by Wendy Orr
‘I could slide,’ said Tiffany.
‘No,’ said everyone else. They’d all seen Tiffany’s face when her foot had bumped into things on the trail.
‘Remember in Passage to Patagonia, when the tribe is carrying the wounded warrior through the jungle?’ said Edmund.
‘Perfect!’ said Nim.
‘I just made it up,’ said Alex. ‘I don’t know if it’ll work.’ With her pocketknife, Nim cut two lengths of thick, strong vines. They wove them through the ends of the fishing net to make handles.
Tiffany slid off Selkie’s side onto the net. Tristan handed her their sleeping brother, and Tiffany wrapped her arms tight around him.
Then Nim and Edmund took the front handles, and Alex and Tristan took the back. Nim and Edmund clambered down the first rock, towing the stretcher behind them, while Alex and Tristan steadied, stretched and lowered it to them.
Boulder by boulder, balance by balance, they climbed on down.
They were just about halfway when they heard a noise. The sound of a boat engine starting.
There was nothing else it could be, but they went on hoping. There was nothing else they could do, so they kept on going.
But the boat was gone.
THEY ALL SLUMPED onto the rocks. Taking the fishing boat back to the camp had seemed such a perfect idea that they hadn’t worked out another one.
Tiffany slid off the stretcher and dozed on the rocks, still holding her sleeping brother on her stomach.
‘What do we do now?’ Tristan asked. He didn’t really expect anyone to answer, and for a long time no one did. Because carrying Tiffany down a rocky cliff on a stretcher had been hard enough. Carrying her safely back up again, or over the crazy tumbled boulders of the Black Rocks, was impossible.
‘We should have waited at the Emergency Cave,’ Nim said. ‘At least Tiff would have been out of the sun.’
Tiffany woke up at the word cave. ‘Lance and Leonora talked about wrecking Jack’s lab – what if they come back with more dynamite to blow up that cave too?’
‘We’ve got to get Tiff out of here,’ said Tristan. ‘We’ll just have to take her over the rocks on the stretcher.’
‘Alex,’ said Nim, ‘do you remember the experiment you asked about the first time you wrote to Jack?’
‘Of course I remember! It saved my life.’
‘And Jack’s.’
Selkie barked happily, remembering too.
Tristan and Edmund stared back and forth, confused. ‘Where are the nearest?’ Alex asked.
Nim grabbed the net and jumped to her feet. ‘I’ll need help to bring them back!’
She raced to the rocks at the far side of the cove.
‘I guess we’ll find out when we get there,’ Edmund said to Tristan, and they followed her.
Selkie swam around to meet them, and Alex stayed behind with Tiffany and Ollie, watching while they slept.
On the other side of the rocks, there was a patch of white sand like a giant sandbox. It was dotted with round ball shapes, because four palm trees were growing in the sand, and the heavy rain had knocked their ripest coconuts down.
‘Revenge of the Raft!’ Edmund exclaimed. ‘The Hero got the idea when a coconut nearly hit him on the head after the Bad Guys threw him off his boat!’
‘We don’t have time to talk about books!’ Tristan shouted. ‘We’ve got to get my sister somewhere safe!’
‘That’s what we’re doing,’ said Edmund, dumping a coconut into the net.
Nim was already halfway up the first tree. ‘Watch out while I throw!’
‘This is crazy,’ Tristan muttered, but he started snatching up coconuts too.
Edmund dragged the net down closer to the water before it got too heavy to move. With Nim throwing coconuts down and the boys picking up, it didn’t take long to fill the net.
‘Twenty-seven!’ Edmund counted, as he pulled the drawstring rope to close the net into a bag. Tristan helped him push it into the water, and Nim tied the end of the rope onto the strap around Selkie’s shoulders.
Then, with Nim on Selkie’s back and the boys on the coconut raft, they rounded the point and landed on the rocks in front of Tiffany, Ollie and Alex.
THE BREEZE WAS fresh; the first gold threads of sunset danced in the sky and the mirror of the sea. Jack’s sails filled and his boat skimmed across the waves. Ahead of them the island grew steadily bigger, and the bigger it grew the more beautiful it became.
‘Paradise!’ exclaimed Anika and Ryan.
