The Complete Adventures on Nim’s Island

by Wendy Orr

  Fred stared hard.

  ‘You’re right!’ Nim said. ‘The important thing is to find her – we can figure out how to escape once we’re all together.’

  The next deck up was the Flamingo, where two long-legged pink birds stood in a shallow pond inside their narrow cage. People at white tables sipped drinks while others whooshed screaming down the waterslide into the Sea Lion Deck pool. Nim thought about how much Selkie would love the slide. Fred tickled under her chin to say he’d like to try it, too.

  Upstairs, at the very top of the ship, there was only a half deck, where joggers in shorts ran on a track through an aviary of eagles.

  ‘So now we have to go down,’ Nim said. She decided to take the elevator – and even though her stomach still flip-flopped, it wasn’t quite so bad now that she knew it was going to happen.

  They went down past the Flamingo and Sea Lion Decks, past the Armadillo Deck where the Kids’ Klub was, and got out on the Toucan Deck. It had a path outside, where people leaned over the railing to gaze out to sea, and inside it was full of cabins, with a hall down the middle.

  In every hall was a cage with the animals the deck was named after. After the toucan were chinchillas, and then parrots, but the one that made Nim feel the saddest and sickest of all was the cage with six frightened baby spider monkeys.

  But on the Monkey Deck, down the outside path on each side of the ship, was a row of lifeboats hoisted high on strong steel frames, with a cover like a little roof on top of each one. Most were big enough to hold lots of people, but in the middle was a small, inflatable motorboat, like the one that had picked her up this morning, with a canvas cover on top. Exactly like the one that had seal-napped Selkie.

  Nim whistled her shell whistle again, loud and clear under the boat, and again under the one on the other side of the ship.

  There was no answer, not the slightest thump or whuffle.

  Nim ran on down to the Butterfly Deck, which was full of rooms with things to buy, and rooms with food and drink – but most of all, full of people. Men and women, old and young, fat and thin, bald and hairy, in bathing suits and white uniforms, in shorts and T-shirts and long silk dresses. People, people, people! Nim thought. It was like being in the middle of sunbaking sea lions, but noisier.

  She opened a door to a library full of books and quiet, but she couldn’t hide there until she’d found Selkie. Behind another door, amidst a room of smiling people, a woman with a long white dress and flowers in her hair was walking up the aisle to a man who looked so happy he was nearly crying.

  A wedding! Nim thought. I’m seeing a real wedding!

  She felt like crying too, but not because she was happy.

  Nim and Fred looked in cafés and restaurants, beauty salons and barbershops, dress shops and pyjama shops, sports shops and toy shops. On the next deck, they watched a cougar snarling as it paced its cramped cage in a room with bright lights and red velvet. They searched in video arcades, piano bars and theatres. They were back down on the deck where they’d come on board, but there was still no sign of Selkie.

  Fred rubbed his spiky back against Nim’s neck.

  ‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘We’ll find her. We just have to keep going.’

  DOWN THE STAIRS Nim ran, past the Piranha Deck where Kylie’s cabin was, down to the lowest deck of all.

  There weren’t any people on this deck; the engine’s deep rumble was louder and thumped more strongly through her feet, with a smell that reminded her of the seaplane. And instead of a painting of an animal at the bottom of the stairs, this sign said:

  CREW ONLY! NO PASSENGERS ALLOWED!

  Nim put on her Troppo Tourist jacket.

  A man in grey overalls came out of a doorway. ‘What are you doing here?’ he demanded.

  ‘I’m … I’m taking him back to the Professor,’ Nim said, pointing to Fred on her shoulder.

  ‘His door’s behind you.’

  ‘Thanks!’ said Nim, hoping he wouldn’t hear her heart, which was thumping as hard as her feet on the steel floor. She turned to the door that said:

  FOUNDATION FOR RESEARCH ON INTELLIGENT, UNIQUE AND INTERESTING ANIMALS DANGER: KEEP OUT.

  Nim went in.

  THE ROOM WAS full of cages and sad smells. There were parrots, songbirds, lizards, spider monkeys, a tank of tropical fish – and Selkie, lying in a cage beside an old bathtub full of dirty seawater.

  Nim raced across the room, yanked open the cage door and threw herself onto the sea lion, hugging and kissing her, rubbing her head and tickling her whiskers. Selkie whuffled and opened her eyes.

