by R. T. Martin
“Paige is what? Spit it out!”
Maya was struck by a wave of nausea that seemed to radiate directly from the place where she had hit her head.
“Paige is in trouble! Trapped. Leg. Broken. Sandbar. Shark.” She was only able to spit out key words, but it she still managed to get Kai’s attention.
“Wait, what? Shark?”
“She broke—” Paige gripped the railing even tighter. “Her Leg. Stuck on a sandbar at—” She blinked hard, trying to steady her vision. “Ripper’s Cove. Tide’s coming in. There’s—” Deep breath. “A shark. Bull shark. In the water. I can’t get to her.” The world was no longer spinning, but Maya kept a hold on the railing just in case. “So give me your phone!”
Kai’s eyes went wide, and he quickly handed it over.
Maya dialed 911 and put it to her ear.
“We’re sorry,” a recorded voice on the other side of the line said. “All available operators are currently busy. Stay on the line and we will be with you as soon as possible.”
Maya hung up and dialed again.
“We’re sorry.”
She hung up and dialed a third time.
“We’re sorry.”
She nearly threw Kai’s phone into the street before she stopped herself. “It’s busy!” she said. “How is that possible?”
Kai’s mouth pulled to one side. “It’s probably because of the wreck.”
“What?”
“The wreck. Haven’t you seen the news?”
“No! I haven’t seen the news, Kai!”
“Right.” He looked a little embarrassed. “A ship crashed into the dock over by Pier Eight during the storm. Power’s out in a lot of places, and there was a big fire. The emergency lines are probably swamped.”
Maya felt a whole new wave of nausea that didn’t seem to be coming from the pain in her head. “What about the Coast Guard?”
“They were called to help out emergency services.” He pointed past the beach where people enjoyed the sun and sand to the docks. “You can see it from here.”
Sure enough, Maya saw a big cloud of black smoke rising from a mile or two away. Maya felt her heart race as she wondered if she’d ever see Paige again.
“She’s at Ripper’s Cove, right?” Kai asked.
Maya nodded. “Stuck on a sandbar.”
“If I can distract the shark, can you make it to Paige?”
Maya turned to him. She was about ready to collapse, but she could keep fighting through it if it meant saving her friend. “Yeah, but how are you going to distract the shark?”
The corners of Kai’s mouth crept into a smile. “I’ve got an idea.”
Chapter 9
“My dad’s a fisherman,” Kai explained as he led Maya into the basement of his house. “It’s not his full-time job or anything, but he heads out pretty much every day.” He led them to a cooler and opened it, revealing a bunch of whole, big fish stacked on top of one another. “We eat some of it, but he sells the majority to local restaurants for some extra cash.” He turned toward Maya. “If we throw these in the water, the shark will probably follow them. We can get it away from the sandbar to give you a better shot at Paige.”
Maya just stared at the fish for a moment, blinking slowly as she processed what Kai had just said. Truth be told, she didn’t like the plan. It would be risky, and she would be the one taking most of the risk. Kai would just be chucking fish into the ocean while she was in the water with the shark. Still, with the tide coming in and emergency services distracted by the shipwreck, Maya didn’t have a better plan.
“It’s worth a shot,” she said. Kai nodded.
They each grabbed some fish from the cooler. They brought them out of the basement and threw them into the back of Kai’s old beat-up pickup truck. No time to get a container to hold them.
“Let’s go!” Maya practically shouted.
“We should get more.” Kai was already headed back toward his basement.
“We don’t have time to get more!”
He turned, clearly a little frustrated. “Do you want me to run out of fish while you’re halfway back with Paige?” Maya just stood there. “No? Then let’s go get some more, but let’s do it quickly.” He turned again and headed toward the basement.
Although she was antsy to get back to Ripper’s Cove, Kai was making a lot of sense, so she followed him back to the cooler. Within a few minutes, they had twice the number of fish. Then they jumped in the truck and Kai peeled out of the driveway.
Kai was speeding down the road, but Maya could feel time slipping away from them.
“Come on! Go faster!”
“It’s a thirty zone, and I’m already going close to forty,” Kai replied. “If we get pulled over, it’ll take us even longer to get there.”
“If we get pulled over, we can tell the cop what’s going on, and they can radio for help!”
Kai raised his eyebrows. It didn’t seem like he’d thought of that. He pushed the car to forty-five, and the entire way to Ripper’s Cove, Maya hoped she’d see flashing lights behind them.
But they didn’t see another car on the entire journey there. Maya tried 911 several more times, but she still wasn’t getting through.
Kai parked by the boardwalk, and they both got out. They whipped around to the back of the truck and started grabbing as many fish from the back as they could carry.
The smell was terrible. The fish were thawing now that they were out in the heat, but that would probably make them more appetizing to the shark.
Maya ran down to the water, tripping a little bit over her feet, but managing to stay upright. She peered out over the waves. Paige was still out there, lying motionless on the sandbar exactly where Maya had left her. The sandbar appeared to have shrunk in the time it took Maya to return. She hoped it was just her imagination. If the tide really was coming in already, they wouldn’t have much time at all.
