by Sandy Beech
I finally noticed that Josh was looking at me, smiling eagerly. My brain creaked back into gear, and I realized he was expecting me to volunteer to accompany him on the rafts maiden—and perhaps only—voyage.
“I’ll do it!”
It actually took me several seconds to realize that I wasn’t the one who’d spoken. After all, I’d meant to. I really, really had. My mouth was even hanging open, all ready to say the words.
But someone else had beaten me to it.
“I’ll do it,” Angela said again, a simpering smile on her face. “I’ll go with you, Josh. I’m not scared—as long as you’re going with me.”
That jolted me out of my daze. I leaped forward a few steps, stubbing my toe on one of the seating logs and almost buying myself a quick trip to Dirtsville. Or, rather, Sandsville. “No, me!” I blurted out, lurching toward Josh.
“I’ll go!
Ryan had heard the commotion by now and wandered over to see what was happening. He caught on quickly. “Me too!” he cried, looking as thrilled as if Josh was asking for someone to accompany him to the Happy Land of Free Ice Cream and DVDs.
A couple of the others volunteered at that point as well, but unlike Ryan and Angela, they didn’t sound very enthusiastic about the idea. I couldn’t really blame them; it wasn’t as if I was looking forward to it either. Especially the sharks.
Angela was glaring around at everyone except Josh. “I already said I’d go, people,” she snitted. “I mean, come on. You’ve all seen the raft. It’s not like all of us will fit.”
I was already irritated enough at her attitude. But whenever she used that particular I’m-way-too-perfect-for-the-rest-of-you tone, I just saw red. And this time was no exception. Oh, yeah?” I put my hands on my hips and glared right back at her. “Well, this isn’t Princess Angela’s world, you know. Just because you said you’d go, doesn’t mean—”
“Hey!” Josh interrupted, sounding anxious. “Maybe we should go check out the raft and talk about it down there, okay?”
It was pretty obvious that he was trying to head off World War Three erupting right there on the beach. But it worked. Just hearing his voice reminded me that I needed to keep control of my temper. I wasn’t about to let Evil Angela drag me down to her level and make me look stupid in front of everyone.
“Sure,” I said as calmly as I could manage. “Let’s go.”
“Fine,” Angela added through tight, pursed little lips.
Most of the others looked relieved. Well except for Kenny—he looked a little disappointed. Kind of the same way he always looked when Mom and Dad refused to let him watch professional wrestling on TV.
“Whoo-hoo!” Ryan crowed, leaping forward to lead the way. “Superraft, here we come!”
We all trooped down the beach to Raft Central. As I walked, I found myself hoping that Josh and Angela really had worked a miracle overnight. Maybe they’d fixed up the raft so much that I would change my mind about the whole plan.
But as soon as I saw it, my heart sank. The raft consisted mostly of large tree branches lashed together with rope, twine, vines from the jungle, and even somebody’s kneesocks. The life jackets from the boat made odd-looking pontoons lashed to each corner. Josh had even created a rudder out of a large, thin, flat piece of slate, which appeared to be attached to the rest of the craft with a single piece of string. The raft really wasn’t bad considering what we’d had to work with on the island. But it still looked like something a bunch of hyperactive kindergarteners might throw together during recess. I couldn’t imagine it floating at all, let alone making it across a mile or two of open sea.
Sneaking a peek at the others, I saw my own doubt reflected on several faces. However, some others just looked excited.
“Looks great, Josh!” Ryan was definitely part of the latter group. “The rudder is awesome!”
“Um, yeah.” I swallowed hard, figuring I might as well get it over with. “So, come on, Josh—I’m ready to go.”
“What are you talking about?” Angela demanded instantly “You’re not going. I am.”
I turned to face her. “Forget it, Barnes. I’m the one who’s going, and that’s that.”
Angela glared back at me. “You?” she said. “Why should you be the one to go? I’m the one who worked the hardest on this raft. Well, other than Josh, of course.” She glanced over at Josh with a sickly sweet smile.
Oh, yeah? For your information, I did plenty of work while you were busy plucking your chin hairs or whatever it is you do down by the stream for three hours every morning,” I retorted hotly.
