The Monster of Shiversands Cove by Emma Fischel Page A

the werefairy put his shoulder to the door.
    A
thud
 . . . then a pause. A
thud
 . . . then a pause.
    Something happened then, to me. Something changed, because I knew this: that door was
not
built to keep out a werefairy.
    I looked at Pearl and I saw, by the furious light in her eye, that the same thing had happened to her.
    â€˜So, we can wait . . .’ I said.
    Pearl looked at me and nodded. ‘Or we can DO something,’ she said.
    And we did.
    It took us seconds to get into position. Pearl stood by the door, hand on the bolt. I stood to one side, up on the chair, the big heavy typewriter clutched in my arms.
    We listened to the werefairy outside the door.
    A
thud
 . . . then a pause. A
thud
. . . then a pause.
    A
thud
 . . . and Pearl timed it perfectly. She unbolted the door and flung it wide open just as the werefairy’s shoulder was thudding against it.
    In lurched the werefairy, tottering and caught by surprise, all off balance. I was waiting.
    I raised the typewriter as high as I could, then brought it crashing down on his huge werefairy head. I hoped I’d knock him out and make him keel over, make him fall to the ground, unconscious.
    I didn’t.
    The werefairy yowled. He yelped. He staggered. He clutched his head. He roared in pain. But he did
not
keel over.
    Still, we ran for it. Back down the cliff path, over the rocks and towards the bridge. But two kids on foot can
not
outrun a flying werefairy. We heard the flap of huge wings behind us and the snarls of a werefairy with a
very
sore head.
    Then he landed, blocking our path: a huge hairy werefairy, much taller than Dad, sniffing and snarling and licking his lips.
    We cowered up there on the rocks. Water was behind us and below us. The werefairy was ahead. Nothing could save us now.
    Nothing
.
    Â 
    Chapter Twelve
    The Chase
    I will never forget what happened next.
Never
.
    I cowered on the rocks, Pearl cowering beside me. Then, far out in Shiversands Cove, we heard a splash: the huge splash of a sea monster leaping out of the water.
    Across the cove, the sea monster came surging. It surged towards the rocks, towards me, towards Pearl . . . towards the werefairy.
    Then, right by the rocks, the sea monster reared up. It towered above us. The huge frill shot out and stood up, all around its head. Its long snout started snapping open and shut, open and shut. Then:
    SMACK!
    Down went its huge tailfin. Up and down, up and down, smacking flat on the water. Drenching me, drenching Pearl, with huge showers of spray . . . and drenching the werefairy.
    Head to foot, that huge hairy werefairy was
soaked
. He was soaked from the top of his huge hairy head to the ends of his huge hairy paws. His hair was plastered flat again his huge werefairy body. He was dripping, he was bedraggled, his wings were waterlogged and drooping.
    And the werefairy was
not
happy. He snarled at the sea monster. He growled and he raged. Then, he started shaking. Shaking and shaking and shaking. Shaking like Bagel did after a swim in the river, shaking himself dry.
    I knew. I just knew. That now, this moment, while he was shaking,
this
was our chance to escape. We
had
to take it.
    And there was only one way I could think of.
    â€˜Jump,’ I said to Pearl. ‘JUMP!’
    And we did, both of us. We jumped straight down off the rocks and on to the sea monster’s back.
    * * *
    The sea monster shot off, with us both clinging on, arms clasped round its slippery fishy neck. It plunged away from Tide Island, powering through the water, waves of spray swooshing either side of it.
    Faster and faster and faster it swam.
    But not fast enough.
    We heard a snarl behind us. The snarl of a werefairy, hot on the sea monster’s tail.
    I clung on, panicking. How long could we hang on? Who would tire first, a sea monster or a werefairy? And where was the sea monster going?
    The sea monster swerved round Tide