“We need to take the fish farther away!” Kai shouted when he saw where she was standing, still holding the fish. “We need the shark to be lured away.” He was running with his load of fish to the other end of Ripper’s Cove, as far from Paige as he could get. Maya followed, and they dropped the fish in a big slimy pile on the other end of the cove.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get the rest from the truck.”
Maya went back for the second load, and when all the fish were piled up on the rocks next to Kai, she ran to the other end of the cove.
There was practically no sign there had even been a storm that day. The sun was peeking out through a few scattered clouds, but it was low in the sky. Maya knew that by the time it went down, the tide would be in, and the sandbar would be underwater. She guessed that they had about forty-five minutes to bring Paige back. If they didn’t manage that, the sea or the shark would get her.
“Do you see it?” Kai shouted from the other end of the cove. Maya had to strain to hear him across the huge distance between them.
Maya scanned the water. There was no sign of the shark’s dorsal fin, but she didn’t want to get in unless she was positive the predator had moved on.
“No,” she shouted back. “But it was here not long ago!”
Kai may have nodded, but it was too hard to tell from this distance.
Maya waited, looking intently at the water. Once again, she felt paralyzed and useless. Her friend wasn’t that far, but Maya didn’t dare start toward her until she knew where the shark was. For now, all she could do was wait.
“I’m throwing one!” Kai yelled.
Using a pocket knife, Kai opened the belly of the fish. Then he threw it in a wide arc, as far into the ocean as he could. The splash made Maya flinch.
More waiting. The dead fish was in the water, but there was no way to know if the shark was going to take the bait. Until Maya saw something.
Like a razor blade cutting its way out of the water, the shark’s dorsal fin appeared maybe thirty feet out from where Maya was standing. It was headed toward the dead fis
h.
“It’s here!” she shouted and pointed at the fin cutting its way through the waves.
Kai didn’t say anything, but she saw him slice open another fish and throw it into the water. The fin started moving a little faster, and Maya knew it was chasing the smell of fish guts.
She waited until the shark was halfway between her and Kai before grabbing her board, racing into the water, and gently paddling toward the sandbar. She wanted so badly to go fast. Even in the brief time they’d waited for the shark to appear, the sandbar had definitely shrunk. They had a half hour at best, but Maya knew that sharks were attracted to kicking and splashing. If she paddled as hard as she could, she might attract the shark to her instead of their fish bait.
She dove under the waves as they came in but tried to keep her motion fluid and calm. Each time she popped her head back out of the water, she half expected the shark to be right next to her.
Maya heard another splash—Kai throwing another fish into the water. It was best that he did so regularly, keeping the shark distracted long enough for Maya to get Paige on her board and to the shore.
Maya was halfway there. She could see Paige clearly now. More important, she could see that one of Paige’s arms looked like it was touching the water. The sandbar was shrinking fast. Time was running out.
Once again, Maya felt the strong urge to go faster, paddle as hard as she could to save her friend. That would make things worse, she reminded herself. Slow and steady. Slow and steady.
She felt her foot hit the ground. She was close enough to the sandbar to run up onto it. She got off her board just as she heard another fish hitting the water.
“Paige!” she shouted. “Paige, wake up!”
Paige didn’t move, and for a second, Maya thought the worst. She put a hand near Paige’s mouth and felt the slightest exhale. Maya took a deep, relieved breath and prepared to do something she knew Paige wouldn’t like.
She laid her friend’s board on the sand next to her and grabbed Paige by the shoulders. “Sorry about this,” she said. She pulled Paige onto the board in one quick motion.
The movement in her broken leg must have been unbearable because Paige woke up screaming. “Why?” Paige shouted at Maya through tears.
“We have to get you to shore! I’m sorry, but we have to do it now! The tide is coming in, and we don’t have long before you’ll be underwater.”
Paige looked around, obviously a little dazed from passing out. She didn’t seem to recognize the sandbar. Maya considered telling her about the shark, but it was probably best not to panic her friend any further. She was already in pain.
“Hold on to your board with one hand and my leg with the other. I’m going to guide you to shore, okay?”
Paige nodded, and Maya gripped the edge of Paige’s board and dragged it into the water. Paige winced, but she seemed relatively okay.
“We’re going to go nice and slow, okay?” Maya said, trying to use her most reassuring voice even though she didn’t think she’d ever been this nervous. “I’ll be right in front of you, so let me know if there’s a problem. I’ll take care of it.”
Paige nodded again. “Okay,” she said.
Maya heard another splash in the distance.
Good, she thought. Kai’s still keeping the shark far away from us.
Maya got positioned on her board and stuck out her leg for Paige to grab. Once she was sure her friend had a good grip, Maya began paddling. In the wake of the storm, the waves had calmed dramatically. They weren’t even big enough to surf on at this point. Maya was thankful. She didn’t know if Paige would be able to hold on all the way to shore if she had to fight the waves.
Maya continued paddling, slow and steady. The last thing she wanted to do was try to hurry and risk making Paige’s broken leg worse. Or get the shark’s attention.
