Ingo

1. Ingo By: Helen Dunmore Rewritten By: Emily Mills

2. “Dad is not dead; he’s just missing,” Saphire demands. “I’m going to find him so don’t try to stop me!” “I won’t,” Saphire’s brother, Conner replies, “as long as you let me help you.” Saphire smiles, “O.K.” The two set off down the path toward the cliff and to the ocean.

3. The next day, while Conner is at his friend’s house, Saphire goes to look for Dad by the ocean. There, she meets a Mer whose name is Faro. Faro takes her to the underwater land of Ingo, where Merlive, and teaches her how to breath underwater. Together, they have wonderful adventures.

4. Conner was getting worried about the time Saphire was spending in Ingo. “You’re becoming part of Ingo. That’s not good for you, Saphy,” Conner would utter. One day, he decided to take Saphire to Granny Carne. It is said Granny Carne knows all and has helped many people with their problems. Granny Carne agreed with Conner, “ You need to stay away from Ingo or you will be lost forever.” “Whatever!” Saphire thought.

5. The next day, when Saphire was about to go to Ingo, Sadie, a lab puppy that Saphire just adored, came down the path and stopped her. Instead of going to Ingo, Saphiredecided to take Sadie home and spend the day with her there.

6. When Saphire arrived home, she found Mom having lunch with a man named Roger. Saphire was furious about her mom’s new boyfriend. Roger was a diver which made Saphire hate him even more because Faro hated divers. Faro hated divers because he thought they spied on Ingo and poked around where they shouldn’t be. Saphire was also worried that Roger would take the place of her missing dad forever!

7. One day,Conner goes with Saphire to Ingo. Faro shows them a secret spot by some enormous rocks called the Bawns. This place was where the Mer who are really old and sick lay down to die. Protecting this area were giant gray seals called bulls. Suddenly, two Divers appeared in the water, Roger and his partner, Gray. “They’re after the hull of a ship near the Bawns because it’s filled with gold,” Faro explained. But the divers didn’t get very far because the big gray seals attacked them. Conner and Saphire decided to save the two divers.

8. Saphireand Conner heaved the divers into the diving boat and were relieved when they found out the divers were still alive. Then, Saphire and Conner turn to face Faro and said their very last good-byes. Faro disappeared under the water. Saphire and Conner steered the diving boat back to the shore feeling very depressed.

9. That night, Roger slept on the couch. When Saphire woke up and came down stairs, Roger told her about a dream he had during the night. The “dream” was exactly what had happened to him the day before. In his “dream,” Saphirehad saved his life. Saphire blushed; it had been Conner’s idea to save him, not hers. Conner was the one he should be thanking.

10. From that day on, Saphire didn’t think Roger was so bad. He even tried to convince Mom to let Saphirekeep Sadie as her pet. After a while, Saphire got to know Roger and they became great friends.

11. One afternoon, Saphire was working in the garden (which had been untended since her dad had disappeared) with Sadie by her side. Sadie wasn’t her pet yet, but Saphire knew Sadie would be her pet soon. When suddenly, the golden afternoon light turned…

12. turquoise blue! Then a shadow appeared, and from the shadow came the words, “Myrghkerenza,” which is Merfor “Dear daughter.” Saphire knew only two people in the world who could say that: her mom or her dad. Her mom was at work and couldn’t speak Mer. This led Saphire to conclude that it was her dad! The turquoise blue light faded back to gold and the shadow disappeared. Finally, Saphire truly knew her dad was alive, alive in Ingo.