“Hm,” I said. It was hard to imagine Neptune being pleased about anything, let alone something I’d done.
“Let’s try King,” Shona said. Then she stretched out her long tail and swam off. I started to follow her — but something was drawing me away. It was as if I was being pulled in another direction by something attached to me, tugging at me. What was it?
“Shona, let’s try over there,” I said without even knowing why. I pointed toward a bunch of rocks nestled among a tiny forest of bushes and reeds. Spiky black anemones sat along the rocks’ edges, lining them like guards. The bushes were gray and dull.
“There won’t be anything down there.”
“Please,” I said, my chest aching with the need to look in the rocks. “Let’s just try it.”
Shona sighed. “Come on, then.”
She scavenged away under the rocks with me, dodging the anemones and burrowing into the sand without knowing why we were looking here any more than I did. A small sandstorm built up around us as we scratched and scrabbled at the seabed, digging out broken shells and pebbles. But nothing more than that.
“How about this?” Shona asked, holding up a razor shell. “It would do for a comb, perhaps, if we just cut away a few ridges.” She turned the shell over in her hands, held it to her hair.
I nodded. “Yeah,” I said absentmindedly. But I knew there was something else there. I could feel it shining into me, almost calling me. It reminded me of a game we used to play where someone hides an object and the others have to look for it. Move nearer, you get warmer. Move away and you’re cold again. Warmer, warmer. I could feel it close to me. What was it?
“Come on, let’s try one more boat,” Shona said. “We need to be back in class soon.” She started to swim away.
“Wait,” I called.
Shona turned. “What is it?”
Could I really say what I felt? That I had a burning in my chest that told me I had to stay here, had to find whatever it was that was down here? Look what had happened the last time I made Shona help me follow my instincts. We’d ended up disturbing the kraken and threatening the safety of the whole island. No, I couldn’t do it.
But I couldn’t leave it alone either.
“You go on,” I said. “I’ll just look around a bit more here.”
“But there’s nothing to see. It’s just a bunch of rocks, Em.”
“I know. I just — I just want one more look around.”
Shona flicked her hair back. “OK, if you’re sure. I’ll meet you by King. Don’t be long.”
“Great. See you there,” I said, trying to return her smile. I hurried back to my task as soon as she’d turned away. What was down here? Why was it drawing me in? One way or another, I was determined to find out.
I worked like a dog burrowing down a hole on the trail of a rabbit. I scratched my tail on the coral, my hair was matted and tangled, and my nails were filled with sand and broken from tearing at the rocks. But I couldn’t stop. I had to find it. Whatever was down here, I needed to find it. I could almost feel it calling me, as though it wanted me to find it.
“What are you doing?”
I jerked my head up. Shona!
“I —”
“I’ve been waiting for ages. I thought you were going to meet me at King.”
“I was,” I said. “I just — I wanted to —”
“Your nails!” Shona screeched. I instantly curled my hands into fists, but it was too late. Shona swam over to me and uncurled them. “Miss Finwave’s going to hit the waves!”
“Yeah, I know,” I mumbled. I didn’t want to talk about my nails! I wanted to get back to my search.
“Come on,” Shona said, “we’re going to be late.” She had some fine, wispy pink seaweed draped around her neck. She must have found it by King.
“All right,” I said. I didn’t make any effort to move.
Shona pursed her lips and pulled her hair to the side. “Emily, what’s going on? You’re acting all weird.”
“No, I’m fine,” I said with a lame smile. “Really. Sorry. Come on — let’s go.”
I dragged myself away from the hole, pretending I was going back to class with Shona. There was no way I was leaving this, though.
“Hang on a sec,” I said as we passed Fortuna. “I’ll just go in and clean my nails.”
“What?” Shona flicked her tail impatiently.
“Because of Miss Finwave.” I faltered. “I won’t be long. I’ll just go in. I’ll be right behind you.”
“I’ll wait.” Shona sighed.
“No. You go ahead. I’ll catch up. I don’t want you to be late.”
