Little Lion Read Online Free PDF Page B

said.
    â€œGreat-Aunt Maisie’s and Great-Uncle Thorne’s?” Felix pointed to the two that were the same.
    â€œWe should go,” Maisie said, feeling suddenly as if she were trespassing.
    â€œBut the shard could be in one of those music boxes or . . . or anywhere.”
    Maisie shook her head. “It’s not,” she said.
    Somehow, Felix knew she was right.
    $  $  $  $  $
    For the second time that day, Maisie pressed the spot on the wall that opened it to reveal the staircase. As Felix followed his sister up the secret staircase, he remembered his mantra.
    â€œHome,” he whispered. “Home, home, home.”
    In The Treasure Chest, Maisie scanned the desk for the blueprints to the Holland Tunnel.
    â€œI’m sure I put them right here,” she said, lifting up the other items. She moved a porcupine quill, a compass, and a bouquet of dried flowers.
    â€œWe don’t want those, anyway,” Felix said, even as he repeated
home, home, home
in his mind.
    â€œYes, we do!” Maisie said, pushing things aside roughly. “They’ll get us back to New York, just blocks from home.”
    With a sweep of her hand, a silver coin fell off the desk, landing with a loud
thunk
on the floor. The light bounced off it so that it practically glowed.
    Felix bent to pick up the coin at the exact same time as Maisie did.
    â€œLeave it alone,” Maisie said, cross.
    But he didn’t.
    They both touched the silver coin, and the room filled with the smells of salt water, coconut, and something sweet. A wind rushed past Maisie and Felix, carrying the sounds of sails flapping and palm tree leaves fluttering.
    In an instant, they were gone.

The Orphan Boy
    Felix landed with a splash grasping his glasses tight to his face. He opened his eyes and saw that he was underwater. Not just any water, either. This water was so clear that he could see Maisie’s legs thrashing, a school of bright-yellow fish swimming past, and the soft, sandy bottom way, way beneath him. He swam upward, kicking his legs hard until he reached the surface. When his head finally popped out of the water, he took a big deep breath and looked around. In the distance lay a white sand beach fringed with palm trees. But all around him, Felix saw nothing but beautiful turquoise water until Maisie appeared, sputtering and shaking the water from her hair, the coin pressed firmly in her fist.
    â€œOver here!” Felix called, waving to her. He had certainly not expected this. Not at all. They were in the
ocean
!
    Maisie looked about as angry as she could look. Felix watched her dive into the water and swim purposefully toward him. She was a good swimmer. And so was he. They had learned to swim when they were five at the Carmine Street Pool and had tied for first place in a relay race there when they were seven.
    The sun shone bright and warm above them. Felix lay on his back and floated gently, gazing up at the clear, blue sky.
    When Maisie reached him, she treaded water beside him.
    â€œThis,” she said, “is not New York.”
    Felix smiled. “Nope,” he said.
    â€œThis is all your fault,” she said. “If you’d just let me find those blueprints, we wouldn’t be in the middle of the ocean right now.”
    â€œFirst of all, we’re not in the middle of the ocean. The beach is right over there. And second of all, this is actually kind of nice.”
    Maisie sighed. Clearly her brother was not going to be any help in figuring out where they’d landed. Or why. She took a breath, stretched out her arms, and began to swim.
    â€œHey! Where are you going?” Felix called after her.
    â€œTo shore!” Maisie yelled back. And then she kept on swimming.
    As she neared the beach, the waves grew large enough to carry her forward. She caught one just right and it lifted her and brought her right to shore, depositing her in a sandy heap. Riding