“Whatever, Dani.” Her voice practically dripped with disdain. “Do us all a favor and try real hard to grow up now, okay?”
She rolled her eyes and smirked, obviously pleased with her own stupid retort. Suddenly, just like that, every rotten, snotty, downright evil thing she’d ever done flashed into my mind all at once, almost overwhelming me. “Shut up!” I cried. “You’re just jealous because its totally obvious that I should go, since I’m the one—”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Josh blanch as he realized what I was about to say. I cut myself off just in time with an audible gulp. What was wrong with me? I was letting Angela get to me. I’d almost blurted out the truth about me and Josh, just like that, in front of everyone.
Taking advantage of my momentary confusion, Josh stepped forward and spoke up quickly. “Listen, I just had a great idea,” he said. “Why don’t all three of us go? After all, the three of us are coleaders, right? It totally makes sense.”
Some of my irritation at Angela shifted briefly in Josh’s direction. Why couldn’t he just get over the whole secrecy thing already?
But he was smiling so sincerely that my anger faded quickly. “Besides, we made two oars, remember?” he added. “With three of us aboard, two of us can paddle and the other person can steer. That should make things easier!”
He had a point there. I just wished the third person could be somebody else. A leper. An ax murderer. Even my math teacher. Pretty much anybody but Evil Angela.
“Okay,” I said reluctantly. “I guess that makes sense. Sort of.”
Angela didn’t look completely thrilled at the idea of sharing a smallish raft with me, either, but she nodded. “Whatever you say, Josh.”
Just then I noticed Kenny watching me, his forehead crinkled into a little V-wrinkle of anxiety. I bit my lip, belatedly remembering our fire plan. I glanced over at Macy and Ned. Macy was staring downward, seemingly fascinated by the sight of her own feet. Ned’s mouth was hanging open slightly as he stared at me uncertainly.
I quickly shifted my gaze away from the three of them, and turned slightly so I couldn’t see them even out of the corner of my eye. For a few moments there I’d totally forgotten about that fire pile up on the ridge. Oops. Of course I felt pretty guilty about it. But what could I do? For a second I dared to hope that one of them might speak up. If they told the others about the fire idea right now, convinced them how well it could work …
But no. Looking at that trio, I knew it wasn’t going to happen. Macy was way too shy to speak up like that. Ned was too passive. And Kenny? Even if he did say something, I doubted the others would listen to him in their current state of excitement over the raft. I guess Kenny must have realized that too, because he didn’t say a word.
Shoving aside the feeling that I was betraying them, I smiled grimly at Josh. “Okay So lets go already before we miss that boat.”
While Chrissie went running back to the supply cave for the paddles Ryan had carved out of a couple of appropriately shaped tree branches, the rest of us pushed the raft down the slight slope of the beach toward the waters edge. I held my breath as the first tiny waves lapped over it, then as it scraped over the wet sand into the slightly deeper water. We gave it one last shove, and it swooshed away from the ground and floated, bobbing up and down in the gentle surf.
“Yay” Cassie clapped her hands and giggled. “It works!”
Angel
a snorted, but Josh smiled. He splashed out a little farther, grabbing the side of the raft to steady it. “Climb aboard, ladies,” he called, giving a little half bow.
“Why, thank you, kind gentleman,” Angela simpered, sloshing forward.
“Give me a break,” I muttered under my breath. Wading out to the raft, I swung myself aboard. The raft shuddered a little under my weight, but it stayed afloat.
Ryan churned his way out through the surf; holding both the handmade paddles. “You sure you dont need another person?” he asked rather wistfully.
“Sorry, dude.” Josh slapped him on the shoulder. “I’m not sure she’ll hold any more. Anyway, the people here will need you to catch fish for them—even if we make it to the boat or the other island, it might still be a day or so before the rescuers can get here.”
“Oh, yeah.” Ryan looked pleased at the thought. “I can do that.”
I smiled at Josh as he swung aboard, relieved by how he’d handled Ryan just then. The last thing I wanted to do was deal with that whole situation while trapped on a raft in the middle of the ocean with Angela and Josh as my audience.