They’d only made it about thirty or forty feet from the sandbar when Maya heard panicked shouting. It was Kai. He was running along the beach screaming, “Go! Go! Go!” at the top of his lungs.
Chapter 10
“Is that Kai?” Paige asked groggily from her board, pivoting her head to look at the shore.
“Yeah,” Maya replied. Her heart was racing in her chest, but she was trying to remain calm. “He’s . . . helping.”
“Helping what?” Paige asked skeptically. “He’s not even in the water.”
Maya stared a little harder. Kai didn’t have a fish in his hand. He was waving his arms and frantically pointing at the water while shouting something that Maya couldn’t understand because he was much too far away.
But Maya knew exactly what he was trying to say. He was out of fish, and the shark was coming their way.
“Paige, listen,” Maya said over her shoulder, still trying to remain as calm as possible. “We have to go faster. A lot faster.”
“Why?” Paige replied. “And what’s Kai doing here? Doesn’t he have a competition or something to—”
“There’s a shark, Paige.” She couldn’t waste any more time, and this was no time for debate.
“Hold on to my leg.” Maya started paddling faster. She heard Paige inhale sharply. The sudden jolt of motion must have jostled her leg. “We’ll be on shore before you know it.” Maya said, not sure if she was trying to convince herself or Paige.
Maya was scanning the water while she paddled. If she had any luck at all, she’d see the fin before the shark saw her. She was paddling at full strength, but still not going as fast as usual. Dragging her friend behind her was like having an anchor latched to her ankle. Every time the current brushed them sideways, Maya had to correct their path.
Kai was standing on the shore, right where Maya and Paige would make landfall. He was leaning forward, clearly watching the water for any motion—any sign of the bull shark that threatened them.
They were over halfway to the shore, and for a second, Maya thought everything would be okay. Maybe the shark had gotten its fill from all the fish and had swum back out to sea, leaving them alone. They’d make it safely to shore, Kai could drive Paige to the hospital, and this whole incident could become a distant memory.
“Look out!” Kai’s voice shot across the water.
Maya turned just in time to see the dorsal fin only a few feet from Paige’s board. It bumped into the surfboard, dumping Paige into the water. Her hand slipped off Maya’s ankle, and she sank.
In an instant, Maya rolled off her own board and began the frantic search for her friend. She spotted Paige just below her, using her hands to propel herself upward toward the surface.
As soon as Paige popped up Maya started yelling. “Get on the board! Get on the board!”
Paige wrapped her hands around her own board and tried to pull herself up, but she winced in pain and looked at Maya with desperation on her face.
Maya quickly looked around her. There was no sign of the fin, but the shark had to be close, and the gash on Paige’s leg had probably reopened in the water, pumping out blood. The fish was sure to circle around.
“This is going to hurt,” Maya said. Paige nodded.
Maya dove under the water. She grabbed her friend’s legs—one of them felt like it had two knees. Then Maya lifted the legs up over her head and in a quick motion, came out of the water and tossed the legs onto the board.
Paige was screaming and crying loudly. It hurt Maya to hear, but it had to be done.
There was no time for Maya to get on her own board. Besides, the ankle leash would make sure it trailed behind her. She got behind Paige and started pushing, kicking her legs as fast as she could, holding onto the back of the board to keep herself afloat. She was trying to be a human motor, propelling her friend forward.
Kai was in the shallow, waist-high water. He’s probably afraid to go in any farther, Maya thought. But he had his arms stretched out, ready to take Paige’s hands when they got close enough. He’d pull her into shore if Maya could just get her close enough.
“It’s coming back!” he shouted.
The shark closed in just as a wave was rolling them toward the shore. Maya gave Paige’s board a quick shove forward, then quickly repositioned and tried to push herself backward.
It worked. The shark swam right between them, but Maya spotted the top part of its jaw sticking out of the water, reaching for the prey that had been there just a moment ago. Reaching for us, Maya thought with dread. It passed in a flash, and the dorsal fin sank into the water. Maya knew instantly that it was going to make another pass at them.
She started swimming as fast as she could. If the shark was going to attack again, she didn’t have any time to spare. She reached Paige’s board and gave it another strong shove forward. Between the push and Paige paddling as hard as she could with her arms, Maya figured her friend would make it. Besides, the shark was probably fixated on her own flailing figure. Paige must have looked more like debris from the shark’s perspective.
Maya started swimming again as hard and as fast as she could.
“On your left!” Kai warned.
The dorsal fin was poking out of the water again, and this time, Maya didn’t trust herself to doge it.
She grabbed her board and held it above her head, using her legs to tread water. She tilted the board over one shoulder and prepared to strike at the shark at the last possible second.
Everything seemed to slow down, like the world had been put into slow motion. Just as the shark’s head came lunging forward, Maya swung the board. She hit the shark across its snout and the shark recoiled from her, momentarily stunned. But she could tell by the look in its eyes that the shark wasn’t done with her yet. It ducked down below the water and circled back around her for another strike. This time Maya was less prepared. She swung her board awkwardly, and it lodged in the shark’s open jaws.
The shark clamped down on the board and ripped it straight out of Maya’s hands.
Take off the ankle leash! Maya thought in a panic.