by Unknown
The other girls turned to Pam in surprise. “We are? Really? How?”
Rose laughed loudly. “Hey, Captain! Better get control of your crew!”
Pam’s brow lowered and her lip stuck out. She looked around at everyone. “No! Really! I learned how to sail at camp! I even sailed by myself! We can take Will’s Pico! I bet he’ll let us. It’ll be cool!”
Keeley slapped Pam on the shoulder. “Really? That’s so neat! I always wanted to sail all by myself!”
Amy chimed in, “Me, too!”
Zooey stayed quiet. She was watching the looks that Rose and Frannie were shooting each other over by the tire swing. Frannie was meaningfully tilting her head toward the girls and bugging her eyes out. Rose was shaking her head at Frannie subtly and waving her hand down low with her palm facing the ground.
Zooey said, “I don’t know, you guys. We should probably bring a grown-up with us.”
Pam turned to her, her brow furrowed again. “No! That won’t be any fun. And I can do it.”
Keeley said, “If Pam says she can do it, she can do it. Come on, Zo! Don’t be a scaredy-cat!” She put her hand on Zooey’s arm and smiled at her encouragingly. God, Keeley was pretty. Zooey still couldn’t believe they were friends.
“Yeah, Zooey!” Rose called. “Don’t be scared. It’ll be fun!”
Frannie stepped forward, away from Rose, who jerked with surprise. “You kids are too young to go by yourselves! And the currents in the back of the island-“
“Oh, don’t listen to her!” Rose shouted above Frannie’s voice as she leapt from the tire swing to join Frannie where she stood. “She doesn’t know a thing about sailing!” Rose grabbed Frannie by the arm and said in a low voice, “Come on Frannie, you can’t even tie a decent knot.” Rose yanked Frannie’s arm a little when she said the word “knot”.
Amy looked at them and then at Zooey. “Maybe Zooey is right. We should probably bring a grown up. Will may not even let us take his boat out all by ourselves anyway.”
“Then we’ll take my parent’s sailboat. It’s a little bigger, but I can handle it,” Pam said.
Amy rolled her lips tightly together, clearly biting them from the inside. Then she shook her head. “I don’t think my mom will let us go on our own.”
Zooey’s parents wouldn’t let her do half the things she did each day with her friends, they were so over-protective. She told them she and her friends played dolls and put together puzzles and stuff like that. She didn’t tell them about their adventures at the Lion’s Den or crabbing with Mr. Dougherty or their swimming races where, more often than not, all the girls grew so tired they could barely climb out of the water at the end. But this time she would say something. She had a bad feeling. “My parents won’t let me go either.”
Pam was starting to look doubtful. She turned to Keeley and started to shrug when Rose spoke up, “What are you guys, chicken? You guys are chicken, aren’t you? That is so funny! Rebels without a backbone! Ha! Ha!” Rose elbowed Frannie, who started nervously cackling along with her friend.
Pam and Amy’s faces fell with embarrassment, but Keeley’s eyebrows came together and her face turned a bright red. She spun around to face the two older girls. She yelled over their laughter, “No, we’re not! We’re not! We’re going to sail all around the island today. You’ll see!”
Pam and Amy joined Keeley in a wall of solidarity, facing the two older girls across the clearing. “Yeah! You’ll see! We’re going to sail all around the island!”
Zooey held back for a moment, but then Keeley glanced back at her and she was forced to join them in their protests. With one last shout, the four of them turned and left the clearing to go in search of Will to ask for permission to borrow his boat.
An hour later, they set sail in Pam’s parents’ Bahia, a larger daysailer than Pam was used to handling, but she was certain it would be okay. After Will refused their request without hesitation, they knew their parents’ reaction may be the same if they asked permission to sail on their own, and rather than risk it, they simply didn’t ask.
