Magnus Fin and the Moonlight Mission Read Online Free PDF

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    “Boy oh boy, we’re here,” Tarkin shouted, “with half a minute to go. I’ll do the countdown. Get ready, M F.”
    Magnus Fin kicked off his trainers, curled his toes over the edge of the black rock and stared down into the dark, swirling water.
    Tarkin wrapped himself in a fleecy blanket and got comfortable on top of the rock. He put his flask and a small pile of toffees by his side then started to shout, “Ten! Nine! Eight!”
    Magnus Fin took a deep breath. The moon glinted like coins on the black water.
    “Seven! Six! Five!” Tarkin shone his torch down onto the water.
    Fin thought of the three dead seals. He thought of the writing on the rocks. He thought of his grandmother.
    “Four! Three! Two!” Tarkin’s voice was rising with excitement.
    Fin thought about himself – half a selkie – called under the water. He bent his knees and swung his arms back. This was it. It was now or never.
    “One! Jump!”
    Fin didn’t move. His knees quaked. He bit his lip. It looked so dark down there, and cold.
    “JUMP!” Tarkin yelled. “Jump or I’ll push you!”
    Magnus Fin jumped, splashing into the freezing sea. His hand groped through the water to find the shell handle of the door that led to the selkie’s underwater world. Grasping it, he pulled and immediately felt himself being sucked through, into a flash of bright emerald-green light. The light was blinding, the soundthat filled his ears rushing. His lungs felt fit to burst.
    Then a change came over him, and Magnus Fin could breathe under the sea. And though the beam of light from Tarkin’s torch penetrated downwards through the water, it was nothing to the light that shone out from the blue pupils of Magnus Fin’s eyes. He blinked, and brilliant silvery beams of light stretched through the sea.
    He kicked and dived deeper. A thrill shot through his whole body. I’m home again , he thought, I’m home under the sea! And the fear that had weighed on him all day was gone.
    Through the swirling water Fin spied a tiny crab. It was clinging to the other side of the rock door and appeared to be waiting for him. For a second the crab looked up at Fin then scuttled off, across the rock and through the water, its small legs paddling frantically like oars. A shudder of recognition ran through Fin as he pushed himself away from the black rock. Was this the crab he had last seen heading into the debris of the monster’s awful crumbling palace?
    The crab stopped paddling and turned around. That’s right , he said, answering Fin’s thoughts. We meet again .
    Perhaps it was the memory of how brave this crab had been during his last mission, but Fin instantly trusted it.
    For such a tiny thing it moved fast. Fin kicked his feet and stretched his arms wide, gliding forward. The crab darted in and out between fronds of seaweed. Sometimes the crab shot a glance behind to make sure Magnus Fin was following. He was. He didn’t know what else to do. Fin had forgotten how easily he moved through the water. What a sense of freedom he felt to bedeep under the sea again. Forests of algae and seaweed waved to him like long lost friends. The fish that swam past seemed to flick their tails in welcome. His selkie heart thrilled. As Magnus Fin swam on and gazed around him, he wondered why he had felt afraid of this wonderful watery world.
    This is the best place ever , Fin thought, gliding onwards, kicking his feet and smiling from ear to ear.

Chapter 8
    Still following the sometimes scuttling, sometimes paddling crab, Magnus Fin dived deeper. Now he found himself swimming through a long valley. Just like on the land, so under the sea there were rocks, mountains, forests and valleys. On the sandy floor of this valley a forest of kelp swayed to and fro with the tide. Fin swam above it, brushing the seaweed tips with his feet. He felt how the current rocked him from side to side. It was no good trying to resist it. Quickly he learnt to move with the rhythm of the water, like