The Monster in the Lake by Louie Stowell

Author:Louie Stowell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Published: 2019-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

A skeletal rat leaped out at her from the water, right at her face, and she let out a silent scream.

She sat up with a start. There was a growling sound beside her.

“You were snoring,” said a voice. It was Alita. “I don’t think Dogon liked it much.” She realised she was slumped forward on her arms, over the table. She sat up, blinking. Dogon gave a disapproving snuffle.

“Sorry,” she murmured.

“We didn’t like to wake you. You looked so peaceful,” said Faith. “At least, until the end.”

“Bad dream,” muttered Kit.

“You’ve got apple pie in your hair,” pointed out Josh.

Faith gave Kit a look of concern. “Is everything OK?”

Kit shrugged. “Just a bit sleepy.”

Faith squinted at her. “If you’re sure … then let’s do some research. Find out more about what makes these mermaids tick.”

Kit couldn’t kick the feeling that something was watching her, though. Something with a pointed face and eyes of glassy blue. She thought that she could hear the clattering of bones.

The three children were nestled among gigantic piles of books on cushions in Duncan’s little living room. Everyone was sitting in silence – even Dogon was calm, snoozing on a blanket in the corner.

Kit was staring listlessly at her book. She kept trying to focus on the pages, but the words seemed to spin in front of her eyes. She didn’t feel very well.

Her book was called Mermaids: A Beginner’s Guide. But even that seemed too hard. She kept rereading the same passage about scales and gills.

Faith was sitting in a big armchair, reading a large volume called Beyond the Mermaid: Water Peoples of the World.

“Apparently, sea merfolk are sometimes known as saltfolk,” she was telling them. “Freshwater merfolk, though—”

“Are they called freshfolk?” finished Josh.

“Don’t interrupt,” said Faith. She tapped the page. “Freshwater mermaids are all named after their individual bodies of water. So, riverfolk, lakefolk and, in the case of Morag and the others, lochfolk. Although they often use ‘mermaids’ to mean any water people.”

Josh scribbled some notes down about this. “What about streams? Are there streamfolk?”

“No, the water’s too shallow,” said Faith. “But there are quite a few groups of underwater lakefolk, especially in Mexico. The Cenogente.”

Kit really wasn’t feeling well now. Her vision was cloudy and she had a churning feeling in her brain. She could feel tingles in her hands.

“I feel…” she began, but she couldn’t finish before–

FWOOM!

Lightning filled the room. Kit took a moment to realise that it was coming from her. Light was streaming from her fingertips. And…

FWOOM!

Suddenly she couldn’t see.

“What’s happening?” she gasped.

“Your eyes!” cried Alita. “They’re … like lasers!”

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