She shrugged. “OK,” she said, and swam away.
As soon as she was out of sight, I went straight back to the rocks. Whatever was down there was pulling me so hard I could almost feel it, as though I were a fish caught on a piece of bait. As I burrowed deeper and searched all over, I almost had to hold my hand over my heart to stop it from hurting.
And then I saw it.
I turned over one final stone and there it was, glinting at me, throwing light in a multicolored arc all around. I gasped.
A ring. A thick gold band with the biggest, brightest diamond I had ever seen in my life. It must have been in an accident, because the band had been dented and bent out of shape. I squeezed it onto my middle finger and examined it. I could tell that it used to be much bigger, but with all the dents, it fit my finger perfectly. Looking down at it, I had the strangest sensation. It was like a tight knot inside me that made me want to scream or cry or laugh, I didn’t know which. All of them.
I could have stared at it all day. But I had to get back. Glancing down at my hand every few seconds just to check that the ring was still there, for some reason I couldn’t help smiling to myself as I swam back to class.
I joined the rest of the class, huddled around a huge, flat rock in the center of the pool, where we examined our multicolored findings. I’d managed to sneak in while Miss Finwave was looking away, so she didn’t notice I’d gotten back after everyone else.
The rock was covered with a collection that lit up the classroom, splashing a hundred colors all around us. I stared at it. Seaweed in bright pinks and greens, shells with the prettiest swirling patterns, sea flowers of every color, ancient jars filled with sand so bright it was more like glitter. Bright blue and green and orange crystals, shining white rocks. Neptune was going to be very pleased.
When Miss Finwave noticed me hanging back at the edge of the pool, she did a double take. Her face turned pale. “Shooting sharks, Emily!” she said, clasping a hand over her mouth.
“What?”
“Your hair!” She gasped, looking around frantically. “Quick, someone get me a comb! Hurry!”
“Here, she can use mine,” Marina said, pulling a razor-shell comb out of her rope bag.
“Thank you, Marina,” Miss Finwave said tightly as she proceeded to pull at the tangles in my hair, yanking my head again and again till the comb ran smoothly through.
“That’s better,” she said, examining me. “Now, let’s see your contribution.”
My hand was in my pocket. I was about to bring it out to show her the ring, but the strangest thing happened. The ring seemed to be weighing my hand down. I could almost hear it, begging me not to show it to Miss Finwave.
“Shona’s already put our things out,” I said, pointing to the sea fans and shells she’d collected while she was with me. I held my breath while I waited for the reply. My hand still firmly in my pocket, I twisted the ring around on my finger so I could feel the diamond against my palm. Then I curled my fingers around it. Safe.
Miss Finwave simply nodded. “Very good. Nice work, you two,” she said quickly, before moving on to someone else.
I let my breath out with a sigh. Then I glanced over to see Shona staring at me. “What’s going on?” she whispered.
“Tell you later,” I whispered back. “I found something!” Now that I’d managed to find out w
hat it was without getting Shona in trouble, I couldn’t wait to share it with her!
Shona’s eyes went all round and big, but before she had the chance to reply, Miss Finwave had snapped her tail to get everyone’s attention.
“Now then, children,” she said, “well done. You have created quite a treasure trove in here! Neptune will be pleased with you. He’ll be with us very shortly, and I want each one of you to adorn yourself with your findings, making yourself as beautiful or as handsome as you can. And the politest class I have ever had, please. Is that understood?”
We replied with a synchronized “Yes, Miss Finwave” and then erupted into a scuffle of noise as we shared and compared our findings, bartering and bargaining with one another to get the best combinations of colors, textures, and patterns.
I looked around the pool at what we’d managed to do with our appearances. It was incredible how a few bits and pieces from the ocean floor had transformed every one of us. Althea had created extensions from some bright blue seaweed. Next to her jet-black hair, they made her look gothic and glamorous. Marina had made a starfish brooch for her bikini top and a belt from oyster shells. Adam had attached a shiny silver crab’s husk to some black ship’s rope to make a belt that could have been worn by a rock star. Shona and I made bangles and necklaces from the shells we’d picked up, wove the fans into hats, stuck shiny stones in patterns on our tails and surrounded them with swirling patterns made from glittery pink sand. We laid all the jewels we’d found on the rock in the center of the classroom.
