Claire’s heart still raced, but her thoughts ran quicker. Could the girl actually be some sort of sea monster? In Arden, the world had a tendency to shift and change. Friends turned into enemies. Rocks became evil queens. And a sister could stand in front of her one moment and be replaced by a giant, human-eating spider the next. Taking a deep breath, she tried to pull herself together. After all, sudden changes could also happen in the world of Windemere Manor, too. One moment, Sophie had been fine and healthy, just like any other seventh grader, and the next … she wasn’t.

As her eyes adjusted to the night, Claire could begin to make out the features of her partner in escape. She was shorter than Claire, though her hair was twice as long. It fell almost to her tailbone in a curtain of braids, loops, and twists. And even in the dark, Claire could see pops of canary yellow and bright pink where thread had been woven into her hair.

There could be no doubt about it: the girl was a Spinner.

Worry squeezed Claire. She wasn’t sure what to do next. On the one hand, she should leave now, before this little Spinner got a good look at her and realized Claire did not belong. That she was a Gemmer. But on the other hand … Claire couldn’t just leave. Especially when the girl appeared so young.

“Hey,” Claire whispered, keeping her voice low and soothing as she scooted a couple of inches closer. “What’s your name? Are you all right?”

The girl sat up and gazed at Claire with wide eyes. For a second, Claire was scared the girl would burst into tears, but in the next second, she let out a whoop of what could only be called delight.

“All right?” The girl flung her hands out wide, as though to embrace Claire, the beach, the entire world. “This has been the best night ever! Kay is never going to believe what we did! Needle’s eye, I barely believe what we did! Can you believe what we did?”

It was what Mom would have called a rhetorical question, because the girl didn’t wait for Claire to answer. “We escaped an unmasked Spyden! And look!” She thrust her hand under Claire’s nose. A swath of silk clung to her palm. “There’s so much of it!” She glanced at Claire, and her eyes widened even more. “And there’s so much on you! Do you mind?”

And before Claire could respond, the girl had reached out and yanked. A sound like Velcro ripped across the water as a long strip came reluctantly away from Claire, as though the sticky strands were sad to let go of her warmth.