by Brenda Beem
We spun in a slow circle, looking for the girls.
“Makala?” Angelina cried.
“Beth? Where’s my daughter?” Greg yelled.
I took a couple of steps back, and stumbled into the pool. “They were right over there!” I gestured at the drawings on the back wall of the cave and stepped out of the water.
We stared at the tiny opening near the picture. The one Dylan had bashed his head looking into.
“No!” I gasped. “They wouldn’t go in there.” I desperately searched. “They have to be here. They must be hiding. Makala, Beth, come out. This isn’t funny.”
We listened, but there was nothing.
Angelina ran to the cave opening and yelled for Makala.
“You said you’d watch her,” Greg yelled, and his fingers formed a fist.
Nick grabbed Greg’s shoulder as he moved towards me.
“Hush,” Angelina said. “I think I heard them.”
We all leaned toward the tight opening. Angelina called to them again. We waited.
Angelina turned around. Her eyes were huge. “I heard them. They’re in there. We have to go after them.” She started clawing at the edges of the opening. A small bit of rock crumbled away.
“Help me!” she screamed.
Greg ran over to the tree, knocked the diapers to the ground, and dragged it to where we stood.
“Mommy!” We heard one of the girls cry from deep inside the passageway.
How far in where they? I couldn’t tell. “Hurry!” I yelled and then remembered Byron. Where was he?
Again I scanned the cavern for a missing child. I was breathing so fast, I felt faint. But Byron was okay. Zoë sat on a giant boulder with Byron on her knee. She was bouncing him up and down, then made a face, and turned away when he spit up on her shoulder.
Nick helped Greg lift the end of the log up and wedge it into the opening. “On three, shove the log to the side. Maybe we can use it as a lever and dislodge some of the rocks.”
We tried the log from all angles. The rock edges crumbled, but not enough to make the gap in the rock wall big enough for any of us to climb into.
Nick was about to strike at the cave with the hatchet we’d used to cut the limbs off the tree when Dylan began calling to us.
He entered the cavern and stood with his hands on his hips. “Why isn’t anyone guarding Whistler?”
I pointed to the narrow crack in the cave wall. “Makala and Beth snuck into the passage behind the cave. Now they’re lost in there. And the opening’s too small for us to climb into.”
Dylan ran to the narrow slit in the wall. “Jeez, how did they get in there? I would think it was too small for even them.”
Both girls screamed from deep inside the passageway.
“Girls, talk to me. What’s going on?” Greg yelled.
“Have them follow your voice,” Dylan suggested. “Keep talking to them.”
“Beth, come this way. Follow my voice. Keep coming.”
“We can’t see!” Beth cried. “The flashlight’s broken. Daddy. I’m scared.”
Greg’s face filled with panic.
Angelina grabbed the hatchet from Nick and struck at the opening. Small chips of rock fell away. She struck again and again. When she grew tired, Nick took over.
“You’re going to be okay. Don’t move. Just stay where you are. We’ll get you out of there!” Greg screamed.
“I don’t know what to do!” I clung to Dylan’s arm. “I was supposed to be watching them. It’s my fault.”
“We’ll get them out. Everyone calm down. Toni, you’re the smallest. Keep trying to climb in.” Dylan pushed me forward.
I tried to squeeze through the gap, but the opening was still too small.
Then, in the distance, I heard the roar of an engine. We all paused and turned toward the mouth of the cave. A motorboat was in our tiny bay, heading towards us.
“Whistler!” Dylan hissed. “Nobody’s onboard.”
Chapter Thirty
Dylan headed for the mouth of the cavern.
“Forget your boat,” Greg said and grabbed Dylan’s arm. “You’re going to stay and help me get my daughter out of there.”
Below on Whistler, Boots began barking again. His yips became frantic growls, as the sound of a large power boat grew closer.
Boots! I waved my arms to get everyone’s attention. “I have an idea. Boots is small. We can send him to find the girls and lead them out. I could even tape a small flashlight to his back so the girls will have light again.”
Angelina and Nick looked at one another.
Nick nodded. “It’s worth a try. He isn’t the smartest dog, though.”
“How can you say that? He loves Makala. And he’s a dog. He can follow her scent.” My hands were on my hips.
“Sissy!” Makala screamed from deep within the cliff.
Angelina took the hatchet from Nick. “Go. Get Boots.” She swung and chipped away a tiny bit more off the rocks.
Dylan left the cave seconds ahead of me. I stripped off my clothing as I ran. It would be faster to dive off the cliff than to climb down and row back to Whistler like Dylan would do.
I stood on the cliff’s ledge. Halfway down the long narrow inlet, a large silver boat was cruising our way, but at a cautious speed. I searched for what appeared to be the deepest water below me. A clock began ticking in my head. I couldn’t worry about protecting Whistler. I had to get Boots up to the cave. Dylan would have to keep whoever was on that silver boat off of Whistler by himself.