  ‘It’s okay, Selkie,’ Nim whispered. ‘I’ve come to—’ but before she could finish the sentence, a deep voice snarled, ‘Hey! What are you doing here?’

  Nim looked up at a tall pale man with steel blue eyes. Nim didn’t recognise him, but Jack would have, and so would Alex. The Professor had been on the Troppo Tourist boat that scared Nim’s mother’s whale to the bottom of the sea, and on the one that had dropped off Alex and her tiny boat in the terrible storm when Jack was lost at sea and Alex came to rescue Nim.

  All Nim knew was that he was the person who’d seal-napped Selkie. She was as angry as Fire Mountain before it erupted.

  But she also knew she’d never get Selkie out of here if she let that fire escape.

  ‘Are you the Professor?’ she asked.

  He nodded. ‘How did you get down here?’

  ‘I want to work with the animals,’ said Nim.

  The Professor laughed. ‘Let me guess: your mum’s on the crew, she smuggled you on board, and now you’re bored!’

  Nim nodded as if he’d guessed her secret.

  ‘What’s your mum’s name?’

  ‘Alex,’ said Nim, and then she felt even worse. Her mother’s name had been Joni.

  ‘And will she think it’s a good idea for you to be snooping around down here?’

  ‘She knows I like learning about animals,’ Nim said quickly. ‘And … and I thought you’d like to see this marine iguana.’ Fred stared fiercely.

  ‘That,’ said the Professor, ‘is the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen. Luckily, some people like ugly. Find an empty cage and stick it in.’

  Fred tucked himself tighter around Nim’s neck.

  ‘HE’S NOT GOING IN A CAGE!’ Nim said. ‘Animals don’t belong in cages!’

  The Professor’s voice was like ice. ‘The Foundation for Research into Intelligent, Unique and Interesting Animals helps animals from all over the world. The most intelligent, unique or interesting will go to millionaires’ homes – I mean, be relocated in appropriate environments – at the end of the cruise.’

  ‘But … the iguana could learn to be even more intelligent, unique and interesting if he stays with me!’

  The Professor shrugged. ‘Suit yourself – as long as you remember that all the animals on this ship are the property of the Foundation. But if you want to tame him, I guess I can allow that.’

  ‘We’ve already put on a show for the Kids’ Klub.’

  He laughed, a thin sort of laugh. ‘So you fancy yourself a mini-Professor, do you? Think you could take over my job of giving animal lectures to the passengers?’

  ‘No, no, of course not! It was just a little show for the kids. But I could help you … I’ve even worked with sea lions before. I bet I could teach that one all sorts of tricks!’

  ‘That sea lion,’ the Professor said, ‘is a mean, vicious beast. It tried to bite me when I rescued it. It’ll be more cooperative after a few days with no food.’

  Nim felt as if someone had thrown a coconut hard against her stomach. She took a deep breath. ‘Think, think!’ she told herself. ‘All that matters is helping Selkie!’

  ‘Sea Lion,’ she announced to the cage, ‘your name is … Selkie! Selkie, come out!’

  ‘You can’t do that!’ the Professor bellowed as he jumped out of Selkie’s way.

  ‘Selkie,’ Nim began.

  The Professor grabbed a long whip from t
he corner of the room.

  Nim looked around wildly. There was nowhere to hide. ‘Don’t you hit her!’ she screamed, and leapt in front of her friend.

  ‘We’ll get out of this somehow,’ she whispered to Selkie. ‘Just do what I say, even if it seems stupid.’

  ‘Get away from her,’ the Professor snarled.

  Nim ignored him. ‘Selkie: handstand!’

  Selkie raised herself on her front flippers, and did her best handstand.

  What next? Nim thought, desperately.

  Fred scurried across to Selkie. He rolled himself into a ball.

  ‘Oh, Fred!’ said Nim.

  Fred rolled himself tighter.

  ‘Selkie,’ said Nim. ‘Soccer!’

  Selkie sat thinking with her head on one side, the way she did when something was tricky. Nim always shouted at her when she threw Fred instead of the coconut when they played soccer, and Fred always sulked.

  ‘Soccer!’ Nim said again.

