Demons of the Ocean Read Free Page A

neck and buried her face in the dip of his shoulder."What are we going to do?" she said."You'll think of something. You always do."
    "I'm running out of ideas."
    "Doesn't matter what we do," Connor said, "just as long as we're together."Grace nodded. She started to sing softly...
    You'd better be good, child--good as gold,As good as good can be.Else I'll turn you in to the VampiratesAnd wave you out to sea.Connor remembered his father with his arms around them, gazing out to sea. Though the words were threatening, sending shivers down his spine, there had been something appealing about the idea of sailing off into the night. Now more than ever.He cuddled up close to Grace and they set their eyes on the sparkling waters of Crescent Moon Bay. As bad as everything seemed, they would be okay. Things couldn't get worse than this.

CHAPTER 3
    THINGS GET WORSE
    Crescent Moon Bay was a poor town, but if you could sell a whisper, it would have been the financial center of the world. And that day, in the harbor market, the whispers had just one theme--the offer Lachlan Busby had made to the twins and how Connor and Grace had sent him away empty-handed.This latest event only confirmed the popular belief in the twins' terrible pride and aloofness. No one in the bay could offer the twins a better second chance than the Busbys.Strange as it may seem, there was not a jot of sympathy for the strange pair, who had always been misfits but now seemed to have withdrawn utterly into the lighthouse that would soon cease to be their home.
    There was just one person, besides the Busbys, who still entertained the thought of offering shelter to the Tempest twins. Even now, she was turning dirty sheets inside out to make up two bunks for them, and emptying out a warped little cupboard to house their possessions. As she added a drop of oil to the squeaking hinge, Polly Pagett smiled. In twenty-four hours, the twins would step through the tall green gates and enter her domain. They had left themselves with no other option.Up in the lamp room, Grace and Connor looked down on the antlike swarm of people below."Time's running out," Grace said.Connor said nothing."What are we going to do? Tomorrow night, the bank forecloses on Dad's loan and takes the lighthouse."Connor wasn't sure what "forecloses" meant but he understood the gist. In twenty-four hours or so, he and Grace would be out on the streets, or bedding down at the Crescent Moon Bay Orphanage. Neither was an enticing prospect."Maybe we should reconsider," Grace said at last. Connor turned his face to hers and broke his silence. "Can you imagine what our lives would be like with theBusbys? They don't want children, they want pets!"
    Grace nodded. She shivered. She and Connor had always been free to do what they wanted, go where they wanted, think what they wanted. Their father had given them those gifts. It was a rich and rare legacy and one they could not betray. To go and live in the luxurious and suffocating realms of the Busbys would have been a complete betrayal of everything their father had stood for, everything he had believed in."Why can't we just stay here and operate the lamp, like Dad did?" Connor said, unable to see beyond his frustration."You heard Mr. Busby. He said he'd already taken on a new lighthouse keeper." Grace sensed that their options were diminishing. "Besides, he'd probably say it was an unsuitable job for two kids."
    "Kids!" Connor spat the word out."I know," said Grace, "I know. He makes out he's so caring, but you either fall in with his plans, or forget it."The next day, Grace was making breakfast when she heard a plump white envelope slip through the mailbox. Setting the coffeepot to one side, she picked up the envelope, which was addressed in scratchy ink.[handwritten text: Miss Grace Tempest and Connor Tempest, Esq.]
    Grace opened the envelope and unfolded the thick single sheet of notepaper. Seeing the name at the end, she frowned, then began scanning the