by Sara Grant
An arm grabbed me from behind, and a hand clapped over my mouth. Terror ripped through me.
“Don’t make a sound,” a voice whispered in my ear.
This was a life or death situation. Those years of training kicked in. I slumped in my attacker’s arms. When he loosened his grip, WHAM!
One elbow connected with face and the other with ribs. I used the force of the blows to propel me out of his grasp. I whipped around prepared with a wheelhouse kick, but I stopped mid-sweep.
“Mackenzie?” I stared wide-eyed at the girl in silky blue pyjamas who was rubbing her jaw and side.
“Did you have to go all ninja on me?” she said, wiggling her jaw.
“Uh, sorry. I thought you were one of the pirates.”
“Pirates?” She looked at me as if I was crazy. “I didn’t want you to scream. What’s going on? Did I hear gunshots?”
I nodded and suddenly felt vulnerable standing in the bungalow with its two walls of windows. I yanked her to the floor and as quickly as I could, explained everything. Mackenzie listened. She didn’t say a word, only touched the scar on her neck and then covered it with her hand. When I’d finished, I gave her a moment. It was a lot to take in.
“Show me how to unlock one of these,” I said, pointing to her bank of computers with screens waiting for passwords. “We need help, and we need it now.”
“Give me a second,” she said, and nervously rubbed her scar. “I need to think.”
“Well, think fast because those pirates are headed this way,” I said. “I’ll send a message to my dad. He works for the Pentagon. He’ll know what to do.”
“I’ve got a better idea,” Mackenzie said. She darted to the closet. Inside hidden behind six pairs of sandals was a safe. She punched in a four-digit code, and the safe door popped open. She removed a satellite phone. My dad used them in the military for a secure channel of communication.
“Why do you have a satellite phone?” I asked, and backed away from her. Who was this girl anyway? Why was she hiding out on the island with my grandma?
“My mum is a member of the Royalty Protection Command.”
“What?” I exclaimed and then lowered my voice. “Like James Bond?”
“Not exactly,” Mackenzie replied. “She protected the royals for a while, but now she does more behind-the-scenes stuff.”
Any other time I would have asked a million questions, but not right now. “Call already!”
Mackenzie dialled the phone number and held the phone so I could hear too. “It’s ringing.”
My insides were riding a killer rollercoaster. Part of that feeling was hope. Maybe we would survive. The other thing that was spiralling out of control in my tummy was jealousy. I always felt a little jealous when other people talked about their moms. Mackenzie was not only a computer genius with a model’s body, but she also had a mom she could be proud of.
Mackenzie was looking more worried with every ring. Her mom wasn’t answering. We flinched when we heard the pounding of footsteps on the pier. The pirates were getting closer. Then…
CRASH!
Mackenzie and I dropped to the floor. I thought the pirates had broken into Mackenzie’s bungalow. But the shouting and banging were coming from next door – the bungalow I shared with Ariadne.
“We’ve got to leave now.” I grabbed Mackenzie’s wrist and pulled her towards the deck.
“But my mum…” Mackenzie started. “I need to leave a message.”
I ripped the phone out of her hand and tossed it on the bed. There was no time for that any more. As silently as I could, I opened the sliding door to the deck.
“We’re going to have to swim for it,” I whispered as we crawled to the ladder.
The sound of the pirates trashing my stuff was making me crazy. I imagined them ripping up my favourite T-shirts and stealing Ariadne’s jewellery.
“Climb down the ladder,” I explained. “Slip as quietly as you can into the water. Swim to the yellow flags on the reef. Do you know the ones?”
She nodded.
“Swim as far as you can underwater. You can do that, can’t you?” I remembered her weird doggy paddle earlier. She nodded again. “Only come up for air when you have to. Let’s go!” I stepped halfway down the ladder, but she wasn’t following me. What was wrong with her?
I climbed back up. “Mackenzie!” I hissed. “What are you doing? Come on!”
Mackenzie shook her head. She must be more terrified than I was. I silently thanked Dad for preparing me for the worst. I shoved down my panic. Mackenzie needed me to be calm and in control.