‘Home, sweet home,’ Jack started to say.
That was when he saw something that shouldn’t have been there: a fast-moving shape between them and the island.
‘Take the tiller!’ he told Anika, as he leapt into the cabin. His satellite phone was flashing; he grabbed it too and swung back out with the binoculars to his eyes.
‘Your boat’s leaving!’
‘It can’t leave without us!’ Ryan spluttered.
‘The kids wouldn’t do that!’ Anika protested.
They stopped when Jack read his message aloud:
Tiffany is stuck in a shaft in a cave. Edmund with her. Leonora and Lance trying to steal fossil. Nim gone to ask them for help; doesn’t know they are truly evil. I’m heading back to cave with Tristan and Ollie. PLEASE COME HOME FAST AS YOU CAN. Alex.
The time on the message was an hour and a half ago.
Jack pulled the extra sail out of its bag and rigged it to the top of the mast with the first. He tugged it out to the other side so that the two sails flew out like a frigate bird’s wings, catching every single breath of wind. The boat flew faster than it had ever sailed before.
THE COCONUT RAFT had just enough room for Alex and Tiffany to hold Ollie between them, and the boys to rest on the back and kick. Nim wanted to swim, but Selkie barked NO! because the rocks were sharp and the waves were rough on this side of the island. So she rode on Selkie’s back, which was what she liked doing best in all the world, except when they were towing five people, and one of those people was injured and another was a baby.
Selkie swam steadily the length of the Black Rocks, on past the steam drifting from the Hissing Stones and the jagged curve of Keyhole Cove. Now the waves were gentler and the water was a lighter, brighter blue. They passed the other sea lions basking in the sun. Soon Selkie would turn to weave her way through the maze of coral reef, and they would all be safe.
A deep rumble roared over the waves. The fishing boat crashed out through the reef. Leonora was steering with Lance behind her shouting instructions. They’d been back to the camp to get the rest of their things from the tent – and now they were heading straight for the raft.
‘Hang on!’ Nim screamed over her shoulder.
She clung tight to Selkie. The boat swerved so close that just before the wave swamped her, Nim saw the rage on Leonora’s face. She’s not beautiful at all! Nim thought, but then she was swept off Selkie, gasping and somersaulting, and couldn’t think about anything except getting back to the air.
She popped up beside the raft, ready to dive again. The boat’s wake was so violent she was sure Ollie would have fallen off.
‘Whee!’ shouted the little boy. ‘Can we do it again?’
Nim hoped he’d like it as much the second time. The boat was circling in a wide, wild loop and powering back towards them.
JACK POINTED THE sailboat tight into the wind, begging her for every bit of speed she had.
‘Maybe Tris and Alex are taking it to rescue Tiff,’ Anika said, but she didn’t believe it any more than Jack or Ryan did. How would they use a boat to get someone out of a tunnel?
As they watched through the binoculars, the boat turned, and then disappeared around Sea Lion Point.
‘Could the message be a joke?’ Ryan asked.
‘Alex Rover doesn’t joke about evil,’ said Jack. He hadn’t meant to say ‘Alex Rover’, he’d meant just to say ‘Alex’, but instead the whole line had slipped out. Nim had read it in a book review an
d they’d all thought it was so funny that it had become a regular saying between them.
It wasn’t funny now, though. He could see the look on Anika and Ryan’s faces: Is he crazy?
‘Alex lives on the island with us,’ Jack explained, blushing a little. ‘She didn’t want anyone to know. She wouldn’t have sent that message unless the danger was real.’
They were close enough now to see Shell Beach – but there was no boat in sight.
‘I don’t care about our boat!’ Anika exclaimed. ‘I just want to get to Tiffany.’
‘Where do you think the tunnel is?’ asked Ryan.
‘We’ll start near the Emergency Cave,’ said Jack. He pushed the tiller hard over to tack; the sails flapped as Ryan and Anika pulled them across to the other side. The sailboat settled onto her new course, sea foam flying over her deck.
They saw the Lowes’ boat a minute later. It was stuck fast on Sea Lion Point on the edge of Keyhole Cove.
