by Probst, Jeff
“Do you still see the plane?” he shouted as he ran. The signal fire was burning well now, but it didn’t look like enough. His heart clenched at the thought of losing another chance at rescue.
“It’s coming!” Jane said. “Hurry, Buzz!”
He reached the others and immediately poured the oil around the base of the flames. The heat of the fire singed his arms, but adrenaline kept him going.
The oil sizzled and smoked for several seconds, then ignited with a burst. It let off a trail of dark smoke, but still, it wasn’t enough. The plane was well within sight now. He could see the shape of it. But the real question was—how did they make the plane see them?
“We need it bigger!” Buzz yelled. “What else have we got to burn?”
“I’ll cut some fronds,” Vanessa said. She took the knife and scrambled up toward the woods.
Carter tore off his shirt, wiped it around in the oily bucket, and threw it in. Buzz did the same.
“What else?” Buzz asked. It felt as though the clock on their very last chance was ticking down . . . ticking down. . . .
“I have an idea!” Jane shouted. “Come on, Buzz. Right now!”
She grabbed the torch Buzz had been using and headed back toward the ship. Buzz had no clue what she was thinking, but he took off after her. As he left the signal fire behind, Vanessa was throwing fronds down from the woods, and Carter was doing his best to pile them onto the blaze. Just like everything else, it seemed like too little, too late.
Whatever Jane’s idea was, he hoped it was a good one.
CHAPTER 15
Buzz followed Jane up onto the boat, into the wheelhouse, and down through the hatch to the deck below. He hated not being able to see outside anymore, not knowing where the plane was.
“What are you doing?” he called after Jane as they moved up the passage toward the stern.
“We’re going to light the oil tank!” Jane said.
It stopped Buzz cold. “What?” he asked. “We can’t do that.”
“We have to,” Jane said. She continued into the small cabin with the manhole cover in the floor. It sat over the opening of the tank, just slightly to the side.
Jane set the burning torch on the metal floor and dropped to her knees. “Help me move this out of the way,” she said.
“The whole ship could blow up!” Buzz told her.
“Do you have a better idea?” she asked.
He didn’t. Jane was right, and Buzz knew it. In fact, he wondered why he hadn’t thought of this himself. Fire was his thing. He’d been thinking about how to make and keep fires for the last thirteen days, nonstop. But Jane’s calm focus, despite the urgency of the situation, was infectious.
He knelt down next to her and put his hands on the heavy iron disc. “One, two, three!” he said. They heaved together and twisted the cover off to the side. The smell from down below burned Buzz’s nostrils.
Outside, he could hear the sound of the plane. It was getting close.
“Okay,” Jane said as she picked up the torch. “Get ready to run like crazy.”
“Wait!” Buzz said. He knew what to do. There was no reason for two of them to be down here right now. He reached out and snatched the torch away.
“What are you doing?” Jane said.
“Go,” Buzz told her. “I’ll light it.”
“But—” Jane started to object.
“There’s no time, Jane,” Buzz cut her off. “Just go. I’ll catch up.”
“Buzz, you can’t!” she said.
He dropped the torch on the floor, put both hands on her shoulders, and shoved her toward the door. “GET OUT!” he screamed. “You’re wasting time. Go!”
Jane stumbled into the passage and let out a wail as she ran toward the front.
“Hurry, Buzz!” she called back. “Please hurry!”
Buzz stood in the middle of the cabin and picked up the burning torch. He knew that it usually took a moment before the oil caught fire. With any luck, he’d have just enough time to get out of there. And if not, it could still get the others off this island, once and for all. That was a risk worth taking, especially for Carter’s sake. He wouldn’t survive much longer.
This was it. One chance to save them. It was crazy—a complete shot in the dark. But Jane was right. They had to try.
He could hear Jane outside now screaming for the others. That was good. It meant she was off the boat.
Buzz checked the door once more to make sure he had a clear way out of the room.
He held the torch over the hole. He positioned his feet like a sprinter ready to fly. Then he took a deep breath and dropped the torch down into the tank.
Vanessa could scarcely believe what Jane was telling her.
“Yes, he’s lighting the fuel tank!” she said again. “I’m sorry, it was my idea!”
Vanessa turned toward the ship, running blindly. The plane—headed straight for the island—was forgotten. She had to get Buzz out of there. This was insane.
“Buzz!” she screamed, splashing along the edge of the cove. “Buzz! Don’t do it! Get out of there!”
She was halfway back to the boat when she saw Buzz racing through the wheelhouse on his way out.
“Run!” Buzz screamed. He threw himself off the deck and kept going. “Get away, get away, get away!”
Vanessa stopped and reversed direction, with Buzz right behind. The plane was almost directly overhead. If the ship was going to blow it needed to blow now.
“Nothing’s happening!” Buzz said, even as they were still moving.
“Are you sure you lit it?” Vanessa said back.
“I don’t know, I put the—”
A giant, hollow explosion of sound filled the air. The force of it blew through the cove like a strong wind. Vanessa felt her ears pop. She stumbled just as Buzz caught up to her. They both hit the ground, then turned to look back.