Their picnic of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches was also obtained at Pam’s house. Generally, although Amy’s house was their haven, when it came to getting away with things, Pam’s house was the place to go. Pam’s father spent most of his weekends there fishing on his motorboat with his friend and next-door neighbor, Frank Mulligan, and several six-packs of beer. Pam’s mother, who was around all week, was usually tucked away on a couch on their screened-in back porch with a book or taking a nap, usually oblivious to her two children’s comings and goings. Pam’s brother, Jeff, was a year younger and ran with the wilder boys on the island and spent most of his time either at the Lion’s Den or goofing off in the marshes in the back of the island, so he was rarely home to tattle on his older sister. It was perfect.
The four girls pushed off the beach and steered the boat north along with the tide that was going out. Pam was confident at the helm and a bit bossy, going out of her way to give orders to her little crew. Everyone played along, shouting “Aye, aye, captain!” every time they received an order. They made a big show of waving dramatically at any of the kids they saw on the boardwalk. Whenever an adult was sighted, the first one to see them would shout “Thar she blows!” and they’d all duck low to avoid being identified while they passed in the boat.
It was an exciting mission and they were all enjoying themselves immensely. The only disappointment was that they hadn’t seen Rose or Frannie on the boardwalk, missing their chance to show off. They hoped that, after they circled the island, they’d see the two girls walking on the southern part of the boardwalk before landing again on Pam’s parents’ beach.
Pam brought the boat around beautifully when they passed the northernmost tip of Captain’s and started tacking back and forth to traverse the back part of the island. At first, Pam had difficulty making any headway, and they all started to look worried, but then the tide shifted, dragging them along with it around the island. All the girls relaxed then, watching the marshes and inlets of the island’s back side glide slowly by and leaning back to gaze at the hawks circling above.
“Chow time!” Pam announced, and they unpacked their picnic. Tucking into their sandwiches and sipping from the cans of warm 7Up they had also taken from Pam’s pantry, they smiled at each other with delight at the success of their mission.
“That Rose!” Keeley said, smiling. “She’s stupid! We’re not chickens! We’re fearless rebels! Barefoot rebels!”
Amy raised her emerald-green can of soda. “Yes! To us! The Barefoot Babes!”
Pam shook her head and swallowed, before raising her soda can, too. “Not ‘babes’ - that sounds like we’re babies. No offense, Amy. Let’s just say, to the Barefoot Girls! We’re the coolest rebels of them all!”
They all raised their cans and knocked them against each other. “Aye, aye, Captain! To the Barefoot Girls!”
Their new name still ringing in her ears and stamping their friendship as official, Zooey looked around and smiled at her friends. It was impossible to be happier than in that moment. Nothing could rival this – an adventure, a beautiful day, and knowing that they would be best friends forever and ever.
That was when she saw it.
In the distance, just beyond where the sun was shining down on the water and making it sparkle with sun pennies, the sky had gone black. Zooey swallowed her bite of half-chewed sandwich with difficulty, chasing it with some soda to get it down. Finally able to speak, she pointed and said, “Hey? You guys? Do you see that?”
Keeley was chugging the last of her soda, her head tipped back. She finished, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and looked. Her smile disappeared. “Uh, oh. Pam?” she said. “I mean, Captain?”
“Yes, matey?” Pam answered, rummaging below her legs looking for something to use as a napkin.
Amy saw it then, too. She gasped, “Oh, no! We’ve got to go back!”
Pam looked up to see what all the fuss
was about. “What? What is it?”
“Look!” the girls said in unison and pointed.
Pam, seeing the black thunderheads approaching, looked less worried than Zooey expected. “Oh, a storm. Well, we’ll get back before it comes. Don’t worry. Hey, Amy? Do you have any more Jiffy Pop at your house?”
Amy’s eyes were still wide, staring at the horizon before turning to Pam. “Uh, yeah?”
Pam said, “Let’s go to your house after? We can watch the storm with popcorn – like a movie!”
Keeley smiled, her face relaxing. “Great idea! Amy? Will your mom let us?”
Amy smiled too, though with more uncertainty. “Oh…of course. Sure!”
Zooey wanted to be reassured, but the black clouds seemed to be growing closer very quickly. She wanted to be safely on shore and inside, popcorn or no popcorn. But Pam seemed unconcerned. Maybe it was okay? Zooey glanced again at the approaching thunderheads.
