Amber's First Clue (6 page)

The mermaids hugged each other tightly. They had solved the clue and found the first snow diamond. All they had to do now was put it away safely in Amber's stardust locket.

“Oh, pick it up, Amber,” urged her friends.

Amber tried to slip her arm into the crack in the ice. But the jagged opening
was too narrow for her to reach down all the way to where the diamond was lodged.

“I can't get to it,” she gasped in dismay. “Becky, you have smaller hands—can you reach it?”

But even Becky's dainty fingers couldn't grasp the tantalizing snow diamond.

“Let's just ask Magnus to come and smash this ice with his tusk,” suggested Jess. “Then we'll reach the diamond easily.”

“No!” Katie interrupted with a shake of her dark, glossy braid. “If Magnus breaks the ice around the crack, the diamond might fall into the deep sea below. Then we would never find it again.”

“Katie's right,” said Amber, looking
around at her friends. “We need someone with the tiniest fingers to reach into the crack and lift the snow diamond out very carefully. We are the smallest of the Merfolk, but we're just too big.”

She peered anxiously into the rough slit in the ice once again. It was so tormenting to be able to see the precious diamond but not be able to reach it. Was this just another of Mantora's cruel tricks? But Jess suddenly let out a shout that echoed around the frozen cave.

“Well, if we mermaids can't reach it, what about a mermaid's pet?” she said, grinning. “Megan, is Sammy awake?”

Megan looked startled but then began to smile. “Of course!” she said. “Sammy is just the right size.”

She gently reached inside the pocket of her warm fluffy jacket, where Sammy was snoozing. He was a teeny creature called a fairy shrimp. They usually lived in shallow pools at the edge of Ice Kingdom's snowy lands, but Sammy went everywhere with Megan, snugly tucked into a deep corner of her pocket.

He woke up and sat on Megan's hand, peering around sleepily. Megan stroked his head tenderly and explained about the diamond. As she did so, a stray sprinkle of stardust from Megan's locket landed on her beloved pet. Sammy waved his feathery feelers eagerly. For a moment, he was surrounded by tiny shooting stars.

“I feel different,” he panted. “I feel brave and strong and
magical
!”

Then he leaped off Megan's hand and quickly disappeared down the deep crack in the ice. For a few moments Amber and her friends held their breath. Would Sammy be able to lift the heavy diamond? But before they had time to fret, the brave little shrimp was back again, huffing and panting but clutching the precious jewel. The stardust sprinkle had given him extra special powers.

“Here you are,” Sammy squeaked, tipping the heavy diamond into Amber's hand. It burned white like a star and yet shimmered with a hundred sparkling colors.

“We've found it,” cried the friends. “Great job, Amber! And good work, Sammy!”

“Don't forget that our new friends Ana
and Benjy helped us, too,” Amber reminded them gently. “We had to follow our hearts to find what we really wanted.”

Poppy blushed for a moment. “I'm sorry I was mean about them earlier,” she said, all in a rush. “I know, let's go and show them the diamond. I'm sure they'll want to see it.”

Soon Amber and the other mermaids were cuddled up next to Ana on the edge of the ice. Benjy and his family swam in the deep blue water just near them.

“This is the first snow diamond, Ana,” said the mermaids. “We couldn't have found it without you.”

Ana looked very pleased as she held the glimmering jewel in her little gloved hand. “It's so gorgeous,” she said, her eyes lighting up with wonder. “How could anyone be selfish enough to steal it?”

“Mantora is totally selfish,” replied Amber. “She wants to destroy Ice Kingdom and spoil everything that Mother Nature made.”

“Ugh!” Ana shivered. “She sounds horrible. I didn't know there were any mermaids like that.”

“There aren't many, thank goodness,” Megan reassured her. “My mother told me that Mantora turned bad because she was so jealous of her sister, the great Queen Neptuna.”

“That's such a pretty name,” said Ana, carefully giving the diamond back to Amber. “Who is she?”

“There are lots of different kingdoms of the Merfolk,” Katie explained. “In Ice Kingdom we are ruled and protected by our very own Princess Arctica. But Queen Neptuna in Coral Kingdom is the wisest mermaid of them all.”

“Coral Kingdom!” repeated Ana with shining eyes. “I wish I could go there.”

“So do I,” agreed Becky, looking dreamily toward the faraway south. “I've heard it's one of the most beautiful places in the world. There are colorful corals, and all sorts of amazing fish, and turtles and dolphins, and delicious warm seas …”

“… our sea in Ice Kingdom will soon be
much too warm for us, if we don't find the other diamonds,” Jess cut in, with a brisk nod of her dark curls. “Let's keep looking for them!”

“Jess is right,” said Amber to the others. “This is only the start of our quest. We can't rest until we have found all six diamonds. And we don't know where our search will take us next.”

“I wish I could help you.” Ana sighed. “It would be a way of thanking you for saving Benjy's life. But my family will be expecting me at home. I must go now.” She stood up and brushed the snow from her furry leggings. “Benjy and I will be waiting for you when you get back with the six snow diamonds,” she added. “Here, take my little bag. It contains some things you might need for your task.”

“Thank you, thank you,” cried the mermaids, waving at their young friend as she trotted away happily across the glinting snow. “Good-bye, Ana!”

“You see, Poppy, some humans can be good and kind,” said Megan quietly. “I'm glad we have Ana as our friend.”

“So am I,” replied Poppy with a grin.

“Why don't you put the diamond away in your locket, Amber?” suggested Katie. “Then we can decide what to do next.”

Amber opened her delicate locket and
gently dropped the shimmering diamond inside it. But then she noticed something.

“Look!” she said. “There's a long, silky thread tied around the diamond. It must be attached to something at the other end.”

Carefully pulling on the thread, Amber reeled it toward her like a fisherman trying to land a plump trout. But on the very end of the delicate thread was the strangest thing.

“It's another scroll,” gasped Becky.

“This must be a message from Mantora,” said Amber. “I wonder what it says.”

The mermaids crowded around Amber to look at the sinister twist of purple parchment.

“It's got to be another clue,” said Poppy.
“Well, we solved the first one, didn't we? Let's see if we can outwit Mantora again.”

The second clue! What would it say? And would the young mermaids be able to figure it out in time to find the second snow diamond?

Amber was so glad that she had successfully followed the first clue, and that the first diamond was safe in her stardust locket. But as she held the mysterious scroll in her hands, Amber knew that the adventures were just beginning for the Sisters of the Sea …