by Sonya Bates
“Hey! Wait!” Jake screamed.
The boat was pulling away, dipping up and down in the surf.
Jake dashed into the water. “Waaaiiiiit!” But the man didn’t turn around.
A whistle pierced the air. Lexie ran up beside Jake. She stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled again, long and high.
The man turned to look in their direction.
“Wait for us!” Jake said, waving his arms madly.
“Come back!” Lexie shouted.
The man slowed the boat and turned back toward the beach. It was Chris Mumford, from the Marsh Island Historical Society.
“He’s coming back,” Tommy said, limping up behind them. “We’re saved!”
Jake watched as the boat approached. He felt drained and weak.
“We did it,” Lexie said. She thumped Jake on the back so hard he stumbled forward and almost fell in the water.
Jake grinned at her. “Yeah. We did.”
As they waited for the boat, Tommy leaned over to Jake. “Does this mean we won the race?” he asked.
Jake stared at Tommy. After everything that had happened, he’d forgotten about the race.
“We got to Smuggler’s Cave first, right?” said Tommy. “We won.” He looked up at Jake eagerly.
“Yeah, Tommy. We won the race,” said Jake, with a smug grin at Lexie.
Lexie stuck her tongue out at him.
“That’s good,” said Tommy and he smiled.
Jake laughed and ruffled Tommy’s hair. Little brothers could be such a pain.
Sonya Spreen Bates was born in the United States but moved to Victoria, British Columbia, when she was very young. She began writing children’s fiction in 2001, inspired by her two daughters and their love of the stories she told them.
She is the author of Marsh Island (Orca Book Publishers), A Tank of Trouble (Scholastic Education Australia) and Midnight Ghost (Limelight Press). Her short stories have been published in school magazines in Australia and New Zealand. Smuggler’s Cave is her second book with Orca. She currently lives in Adelaide, Australia.
