Emily Eyefinger and the Secret from the Sea Read Free Page A

you stupid?’
    â€˜You don’t have to be rude,’ Emily said.
    â€˜I’m sorry,’ Melody said. ‘Don’t go. I promise I won’t be rude.’
    Emily thought about it. ‘Okay,’ she said, ‘I’ll stay.’
    Melody still had her hands covering her face but tears were flowing down through her fingers. ‘But could you turn your back?’ the girl asked. ‘Please?’
    Emily sighed. ‘Yes, all right,’ she said, turning her back to Melody. ‘Now how can I help you?’
    â€˜I have to get out of here before they find me,’ Melody said, taking her hands away from her face. ‘I have to get to a taxi before one of those photographers takes my picture. I just have to get away from here.’
    â€˜You’re not going back to the movie set?’
    â€˜No.’
    â€˜Is it because of your face?’ Emily asked.
    â€˜Hey! I told you not to look!’
    â€˜No, you didn’t,’ Emily said. ‘You told me to turn my back, and I did. But you didn’t say I couldn’t look at you with this,’ she added, wiggling her eyefinger at Melody behind her back.
    Emily’s eyefinger had seen the star’s face and it was all red and puffy, and covered in little bumps.
    â€˜What is that thing on your finger?!’ Melody screamed. ‘It’s horrible! Get it away from me!’
    â€˜That thing is part of me,’ Emily said. ‘I have an eye on the end of my finger. I’ve had it all my life.’
    â€˜You have an eye on your finger?’ the star said. ‘You’re an alien! A real alien. I can’t believe it. An eye on a finger. It’s got to be fake.’
    â€˜Well, it’s not and it works the same as my other eyes. Melody, you’re allergic to plants, aren’t you?’
    Melody looked at her in surprise. ‘Who told you that?’
    â€˜Nobody told me anything. Some flowers give my mum a rash. All she has to do is sniff them and her skin turns all red like yours. But with her it goes away in a few hours.’
    â€˜The same with me,’ Melody said. ‘But I don’t know which flowers I’m allergic to. I’m allergic to lots and lots of things.’

    â€˜So if you knew that some flowers were a problem, why did you say you’d be in a film called The Greenhouse ?’
    â€˜Because I didn’t know it was about a greenhouse. I thought it was about a green house . Like a house that was green. My agent said it was a good film for me. He doesn’t know about my allergies. By the way, what’s your name?’
    â€˜Emily. Emily Eyefinger.’
    â€˜Eyefinger? That’s a made-up name, right?’
    â€˜No, it’s not. It’s my real name,’ Emily said. ‘Now why don’t you go back to the movie? They can put some make-up on you. Or maybe they can get rid of all the flowers and just have plants without flowers.’
    â€˜Emily, you really don’t understand. I can’t go back. This isn’t about the movie. It’s about me, Melody Wu, Perfect Miss. I have millions of fans. There’s a magazine about me and a website and everything. It’s all about being perfect. Don’t yousee – I have to be perfect! I can’t get all red and horrible every time there are flowers.’
    â€˜But you’re not perfect.’
    â€˜I know that but my fans don’t.’
    â€˜Well, that’s silly,’ Emily said. ‘Look at me, I have an eye on the end of my finger.’
    â€˜But that’s a good thing, isn’t it?’
    â€˜Sometimes it is and sometimes it’s not,’ Emily said. ‘I have to be careful not to get dirt in it or soap in it when I wash my hands. I will never be able to play the piano or the violin or do lots of other things. Sometimes that makes me sad and I just want to be like other kids. Then I think, no, I don’t want to be them. I’m me and I want