by Wendy Orr
But now she could see Carla crossing the street back towards the park. ‘Fred!’ she called, ‘Selkie! Fritz! Time to get going!’
The kids ran back to the van with them, waving goodbye as they drove off.
ALEX SAW THE Statue of Liberty out her cabin window as the ship sailed past. She had nothing to pack but the pyjamas and toothbrush she’d bought, and the book that Delia had sent her.
For the first time, she opened her new book and began to read.
The ship slowed to nearly a full stop. The engines were barely purring. There seemed to be quite a long wait before a tugboat towed it to the dock.
Alex began to smile as she read.
The ship docked. Ropes were run out and looped over the bollards on the dock; the gangplank slammed down.
Alex looked up, wishing she were reading the book aloud to Jack and Nim, with Fred, Selkie and Chica looking on.
People were walking past her window, wheeling suitcases and carrying backpacks.
The mother of the next-door children called, ‘But I asked you to pack this morning!’ and the children shouted, ‘We were busy!’
Alex went on reading.
Virginia knocked on the door to tell her it was time to leave the ship and ask if she needed help with her bags.
‘No thanks,’ said Alex, and went to stand in the queue to say goodbye to the crew. It was a long line, and she went on reading as she stood.
She shook hands with the captain, and saw that the family in the cabins next door had lined up behind her. The children looked as bouncy and friendly as they’d sounded through the walls, and Alex wished she’d been brave enough to meet them. She joined an even longer line to show her passport and leave the dock – and very nearly finished the book.
‘But I do know the ending,’ she reminded herself. ‘At least, I think I do.’
Suddenly she could hardly wait to get off the ship and sort out the ending to her even newer story.
‘DO YOU SEE that woman’s book?’ Ben asked Erin.
Erin stared hard. She read the title and she felt a bit sick. ‘Do you think Nim just read it and made everything up?’
‘She couldn’t have. She had Fred.’
‘And Selkie.’
‘It’s still very weird.’
‘What’s even weirder is that woman’s wearing pants like Nim’s. Nobody has pants like Nim’s.’
‘And she hasn’t got a suitcase.’
‘As if she got on in a hurry …’
‘… like Nim.’
‘Do you think it could be?’
‘Let’s ask her!’
But by the time all their passports were stamped and bags checked, Alex had vanished.
Ben and Erin followed their parents and the twins out to stand in line for a taxi. The first one to pull in had a sign on the roof: Nim’s Island by ALEX ROVER. In stores July 7!
‘That’s today,’ said Erin.
‘So the only person on the ship who could already be reading it …’
‘… is Alex Rover.’
Ben started to giggle. ‘Can you imagine what she’ll say when she sees Nim!’
‘And Selkie and Fred!’
JACK’S PLANE DIDN’T go all the way to New York; he had to change planes twice. He rushed to check his email again at an airport computer as he waited for the last plane. This time he went straight to the Trash bin. It was crammed with messages.
As he skimmed down the list, his heart started thumping so fast he could hardly breathe.
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Date: Wednesday July 7, 11:30am
Subject: Very very urgent about Nim
Dear Mr. Rusoe
I’m the girl who sent Nim’s emails to you before. I hope you don’t think I’m rude but I think it’s very mean that you haven’t written to Nim yet. Anyway, I thought you’d like to know that the ship is in New York now and it’s going to dock in about half an hour. We’re getting off at the cruise ship terminal but Nim and Selkie and Fred jumped off when everyone was looking at the Statue of Liberty.
‘Jumped off the ship?’ Jack exclaimed.
Nim didn’t ask me to write to you this time but I hope it’s okay because she’s worried that you’re angry at her about Alex. And she’s my friend so I don’t want her to be upset, so could you please write to her soon. I guess she can check her email when she finds Alex.
From Erin Caritas
Jack felt hot and cold and didn’t know if he was going to be sick or explode, or maybe both at the same time. He read the email again even though every word was already burned into his brain, especially ‘jumped off the ship’, and ‘when she finds Alex’.
