6 THE MERHORSES

CHAPTER 6 THE MERHORSES Mom and I hurried through the snack that Dad and "Plop" had made. Pip sat on my head. He kept fidgeting, which was very distracting. "I think Zoey and I are going to head back to the stream," said Mom. "I'd like to see if we can find the source of the pollution." "Absolutely," Dad said. "I'll come with you guys. Three pairs of eyes are better than two, right?"

Mom and I exchanged worried looks. Pip wanted to take us to the merhorses so we could talk to them. How could we do that with my dad there? It would look like we were talking to air again. After our conversation with Pip earlier, it might be too much for Dad. Mom's eyes lit up. "That would be great! Why don't you and I go upstream, and Zoey can go downstream. We'll meet again at the middle?" We all agreed on Mom's plan and went back to the stream. Unlike my usual trips to the stream, this time I had a frog sitting cross-legged on my head. The trail ended at the stream, and I stopped to take my shoes and socks off and roll up my pants. My parents walked upstream. "The merhorses live over there. Let's go!" Pip said as he wiggled nervously. I plucked him off my head. "Hey!" he pouted. "I can't see where you're pointing," I whispered. "Here, ride on my shoulder instead." "The merhorses live over there," he repeated. This time, I could see him point toward the other side of the stream from where I had been looking for

bugs this morning. Wait a minute. Wasn't that where I had seen that mysterious rainbow light earlier? Maybe I hadn't been imagining it after all! I gave Sassafras a quick pet, and then carefully crossed the stream with Pip on my shoulder. "We need to get over there to that log," Pip directed me. "You can sit on the shore there, and I'll dive down to get the merhorses." "Get them from where?" I asked. "From their rainbow cave, of course," replied Pip. "Rainbow cave?" I breathed. "Oh, right!" Pip clapped a webbed hand to his head. "You've never even seen a merhorse. Yes, they live deep down in the stream in hidden caves they built with rainbow stones." "Wait a minute, are you telling me there are rainbow stones in our stream?" My heart beat a little faster at the thought. "Well, yes and no," Pip said. "They aren't just lying around, if that's what you're thinking. When a merhorse finds a stone that's the right size and shape, it carries it back to the cave in its mouth.

Then the merhorse uses magic to enchant the stone to shimmer in all the colors of the rainbow." "Their caves sound amazing," I said dreamily. "That must be why they're hidden. I bet if the caves were near the top of the water, animals like raccoons could find them easily with that rainbow light

shining out." "Indeed," said Pip. "You're pretty smart for a human. You remind me a lot of your mother when she was your age. Ah, here we are. This log right here is the one we're looking for." I knelt on the sandy shore. Pip hopped off my shoulder and jumped in with a sploosh. I got down on my hands and put my face right by the water. He disappeared under the log, but if I held my head in the right place, I could make out some rays of rainbow light shimmering deep below. I wished I had brought my underwater viewer. Next time, I promised myself. Pip swam back into view. And something was following right behind him.