A giant, rolling red-and-orange ball was rising up from the ship. It looked as if the sky itself was on fire. It was huge. The wheelhouse had disintegrated. Vanessa threw an arm over Buzz as debris splashed down in the water and onto the ground around them. A giant piece of railing landed with a crash, just ten feet off to the right.
When she looked up again, Vanessa saw the rolling flames giving way to a black smoke that flowed up and out of the cove, like fumes through a chimney. If anything was going to be seen from a distance, it wasn’t their signal fire anymore. It was that explosion.
Adrenaline still pumping, Vanessa grabbed Buzz’s hand and ran back to the others.
“YES!” Jane shouted as Buzz and Vanessa raced toward them. It had worked. Somehow, it had worked.
But they weren’t through this yet. She stood at the water’s edge with Carter, waving and waving at the plane. This was it—the moment when it all came to an end. It had to be. There was no other option, and they all screamed at the sky.
“HELP!”
“DOWN HERE!”
“PLEASE!”
Unbelievably, the airplane never changed its course. It continued on its way, passing west over the island, while the screaming continued.
“NO! DON’T LEAVE!”
“COME BACK!”
But it was no good. Within a few moments, the plane had disappeared over the tops of the trees. Jane stood with her neck still craned upward, her gaze overhead, where there was nothing left to see anymore.
The plane was gone. Not only that, but the ship was ruined as well. It was all too much—an unbearable load of bad luck. She couldn’t hold back her tears.
“I don’t understand,” she sobbed. “How could they not see us? How could this happen—again?”
“Was it the same plane as the last time?” Vanessa asked.
“I don’t know,” Jane said. “What does it matter?”
“It doesn’
t,” Vanessa said. “I just . . .” She trailed off, as if she’d realized there was nothing left to say. No way to describe what any of them were feeling. And now she was crying, too. They all were.
It couldn’t be true. The plane couldn’t have really passed them by. Not twice.
And yet, the empty sky over Jane’s head told her everything there was to know. The plane had moved on, and the only thing up there now was a huge black cloud of smoke, as the ship behind them—their home—burned up in flames.
Just like their chances of being rescued.
Carter didn’t even try to wipe away his tears. The pain in his hand was nothing compared to the torture of watching another rescue slip right through their fingers.
And there had been nothing he could do to help. All he’d managed was a few weak shouts at the sky, watching the speck of a plane fly over, with a horrible sense of déjà vu.
He lay back on the rocks now, feeling empty. Not just in his stomach, but in his heart, too. Everywhere. Everything. The emptiness consumed him. It felt . . . over.
Nobody said a word for a long time. They all sank to the ground around him, catching their breath at first, then crying quietly to themselves. There was simply nothing to say.
In fact, if there had been any conversation, Carter might not have heard the soft hum of the plane, coming closer again.
But he did hear it. At first, he stayed silent, thinking it might just be his imagination playing tricks on him. It wasn’t until he saw Buzz look up, and then both of the girls, too, that he let himself believe it might be true.
“Is that . . . ?” Buzz said.
“Really?” Jane said, turning around in a full circle, scanning the sky again.
There was no mistaking it now. The plane had looped around from the west and was headed back in their direction.
“They must have seen the smoke!” Vanessa said. “That has to be it!”
“They’re coming back! They’re coming back!” Jane sang out.
And then sure enough, over the tops of the trees, the beautiful sight of an airplane appeared. It was flying lower than before—much lower. This was a plane getting ready to land. But where? There wasn’t enough room on the island.
Carter could see now that this wasn’t the same craft from the other day. It was red and white, with big pontoons underneath. This was a seaplane—it could land on water.
He waved, while his brother and sisters jumped up and down, screaming as loudly as they could.
It was an unbelievable sight. An unbelievable feeling, too. Like some kind of dream he’d had more than once since they’d landed on Nowhere Island. And now it was coming true.
The plane flew in a wide arc, out over the ocean to the east, and then back again, heading straight at them. The others held Carter up on his feet as it skimmed down onto the water, propellers buzzing, less than fifty yards offshore.
It was hard for Carter to make out what Vanessa and Buzz were even saying, there was so much excitement in their voices. Jane was crying too hard for words.
He could see the pilot behind the seaplane’s small windshield. There were others on board as well, moving around inside as they continued to float closer. Soon, the door on the side opened.
And even now, with everything that had just happened, the last person Carter expected to see was the first off the plane.
“MOMMY!” Jane screamed, finding her voice.
Beth Benson reached toward them, still twenty yards away, her face crumpled up with tears of her own. Behind her, Eric Diaz emerged onto the pontoon.
“Dad!” Buzz and Vanessa yelled simultaneously.
Behind their parents, two of the flight crew had already launched a bright yellow dinghy. One of them was handing red-and-white boxes of what Carter guessed to be medical supplies down to the other.
But Mom wasn’t waiting. She plunged into the water followed by Dad, and they started swimming for the beach.