“Mackenzie,” I whispered in my most soothing voice, “you have to come with me. Right now. We don’t have a choice. Follow me. Do what I do. Don’t think about anything else but following my lead.”
She sat there.
I scrambled on to the deck. “We’ll do this together.” I crouched behind her and nudged her towards the ladder. “You climb down one side of the ladder, and I’ll climb down the other.”
She finally moved. We descended the ladder slowly and carefully. “That’s it, you’re doing great,” I told her.
“There’s nothing else here!” one of the pirates shouted from next door. “We’ve got to keep moving and find the––”
CRASH!
That was the sound of Mackenzie’s front door being kicked open.
We had to move right-freaking-now. “Dive in. Swim to the yellow flags.”
I shoved her, and she did this clumsy jump and vanished under the dark waters. I could see her trail of air bubbles and the ripple of water as she made her way to the reef.
I dived into the water and hoped my splash was masked by the sound of the pirates smashing Mackenzie’s computers to smithereens.
Swimming underwater at night robbed me of sight and sound. The sand swirled underneath me as I stayed as close to the lagoon floor as I could. Foreign objects flicked my skin, which made me swim faster. I remembered a hunk of coral about halfway between my bungalow and the reef. I hadn’t felt it. Did that mean I was swimming off course, or not as close to the reef as I hoped?
My strokes slowed as I struggled to stay submerged. If I was too far off course, I could surface near the beach or by the bungalows. I would be easily spotted and eliminated like some crazy game of Whac-a-Mole. My chest felt like it might collapse from lack of oxygen. I was going to have to risk a gulp of air. I controlled every muscle in my body, and slowly and silently swam to the surface. It took incredible control to keep myself underwater and steady myself in the waves. I wiped the salty water from my eyes. Darkness engulfed me. I was lost.
Stop freaking out, I told myself. I slowed my breath and let my eyes adjust. I circled my arms and kicked my legs to tread water. I glanced skyward. The moon was shining like a ball of glitter. Whenever I was away from home, my dad would tell me to look up at the moon. The same moon that was shining over me was shining over him too. I think he stole that from some Disney movie, but I liked the sentiment. I wished that moon could beam my dad a message.
I was halfway from the bungalows to the reef. I could see the yellow flag fluttering in the night breeze. There was no sign of Mackenzie. I had to believe that she was making her way to the reef too.
I dived deep and blasted forward. It was as if I had left the planet and was zooming in deepest, darkest outer space. I stretched one arm over my head and kicked with all my might. At last I felt it – the reef. I floated to the surface, confident that my head would be camouflaged by the coral jetting above the water.
Still no sign of Mackenzie. She’d had a head start though. Maybe she was already through the gap in the reef. Or maybe…
I wouldn’t let myself think it. I concentrated on moving forward. I was nearly there.
When I reached the flag and the reef gave way, I panicked. The reef was the gateway to a bottomless canyon. Yesterday with the sun shining brightly, this bottomless pit gave me the creeps, but the pirates on the island were scarier. I swam through the gap.
; “Chase, over here.” It was Mackenzie’s voice.
I squinted and saw her coral-like curls springing up and down in the waves. I awkwardly splashed forward as if I’d forgotten my years of swimming lessons and hours of practice on the swim team.
We bobbed in the waves, crashing into each other and the reef. As I rose above the reef, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. When a wave carried me high, I spotted two men walking along the beach.
I jerked Mackenzie under. “Oi!” she grunted and pushed me away as she surfaced. “Are you trying to drown me?”
“No,” I spat back. “I thought those pirates might have seen us.”
Mackenzie peered over the reef. “I think they’re patrolling the perimeter of the island.”
“How long do you think it would take to walk all the way around?”
“Those guys could be back at the boat dock in fifteen minutes at the pace they are walking.”
I was glad to be stuck with a girl who had a brain like a computer. My brain clicked and clanked away too. The boat dock. Why didn’t I think of it before? We’d borrowed the Jet Ski from the Aquatic Centre, but I’d seen boats and Jet Skis moored at the boat dock when I arrived.