I also found myself thinking about what a cool guy Josh really was. He: truly cared about other people’s feelings. No matter what, he always tried to make everyone feel good, from Ryan to Brooke to Kenny. How could I quibble if he seemed to care even about the feelings of an evil being from another dimension like Angela?
Then I glanced out to sea and started to feel nervous again. Did I really believe we could ride that rickety raft all the way over to the other island, let alone out to the passing boat? If I thought about that question too hard, it started to give me the screaming heebie-jeebies. So I tried not to think about it anymore. Instead I grabbed one of the paddles Ryan was holding out to us and gripped it tightly. At least if we sank, maybe I could use the paddle to fight off the sharks.
“Okay, here goes,” Josh said, interrupting my morbid thoughts. He draped one leg off the back of the raft and shoved off the shallow lagoon floor, sending us drifting out away from the beach.
“Bon voyage, you guys!” Cassie cried, waving at us vigorously as she stood ankle-deep in the surf.
“Be careful!” Brooke added.
At first things went surprisingly well. Josh took control of the rudder, which actually seemed to work the way it was supposed to. I wielded my paddle, digging into the crystal clear water and sending fish and crustaceans fleeing before me. The paddling was slow going, but for once Angela was actually doing her fair share of the work—probably because Josh was right there watching—and between the two of us, we managed to work up to some decent forward momentum.
As we zoomed toward the coral reef that encircled the lagoon, the faint sound of cheering drifted over the water from the direction of the beach. I glanced back between strokes and saw most of our fellow castaways jumping up and down and waving their arms happily. I smiled, feeling a little more optimistic myself all of a sudden. We were doing it! Okay, so we weren’t even all the way across the lagoon yet, but still, we were doing it. The raft was still afloat, the rudder was working, we were on our way. Maybe, just maybe, all my teeth gnashing and angst had been for nothing.
“Check it out, you guys,” Josh said excitedly. “We’re almost to the reef already. I think this is going to work!”
I almost reached down and knocked on the rough wooden floor of the raft. I knew a jinx when I heard one, and I was afraid he’d just jinxed us big-time. But I didn’t want to lose my paddling rhythm, so I didn’t knock on wood after all.
Big mistake.
We were only a few yards from the reef, but I hardly saw the craggy shapes of the coral sticking out of the water. Instead I stared out past the reef, hypnotized by the rougher waves of the deep water beyond. Were they always that big? From the beach, the ocean looked as smooth as the average bathtub. But up close it was a different story.
“Pay attention, Dani,” Angela snapped at me as my rowing slowed slightly. “I’m not doing all the work here by myself.”
Josh squinted ahead, holding on to the rudder with one hand as he used the other to shade his eyes from the bright morning sun, which was reflecting off the tiny waves all around us. “Can you guys see how deep the coral is up there?” he asked. “We need to find a low spot so we won’t—”
He was interrupted by an ugly scraping sound. The raft suddenly slowed dramatically on my side, sort of like a giant hand had reached out and grabbed it. Or more accurately, a giant chunk of coral.
“We have to move left!” Josh shouted, dragging hard on the rudder. “We’re going to go aground on the reef!”
The water was already getting choppy there around the reef, not as crystal clear as the water in the lagoon, but it was still clear enough to see the gnarled, cauliflower-knobby shape of the coral, washed over in muted blues and reds. It looked sort of like the stuff that had grown on the egg salad I’d left in the fridge for a month, only larger and sharper.
Jabbing at the coral with my paddle, I tried to push the raft free of it. The first time, my makeshift oar skidded off to the side, almost crushing my fingers between the handle and the raft, but I immediately tried again. This time I found a good, solid spot from which to push off. There was another sickening scrape, but then, finally, the raft came loose again, bobbing up and down and drifting slowly counterclockwise.
“We did it!” Angela cried. “We’re—”
The rest of her words were swallowed up in a giant splash as the first real ocean wave caught us, slapping down violently on the raft and shooting spray everywhere. The world seemed to go topsy-turvy for a few seconds while the raft careened sickeningly, spinning first in one direction and then another.