“Not bad, not bad at all,” Miss Finwave said with a satisfied smile as she examined us. “Very good work. You should all feel as proud as piranhas.”
Just then, a strange thing happened. Strange — but familiar. Horribly familiar. The classroom started to shake. The water in the pool bubbled and frothed. Stalactites shivered and wobbled above us, threatening to crash down and spear any one of us. The last time it had happened, I’d thought it was an earthquake. But it wasn’t. At least I knew what it was this time.
“Here comes Neptune,” Miss Finwave called above the noise of water swirling around and around, creating a whirlpool. “Get to the sides, children. It’ll stop in a moment.”
Don’t panic. Relax. I tried to breathe smoothly. But my breath came out in sharp, spiky puffs.
He isn’t coming to see me. I haven’t done anything wrong, I told myself again and again. I’d make sure I didn’t have a scale out of place this time. He wouldn’t even know I was there.
We swam to the side of the pool, falling over ourselves and one another and barely managing to keep our new accessories in place.
And then the water calmed just as suddenly as it had started. The pool shone brighter than ever; the walls glistened and gleamed; the cave was silent as we waited.
The dolphins came first, swimming into the pool in a row as straight as an army’s front line. Behind them, Neptune’s chariot slid smoothly into view. Gold, grand, and adorned with a thousand jewels, it snatched my breath away every time I saw it. I had to shield my eyes from the dazzling light it shone around the cave.
The class fell even more silent. And then there he was. Neptune. In our classroom! Sitting back in his chariot, his golden crown on his head, his trident held high, his beard reaching down to his chest, and the deepest frown on his face, Neptune arrived in the cave.
As the chariot came to a halt, the dolphins immediately swam around to the back and lined up along the opposite side of the pool from us.
Without speaking, Neptune raised both hands in the air. Holding the trident aloft in one hand, he snapped his fingers twice with the other. A second later, someone else swam into the pool. We couldn’t see who it was at first. He had his head down, reverently bowing to Neptune. But as soon as he raised it, I gasped. I’d know that face anywhere: the broken teeth, the odd eyes, the creepy sideways looks.
Mr. Beeston.
Neptune nodded to him and he swam to the edge of the chariot. “Your Majesty,” he said in a deep voice, “please allow me to attend to your wishes. Whatever it is you need, you know you only have to —”
Neptune banged his trident impatiently on the floor of the chariot. “Enough!” he bellowed.
Miss Finwave swam forward and bowed her head. “Your Majesty, it is an honor,” she said simply. “I have taken your orders very seriously and have set about my work, enlisting the help of the children, as I told you —”
Neptune raised an eyebrow into a wide, white arch above his eye.
Miss Finwave went on quickly. “We have merely begun some collections in your honor. They have not been told the reason for these collections.”
Neptune sniffed. “Very well,” he said. Then he snapped his fingers and motioned for Mr. Beeston to come toward him. Mr. Beeston swam forward again, simpering and drooling like the creep that he is.
“Explain to the children why I am here,” Neptune said to him.
“I — certainly, your Majesty,” Mr. Beeston stammered. “Right away.” Then he pulled on his crooked tie and cleared his throat before swimming toward us. Flicking his tail to propel himself higher in the water, he glanced back at the chariot. A brief glower from Neptune was all the encouragement he needed to get started.
“Children,” he began, smiling around at us with his horrible creepy smile, “as you know, Allpoints Island is a very special and important place. For many reasons. And one of those reasons is the kraken.”
A sound like thunder boomed into the cave. I looked around to see what it was. No one else seemed to have noticed it. They were all looking at Mr. Beeston.
There it was again.