  Selkie flicked Fred up with her nose, and threw him neatly to Nim. He climbed tight around Nim’s neck again.

  ‘Thank you!’ said Nim. ‘Now, give me a kiss.’

  Selkie waddled over and whiskery-kissed Nim on the cheek.

  The Professor’s eyes opened wide with surprise. He smiled as he put down his whip. ‘Okay, girlie, you can help.’

  JACK SAT ON Selkie’s Rock till his shadow stretched dark across the beach – but the little red seaplane never came back, and neither did Nim.

  ‘Nim!’ Jack called, walking home to the new hut the three of them had built together. Nim and Jack’s previous home had been blown away by the terrible storm. ‘Nim! Dinner time!’

  The only answer was a honk from a sea lion. Jack couldn’t tell whether or not it was Selkie.

  ‘Nim!’ he called again. ‘Nim!’

  She wasn’t at the hut. She wasn’t on Turtle Beach or Shell Beach, or at the rainforest pool or the vegetable garden, or on Sea Lion Rocks at Keyhole Cove.

  She knows Alex has gone! Jack thought. She doesn’t want to see me because I somehow drove Alex away. Poor Nim!

  He climbed up to the Emergency Cave, because he thought she might hide there if she really didn’t want to see him.

  There were fresh footprints on the floor, but no Nim. And that’s when Jack really started to worry.

  ALEX SAT so long in the Sunshine Island waiting room that the sea outside the window had turned black. Suddenly the ship floated into the harbour with its lights twinkling like a fairy-tale castle.

  Alex didn’t care about fairy tales. She just wanted to go to her cabin, lock the door, and not come out till she got to the other side of the world.

  THERE WERE NO portholes in the Animal Room, but Nim felt the engines stop, and the ship bump gently against a wharf.

  Now we can escape! Nim thought, rubbing Selkie’s head in a get-ready way. Fred was already tucked tight on her shoulder, worn out after his busy day.

  ‘Okay, kid,’ said the Professor. ‘Time to get that sea lion back into its cage.’

  ‘But …’

  The Professor pointed his whip at her. ‘Let’s get things straight. Out of the goodness of my heart, I’m going to let you help me with the animals. But if you don’t do exactly what I say, when I say it, I’ll have to tell the Captain that your mum brought a stowaway on board. He’ll have to tell the police, and you and Alex will have to go to jail.’

  Nim nodded.

  Nim hugged Selkie, hard, and it felt like the second worst thing she’d ever done.

  Selkie slid slowly into her cage.

  ‘Now, scram. I don’t want your mum snooping around here looking for you.’

  ‘She wouldn’t do that!’ Nim spluttered, though she didn’t know if she was defending her mother or Alex.

  The Professor laughed, pushed her out the door, and locked it behind him.

  There was nothing Nim could do but walk back up the hall and up the stairs as if she knew where she was going.

  ‘Fred,’ she whispered, when they were alone. ‘What are we going to do?’

  Fred made his hungry face, which wasn’t any help at all.

  Nim got into the elevator, pushed the Armadillo button, and went back to the Kids’ Klub. No one was there. Nim and Fred curled up in a chair to share the banana in her pocket – but she’d seen two women cleaning the Troppo Tots’ room next door, and Nim knew that if they came in here they’d tell her to get out and go back to her cabin. Even with Fred on her shoulder Nim felt alone, very small, and very, very frightened. She needed to find somewhere safe to sleep.

  An empty soft drink bottle rolled out from under a chair.

  Nim thought of how she and Jack always checked bottles when they drifted in with the tide. ‘There might be a message,’ Jack always said. So far, there never had been – but they liked imagining that someday there might be.

  Paper and pencils were stacked on a desk. Nim peeked out the door: the women were still washing the Troppo Tots’ floor. She had maybe a minute before they found her.

  Dear Jack

  The Troppo Tourists have seal-napped Selkie. Fred and I are on the ship too. We will rescue Selkie as soon as we can but she is locked up tonight.

  I’m very, very sorry I made Alex leave.

  Love (as much as Selkie loves fish)

  Nim

  Nim walked slowly down the stairs to the next deck, around the walkway that ran right around the ship, and then down to the next and the one after that, because she didn’t know where to go or what else to do. She could see lights on the wharf and in the houses behind it, as if everyone had a torch or candles in their windows. It looked like a scene out of a fairy tale.