Then he went down through all the emails that had gone straight into the Trash every time he’d checked for mail from Nim or Alex.
He found all five messages that Nim had asked Erin to write. When he’d finished reading he knew that:
• Nim, Selkie and Fred had jumped off a ship in the middle of New York Harbour about two hours ago
• They weren’t with Alex
There were lots more things that he didn’t know, but the most important were:
• Did Nim, Selkie and Fred drown when they jumped off the ship?
• If they hadn’t drowned, where were they now?
• Where was Alex?
The other things he really wanted to know but would worry about later were:
• Why did they get onto the ship?
• How did they get onto the ship?
• When did they get onto the ship?
• Why did Alex leave?
But the most important question of all he couldn’t even ask because no one knew the answer:
• Would they all find each other again?
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Date: Wednesday July 7, 12:01pm
Subject: Re: Very very urgent about Nim
Dear Erin
Do you really mean that Nim jumped off a ship and swam to land?
I’m arriving in New York at 6:00 this evening on Flight 123. If you talk to Nim please tell her.
I’m very sorry I didn’t read your emails before.
Yours truly,
Jack Rusoe
P.S. Thank you for being Nim’s friend.
He started another email.
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
The airport loudspeaker crackled. ‘Passenger Jack Rusoe, please go to Boarding Gate 46 immediately. Your flight is about to leave.’
Jack left the computer and raced to the gate. ‘Five more hours till I’m there,’ he thought.
It was going to be the longest five hours of his life.
CARLA DROVE NIM and her friends past old buildings, new buildings, buildings of carved stone, buildings of shiny glass, and building after building whose tops were high above the clouds. None of them were where Alex’s books were published.
How would I ever have found Delia Defoe by myself? Nim wondered. And if I couldn’t find her, how would I ever find Alex?
They passed banks, dress shops, camera shops, jewellery shops, postcard shops, toy shops, pet shops, hotels, cafés, and stands on the street corners selling handbags or sunglasses or snacks and drinks. They saw flags waving, neon signs flashing, steps going down into the ground and steam hissing up from a hole in the path, the way it did from the Hissing Stones when Fire Mountain was getting angry.
They stopped at traffic lights and watched the people crossing.
‘Isn’t it funny,’ Nim said, ‘There are so many people – and none of them are ever the same!’
‘That’s what makes life interesting, honey,’ said Carla. ‘But what I want to see is the apartment waiting for this poodle birthday cake … don’t yap, Fritz, poodles are nice, too. Let’s see, if I turn here, go down this street, and now … oh dear, that was exactly what I didn’t want to do. Okay, we’ll have to park here and walk. You guys can
hop out and stretch if you want, better put Fritz on his leash – does Fred have a leash?’
‘He can go on my shoulder,’ said Nim.
‘Okay, don’t go far, I’ll be as quick as I can.’ Carla opened the back of the van to let Selkie out, grabbed the cake box and raced off. Nim and the others followed more slowly, with Selkie pressed close to Nim’s side.
On the corner a man was selling pretzels. The pretzels were like bread twisted into knots and covered with salt. Fred liked salt. He leaned out from Nim’s shoulder and chomped half a pretzel from the stand.
‘That’ll be one dollar!’ said the man.
I don’t have any money! Nim thought, but then she remembered the tips Erin had dropped into her pocket as they got into the elevator. She showed them to the pretzel seller.
‘Too much!’ he said, taking one green piece and giving her back the rest. Nim bought a bottle of water too, and she still had money left.
They crossed the road, turned the corner – and walked into a solid wall of people. Most of them tried to jump out of Selkie’s way, though they were too jammed in to jump far.
The people were staring at giant screens on the fronts of buildings on both sides of the street. Some of the screens had pictures that changed from one thing to another and back again; others had brightly lit words running across them, starting over again as soon as they’d finished.