I swam closer to Mackenzie. “If we can make it to the dock, maybe we can take one of the boats and get help.” There were a lot of ifs in my plan – if the baddies hadn’t sabotaged the boats, if there were any boats left – but it was worth a try.
“OK,” Mackenzie said through chattering teeth.
“Are you ready?”
She nodded.
“We can do this, you know?” I said in my pathetic attempt at a pep talk.
We started swimming towards the boat dock. Waves bashed us into the reef. Jagged coral scraped my skin, but we kept moving. The reef ended and a rock wall began. The wall created a walkway two feet above the water and stretched from the lookout point right above our heads to the boat dock. Mackenzie reached for my hand. She squeezed it so hard it hurt. I nearly cried out until I realized she was pointing. We’d taken too long. The two men patrolling the island had returned and were passing the dock. We pressed ourselves against the rock wall, while the waves shoved us into the rocks again and again. We tried to stay as still as we possibly could. With any luck our head-shaped bumps would blend in with the jagged stones. The one thing in our favour was that the pirates had no idea that we were on this old people’s paradise.
The pirates were heading straight for us on the wall’s walkway. Mackenzie and I clung to each other and the rocks. The stones were slick with seaweed and moss. Waves crashed over our heads. I splashed and spluttered as I drank in air and seawater in equal amounts. The men were passing only a few feet away and a few feet above us.
They didn’t appear to notice us. As they reached the lookout point and turned around, I heard fragments of their conversation.
“…find the princess…”
“…take her off the island…”
“…all be over…”
Mackenzie met my gaze. She must have overhead it too. Her fingernails dug into my skin as she squeezed me closer. I’d seen the guest list; some of the guests had titles like Lord, Sir and Dame. One of those wrinkly old ladies must be royalty. This wasn’t just a robbery, after all – it was a kidnapping.
Something slimy brushed against my leg. I hoped I was imagining things. We had to blend with the waves and rocks for a few minutes more until the pirates reached the boat dock.
There it was again. Something long and thick twisted between my ankles. I stifled a scream.
Twist and Shout.
It was exactly what I wanted to do as I remembered the nasty twin eels that Artie had said patrolled the rocky canals around the island.
Mackenzie stiffened. She must have felt it too.
Hold still, I mouthed to her. We clung to each other. A scream was trapped in my throat from the pressure of the beasts curling around my legs. Mackenzie’s lips quivered as the eels and waves battered her. I kept one hand latched on to the rocky wall and caught Mackenzie’s hand with the other. I yanked her back to my side. The eels were circling us in a tighter and tighter circle. I wanted to crawl out of my skin each time those creatures touched me. I recalled their pointing snouts and their thick, snake-like bodies.
This wasn’t helping!
The men had nearly reached the dock. Mackenzie thrashed in the water. She kicked me as well as the eels. I glared at her and shook my head. She’s going to provoke Twist and Shout and draw the pirates’ attention. Mackenzie calmed down but her eyes bulged with the horribleness of what was happening. It took great concentration to keep still and let the eels twist around our bodies. Finally the men reached the boat dock.
The eels tugged at our feet dragging us down. Mackenzie slipped from my grasp. We splashed in the water, desperate to find each other. It was no use. Too many forces were pulling us apart. I clutched at the rocks and prayed Mackenzie would be OK. My hands were cold and the rocks slippery. I couldn’t hold on.
I gulped in air and made one final lunge at the rocky wall, clawing with both hands. One of the rocks broke free with a crack! I hoped the pirates couldn’t hear it, but it didn’t matter any more. If we didn’t do something quickly, the eels were going to drown us.
The weight of the rock in my hands and the squeeze of the eel around my legs plunged me under. I whacked at the eel as I sank deeper into the canyon. The water robbed me of any powerful blows, but I bashed and kicked until at last the eel jerked free.