“Whoa!” Josh yelled, sounding nervous.
After that everything happened fast. Josh was shouting something else, but I couldn’t hear it through the water in my ears. I dug frantically into the water with my paddle, but it felt like rowing through mud. The current grabbed at the bottom of the paddle and yanked at it, as if there was some kind of huge, nasty mermaid down there playing tug-of-war with me.
“Dani!” Angela screeched. “Don’t lean over so far! You’ll tip us over!”
I opened my mouth to respond, but another wave roared over the raft at that moment, and I wound up almost choking on a faceful of salty sea water. The raft spun around and around until I wasn’t sure which direction was which. The paddle was ripped out of my hands, which was just as well, because I needed both hands to grip the edge of the raft so I wouldn’t be tossed headfirst into the reef. Splinters dug into my palms as I coughed, trying to expel the water I’d accidentally swallowed.
But despite my best efforts to hold on, I lost my grip on the raft. My eyes were squeezed shut, and I was already drenched from the spray, so it took me a moment or two to realize that I was underwater. In fact, it wasn’t until I tried to breathe in a mouthful of salty water that I really figured it out.
I opened my eyes and found myself looking through a murky haze that shimmered when I coughed. My lungs were burning, my hands were burning, and now my eyes were burning. Kicking my feet as hard as I could, hardly feeling the pain as they connected with sharp bits of the reef, I shot upward and bobbed to the surface just in time to see the raft—well a largish chunk of it, anyway—sink out of sight beneath yet another wave. Gasping for breath, I coughed out about a gallon of water and spit, and then started sucking down the sweet, sweet air. The water was pretty choppy out there just beyond the reef, but I actually felt a little more secure treading water than I had on the raft. I’d grown up in Florida, so it wasn’t like it was my first time in the ocean.
Shaking my wet hair out of my face, I glanced around for the others. Josh was treading water nearby. Angela was clinging to a small fragment of the raft that was still floating.
“Help! Help!” she shrieked, coughing dramatically as a wave washed over her.
Even under those circumstances, I couldn’t help noticing that she didn’t app
ear to be in any danger of actually drowning. In fact, her hair was barely wet. Plus I happened to know that she’d been on the swim team at her neighborhood pool since second grade.
I guess Josh wasn’t willing to take any chances, though. He swam over to her. “Don’t panic, Angela,” he cried. “You’ll be okay. Just stick with me.”
I would have rolled my eyes, but it would have taken too much effort. Instead I focused on trying to get myself back to shore while Josh paddled along nearby, doing the same for himself and the giant blond parasite that had attached herself to him. It took some pretty strong swimming to get past the reef without getting ourselves smashed against it, but we managed. Well, Josh and I managed. Angela pretty much just whimpered and allowed Josh to drag her along with him. Once we made it back to the calm waters of the lagoon, it was just a matter of swimming back to shore. The others, who had watched the whole disaster, waded out to help us to dry land.
So much for the King of Rafts. “The King is dead, long live the King,” I muttered to myself as I collapsed onto the sand, feeling the burn of the coral cuts on my feet and the unpleasant itch of sand in my bathing suit.
“Sorry, Josh,” Chrissie said tentatively. “The raft looked really good for a while.”
Josh sighed, looking haggard. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry,” he said, rubbing his head and making his wet hair stick up. “I really thought that slate rudder would be stronger, but it just snapped when we got out there in the rougher water. That’s really why we got in trouble. Maybe if we rebuild, make the new rudder out of wood this time …”
At those words, I guess something inside of me snapped, just like the stupid rudder. Patience has never been my strongest virtue, so it was kind of amazing it hadn’t happened sooner. “Are you nuts?” I exclaimed loudly.
Josh blinked at me. “Huh?”
“It wasn’t just the rudder” Now that I’d gotten started, I couldn’t seem to stop myself. My voice rose higher and higher, both in pitch and in volume, as I continued. “The raft was a total disaster. I knew it wasn’t going to work from the beginning. I mean, who could possibly believe a bunch of twigs tied together is going to make it across two miles of ocean?” I glared at Josh, who just looked stunned.
