Summer of the Sea Serpent: A Merlin Mission

Queen. She had eight red glowing eyes. She had eight long, hairy legs. And she was
much
bigger than a dinner plate.
    The Spider Queen was bigger than Jack.

J ack grabbed Annie’s hand. “Whatever you do, don’t look up,” he said.
    Annie looked up.
    “AHHHHH!” she screamed. She started to leap off the ledge into the churning waters. But then another wave crashed wildly against the walls.
    Jack held Annie back. “Don’t jump!” he shouted. “You’ll drown!”
    Above the sound of the rushing waters, a loud whisper echoed around the cave:
Stay!Stay! Stay!
The Spider Queen was staring down at them with her eight red eyes.
    As Jack and Annie stared back in horror, the giant spider shot a web strand as thick as a rope straight toward them. Jack and Annie ducked. The strand stuck to the wall.
    “What’s she doing?” cried Annie.
    “I don’t know!” said Jack.
    He and Annie looked back up at the Spider Queen. She’d crawled a few feet closer to the crack in the wall. She stared down at them for a moment with her glowing eyes, then shot out another thick rope strand.
    “Watch out!” shouted Jack.
    He and Annie ducked.
    Thwack!
The second web rope stuck to the ledge just a few feet away from the first.
    “Oh, no! Look!” shrieked Annie. She pointed up at the cave ceiling.
    The monster spider was zigzagging betweenthe two strands of her web.
She was heading straight toward them.
    Jack and Annie screamed and pressed themselves against the wall. “We have to leave!” cried Annie. But before they could make a move, another wave crashed into the cave! The water swirled with ferocious force around the chamber.
    “We can’t leave!” cried Jack.
    “We can’t stay!” cried Annie.
    Wait! Wait! Wait!
whispered the Spider Queen.
    The giant spider kept zigzagging between the two lines, spinning more web, coming closer and closer and closer to Jack and Annie.
    They watched in horror, unable to speak or move. But just when she came close enough to touch them, the Spider Queen turned and scurried back up to the ceiling, leaving a giant web ladder behind her.
    The Spider Queen stared down at Jack and Annie with her eight red eyes.
Climb! Climb! Climb!
she whispered from her spot on the ceiling.
    “I think she wants to help us!” said Jack.
    “No! She wants to trap us!” said Annie.
    The spider whispered again:
Climb! Climb! Climb!
    Something about her voice made Jack feel certain the Spider Queen wanted to help. “She doesn’t want to hurt us!” he said. “She wants to help us escape! Besides, we don’t have any choice!”
    The water was rising higher and higher over their ledge. It was swirling above their ankles now.
    “We have to climb her web!” said Jack. “I’ll go first!”
    He reached up and grabbed one of the spider ropes. It felt damp and sticky. He pulled himself onto the bottom strands of the web ladder.
    “Grab on!” he shouted to Annie above the roar of the water. “We have to get to that crack in the ceiling!”
    Annie grabbed one of the web ropes. “Eww!” she said. “It’s gross!”
    “Just climb!” said Jack.
    Holding tightly to the sticky strands, Jack and Annie began making their way up the Spider Queen’s web ladder. The web swayed and stretched, but it was sturdy enough to hold their weight. Its stickiness kept them from slipping and falling.
    Crawling and climbing, they moved higher and higher above the crashing waters. As they drew near the crack in the ceiling, Jack kept his eyes on the Spider Queen. She was watching them carefully.
    Finally Jack reached the ceiling crack. He swung to one side of the web ladder, putting himself between Annie and the giant spider.
    “You go first,” he said.

    “Okay,” said Annie. She grabbed the rocky edge of the opening and stuck her head out of the crack. “There’s nowhere to go but into the water!” she called.
    “How far down is it?” said Jack.
    “Pretty far!” said Annie. “But I think we can make it!”
    “Wait—” said Jack.
    But Annie was already squeezing herself through the crack.
    “Annie, be careful!” said Jack.
    Splash!
    “Oh, man,” said Jack. He gripped the edge ofthe crack. Then he glanced back at the Spider Queen.
    Her glowing red eyes peered out at him from the shadows.
Go! Go! Go!
she whispered.
    Jack smiled at her. “Thanks!” he said.
    Go!
the Spider Queen whispered again.
    Jack pulled himself out of the darkness onto a narrow rocky ledge. The bright sun sparkled on the blue water of