by Brenda Beem
Nick spoke with his mouth full. “The radio dude said something about sulfur blocking the sun.”
Dylan nodded. “That’s why we’re taking the boat out to sea and sailing south. The weather will be warmer the farther south we go.”
“I don’t get it. Won’t the mega-wave crush this boat?” Zoë asked.
Cole and Dylan stared at each other. It was Cole who finally answered. “When a tsunami is far out at sea, it’s just a fast-moving bump, or giant swell. Most boaters don’t even realize they’ve gone over a small tsunami.”
Dylan put his hand on Cole’s shoulder. “If we close this sailboat up tight, even if the tsunami bump is huge and we tip completely over, the boat will come back up. Sailors call this a knockdown. But we have to be far out to sea for this to work. Close to shore the wave will crest and smash—”
Cole nudged Dylan. Makala’s eyes had grown wide with terror.
“What?” Dylan scowled.
Cole smiled at Makala. “Close to shore, the tsunami will look like the wave you are thinking of.”
It was a lot to take in. I nodded at my brothers and they went back to eating. Takumi watched the passing shoreline. Angelina hugged Makala. I shivered, although the sun was warm.
When all the sandwiches were gone, Dylan brushed the crumbs off his lap and onto the deck. “So, Angelina, how did you two end up living in a tent?”
Jervis jerked upright and growled, “That’s none of your business.”
“What’s your problem?” Dylan squared his shoulders.
“You’re my problem. You’ve been harassing Angelina since she showed up at the dock.”
Dylan leapt to his feet. “Harassing? I asked a simple question.”
Jervis glanced down at the girls huddled on the bench across from him. “It doesn’t concern you why they were living in a tent.” He fixed his eyes on Dylan. “I’m sick of you acting like you’re some kind of god. Deciding who can come on your precious boat. Who we can save.”
“Oh yeah?” Dylan gritted his teeth.
“Yeah!”
“Well, get used to it.” Dylan snarled. “This is my boat.”
“Dylan!” Cole glared at our brother.
Jervis leapt across the stern. Dylan braced himself. Cole grabbed Jervis and got an elbow in the ribs. Cole fell to the deck, letting go of the wheel. The boat spun in a circle, out of control.
Dylan fell and smashed his nose on the cockpit bench. Blood covered Dylan’s face.
“Knock it off, you guys!” I screamed.
Nick and Takumi grabbed Dylan by the arms and pulled him away from Jervis. I grabbed a greasy deck towel for his nose.
Jervis scrambled to his feet and prepared to come at Dylan again. Nick stepped in front of Dylan. The boat rolled to the side. Dylan fell back onto Takumi and Zoë, his blood splattering Zoë’s designer top.
“This isn’t cool,” Nick shouted as he blocked Jervis.
The boat rocked again. Nick’s arm circled Jervis’s neck.
Jervis stopped struggling. “Okay, okay,” he said.
Nick relaxed his hold and let go.
Takumi helped Dylan onto a bench. I pressed the towel against his nose.
Cole got control of the boat, turned to Jervis and pointed. “Go sit in the bow and cool off.”
We held our breath. Jervis stared angrily at Cole, but finally huffed and made his way to the front of the boat. He plopped down, his back to us.
I glanced around the cockpit. Grapes rolled on the blood-splattered floor. The bowl and sandwich plate had slid off the table and onto the seat where Jervis had been. Half-empty bottles of precious water were spilling onto the deck. I hurried to pick up the bottles. I snatched up the sandwich plate and glanced around.
Angelina and Makala were gone.
Chapter Six
Eleven Hours Before
I stood at the bottom of the stairs and let my eyes adjust to the darkened cabin. I found Angelina and Makala huddled on the bed in the stern. Angelina was holding Makala, who whimpered in her arms.
“Are you guys hurt?” I asked.
Angelina shook her head.
I sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry if the guys scared you.”
Angelina nodded. “We didn’t mean to cause trouble.”
“Of course you didn’t.” I reached out and patted her knee.
“Your brother doesn’t want us here.”
“Dylan didn’t mean anything.”