I took a calming breath. Just like the time I rescued Takumi and Kat, I couldn’t be sure what was below the water. I remembered the seaweed that had almost drowned me, and jumped instead of diving. The water was much colder than I’d expected and I kicked hard for the surface. This time, nothing caught my legs and I swam fast, toward our boat.
Boots’ barking grew frantic. As I pulled myself up out of the water, I wanted to yell at him to calm down, but I was out of breath.
I stumbled to my cabin and grabbed Angelina’s backpack. I pulled on a pair of pants and an old swim team sweatshirt and began to thaw. I left my feet bare for the climb back.
The silver boat was now close enough I could hear voices coming from it. Dylan was still paddling his kayak back to Whistler. I raced past the closet where Boots whined and found Angelina’s pistol in the captain’s desk. My hands were shaking as I searched the silverware drawer for the bullets. I dropped as many on the floor as I managed to get into the gun.
“Toni,” Dylan finally called out from the stern.
I took the stairs two at a time. I placed the loaded gun on the captain’s seat. Dylan handed me the dinghy line.
The silver boat was slowing to a stop right off our stern.
“Greetings, Whistler,” a gray-haired old man in a military uniform yelled to us.
“The gun’s on the seat cushion. It’s loaded,” I whispered to Dylan as I tied the dinghy off and ran to get Boots.
Dylan hurried up onto Whistler’s deck. “That’s close enough.” Dylan leaned against the rail and aimed the gun at the man in uniform.
The old man chuckled. “Just as feisty as ever, I see.”
His voice sounded familiar. I lowered Boots into the rowboat, looked up, and studied the gray-haired man.
“You’re Toni, aren’t you?” He smiled down at me.
Dylan cocked the gun.
“I’m Commander Wilson, formally of the U.S. Coast Guard. Now with the United States Combined Forces.” He smoothed his blue and red uniform jacket. “You, young lady, saved my life and the lives of the men in my lifeboat. Do you recall this incident?”
I smiled back, then climbed aboard the dinghy. “You’re the… Of course I remember. Right after the tsunami. You and the guys in your raft were injured and out of fuel and water. We gave you some.”
“As I recall, you were the one who argued on our behalf. Every man on that raft is alive today because of you.”
“I’m glad.�
�� I picked up the oars.
“As am I. Most of the men that were on that raft are stationed now in Santa Barbara. When they told me you were somewhere on this island, I had to come and thank you in person.”
I paused. “You heard I was here?”
The Commander turned to the man next to him. “Sergeant, please escort our guests to the forward deck.”
A sliding door off the port side opened. Takumi and Jervis stepped to the rail and made their way to stand next to the Commander.
“Takumi! Jervis!” I screamed, started to stand, and almost tipped the rowboat over.
“Toni, are you all right? Why did you leave?” Takumi moved to the rail. His hair was cut very short and he wore blue pants and a red jacket I’d never seen before. He looked cute, but not like my Takumi.
“We waited, but you didn’t show up on the beach.” I started rowing back to the cave. Dread weighed me down. Why was he here? Did he just come to say good-bye? Was he going to tell me that he was staying with Kat?
I sped up and wished I wasn’t facing him.
“Wait! Where are you going now?” Takumi’s voce grew louder. “When Whistler left, I went crazy. I thought you’d be right back. When you weren’t I tried to find a boat. Then I ran into Jervis.”
“Hi, Dylan. Hi, Toni.” Jervis grinned and waved. Two little girls, one around six, the other eight, ran to his side.
I was still processing what Takumi had said, but managed to smile back. “Jervis! You found your family.” I turned around to check how close I was to the climbing net. There was still about a hundred feet to go.
Jervis’s grin faded. “Well, not all. Mom and the girls made it from Disneyland to the military base on foot. Along the way, they all got dehydrated and sick. The medics were able to help my sisters, but there was nothing they could do for my mom. She died before I found them.”
“Oh, Jervis. I’m so sorry,” I said.
Jervis cleared his throat. “Commander Wilson has been trying to locate our dad for us. All we know is that he is stationed at one of the border camps.”
“So, you told the commander about Whistler?” Dylan waved the gun in the air.
“I did. Then he told me the story of almost dying in his raft after the tsunami. I remembered him and here we are.”
I kept rowing. “I’m sorry. I can’t talk right now. Makala and another little girl are lost in that cave.” I gestured with my paddle.
Dylan paced from one side of the stern to the other. The commander spoke quietly to a young soldier who stood next to him. The soldier hurried away and returned with a young woman dressed in the same blue and red uniform he wore.
“Toni and Dylan, this is our technology specialist, Sergeant Livingston. Please explain in detail the emergency situation you are facing.”
I told her how the little girls had climbed through the narrow crack at the rear of the cave. I explained how close Boots and Makala were, and that I was sending him in after her. I’d thought about strapping a flashlight to his back but was open to suggestions.