That was when I realized it was my heart, beating so loud I could feel it thud in my ears. The kraken. Neptune’s sea monster. Had something happened to it? Had it awoken again? That was the absolute worst thing he could possibly have come to tell us. Not only would it mean we were all in danger again, but Neptune would remember whose fault it was, who had released it in the first place. I slunk low in the water, trying to hide, trying to make myself invisible. I could feel my face heating up. As it did, the ring seemed to burn in my pocket, spreading heat through my fingers, which were still folded tightly around the diamond.
“As you all know, the kraken was disturbed recently.” Mr. Beeston paused and looked me directly in the eye. Why couldn’t I make myself invisible? Why?
Then he looked away again, surveying the whole class. “Well then. Since that time, I am pleased to say that, as the chief kraken keeper, I have ensured that no further disturbances have taken place. I have regarded my duties with the utmost vigilance, loyalty, and —”
“Beeston!” Neptune growled.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty,” Mr. Beeston said, twisting to bow low again. Turning back to the class, he continued. “However, there are one or two unresolved matters from that sorry period. Not everything is exactly as it should be.”
“GET TO THE POINT!” Neptune exploded, shaking the cave so much that a rock fell from its perch and splashed into the water, spraying us all.
Reddening, Mr. Beeston spoke quickly. “The kraken held many jewels in its lair. The spoils of many a warship, the cargo of many a cruiser, were safely buried and out of danger while it slept. But since the recent troubles, some of these treasures have become dislodged. Items that were buried deep, deep, down in the caves under Allpoints Island have emerged or been dispersed.”
Mr. Beeston stopped and closed his eyes. Then, continuing more quietly, he said, “Most have been recovered. I have made sure of that. Entrusted with such an important task, I would not have dared fail. However, I —”
“Beeston, that is ENOUGH!” Neptune rose in his chariot. With his head towering high above us all, it seemed he was almost as tall as the ceiling. “I shall continue. Then maybe the children will understand what has happened here. And WHY.”
Pointing at Mr. Beeston with his trident, he said, “Certain folk have let me down. Those entrusted with the highest of honors have allo
wed the privilege of my trust to slip through their fins. And as a result, I have lost some of the treasure that is rightly mine. This is not a situation I am prepared to endure.”
He paused, looking around the silent classroom. “I want it back,” he said eventually in a voice as quiet and as threatening as a rumble of thunder from miles away. “Every last jewel, every last coin. All of it.”
I felt my hand burning up as though it were on fire. The ring! It was scorching a hole through my palm. It was as though it was trying to tell me something. But what? It was so strange. One moment it made me feel happy and at peace; the next, it sent my heart racing like an engine. I tried to lift it out of my pocket, but I couldn’t! My hand was jammed fast and wouldn’t budge. I bit hard into my cheek to take my mind off the sensation.
Just then, Miss Finwave swam forward. “Your Majesty,” she said, “please allow me to show you what we have collected for you.” She motioned to us to clear a path toward the rock in the center of the pool and waved a hand out toward it. Treasure winked and sparkled from every inch of the rock.
“The children have done well, wouldn’t you agree?” Miss Finwave said, turning to Neptune.
But he wasn’t listening. His eyes feasted greedily on the jewels as he swam all the way around the rock. “Perfect,” he said, his mouth dribbling slightly, his eyes glinting as much as the jewels. Reaching out with both arms, he swept the multicolored gems toward him, clutching them to his chest.
As he glided back to his chariot, his hands crammed with jewels, he turned back to us. “Well done, children,” he said. “You’ve done the island proud. Miss Finwave, excellent thinking. I wonder if anyone else who was set this task has fared so well. I shall visit them all and reward the most conscientious. Now that I am here to oversee this operation and ensure no one attempts to trick me out of my treasure, I will no longer keep it confidential. You may speak freely of your task. And you may be proud of your work.”
His eyes leaving the jewels for only seconds at a time, Neptune looked around at us all. I’m sure he stared directly at me when he spoke again. “It will all be returned. Every last item. Do you hear me?”