Jack steered the sailboat ever faster, until they were close enough to see Leonora and Lance on the deck and the angry sea lions milling around them. Ryan and Anika pulled down the extra sail and the sailboat slowed obediently.
‘WHERE ARE OUR KIDS?’
Leonora and Lance stared straight ahead and didn’t answer.
‘Keep on heading this direction and stay well out from the rocks,’ Jack said, and jumped over the side.
‘You steer,’ said Ryan to Anika, and dived in after Jack.
He hadn’t swum four strokes when Anika shouted, ‘There they are!’
Jack and Ryan turned and swam back so fast that the water churned. They reached the raft just as the sack of coconuts bumped against the sailboat’s side.
Alex and Edmund lifted Ollie up to Anika. Then it was Tiffany’s turn. With Ryan and Tristan pushing from the raft, and her mother pulling from the deck, somehow she slid up onto the sailboat without bumping her swollen foot.
Tristan and Edmund followed.
Nim cut the raft-rope from around Selkie’s shoulders, and Jack tied it to the stern of his sailboat. He hugged Nim quickly as they trod water. ‘Hop up on the boat with the other kids. The tide’s coming in, and I need to sort out Leonora and Lance before the boat floats off the rocks.’
Alex slipped off the raft into the water beside him, and Ryan was waiting on the other side.
‘I’m coming too!’ Nim shouted.
‘You’re too tired,’ said Alex.
‘You’re too angry,’ said Jack, and that was the truth. Nim was so angry she could have skipped across the water without touching the surface. You hurt our island! she wanted to scream. You made me blow up the beautiful fossil; you tried to kill the bats; you didn’t care if you killed Tiffany… and now you tried to drown us all. I can’t believe I trusted you!
In a terrible, shameful way, the last thing hurt worst of all. It was the only thing she could have changed, and if she’d changed it, everything else would have been different too. If she hadn’t thought Leonora was so beautiful and clever; if she hadn’t wanted to please her and show off to the other kids; if she hadn’t been so sure that Leonora couldn’t possibly be as bad as Tiffany said, then the fossil might still be there and none of the other things would have happened at all.
She wanted to get close enough to Leonora and Lance to pinch like a crab, bite like a shark, sting like a bee.
‘I’ll stay back with Selkie,’ she promised.
Jack knew that Selkie wouldn’t let Nim get into danger. ‘Okay,’ he said.
So, with Nim riding beside them, Jack, Alex and Ryan swam towards the stranded boat. Alex wasn’t a strong swimmer, but Selkie stayed close.
Behind them, the other sea lions fanned out in a honking, splashing army.
And behind that, the sailboat looped in wide, lazy circles. Tristan loosened the sails so that only the vaguest puffs of wind stayed in them, just enough that Edmund could steer while Anika looked after her wounded daughter.
There was nowhere for Leonora and Lance to go. Their faces twisted with rage, but they didn’t try to fight when Jack and Alex leapt on board, not even when Alex tripped and nearly skidded across the deck into them. They watched as Ryan checked the boat for damage, then pushed it off the rocks and climbed on board too. They didn’t speak when he started the motor and drove a little further out from the rocks.
All the while, Nim stayed on Selkie’s back, watching but saying nothing.
Then, when Ryan cut the engine and Jack let down the anchor in the middle of the honking, barking sea lion army, Lance finally asked, ‘Where are we going?’
‘You’re not going anywhere for now,’ said Jack. ‘Selkie’s friends will see to that.’
‘We’re going back to check the kids’ injuries,’ said Alex, and she glared at them so fiercely that Lance sat down hard and Leonora stepped back, forgetting that she was already standing against the rail. Her foot slipped out, she waved her arms to balance, and flipped backwards over the side.
The sea lions surrounded her, whuffling curiously. Leonora screamed as if she were being attacked by sharks. Her arms and legs thrashed, she gulped in water each time she screamed, and with every gulp she bobbed a little lower.
Nim could still feel her anger bubbling, lava-hot.
‘Come on, Selkie,’ she said.
Selkie pushed her way through the other sea lions. Nim slid off. With a mighty shove, she pushed Leonora across Selkie’s back. Ryan and Jack grabbed the struggling woman’s arms and hauled her back on board like a hooked fish, while Lance sat still, staring into space.