It was too much for Carter. It was as if his mind didn’t know how to process what was happening. All the fears—that they might never be rescued, that his infection might kill him—were gone. The feeling went way beyond words. There were only tears now.
Tears of joy.
Vanessa, Jane, and Buzz raced into the water toward their parents. Carter was moving, too, more slowly. Before they’d gotten very far, Buzz stopped and turned around to come back. He put an arm around Carter to hold him up, and they continued on together.
“We did it, Carter,” Buzz said. “I don’t know how—but we did.”
Before Carter could say anything, they were both swallowed up in their parents’ arms. Jane and Vanessa were there, too—a six-person huddle of tears and screams, with everyone talking at once.
“It’s a miracle!” Dad said.
“How’d you find us?” Vanessa asked.
“You’re here, you’re here! You’re really here!” Jane cheered.
“Look at you!” Mom said. “I can’t believe this!”
“We’re okay,” Buzz was saying. “I think we’re okay.”
Only Carter stayed silent. His legs wobbled underneath him, while the others held him up. His hand throbbed as badly as ever, and the fever put a soft blur on everything he saw and heard around him. He wasn’t out of the woods yet. He knew that.
But he’d never felt so safe in his life as he did right now.
CHAPTER 16
July 11. LAST DAY ON NOWHERE ISLAND
You know what’s better than snails??? Peanut M&M’s. And bottled water. And turkey sandwiches. And granola bars.
And having my mom and dad right here in front of my eyes. And hugging them, and knowing I never have to stop if I don’t want to.
And my mom’s voice telling me everything is going to be okay again.
And knowing that we’re going home.
I’m going to write that again. WE’RE GOING HOME.
Mom told me that Joe and Uncle Dex are safe and sound. They had to go to the hospital for a little while, but they’re going to be just fine. She also said that she and Dad have been flying their own hired plane all over the place for days—even double-checking the sections that the Coast Guard had already checked. And guess what? It worked, because here they are.
Carter’s in the worst shape, by far. I’m watching them give him intravenous medicine and taking good care of him, right here on the island. The floatplane is too small for all of us, so the pilots are going to fly back and get a helicopter to come pick us up! I’ve never been in ahelicopter!
Good-bye, snails. Good-bye, mud and rain and mosquitoes, and grubs and snakes and ants, and wild boars and everything else about this place. I won’t ever forget you, Nowhere Island, but I can’t wait to start trying.
Already, Mom and Dad have a million questions. Mostly they want to know how we did this.
Dad said, “You guys are a real miracle. How did you survive?”
And I liked Buzz’s answer.
He said, “Together.”
READ HOW THE ADVENTURE BEGAN IN
A family vacation becomes a test of survival.
It was supposed to be a vacation—and a chance to get to know one another better. But when a massive storm sets in without warning, four kids are shipwrecked alone on a rocky jungle island in the middle of the South Pacific. No adults. No instructions. Nobody to rely upon but themselves. Can they make it home alive?
A week ago, the biggest challenge Vanessa, Buzz, Carter, and Jane had was learning to live as a new blended family. Now the four siblings must find a way to work together if they’re going to make it off the island. But first they’ve got to learn to survive one another.
CHAPTER 1
It was day four at sea, and as far as eleven-year-old Carter Benson was concerned, life didn’t get any better than this.
From where he hung, suspended fifty feet over
the deck of the Lucky Star, all he could see was a planet’s worth of blue water. The boat’s huge white mainsail ballooned in front of him, filled with a stiff southerly wind that sent them scudding through the South Pacific faster than they’d sailed all week.
This was the best part of the best thing Carter had ever done, no question. It was like sailing and flying at the same time. The harness around his middle held him in place while his arms and legs hung free. The air itself seemed to carry him along, at speed with the boat.
“How you doin’ up there, Carter?” Uncle Dexter shouted from the cockpit.
Carter flashed a thumbs-up and pumped his fist. “Faster!” he shouted back. Even with the wind whipping in his ears, Dex’s huge belly laugh came back, loud and clear.
Meanwhile, Carter had a job to do. He wound the safety line from his harness in a figure eight around the cleat on the mast to secure himself. Then he reached over and unscrewed the navigation lamp he’d come up here to replace.
As soon as he’d pocketed the old lamp in his rain slicker, he pulled out the new one and fitted it into the fixture, making sure not to let go before he’d tightened it down. Carter had changed plenty of lightbulbs before, but never like this. If anything, it was all too easy and over too fast.
When he was done, he unwound his safety line and gave a hand signal to Dex’s first mate, Joe Kahali, down below. Joe put both hands on the winch at the base of the mast and started cranking Carter back down to the deck.
“Good job, Carter,” Joe said, slapping him on the back as he got there. Carter swelled with pride and adrenaline. Normally, replacing the bulb would have been Joe’s job, but Dex trusted him to take care of it.
Now Joe jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Your uncle wants to talk to you,” he said.
Carter stepped out of the harness and stowed it in its locker, just like Dex and Joe had trained him to do. Once that was done, he clipped the D-ring on his life jacket to the safety cable that ran the length of the deck and headed toward the back.
