Katie and the Snow Babies (5 page)

The mermaids called the names of the young creatures as loudly as they could. Then they swam farther out to sea, weaving between the glistening ice floes and the tips of the sparkling icebergs. All the time they were calling and searching, searching and calling. But it was no use.

“Ooof! I'm getting tired,” confessed
Megan after a while, her spangled pink and white tail drooping in the water.

“So am I,” agreed Becky reluctantly.

“Let's stop for a moment,” suggested Katie. “We can rest on one of the ice floes and decide what to do next.”

The friends thankfully chose a large block of ice that was floating near them like a raft, and they gracefully wriggled onto it. Soon they were all sitting with their glittering tails hanging down into the water and the breeze blowing in their hair.

“Look!” cried Jess, pointing up into the clear sky. “The gulls are swooping over to us. I hope they are coming to tell us that the babies have been found.”

But the seabirds wheeled over the mermaids' heads and called out that there was no news of Max or Caspar.

“So Finn hasn't found them on the ice, and the walruses haven't found them by the shore … ,” began Megan sadly.

“… and we can't see them anywhere underwater or on the surface of the sea,” continued Becky.

“Perhaps they really are lost for good,” whispered Amber.

The mermaids held hands, feeling very sad and worried. Katie began to sing softly:

“
Our mermaid song
This message sends—
We want to help
Two special friends …
”

The others joined in, murmuring quietly:

“
We want to help
Two special friends …
”

Then a faint sound came floating back to the mermaids on the wind.

“I can hear something!” said Katie. She listened intently, cupping her hand around her ear.

“What can you hear?” asked Megan hopefully.

Katie scrunched up her face and strained to listen. “It's someone calling!” she exclaimed.

The mermaids dived into the waves without a second's delay, racing in the direction of the distant voices. Very soon, they reached a small ice floe that was drifting dangerously fast. It was being dragged out to the open sea by the strong, swirling currents.

Peering over the edge of this frozen white raft were two scared little faces—a fluffy
baby polar bear and a plump baby walrus!

The mermaids sped forward and crowded around them.

“You found us, Katie,” murmured Max, smiling weakly at his mermaid friends. “We heard your music and tried to answer. But we're so tired and hungry after clinging to this ice for so long.”

“Let's get you home and find out what happened later,” said Katie brightly. “Can you swim with us?”

“I c-can't swim,” cried Caspar. “I'm so cold and tired!”

“Oh, you poor thing,” said Megan gently. “We'll help you to swim home somehow. But we must all hurry back to tell your families that you are safe.”

“We've got important business with Mantora to sort out, too,” added Poppy. “And a clue to solve!”

Just as Katie was wondering how they were going to get the youngsters home, Amber remembered the bag that their friend Ana, the little Inuit girl, had given to them. It was tied loosely around her waist.

“Ana said this bag contained things we might need,” said Amber, rummaging around and lifting out some braided ropes.

“I'm sure we could use those ropes to
help,” said Becky. “Perhaps Max and Caspar could hold onto them, while we pull them along behind us?”

“B-b-but I might let go of it and s-s-sink,” said Caspar with chattering teeth. The fright of his adventure had shaken him.

“You won't sink if we give you a special touch of stardust magic,” said Katie kindly. “Don't worry, snow babies.”

She strummed her golden harp and chanted:

“
Stardust, stardust,
Make them float,
Turn these ropes
Into a boat,
Stardust, stardust
,
Make them ride
Over the waves,
Safe by our side!
”

A stream of glittering sprinkles swooshed out of the mermaids' silvery lockets and clung to the ropes. The long, supple ropes began to coil and curl themselves around the snow babies, looping and twisting until Max and Caspar were sitting in two little basket-boats. The boats glowed with stardust sprinkles, which would protect the young creatures from sinking.

“Come on, snow babies, you're going to have the ride of your lives!” Katie laughed.

The mermaids gently towed Caspar and Max through the greeny-blue waves in their magical boats. The seabirds swooped
and swirled overhead, and the young friends sang as they pulled the babies along:

“
Our mermaid song
This message sends—
We have found
Two special friends
…”

Soon, they all arrived at Walrus Point, where Ulrick and Inga were waiting anxiously for them.

Katie and the others carefully pulled themselves and the youngsters out of the water, until they all sat thankfully on the rough ice edge once more. The ropes returned to normal and Amber carefully stowed them away in her bag.

Ulrick was overjoyed to see Caspar and Max, and Inga covered her son with walrus kisses.

“But how did you manage to get so far to sea?” wondered Katie.

Max cuddled up to the mermaids and explained, “I wanted to see Caspar so I ran off to find him. We sneaked down to the ice edge to play without anyone seeing us. Then we met a mermaid lady, like you, but not so pretty. And she was bossy!”

“That must have been Mantora!” gasped Jess.

“She makes trouble wherever she is,” said Katie grimly. “What happened next, Max?”

“The mermaid lady said it would be fun for us to float on the ice floes, so we did,” Max continued. “But they started to melt and break up. The piece of ice we were sitting on got swept out to sea on the currents.”

“I was so scared, but I feel better now,” said Caspar. “I loved riding in that boat made of magical ropes! And I'm so glad to see you, Grandpa.”

The Chief Walrus hugged his baby grandson tenderly. Then he turned to the mermaids.

“We can never thank you enough, Sisters of the Sea,” he said. “But young Max's tale shows that what you told us about Mantora's evil plot to melt the ice is true. I am so sorry that I ever doubted you.” He
looked at Poppy with a twinkle in his eye. “As for you, my dear, you are bold indeed,” he said. “Bold enough to speak the truth to the Chief Walrus! I beg your pardon for not believing your wise words.”

Poppy grinned cheerfully. “That's all right,” she said.

“My mother taught me that saying sorry for a mistake is the best wisdom of all, Lord Ulrick,” said Katie in a serious voice.

The Chief Walrus bowed graciously and continued, “If those ice floes are starting to melt and break up, our lands really must be getting warmer. You must find the second diamond without any further delay, before more damage is done!”

Just as Katie was about to reply, a deep, happy roar rose from the sea and deafened the mermaids. Finn was swimming frantically through the waves toward the snowy shore. He leaped out of the water, scrambled up the ice edge, and threw himself at Max. They tumbled over and over in a wild bear hug.

“Oh, Max,” he barked joyfully. “I couldn't find you on the ice, so I was searching in the water. I thought you had drowned, but now I've found you again. Your mother will be so happy when I take you home.”