They had reached the southern end of the marshes on the back of the island and Pam started tacking again to get them around to the front of the island. The first turn went well, bringing them close to the abandoned and rotting shack at the end of the island that stood just above the marsh on pilings. Zooey looked up at the house as they passed it. This was the real haunted house on the island, she was sure of it. Something inside watched her whenever she passed it, making her neck prickle. Now she could feel that prickling watched feeling again. She looked away quickly, afraid she’d see something looking back at her through the salt-coated windows.
It was with the second turn that they started to realize that the incoming tide, that had been their friend before by pulling them around the back of the island, was now dragging them away from the island. It was when Pam stopped talking that Zooey really knew something was wrong. Now, the only time Pam spoke was to let them know they were coming about so they would drop their heads to avoid the boom. Zooey exchanged worried looks with Amy and Keeley. The sun that had been dancing on the water suddenly disappeared behind swiftly approaching dark clouds and the wind picked up.
“Pam?” Keeley said.
“Yes?” Pam had said, abandoning the game they had been playing since they had boarded her “ship”.
“Um, if we keep being dragged, we’re going to be too far from the island. I mean, it seems like the tide is dragging us away,” Keeley said.
Pam shook her head and said, “Don’t worry, this next turn will get us back in the front of the island. We’ll be okay.”
But the next turn had them still pulling away from the island, not growing closer. Zooey looked at the churning water. Was this what Frannie had been warning them about? This tide? She looked at the island. It was still close enough to swim. But what about the boat?
Zooey couldn’t stay quiet any longer. “Captain? Do you think we should abandon ship? If we swim-“
Pam’s head snapped around. She gasped and stared at Zooey. “Are you kidding? This is my parent’s boat! They’ll kill me!”
Zooey looked longingly at the island and then back at the thunderheads. What could she say? Pam would be in deep trouble if the boat was lost. But what were they going to do? She shrugged and said miserably, “I don’t know! I’m scared!”
Zooey looked around at the others. Amy looked as worried as she was, but Keeley had undergone one of her transformations from fun girl to mute girl. She was huddled down looking at her feet, practically bent in half, and saying nothing. She wouldn’t be any help now. And they needed help. Zooey looked around, searching for another boat, but the waters of the bay were empty. They all probably had weather radios, telling them to get off the water, warning them in time.
Exasperated, Zooey cried out, “We have to do something! What are we going to do?”
Amy, who had been looking around at the boat and then again at the island, suddenly brightened and said, “I have an idea! Pam?”
“Yes?”
Amy pointed at the water and said, “If we all jump in except you, you could throw us a bowline and we can swim and tow the boat in together. You’d stay at the helm and keep us on course. What do you think?”
Pam looked at the slowly retreating island wistfully and then at Amy. Her shoulders sagged. “I really thought I could do it. I forgot about the tide! There wasn’t a tide on the lake!”
Amy nodded and reached over to put her hand on Pam’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, it’ll be okay. With the three of us pulling, we should be able to tow it in. Zooey? Can you handle it?”
Zooey nodded more enthusiastically than she felt. She was not a strong swimmer like the others, usually the first to tire. But she was more worried about Keeley, who was still huddled and mute. She nodded over at Keeley. “But what about Keeley?”
Amy looked at Keeley and said, “Keeley? Hey, Keeley?”
Keeley didn’t move, still staring at her feet.
“Keeley!” Pam called more loudly.
Keeley’s head snapped up, and she looked around, blinking as if she’d been asleep. “What? What’s going on?”
Amy leaned over to be closer to Keeley and said, “Keeley, we’re going to need your super-duper frog-kick to get this boat to shore! Okay? You and me and Zooey are going to jump in and tow the boat. Okay?”
Keeley nodded sleepily at Amy, her face impassive.
“All right!” Amy said, clapping her hands together loudly. “Let’s go!”
They took down the sails and then the girls jumped in: Amy, then Keeley, and last, Zooey. Keeley seemed to finally wake up as soon as she hit the water, becoming her usual animated and engaged self again, whooping out encouragement to Zooey when she hesitated before jumping in and yelling for Pam to throw her the bowline. Once they had the line, Amy put Keeley, the strongest swimmer, in front, then she swam behind her to pull, too, but the line was too short and there wasn’t enough room for Zooey.
