Read Online Deep Trouble by R. L. Stine - Free Book Online Page B

do?” Sheena asked.
    “We’ll just make sure she gets away safely,” Dr. D. replied. “Then we’ll slip
away. The kidnappers will never know we were here.”
    We watched the mermaids struggle with the rope as our dinghy washed up
against the kidnappers’ boat.
    “Come on, mermaids!” Sheena urged under her breath. “Hurry!”
    “Maybe they need some help,” I said.
    Dr. D. began to steer toward the mermaids.
    I gasped as a light flared on the kidnappers’ boat. A match set flame to a
torch.
    An angry voice boomed, “What do you think you’re doing?”

 
 
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    I ducked away as the flaming torch was thrust in my face.
    Behind the torch, I could see the kidnapper glaring down at me. He had
quickly pulled on his black mask. It covered only the top of his face.
    I heard a clambering sound, cries of surprise. Alexander and the other three
kidnappers appeared on the deck.
    “How did you get here?” demanded the man with the torch. “Why aren’t you
dead?”
    “We’ve come for the mermaid,” Dr. D. called up to him. “You can’t keep her
here!”
    The torch swung past my head. I stood up in the dinghy and took a swipe at
it, trying to knock it into the water.
    “Billy, no!” cried Dr. D.
    The kidnapper pulled the torch away. I fell forward in the dinghy, toppling
over on Sheena.
    “Give us back the mermaid!” Dr. D. demanded.
    “Finders, keepers,” the kidnapper muttered. “You’ve made a long trip for
nothing. And now look—your boat is on fire.”
    He lowered the torch to the dinghy and set it aflame.

 
 
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    The flames flared up, bright orange and yellow against the blue-black sky.
They spread quickly across the front of the dinghy.
    Sheena uttered a terrified scream and tried to back away from the flames.
    In a panic, she started to leap into the water—but Dr. D. pulled her back.
“Don’t leave the boat! You’ll drown!”
    The fire crackled. The bright flames shot higher.
    Dr. D. grabbed a yellow life jacket from the bottom of the dinghy and started
frantically beating out the fire.
    “Billy—get a life jacket!” he yelled. “Sheena—find the bucket. Throw
water on the flames—hurry!”
    I found a life jacket and beat at the flames. Sheena dumped seawater on them
as fast as she could.
    Over the crackling flames, I heard Alexander shout, “Get the mermaid aboard. Let’s get out of here!”
    “Dr. D.!” I cried. “They’re getting away!”
    Then I heard the kidnappers yelling. “The mermaid! Where’s the mermaid?”
    I turned to the side of the boat. The mermaid was gone. Her friends had freed
her.
    One of the kidnappers reached down from his boat and grabbed me. “What did
you do with the mermaid?” he demanded.
    “Let him go!” shouted Dr. D.
    I tried to squirm away from the kidnapper. He held me tight. Then I saw
another kidnapper swing a club at Dr. D.’s head.
    Dr. D. dodged the club. The kidnapper tried to hit him in the stomach. Dr. D.
dodged again.
    I kicked and squirmed. Sheena tugged at the kidnapper’s hands, trying to help
me escape.
    The third kidnapper picked her up by the wrists and threw her to the floor of
the dinghy.
    “Let go of the kids!” pleaded Dr. D. “Alexander! Help us!”
    Alexander didn’t move from his spot on the deck. He stood with his brawny
arms crossed in front of him, calmly watching the fight.
    The flames had nearly been quenched, but they suddenly flared up again.
    “Sheena—the fire!” I cried. “Put out the fire!”
    She grabbed the bucket and poured seawater everywhere.
    One of the kidnappers kicked the bucket from her hands. It landed in the
water with a splash.
    Sheena picked up a life jacket and beat the last of the flames out.
    “Drop down into their boat and toss them in the water!” I heard a kidnapper
shout up above.
    A man started to lower himself to our dinghy. But suddenly he lurched
forward, his arms flailing. He let out a cry of surprise as his boat began to
rock violently to the