I dropped the rock and swam up, up, up. I crashed through the water and spluttered and gasped. Panicked I checked to see if the pirates had spotted us. I didn’t see them anywhere.
I was free from the eels and pirates, but where was Mackenzie?
I searched for any sign of her. A few feet away Mackenzie’s fingertips rippled through the surface of the water. I dived for her. My body hit hers with a hard thud. An eel whipped between us. She was battling it as best she could – but she was losing.
I didn’t think. I wrapped my hands around the eel and squeezed as hard as I could. The eel was pulling us further and further away from the island, and deeper and deeper underwater. It twisted in my grasp. I fought to keep it at arm’s length, but it nipped at my hair and toes when it got the chance. I summoned my strength and with one final yank, I flung the beast free of Mackenzie.
I hooked my arm around her waist and lugged her to the surface. Soon we were gulping air. We spun in a tight circle, alert and scanning the water for any sign of those beasts. We braced for another attack. None came.
We made a break for the rock wall, swimming as fast as we could. I reached the wall first and towed Mackenzie next to me. We bobbed in the surf, catching our breath. I searched the dock, the pier and the island. Not a pirate in sight. My heart refused to believe we were safe. I was sure my pulse was reaching the heart-attack zone.
“I can’t believe you did that,” Mackenzie whispered between pants. “You risked your life to save me.”
I felt a zing of pride. I had done that.
But her words didn’t change anything. We were still in danger, stranded in a dark canyon with deadly creatures below. The island was buzzing with men who would kill us if they could find us.
“Why would you do that?” she asked.
“That’s a stupid question,” I replied. “If I didn’t do something, you were going to drown.”
Her eyes were brimming with tears. “Thanks,” she whispered. She was looking at me differently. Her judginess when we first met, and her anger from this afternoon, were long gone.
“Let’s get out of here,” I told her. We swam straight for the dock. We wanted out of the water as fast as possible. I was pretty sure I broke my swim-team free-style record as I lifted myself up on to the boat dock. Mackenzie was a minute behind me. I helped her up. We collapsed like a couple of fish destined for the dinner table.
The boat dock was covered with a thatched roof and had a half wall on two sides. There were ope
nings towards the sea and back to the island.
“I can’t believe we made it,” Mackenzie said when she’d caught her breath.
I shrugged. “I never doubted it.” One look at me and she knew I was lying. We burst out laughing, a whispering, snickering laughter. It seemed impossible that we were alive. We should have died like ten times already. Our laughter was uncontrollable and bordered on crying. The more I tried to stop, the more the wild feeling took hold. We rolled on our backs, clapping our hands over our mouths until the feeling drained away.
“I’m sorry I was horrible to you earlier,” she said.
“Yeah, and I’m sorry about getting you in trouble.” We stared at the ceiling as if the answers to the universe were written there.
“Guess it doesn’t matter much now.”
Nothing mattered unless we survived. “I think we make a pretty good team,” I said. I thought about what my dad had said about best friends helping you move bodies.
She nodded.
Mackenzie raised herself on to all fours and crawled to the edge of the shelter. She peered over the wall and scanned the island. “All’s clear.”
I checked the sea. Several blobs floated in the distance. The boats and Jet Skis had been set adrift.
“You should go for help,” Mackenzie said, crouching down next to me. “That’s the way to the closest inhabited island.” She pointed out into the darkness. Something had changed in her. She was confident and, well, bossy again. “It’s due northeast. There’s a resort there. They should be able to send help. The island is approximately ten point two miles away. Based on your inexperience and exhaustion, I’d estimate it might take you twenty minutes on the Jet Ski.”
“Yeah,” I said, but her math talk was confusing me. We were going to have to swim out to one of those Jet Skis. We needed to head northeast and drive as fast as we could. That is, if I could bring myself to go back in the water. “We can do this,” I said, trying to convince myself more than her. She gave me this squint stare as if I was the one confusing her.
“Did you hear what those guys said about a princess?” I asked, stalling. “It sounded like they’re planning to kidnap someone. You must know almost everyone on the island. Any idea who they mean?”