Amy swam back around to the helm where Pam sat. “Pam, throw us another line! I’m going to pull one with Zooey helping me, and Keeley’s going to pull the other!”
Dragging two lines, they started their swim toward the island. Zooey tried to help, pulling on the line as she swam behind Amy, but she knew her help was more symbolic than anything. She could barely keep herself afloat and wished she felt comfortable enough with the other girls to ask for one of the “sissy” life preservers stowed on the boat.
Although Amy was helping, she was too small to really make any headway. Had it been just Zooey and Amy towing the boat, it never would have worked. It was Keeley and her strong swimming, her famous and powerful frog-kick that made the boat move toward shore slowly but surely.
They were getting close to shore, but still far from the first part of boardwalk, when the rain started falling. First, it was a few hard drops plopping down in the water next to Zooey’s face. Zooey, swimming as hard as she could and lifting her head to gulp air, looked up at the sky when she noticed. A drop smacked right into her left eye.
“Ow!” Zooey cried.
Amy looked over her shoulder as she swam, wiggling along in the water. “What?”
“It’s raining! The storm’s here!”
Amy looked up at the darkening sky. “Oh, no. Zooey, can you keep towing? I’ve got to talk to Pam!”
Zooey, gasping and trying to keep her head above water, nodded. “Yes! Go!” She weakly pulled on the line and just swam as best she could, no longer even trying to tow the boat. Luckily, Keeley was oblivious to the storm and continued to swim and tow the boat closer to the island. They were very close to the abandoned shack they had passed earlier.
Zooey couldn’t really hear the words, but she could tell that Pam and Amy were arguing. What about? They had to get out of the water! They could be hit by lightning! She tried to listen to their conversation, but the wind, that had picked up even more, whipped the sound of their voices away. Worse, the water had become choppy and small waves kept crashing over her, making it hard to open her mouth for air without choking on seawater. She began to wonder if she was goi
ng to drown. She was growing so tired, so weak, she could barely keep her head above the surface. Thunder rumbled nearby.
Suddenly, Amy appeared beside her with one of the boat’s orange life preservers. “Here! Put this on, Zooey!” Amy shouted above the wind.
Zooey was so overwhelmed with relief she stopped swimming and went under. A strong little hand grabbed her and yanked at her, pulling her up. The bobbing orange preserver was thrust in her face. “Put it on!” Amy yelled.
Zooey grabbed at the preserver and wrapped her arms around it, resting on top of it. “Thank you! Oh!”
“Just kick!” Amy commanded. “We’re going to pull the boat up on the marsh and tie it to one of those old pilings there!” Amy pointed at the shack.
Zooey nodded in response and then watched as Amy swam ahead to Keeley to tell her. Keeley understood right away and started swimming and towing the boat even faster toward the shack. There was a clap of thunder overhead and then the rain started coming down hard in sheets, making it difficult to see more than a few feet in the distance.
Zooey stopped kicking, her legs so tired they hurt. They were going to die out here. And it was their own stupid fault. Why had she come along? She had known they needed an adult. The booming of another clap of thunder made her shiver. Now it would happen. She would be fried black right here in the water. They all would be. She closed her eyes and waited.
“Kick!” Amy screamed in her ear. Zooey’s eyes flew open. The boat was passing her on the right. Amy had swum back to her and was treading water just to her left. She looked at Amy’s face, but it wasn’t angry as much as determined, her little chin jutting out. Zooey nodded and then started kicking again, her legs heavy and weak. Amy swam away again to help Keeley tow.
Agonizing minutes passed, the thunder pounding closer, the salty waves rising and filling her mouth again and again as she kicked, causing her to spit and cough. Then they were next to the island. Zooey stretched her right foot down and came in contact with the bay’s spongy bottom. The relief was so immense, she felt a wave of nausea pulse through her, making her heave, her mouth sour and stinging with brine.
