Katie and the Snow Babies by Gillian Shields Page B

clear waves. They gazed around and admired the frosty icebergs that towered above them like carved mountains, glinting with dusky purple shadows.

    â€œThis really is a wild and lonely part of Ice Kingdom,” said Katie. She checked that her shining mermaid harp washanging safely at her side, then added, “Where should we look for the walrus folk?”
    â€œYou need to swim toward the ice edge,” answered Monty. “You will soon see them there. I will wait for you in these deep waters. It’s time for the Whale Express to take a nap!”
    And it was time for the Sisters of the Sea to search for the second snow diamond …

Chapter Two
    The mermaids thanked Monty and promised to return as quickly as they could. Then Katie swished her glistening tail and swam with her friends past the looming, craggy icebergs. Very soon, they reached the ice edge. It was a long, white, frosty shore, where the flat frozen plains met the sea. At the far end of the shore, jutting out into the water, was a bluffmade of tumbled blocks of ice. A few seabirds wheeled above the broken cliffs in the bright, cold sky.
    â€œThat bluff must be Walrus Point, where the walrus folk gather,” said Jess.
    â€œWait!” called Katie as Jess and the others began to surge toward it. “Let’s sit on the edge of the ice for a moment and decide what to say to them. The walrus folk can be very quick-tempered sometimes. We don’t want to upset them.”
    With a twist of their tails, the young friends pulled themselves out of the water and sat on the sparkling snow.
    â€œI’m a bit worried about meeting the walruses,” confessed Megan. “Their long tusks sometimes look a bit scary.” She carefully tucked her pet fairy shrimp,Sammy, deeper into her cozy pocket. Sammy had been given special powers by a stardust sprinkle, which meant that he could breathe out of water and follow the mermaids everywhere. But Megan didn’t want him to be squashed by a rough, tough walrus.
    â€œDon’t worry,” said Amber. “If we are polite and respectful, I’m sure we won’t have any problems. But tell Sammy to keep out of sight until we’re sure that they are friendly.”
    â€œI hope we’re right that the ‘lords of the sea’ in the clue really are the walrus folk, now that we have come all this way,” said Becky.
    â€œAnd that the ‘kings of the ice’ are the polar bears,” added Jess.
    â€œI’m sure we are right about that, but ‘diamonds falling from the sky’ is just silly!” interrupted Poppy. “I think Mantora must be completely crazy.”
    â€œNo, she isn’t,” said Amber, gravely shaking her golden curls. “Mantora might enjoy taunting us with her fiendish clues, but she is deadly serious about hiding the snow diamonds away forever, so that Ice Kingdom will melt.”

    â€œAnd you must take our quest seriously as well, Poppy,” said Katie with a small sigh.
    â€œI know, I know,” said Poppy breezily. “You don’t need to give me a lecture. I want to find the diamonds just as much as you do.”
    As the mermaids were talking, they didn’t notice a large blue shadow creeping across the ice behind them …
    â€œWe’re all on the same side in this battle,” urged Megan. “We should put our energy into solving Mantora’s clue, not arguing!”
    The dusky shadow grew nearer …
    â€œYou’re right,” said Katie. “So what could the clue mean? Whoever heard of a snow diamond falling from the sky?”
    For a moment the mermaids were silent, puzzling over the strange riddle.
    The shadow stopped moving.

    â€œPerhaps … this may be wrong, of course.” Becky hesitated. “But what about a shooting star? They are as bright and beautiful as a diamond, and they seem to fall through the sky.”
    â€œWell, it’s a start,” replied Katie