One of the running signs said: ALEX ROVER’S NIM’S ISLAND RELEASED TODAY.
Nim felt as if the only things that were real were the feel of Fred’s spine under her chin and the warmth of Selkie’s shoulder.
‘Let’s get back to the van,’ she said, but they were squashed in so tight there was barely room to turn around.
‘Whoof!’ Selkie barked, ‘Whoof-WHOOF!’
The crowd shifted just enough for Nim to get through – but then more people noticed Selkie and Fred, and crowded closer to see.
‘They’re from Alex Rover’s new book!’
‘No, they must be filming a movie!’
More people crushed closer. A policeman whistled. Selkie stopped, but the whistle wasn’t for her. It was to make the cars stop so Selkie and Nim could cross, with their long parade following behind.
‘Where are we going?’ a girl asked.
‘Back to Carla’s van,’’ said Nim. ‘And then to find Alex Rover.’
‘We’re on TV!’ shrieked a boy, leaping in front of Nim to wave to a man walking backwards with a camera on his shoulder.
Some people stopped following her then, but others came closer to ask about Alex. One man pushed his way through with a pen and a book, and asked Nim to sign it. It was Alex’s book – and even though looking at it made Nim feel sorry, ashamed and confused, when she read Alex’s name, she felt a tiny trickle of hope that maybe Alex would still like her after all.
The man kept on asking till Nim scribbled her name across the face of the girl who was supposed to be her.
‘Can I have your autograph too?’ a boy asked, but just as other people started pulling out pieces of paper, notebooks and hats, Fred sneezed. Hard.
Everyone stepped back.
Fred looked smug as they met Carla and started off again. The van crawled through the traffic. ‘We’re nearly there,’ Carla explained. ‘What we’re going to do is loop around, drop off this dog-that-looks-like-a-cat cake – Stop yapping, Fritz, though you’re right, who’d want a dog that looks like a cat? But this customer does, so that’s what they’re getting, and then we’ll get Nim where she needs to be.’
Carla turned where the road met a wide green park. Nim saw soft grass, flowers, tall trees and hills. It was like the fresh green heart of this hot busy city.
In the park, people walked and dreamed, lay on the grass, jogged, roller bladed, rode bikes and horses. There were mothers with babies, fathers with toddlers, grandparents with grandchildren, mothers and fathers with little kids and big kids and almost grown-up kids.
Families! thought Nim, and suddenly she didn’t want to see any more.
CARLA PARKED IN a row of horses and carriages in front of a palace. It looked like a picture in a book Nim had at home. ‘Don’t go away!’ Carla said, letting them all out again to get the dog-that-looked-like-a-cat cake. ‘I’ll just be a minute!’
Selkie honked in surprise at the horses. She’d never seen animals with such long legs. A big grey horse whinnied back, and Selkie lolloped over to meet it.
‘You’re a long way from home!’ the driver said to Selkie. ‘It’s a good thing Mabel likes tourists.’ He rubbed the horse’s neck affectionately.
Mabel and Selkie sniffed noses. Fred and Fritz gulped some popcorn they’d found on the ground.
Nim was the only one who couldn’t enjoy the horses and carriages, the golden fountain or the palace, the brilliant sunshine or the green park. Because soon she’d be at Alex’s publisher, and if Delia Defoe couldn’t help her, she had no idea at all what she was going to do next.
Carla bustled back, looking flushed and cross. ‘Turns out they wanted two cakes! Would have been nice if they’d told me when they ordered! So I’m thinking … do you want to go back to the shop with me, and then I can go in to find this Delia with you?’
But Nim couldn’t wait any longer. ‘We can go in by ourselves,’ she said, though she was suddenly more afraid than she’d been ever since she stood at the railing to dive off the ship.
‘Okay then … but don’t think I’m dumping you off for good. I’ll just be about an hour – plenty of time to sort out if this Delia gal can help you. Then I’ll come back and see what’s happening, and you can all come and stay with me till you find your friend or your dad or whoever.’