She brushed Makala’s hair off her face. “Will your brother make Jervis leave the boat?”
“No. Of course not,” I assured her.
Makala stopped crying and put her thumb in her mouth. The boat rocked. The engine roared in the back bedroom and made it hot and stuffy. I opened an outside hatch to let some air in.
“Our mom is in the hospital,” Angelina said and glanced at her cell.
“Oh, no!” I sat back on the bed. “What’s wrong with her?”
She showed me the ‘no service’ message and powered off the phone. “Our stepfather hurt her.”
I rested my hand on her leg. “I’m so sorry.”
“Daddy died two years ago.” Her head hung low. “I had to get Mom to the hospital. When I got home, our stepfather was drunk and…” Angelina hesitated. “I packed some camping gear, Makala, and ran away.”
I closed my eyes and grimaced.
“When our mom is better we’re going to go to Mexico and live with my grandparents. Mom’s family lives in Mexico.”
I hoped her mother was well enough to get out of the city before the tsunami, but I didn’t say anything.
“Um, excuse me. Have you seen my backpack?” Zoë stood in the cabin doorway, her shirt covered in blood.
I jumped, startled, and almost hit my head. “It’s gotta be here somewhere. I tossed all our packs on the bed earlier.” Lifting quilts and pillows, I searched for her bright green and gold bag.
Zoë had a puzzled look on her face. “Are you girls all right?”
Angelina muttered, “We’re fine.”
I picked up Angelina’s large pack to check under it. Angelina dropped Makala onto the bed, lurched, and snatched the pack from my fingers. She quickly shoved it behind her, placed a pillow on top, and leaned against it.
Zoë raised her eyebrows. I didn’t know what to think. I reached for Zoë’s green and gold bag. It had been under Angelina’s larger one.
“Is there someplace I can store my things?” Zoë climbed up beside me.
“You can have that locker,” I pointed to the cupboard at the head of the bed, closest to the door. “Angelina and Makala, you take the locker at the far end, and I’ll put my stuff in the middle.”
I stood and opened the mirrored closet door. “We’ll have to share the closet, but it’s bigger than it looks. Really deep. And see, we have our own sink and mirror.”
“I don’t need much room. I didn’t bring much.” Zoë dumped sport shoes, socks, and pom-poms out of her pack, and heaved them into the overhead locker.
I forced myself not to roll my eyes again. At least she had some shoes besides the flimsy sandals she was wearing.
Makala sat up, eyes twinkling at the pom-poms. I grinned and watched Zoë pull ace bandages, Ziploc bags of Band-Aids, and instant ice packs out of the bottom of her pack.
“What’s all this?” I picked up a medical manual.
She pulled out a blood pressure cuff. “I was afraid of this. I don’t have any cotton.” She cocked her head to the side. “Do you have a first aid kit on board?”
“Of course,” I gestured to the piles of medical supplies. “But why do you…” I put the book down. “Why do you have all this stuff?”
“Didn’t Dylan tell you? I take classes in sports medicine at the University of Washington. I get credit for helping out with the sports teams. I have to be at school to do cheer anyway.”
My jaw dropped.
“My parents and my sister are doctors.” She picked at the fuzz on a quilt. “Anyway,
they want me to follow in their footsteps, so I agreed to give it a try.” She zipped her now empty bag closed and shoved it into the cabinet. “Where’s the first aid kit?”
“This way,” I said.
Zoë gathered up the medical supplies and followed me.
I opened a cupboard across from the bathroom and showed Zoë to the foot-long white plastic box that sat on the top shelf. Below the shelf, bottles of liquor, wine, and plastic cocktail glasses were scattered.
“This is great.” Zoë placed her medical supplies on the shelf next to the kit and picked up a bottle of gin. “We can use this to disinfect wounds and even dishes if we can’t boil water.”
This girl was full of surprises.
She handed me the bottle, then took some cotton balls out of the first aid kit. Nick walked up behind us and peeked into the liquor cabinet. “Party time!”
“No way, dude.” Zoë pushed him away. “Medical use only.”
“Debbie Downer,” Nick mumbled and hurried into the bathroom.
