Emily Windsnap and the Land of the Midnight Sun Read Free

I’d bitten it.
    “I’m sorry about that,” I said.
    Wait! These guys kidnap me in a net, blindfold me, gag me, and drag me to a hidden cave, and I apologize to
them
? “What do you want with me?” I repeated, more firmly. “Why am I here? Who are you?”
    Skinny Merman opened his mouth to answer me, but Gruff Voice held up a hand. The one I hadn’t bitten. “No answers,” he said.
    “But, Orta —” the other merman began.
    Gruff Voice — Orta — shook his head. “But nothing, Kai. We have our instructions. No conversation, no explanation, no nothing. Got it?”
    Kai nodded. “Got it,” he mumbled.
    They both fell silent after that. For the first time, I looked around the cave and realized how big it was — and how grand. The roof seemed to glow with a hazy fluorescent light in between stones carved into intricate shapes all along the rocky ceiling.
    I swam around the walls, feeling and examining them as I moved. They were filled with crystals. Natural sea crystals or some kind of exotic jewels, I couldn’t tell. All I knew was that I hadn’t been locked away in a prison cell. I’d seen an underwater prison cell when I’d rescued my dad — and it was nothing like this!
    An occasional lone fish swam past, black and sleek, skittering quickly from one side to the other like a businessman on his way to a meeting. A long silver eel slithered by, slicing in front of me like a sword.
    I swam toward the entrance: an enormous solid oak door with metal bars across it. It was bolted and fastened with the biggest padlock I’d ever seen.
    That was when I heard something on the other side. Scuffling and shuffling outside the cave! What was it? A huge shoal of fish? The tide hitting against the door? Or was there a chance it was someone who could help me get out of here?
    I banged on the door as hard as I could. Which wasn’t actually very hard. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried it, but it turns out that bashing your fists against a solid oak door half a mile down in the ocean is fairly pointless. All I managed to do was bruise my hands and make a soft thudding sound.
    “HELP!” I yelled instead. “I’M BEING HELD PRISONER! SAVE ME!”
    The two mermen were by my side in seconds. “I wouldn’t waste your time,” Orta said.
    “It’s just some sort of big fish,” Kai added. “A shark or something. Out here in the middle of the ocean, we get all sorts.”
    That made me feel
so
much better.
    “No it isn’t, you stupid seaworm!” Orta snapped, reaching for his key. “It’s the others. Get out of my way.”
    A moment later, he’d opened the door, and a couple more mermen came in holding a package between them. A wriggling package trussed up in a net. For a second, I wondered what they’d brought us. And then the package spoke.
    “Gtmtofhrrrrrr!” it said.
    Wait! It was . . . It was . . .
    Aaron!

    “Get him out of that thing!” I yelled, angrier than ever. “Let him out now!”
    “Hold your halibut, we’re
getting
him out!” Orta snapped. He pulled a long knife from a belt at the top of his tail, and with a couple of swift movements, the net was open.
    Kai pulled off Aaron’s blindfold and gag. Aaron blinked and gasped as he adjusted to his surroundings. As soon as he saw me, he swam over and hugged me.
    “I didn’t know what had happened to you,” he said. “I was right behind you, and the next thing I knew, they . . .”— he lowered his voice as he looked at the mermen who had brought him in —“these pieces of sea vermin grabbed me.”
    “Are you OK?” I asked.
    He nodded. “What about you? Did they hurt you?”
    “I’m fine,” I said. “At least, I am now,” I added, with as much of a smile as I could manage, given the circumstances.
    Aaron smiled back, and he pulled me closer. As long as I was with him, things didn’t seem quite so bad.
    “Delightful and touching as this little love scene is,” Orta said, breaking into my thoughts, “we’ve got a job to do.” He