  Other people were looking out too, leaning on the railings and chatting. Some of them smiled and said hello, but Nim kept on walking around to the other side of the ship. No one was on that side because there was nothing to look at except the black and empty sea, and nothing to do unless you were a lonely Nim throwing her message-in-a-bottle far into the darkness, hoping the waves would float it to Jack.

  She went down the stairs again, to the Monkey Deck, where the lifeboats were. She stopped under the smaller, inflatable motorboat.

  ‘Hang on, Fred,’ said Nim.

  Swinging upside down like a nimble monkey-girl, Nim scrambled up the frame and onto the boat, unclipped one end of the canvas cover and slid inside. Then she pulled out four life jackets to make a mattress and pillow, and curled up.

  Fred went straight to sleep, but Nim kept seeing Selkie locked in her cage, and Alex flying away on the plane, and Jack coming happily back from unloading his solar panels to find Alex gone. She didn’t know how she was going to save Selkie, or where they were going to end up, or how they were going to live on this ship.

  For the first time since she was a baby, Nim cried herself to sleep.

  NIM WAS SO tired, and the canvas lifeboat cover kept the light out so well, that she didn’t wake up till long after the sun was up and the ship was back out at sea.

  She opened her eyes, peeked quickly over the edge of the lifeboat – and ducked down even faster, because a boy was coming out of the cabin in front of her.

  Nim settled back down to wait. Fred made a hungry face, so she dug through all her pockets to see what she could find: a pencil and a very soggy notebook, a green stone, five ankle bands for birds visiting the island, a small bamboo cup, a few strands of seaweed … and the map Alex had drawn.

  She gave Fred the seaweed and, very gently, spread Alex’s map out on the seat. It was torn on the fold lines and a bit faded.

  ‘You’ll be grounded all the way to New York,’ Kylie had said when they pulled Nim out of the sea. New York was where Alex’s editor was – the one person in the world who would know where Alex was now.

  ‘Oh, Fred, we’re going to rescue Selkie, find Alex – and bring us all together again!’ she whispered. ‘All we have to do is stay on the ship till the end of the trip – without getting caught.’

  Then the
re was a thump, and a bump, and a boy slithered into Nim’s boat.

  NIM AND THE boy stared at each other.

  Fred and the boy stared at each other.

  ‘Ben!’ a girl called. ‘What are you doing?’

  Ben didn’t answer.

  ‘I’m coming up too!’

  Nim’s boat rocked again, and Erin slithered in.

  ‘Be quiet!’ Ben hissed. ‘She’s a stowaway!’

  ‘I thought you were the Professor’s kid!’

  ‘I didn’t mean to stow away,’ Nim said, ‘but the Professor kidnapped Selkie.’

  ‘Kidnapped!’ Erin and Ben whispered together, crouching closer towards her in the bottom of the lifeboat.

  I shouldn’t have told them! Nim thought. Now Selkie will stay in that cage forever.

  ‘Who’s Selkie?’ asked Erin.

  ‘How are you going to rescue her all by yourself?’ asked Ben.

  SO NIM TOLD them her story. It was hard for Erin and Ben to believe, but they knew it was true.

  ‘We’ll help!’ said Erin.

  ‘It’s not going to be easy,’ said Nim. ‘We need to make a plan.’

  ‘But first, we all need breakfast,’ said Ben. Fred lifted his head and stared. He liked this Ben.

  ‘You exit first, Ben,’ said Erin. ‘No one’s ever surprised to see you popping out of strange places.’

  With a quick peek over the edge, Ben swung down, and a second later rapped twice on the metal frame to say the coast was clear. Erin followed. After a while there were two more raps, and Nim climbed out too. Erin was waiting at the open door of the cabin; Nim could see a man and a woman disappearing down the stairs with two small girls and Ben.

  ‘Come inside, quick!’ Erin whispered.

  This cabin was bigger and fancier than Kylie’s, with two beds and two sets of drawers and lamps, a desk and wardrobe.

  ‘This is Ben’s and mine,’ Erin said. ‘Mum and Dad and the twins are in the cabin next door – but they’ve gone to breakfast now, so we’ll be okay.’ She opened the wardrobe. ‘I’ve got some clothes for you.’