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“Of course, ain before it’s too late”

“Buthow do I find you?” Shelly asked, staring at her own reflection in the foggedto a sink, with nobody else around “How do I get back there?”

But the voice fell silent

Then the sinks abruptly shut off The water that had cascaded onto the floor ran down the drain No se, dise to her

But drawn in the condensation on the

The nautilus! Of course!

If Shelly touched the nautilus again, it would transport her back to the undersea lair

Feeling excited, Shelly fixed her gaze on the swirl That was the answer That was the way to solve all her problems She could keep her friends—and win her next race She could pay Judy back for the eet the trophy and have the celebratory party!

Shelly took a deep breath She knehat she had to do

She just had to hurry—before her time ran out

After dinner out with the swim team, Kendall’s mom dropped Shelly off As soon as she’d closed the door behind her, Shelly darted through the townhouse, zigzagging around the furniture, through the kitchen, down the hall, and into her rooet back to Ursula’s lair before her time to make her wish ran out She dove for the hamper, which was shoved into the closet and stuffed with her dirty clothes, and started pawing through it, feeling for soh soft, cru the botto

The nautilus wasn’t there

“Where is it?” she said in frustration, wheeling around This was her one chance to fix everything in her life She had to find that shell Her eyes darted to the clock Over an hour had elapsed since she was in the locker roohthtmare that apparently wasn’t a drea the shell into her ha for school

Then she saw a note pinned to her mirror

Scrawled in crayon was Dawson’s terrible chicken scratch: I KNEW YOU STOLE IT, SHELL-FISH! YOU’RE NEVER GETTING IT BACK NOW!