Leonora stayed where she’d plonked onto the deck, dripping and bedraggled. She didn’t speak.
And just like that, Nim’s rage washed away. She didn’t ever want to see the Bijous again, and she would never forget the terrible things they’d done. But these miserable, defeated people couldn’t go on making her feel as if she was going to explode.
‘Selkie,’ she said, ‘ask your friends to let us pass. But make sure Lance and Leonora stay right where they are!’
Selkie barked sharply; some of the other sea lions barked back. Leonora shuddered. Ryan took the boat keys out of the ignition and dropped them safely in his pocket.
Then Jack, Alex and Ryan dived overboard and swam through the crowd of honking animals back to the sailboat.
As Jack took the tiller again to circle for home, Selkie flopped up onto the coconut raft. The other sea lions watched as she rode, honking happily, back to Shell Beach.
THEY ALL WENT up to the house together. Tiffany rode on her father’s back, and Ollie wanted his mum to piggyback him too. There was a lot to tell, and they had to keep stopping because everyone was talking at once and asking questions, and the parents were wiping their eyes and getting angry as they listened … but the first thing was to check Tiffany’s wound. Her foot was swollen, bruised and bloody, but Anika didn’t think anything was broken.
She cleaned and bandaged it again, and then made the rest of them line up to check all the scratches and cuts that they’d been too busy to notice.
‘What about that cramp in your other foot?’ Edmund asked Tiffany.
‘It was okay as soon as I put it in the hot water,’ said Tiffany.
‘Hot water?’ Jack asked,
‘The water in the bat cave was hot,’ Edmund explained.
‘And thick and slimy,’ said Tiffany.
‘Like algae sludge,’ said Edmund.
‘That’s what the water in the side tunnel was like too,’ Nim said slowly. ‘But it didn’t get hot until I dropped Tiffany’s sneaker in it.’
‘There was no algae in my sneaker!’ Tiffany protested.
‘But it was full of coconut oil, and the puddle was full of algae,’ said Nim. ‘When they mixed together, the water heated up so fast it was fizzing.’
‘The puddle started fizzing when I put my foot in, too!’ said Tiffany.
‘I tried to find a test tube in Lance and Leonora’s tool bag,’ said Nim. ‘They didn’t have on
e.’
‘I did,’ said Tiffany, and pulled her water bottle out of its pouch on her belt.
It was just a plain plastic drink bottle, but they all stared at it as if it were the most precious jewel in the universe.
‘What’s that?’ asked Ollie.
‘It might be the biofuel that saves the world,’ said Jack.
‘Oh,’ said Ollie.
‘An algae that lives in stagnant water,’ said Ryan, ‘and reacts with coconut oil.’
‘Let’s not get our hopes up,’ said Anika.
‘Why not?’ asked Nim, because whatever happened in the end, it was always much more fun to hope.
From: [email protected]
To: Nim@RusoeSanctuaryforRare&EndangeredSpecies.com
Date: Friday, 27 June, 10:05am
Subject: Crutches
Hi Nim
I never knew how beautiful your island was until we were going home. I sat on the deck watching until I couldn’t see it anymore and Mum made me have a rest in the cabin.
Mum took me to the hospital as soon as we landed. The doctor said my ankle is badly sprained and I have to use crutches and wear a big boot for a few weeks. I don’t think she believed me when I told her how it happened, especially when I said about Selkie carrying me out of the rainforest. She told Mum that I should stay in hospital for a while because I was confused. Mum said it was much better than how I was normally. Anyway, in the end she let Mum bring me home.
Please give Selkie a big hug for me.
Your friend
Tiffany
[email protected]
To: Nim@RusoeSanctuaryforRare&EndangeredSpecies.com, [email protected]
Date: Friday, 27 June, 10:15am
Subject: Tiff on crutches
Hi Nim, hi Edmund
Tiff wouldn’t let me take a picture of her on crutches because she says the boot makes her look like Bigfoot, but Ollie drew this one for you.
Thanks for saving my sister.
Tris
From: [email protected]
To: Nim@RusoeSanctuaryforRare&EndangeredSpecies.com
Date: Friday, 27 June, 10:15am
