry to move the portrait back a few feet. I doubt we’d be the royal family’s welcome guests if we ruined one of their prized paintings.
    “So, what now?” Jonah asks.
    “We wait. She’ll see the portrait and swim up to us and we’ll talk to her. I’ll sit behind the painting and hold it up while you keep watch.”
    At least an hour passes. Jonah’s eyes are drooping.
    Another hour.
    Jonah’s eyes are closed.
    “Jonah, wake up!” I yell. “I can’t do both jobs at once!”
    “Not sleeping!” he announces, and opens his eyes wide.
    “Let’s switch,” I say. “That way you can pretend not to sleep while you balance the portrait, and I’ll look for her.”
    We switch. Jonah dozes. I scoop sand from one hand to the other, keeping watch.
    When I feel my own eyes start to droop, I decide it’s time to call it quits. This is getting us nowhere. I’ll give it ten more minutes, and then we’re going to —
    Splash.
    Did I just hear that? Or is it my imagination? I spring to my feet and run closer to the shore.
    I see her! I see her! Long green-and-orange tail. Really gorgeous blond hair. It goes down to her waist and is almost the color of butter.
    She’s treading water by a rock, gazing at the wet-suit portrait of Prince Mortimer.
    I want to yell, “Hello!” but I’m afraid of startling her and sending her back under the water. She’s not too far out — maybe twenty feet. The water is calm.
    If only I could swim out twenty feet. If only I had on a life jacket.
    Maybe I can swim out a little. Not too deep. Just to where I can still stand.
    Luckily I’m wearing my bathing suit under my sundress. I slip off the dress and wade into the water. Slowly. Carefully. Without making a sound. Without making a splash. Wow, the water is cold at night. I wish I had a wet suit.
    I almost reach her when the water hits my waist. That’s as far as I’m going to go.
    “Abby?” Jonah’s voice echoes along the beach. “Where are you?”
    Uh-oh.
    Jonah stands up on the shore, still holding the painting. “Abby!” he yells, blinking the sleep from his eyes. “Where did you go?”
    I want to yell, “SHHHH,” but I don’t want to scare the Little Mermaid.
    “Abby! Abby!”
    The Little Mermaid sinks her shoulders and tail under the surface.
    “Wait!” I cry. “Little Mermaid! Please don’t go! We want to help you!”
    She disappears under the water.
    I lunge toward her. “No! Don’t go! We know you love the prince! That’s why we brought his painting! To get your attention!” Suddenly my feet no longer touch the ground. Oh, no.
    “Abby!” Jonah hollers. “I see her! She’s in the water.”
    “No kidding,