Jack stared at the squirrel, dog, and human who surrounded him for a few moments, trying to grasp his current situation. He slowly blinked, attempting to adjust to the bright sunlight that poured over him. It was clear that he had not yet come to terms with his current situation.
“Uh… I’m not exactly sure what just happened. But based on my current horizontal position and, uh… you know, the complete lack of a boat beneath me… I’m speculating that everything did not go according to plan?”
“That’s right!” Neil answered. His voice bubbled with excitement. “We were shipwrecked, Jack! Shipwrecked! Can you believe it?”
Jack tried to grasp this new information, blearily blinking his eyes and swiping sand from his face. “Uh… shipwrecked? Shipwrecked?” he repeated, as if in disbelief. “Is that a good thing? You seemed pretty jazzed about it.”
“Sure it’s a good thing!” Neil answered with enthusiasm. “What have you, gone off your rocker, buddy?” His face adopted a countenance of concern, and he began poking at Jack’s head with his index finger. “Oh, shoot… maybe you bruised your coconut in the impact. Let me give you the ol’ ‘once over’…”
“Gah!” Jack shouted, brushing Neil’s probing finger aside. “My melon is just fine, thank you very much! All I’m saying… look, all I’m saying is that I’m missing the upside of getting shipwrecked.”
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Neil asked, reluctantly withdrawing his finger, wiggling it around in the air in the event that future endeavors of amateur medicine proved necessary. “I thought I might have been upon a soft spot there…”
“Yes, I’m quite sure, Neil!” Jack said, protectively covering his noggin with both arms. “I’m still adjusting, but in my defense, I did just wake up on the beach in a pile of seaweed. With a squirrel slapping me across the face, I might add!”
Murphy released a squirrelly sound that sounded suspiciously like laughter. In a gesture that fooled nobody, he covered his face with his paws, once Jack shot him an accusatory glance.
“Very well,” Neil declared. “But if you act erratically in the future, I reserve my right to take a closer look at that coconut!”
“Duly noted,” Jack answered. “But like I said, I just woke up, and I don’t even remember what happened. I do remember that huge wave approaching us… the rogue, I think you called it. And that amazing sea serpent rose from the waters… its eyes turned stormy, pulsing with the lightning… and… uh, is it safe to assume that our plans have been altered?”
Neil was nothing but smiles as he answered. “I mean, yeah, we did lose the boat… and, uh… our way home, too, I suppose. But think about all those adventure stories and pirate books we’ve read. There are always shipwrecks in those! Do you realize how lucky we are, to get to experience it firsthand?”
Jack thought about this for a moment, then shrugged in agreement. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense, in a weird sort of way. Good point, buddy. Where are Uncle Lefty and Noodles?”
“They’re right over here,” Neil said, pointing down the shoreline from where Jack lay. “I saw them when Nibbler began leading me toward you. I guess our boat really got walloped, because it scattered us all over the beach when it crashed. We’re pretty lucky, don’t you think?”
“Uh, yeah,” Jack admitted. He was finally beginning to reach a state of full alertness, and he was grateful for his current condition, as opposed to how it had looked things were turning just a short time ago. “I think you’re right. We could just as easily be at the bottom of the ocean right now… or in the belly of that serpent.”
Grabbing Jack’s hand, Neil helped his friend to his feet. Jack shrugged out of his unsnapped life vest and let it fall to the beach. He tossed his rain slicker beside it and then gave himself a brief pat down to check for injuries.
“How do you feel?” Neil asked.
“Everything seems to be intact!” Jack reported, which came as no surprise. Like Neil, he benefited from the remarkable resilience of ten-year-olds, and he oftentimes seemed to be absolutely impervious to injury.
“Great! Let’s go check on Lefty.”
Having succeeded in reviving Jack, Murphy and Nibbler had already raced farther down the beach to apply their attentions to the shipwrecked scientist. They were alternately slapping him and delivering slobbery kisses, which they had recently proven to be an effective means of rousing comatose human beings.
The combination of squirrel slaps and Labradoodle kisses caused Lefty’s head to turn from side to side upon the sand. By the time Neil and Jack arrived, he was coming around, groaning as he awoke.
Lefty was reaching down toward his knee with both hands, grimacing as he did so. But as he saw the boys approaching, the pain he was in seemed to vanish, and he smiled from ear to ear.
“By the spectacles of Ben Franklin! You boys are okay!” Lefty placed an affectionate hand on Nibbler’s head. “And I see our beasts have weathered the storm in tiptop shape.”
Jack knelt beside him. “How about you, Uncle Lefty? We saw you clutching at your leg there.”
“I’m afraid I’m not quite as resilient as the rest of you,” Lefty said with a chuckle. “I fear I may have twisted my knee in the impact. Oh, and I’m dreadfully sorry for the poor driving, by the way. I was the captain of the Quantum Conundrum, and though there was no way I could have anticipated that freak storm, I still feel responsible for leading us into harm’s way.”
“Nothing to worry about there, sir,” Neil assured him with a bright smile. “I assure you, we’re just tickled to have been able to take part in a genuine shipwreck.”
“Well, now, that’s the spirit!” Lefty commended him. “You boys are always up for adventure, and the glass is never half empty for you, is it?”
While Nibbler and Murphy watched, Neil and Jack attempted to help Lefty to his feet, taking great care to be as gentle as they could. As soon as he was in an upright position, however, Lefty gasped with pain and sank back to the sand.
“It’s no use,” Lefty lamented. “My knee is either twisted or blown out, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to support my own weight or walk on it.”
Neil and Jack assisted Lefty in removing his life vest and rain jacket, and they then propped those articles beneath his head to serve as an improvised pillow. They made him as comfortable as they could, and Lefty was grateful for their efforts.
“Thank you, boys! By the beard of Archimedes, we had quite the voyage making our way to this island, didn’t we? I certainly didn’t anticipate so much trouble for such a short journey. The bad news is that we lost a fine boat - ah, the Quantum Conundrum, she served me well before her demise. But the good news is that nobody was hurt - and we also confirmed our theory.”
Neil and Jack nodded in understanding.
“I saw it, right before we wrecked…” Jack said, his voice trailing off as he recalled the awesome spectacle.
“I remember it, too,” Neil said. “It was really something else!”
“Woof,” Nibbler quietly chuffed, as if in similar reflection.
Murphy adamantly nodded his head up and down.
“That’s right, boys,” Lefty said. “The source of the recent signatures in my data pool were indeed the result of Pan Gu’s presence… the monster is here.”
Chapter Seven
Bringer of Lightning
The Green Beans, Volume 4: Shipwrecked on Smuttynose Island Page 6