Zoë and I laughed. For a moment I wondered if we could someday be friends.
Makala stood in the bedroom door with her thumb in her mouth.
“How about a quick tour?” I asked the girls.
Zoë gazed up the stairs to the deck. “Let me pack Dylan’s nose and get ice on it first. I think it’s broken.”
“Broken,” I squeaked.
“Yeah, it’s not all that serious. A nose is just cartilage and heals fast, but if I pack and tape it, I might keep it straight.” She opened the freezer and began to make an ice pack. “Don’t want to mess up that handsome face.”
Nick and Zoë left to go up top. I turned to Makala. “Why don’t you get your sister? I need to show you guys how to use the toilet.”
Makala had fun moving the toilet pump handle up and down, and since it was salt water, I let her pump it again and again. Angelina quietly watched, clutching her large pack.
Zoë came back and I looked at her quizzically.
“He’ll be fine,” she said. “But he’ll have quite the sinus headache.”
I asked Makala to show Zoë how to flush. She was an enthusiastic teacher.
I opened the cupboard door in the back of the shower. “Here’s where I store the towels. Mom usually assigns each of us a towel for the week. Guess I should do that too.”
“We take showers in my mommy’s hospital room,” Makala said brightly.
“I need a shower.” Zoë examined her blood-splattered top and face in the mirror. She turned on the water in the sink. Steam began to rise. “I didn’t have time this morning.”
“Zoë, we have to conserve water.” I quickly shut the tap off and handed her a wash cloth. “Sorry. No showers.”
A look of horror flew across her face. “What! No shower? Never?”
I thought for a second. “We could set up a sun shower. It’s a big thermal bag. We could fill it with seawater and set it in the sun to warm. It has a tube and shower head we could put in here.” I pointed at the shower stall. “Remind me to fix it up later.”
“A salt water shower?” Zoë made a face.
“Better than nothing.”
She sighed, scrubbed the blood off her face, and followed me out of the bathroom.
We peeked into the cabin in the bow of the boat. It had always been my parents’ bedroom. “Dylan and Cole should sleep here.” We moved to the main salon. “This is like the living room of the boat. That table folds out to twice the size.” I pointed to the tabletop attached to the wall and then to the sofas. “And this couch becomes a double bed. I guess Nick and Takumi can sleep here. My brothers say that when they race the boat, one spreads out this way and the other sleeps the opposite way.” I pointed. “They have to stare at each other’s feet, but it’s better than face to face.”
Makala giggled.
We turned to a couch on the other side of the room. “And Jervis can sleep on this couch, although it will be a little small.”
Makala frowned at the narrow sofa.
“The cushion back comes off. See?” I pulled off the sofa back and the couch grew almost twice as wide. Makala still didn’t look convinced.
“We’ll take turns day and night sailing the boat, so we won’t all be in bed at the same time. It won’t be as crowded as it seems.”
“A TV!” Makala squealed as she climbed on Jervis’ couch and began pushing the flat screen’s buttons.
“Makala, get down.” Angelina scowled.
The little girl’s face fell and she put her hands behind her back.
“Sorry,” I chimed in. “It doesn’t get reception unless we are at a port. But we have DVDs and a cord to connect tablets to it. But once we start sailing, power will be a problem.”
Makala climbed down, grabbed her sister’s leg and pouted.
I opened a locker on the wall next to the chart table and took out a pile of movies. Makala and Angelina pushed away some of the gear on the couch, sat, and began to sort through them.
Zoë followed me to the small, U-shaped galley kitchen.
“This of course, is the kitchen, or galley. We can only keep the refrigerator going while the engine is running.” I opened a door to the side of the sink. “Garbage goes in here.”
“And now we’re back at the girls’ room,” I pointed to the aft cabin we’d started out in. “We’ll sleep here.”
“You mean all the girls?” Zoë took a step back. “The four of us will have to sleep together? All in the same bed?”
Medical girl or not, she didn’t seem to be getting it. “We are a little short on beds,” I reminded her.
Zoë eyed my brother’s cabin and raised her brows at me.
“Whatever.” I shrugged.