‘We can stay with you?” Nim asked, amazed.
‘Well, I’m hardly going to let you sleep out in Central Park! For one thing Daniel would never speak to me again. Though I warn you, at my house it’ll be a squish.’
Nim tried to say thank you, but her throat was even more choked now than when she’d been afraid.
‘Here we are!’ Carla pulled up in front of a tall, shining building with Alex Rover’s name hung in a banner across a window display of Nim’s Island books. She gave Nim a card, hugged her hard and patted Fred before opening the back door for Selkie. ‘Here’s my number in case you need it. Remember I’ll be back in a hour.’
She pulled back into the traffic, sticking her head out the window to shout once more, ‘Don’t worry!’
‘I won’t,’ Nim lied, as she waved goodbye.
She pushed the door.
It was a heavy glass door, and when Nim stepped in, another door followed close behind, so there was only just enough space for Nim and Fred. Selkie threw herself at the second door so hard that all the doors spun around, and Nim ended up back on the street where she’d begun.
She tried again. This time she got into the building, and so did Selkie.
Books in glass cases were on every side, up to the ceiling. Nim knew she was in the right place.
Three men were sitting behind a desk.
‘Oh my goodness!’ said the first.
‘You’d think publicity could have told us!’ said the second.
‘Let me guess,’ said the third. ‘You must be Nim!’
‘Yes,’ said Nim, ‘I need to see Alex Rover.’
The men looked at each other.
‘Get Delia Defoe,’ said one, and the second man picked up the phone.
‘Wait there, sweetie,’ said the third, and Nim and Selkie sat down in front of the bookcases. Nim read the titles while Fred stretched out under the shelf. Selkie watched the people coming in and going out through the heavy revolving door.
Elevator doors opened, and a woman stepped out.
‘I’m Alex Rover’s editor,’ she said. ‘I appreciate your interest in this book, and I’m very intrigued about how you organised these animals so fast, but Alex Rover doesn’t give interviews.’
‘I don’t want an interview,’ said Nim. ‘I just have to talk to he
r.’
‘Most people think Alex Rover’s a man – why do you think she’s a woman?’
‘Because she’s my friend,’ said Nim. ‘At least, she was.’
‘Well, I could give her your message. Why do you need to see her?’
‘To say I’m sorry,’ Nim muttered, hiding her face against her knees so Delia wouldn’t see her cry.
‘Do you mean,’ Delia said softly, as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was asking, ‘that you’re the real Nim? And this is truly Fred – and Selkie?’
Nim nodded.
Delia squatted down on the floor beside her, and Nim told her the story; everything except exactly what she’d said to Alex, because she thought Delia wouldn’t want to help her if she knew just how horrible Nim had been.
At first Delia looked excited, but as the story went on she looked more and more concerned.
‘So now can you tell me how to find Alex?’ asked Nim.
‘I’d love to,’ said Delia. ‘The problem is – I don’t have any idea.’
WHEN ALEX FINALLY got out of the cruise ship terminal, she could see the top of the Papyrus Publishing building, tall and shining above the others around it. There was a long queue for taxis, and Alex needed to get there fast. She crossed the highway and started to walk.
She wrote her email to Nim and Jack in her head as she walked. It wasn’t easy, but she knew what she had to say. The only thing she didn’t know was what their answer would be.
She was thinking about them so hard that sometimes she’d see a girl with hair like Nim’s, or a man who walked like Jack, and for half a moment she’d think, They’re here!
It was so bad that when she looked in the window of her publisher’s building, she thought she saw Selkie sitting in front of the bookcases.
‘You,’ Alex told herself, ‘are going absolutely fruitcake nutty!’
‘But,’ she added, ‘in five more minutes you can email them.’
‘FIRST THINGS FIRST,’ Delia was saying to Nim. ‘Come up to my office to email Alex and your father – Selkie and Fred can stay down here, can’t they?’