Summer of the Sea Serpent: A Merlin Mission Read Free

creepy,” said Annie.
    “No kidding,” said Jack. “But we don’t have to stay here long. The rhyme says we just haveto
pass through
the cave. So let’s hurry and pass through it.”
    Jack and Annie walked through the ghostly green light of the chamber. The spongy floor squished beneath their bare feet. As they searched for an exit from the cave, they both kept an eye out for the Spider Queen.
    “Hey, look at the starfish,” said Annie. She pointed to a bright orange starfish clinging to the rocky ceiling. “How’d
he
get up there?”
    Before Jack could answer, a wave crashed into the chamber. Water splashed over Jack and Annie.
    “Yikes!” said Annie. She and Jack jumped onto a mossy ledge jutting out from the wall.
    The wave washed back out. There was a moment of quiet. Then another wave surged into the chamber. It splashed against the cave walls, soaking Jack and Annie again.
    “Oh, man,” said Jack. “The tide must be coming in! Soon this whole cave will be flooded!”
    The wave receded. For a moment all was quiet again.
    “We’d better leave
now
!” said Jack. “Quick! Go back the way we came in!”

    Jack and Annie jumped down from the ledge. But before they could escape, another wave crashed into the cave! This one swept them off their feet and pulled them down into the foamy water.
    Jack grabbed Annie’s hand. Fighting the swirling current, they climbed back up onto the mossy ledge. The water churned and gurgled around the chamber.
    “We can’t go back the way we came in,” said Jack. “The waves will just keep knocking us down, and we’ll get caught in the current!”
    “Maybe we can get out through that crack!” cried Annie. She pointed to the widest crack in the cave ceiling. It was high above the swirling water.
    “It’s too high!” said Jack. “We can’t get up there!” He looked frantically around the flooded cave, searching for another way out. Suddenly he froze in horror.
    Clinging to a ledge near the ceiling crack was the Spider Queen. She had eight red glowing eyes. She had eight long, hairy legs. And she was
much
bigger than a dinner plate.
    The Spider Queen was bigger than Jack.

J ack grabbed Annie’s hand. “Whatever you do, don’t look up,” he said.
    Annie looked up.
    “AHHHHH!” she screamed. She started to leap off the ledge into the churning waters. But then another wave crashed wildly against the walls.
    Jack held Annie back. “Don’t jump!” he shouted. “You’ll drown!”
    Above the sound of the rushing waters, a loud whisper echoed around the cave:
Stay!Stay! Stay!
The Spider Queen was staring down at them with her eight red eyes.
    As Jack and Annie stared back in horror, the giant spider shot a web strand as thick as a rope straight toward them. Jack and Annie ducked. The strand stuck to the wall.
    “What’s she doing?” cried Annie.
    “I don’t know!” said Jack.
    He and Annie looked back up at the Spider Queen. She’d crawled a few feet closer to the crack in the wall. She stared down at them for a moment with her glowing eyes, then shot out another thick rope strand.
    “Watch out!” shouted Jack.
    He and Annie ducked.
    Thwack!
The second web rope stuck to the ledge just a few feet away from the first.
    “Oh, no! Look!” shrieked Annie. She pointed up at the cave ceiling.
    The monster spider was zigzagging betweenthe two strands of her web.
She was heading straight toward them.
    Jack and Annie screamed and pressed themselves against the wall. “We have to leave!” cried Annie. But before they could make a move, another wave crashed into the cave! The water swirled with ferocious force around the chamber.
    “We can’t leave!” cried Jack.
    “We can’t stay!” cried Annie.
    Wait! Wait! Wait!
whispered the Spider Queen.
    The giant spider kept zigzagging between the two lines, spinning more web, coming closer and closer and closer to Jack and Annie.
    They watched in horror, unable to speak or move. But just when she came close enough