Chapter Seven
Ten Hours Before
Zoë removed her pom-poms and shoes from the storage in the girls’ room and stowed them in Dylan and Cole’s cabin. I wondered how Cole would feel about sharing his bed with her and Dylan, but decided to let him deal with it. I hunted through my clothes for a shirt that would fit Zoë. Most of my tops would be too tight. I told her we could go through Mom’s things later. She didn’t look pleased.
I left Angelina and Makala with the old DVDs and climbed up on deck. I was surprised to see Nick behind the wheel. Cole was talking softly to Jervis.
Zoë cradled Dylan’s head on her lap. I joined Takumi on the bench across from them. He smiled at me and I smiled back. I waited. Sure enough, my cheeks burned.
Cole came back to the stern and stopped beside the wheel. He checked the wind, and asked me to gather together all the lifejackets I could find.
I groaned. I’d just sat down. But I searched around and ended up tossing the life vests the guys found and the ones we already had into a big pile on the floor of the cockpit.
Cole cleared his throat. “Okay, guys. We need to talk. Angelina and Makala, would you come up please. Jervis, we need you here too. Dylan, sit up.”
Jervis stood next to the cabin, halfway between the stern and the bow. He held onto the frame of the canvas cover.
Cole squared his shoulders. “First thing, we will be in the open ocean in a few hours. Everyone who comes up from the cabin from now on needs to wear a life jacket.” He pointed to the stack on the floor.
“Second, we are living in close quarters. No matter how angry we get, we cannot threaten or harm a fellow shipmate.”
Jervis glared at Dylan.
Dylan shrugged.
Cole faced Jervis. “The tsunami is going to hit in ten hours. We have to sail all night. My brother’s hurt and I need his help.”
Dylan piped in, “I’m fine.”
Cole held up his hand. “The point I’m trying to make is that we can’t afford to have anyone injured.” He pointed at Jervis. “No matter what, Dylan and I are in charge of the boat. What we say goes. Are you good with that?”
Jervis bit his lip and nodded.
“Dylan, this is not your boat. It’s our parents’ boat and now home for al
l of us.” Cole gripped the wheel. “If things go well, we are going to be together for a long time. Are you okay with Angelina and Makala on board?”
“What?” Dylan seemed totally surprised. He turned to Angelina. “At first I couldn’t believe that Toni would ask people we don’t even know to come with us, but I’m fine with having you on board.”
“Good.” Cole glanced at Angelina and back to Dylan. “What about you and Jervis? Can you two get along?”
Dylan nodded and took the ice pack off his nose. His nose and eyes were turning black and blue. “Jervis? We good?” he asked.
Jervis grimaced at Dylan’s bruising. “Yeah.”
“Okay.” Cole rubbed his eyes. “Now everyone pick out a lifejacket.”
We were quiet as we hunted through the pile. The boat came with a six-pack of orange vests we’d never opened. Dad and my brothers had vests that looked like puffy suspenders. Mom and I liked the more traditional style, but thinner. Mine was pink and Mom’s was red.
Cole, Dylan, and Nick put on the racing vests.
Holding my pink vest in the air, I paused and thought for a moment. “I think this is the smallest one we have.” I handed it to Angelina.
It came to Makala’s knees. When she tried to sit, it pushed her arms up over her head. Makala giggled, but clearly it wouldn’t work.
Angelina examined the vest. “If I unstitch the bottom, take out about six inches of foam, then sew it back together, I can get it to fit her. Do you have a sewing kit?”
I searched in the bathroom. No sewing kit. I was headed back up top, when I passed by a low storage locker next to the galley. Dad kept flashlights and tools in the cupboard. I grinned.
“How about this?” I held up my find.
“Duct tape!” Angelina smiled. “Perfect.”
I handed her the tape and a pair of scissors. She grinned and went to work removing the stitches in the pink vest.
Takumi put on one of the vests the guys had scrounged from another boat. It was teal blue and a little girly, but fit well. Zoë put on the other teal vest, threw an orange one at Angelina, and it was Jervis’ turn.
Jervis could only get one arm in a regular vest. He shrugged and tossed it aside.