The woman nodded. “I can stick a small wireless device on Boots’ collar. It has a speaker-phone and can light up the cave. I’ll track the dog on a monitor, and if he becomes confused or lost, I can track him on GPS.”
“Perfect,” I said. “But we are running out of time. If you want me to row back and pick you up, you have to be on Whistler when I get there.”
Both Jervis and Takumi offered to carry Boots and the equipment up to the cave. “Hurry!” I spun the boat around.
The gangplank lowered towards Whistler’s deck.
Dylan pulled out his gun. “Only Jervis, his sisters, and Takumi can come aboard.”
Takumi scowled, ran onboard, and down to the swim step. “Knock it off, Dylan.”
Jervis held his sister’s hands and helped them across. “Dylan, you gonna take on the entire U.S. Military? They went out of their way to help us find you.”
“I’ll need to set up the monitor in the cave,” Sargent Livingston said. “The signal will get lost in the rocks.”
“Permission granted, Sergeant.” The commander turned to Dylan. “Son, I applaud your vigilance. But, on my honor, we are only here to help.” The Commander motioned for the woman to follow Jervis.
Dylan sighed and put the gun in his waistband.
The girl winked at him as she walked the plank. “Hope you put the safety on, Rambo.”
Dylan pulled the gun out of his pants and set the safety.
I made it back to Whistler and threw the line to Takumi. As soon as he climbed into the rowboat, he pulled me into his arms and hugged me. “I’ve been so worried.”
I didn’t hug him back.
Takumi held me at arm’s length. His forehead creased and he seemed confused.
Boots whined and jumped at him. I scooped the little dog up and moved to the bow. Takumi tipped his head and stared at me.
“Hmmm. Didn’t you say we had to hurry?” Sergeant Livingston jumped into the dinghy and handed the monitor to Takumi.
Jervis’ stared down at us. His sisters begged to go with him. He argued that he would be right back. The youngest girl started to cry.
“Jervis, stay with your sisters and get them settled. We’ll let you know if the plan doesn’t work and we need to dig out the tunnel.” His sisters were stressed and we had to leave.
“But Makala…” He stared up at the cave.
“We have lots of help. Your sisters need you more.” Takumi handed me the monitor and started rowing.
Jervis’ brow wrinkled as he hugged his sisters to his side and watched us row away.
“How’s Kat’s dad?” I held Boots in my arms and had to force myself not to scream, “Faster, faster.”
Takumi leaned into the oars, rowing with all his might. “He’s okay, now. He had surgery and almost didn’t make it. Kat begged me not to leave until he recovered. Now, he and Kat are going to stay on at the base with the medical personnel.”
My face burned as he talked on about Kat, but I my gritted my teeth, and tried to focus on the girls trapped in the cave.
Angelina was singing with Makala and Beth to calm them when we arrived. Nick and Angelina were angry I’d been gone so long, and then shocked to see Takumi. We quickly told Angelina and Nick about Jervis and the military vessel. The sergeant set up the monitor, put the device on Boots, and yelled at the girls to call his name.
Both Makala and Beth called to Boots. When we lowered him onto the floor of the passageway beyond the cavern, he sniffed the ground once, and took off. We lost him from view a couple of times, but then watched on the monitor as he ran right to the girls. They were huddled together and tears streaked their faces, but Boots soon washed them away.
The Sergeant instructed the girls to follow Boots, and we all called to him. Twice he ran ahead of the girls. They screamed when they were left in the dark. The Sergeant told Beth to take the device off Boots and hold it in front of her like a flashlight. The girls followed Boots, and the Sergeant’s instructions, back to us.
Angelina pulled Makala out first. I don’t know who was sobbing harder.
Greg held Beth in his arms. “Are you okay? Are you okay?” he asked her again and again as tears streaked his cheeks.
I thanked the Sergeant and she began to pack up her gear.
From inside the cave, Boots yipped. We’d forgotten him. His floppy ears came into view as he tried to leap out of the deep gap.
Takumi reached down and lifted him out. His tail wagged as he welcomed Takumi back, then ran to Angelina and Makala, and barked some more. He knew he’d been the hero.
Chapter Thirty-One
Greg insisted on remaining with his kids in the cave for the night. We gave him our crank lantern, one of our flashlights, and he moved to the part of the cave closest to the opening. “It’s too dark in the rear cave and I don’t want to go through this again.”
“I won’t go into that black hole, ever again,” Beth promised. We grinned and told Gre
g to lower the bucket, and we’d send up some fish and rice for his dinner.
While we rowed back to Whistler, the commander spoke to us from the deck of his ship. “So, how are you guys going to get your boat out of here?” He surveyed the narrow inlet.
Dylan paused rowing. “I kayaked to a settlement about a mile to the north. I told the settlers that if they came here and helped us tow the boat out of the bay, they could explore an awesome freshwater cave. A couple of people said they’d be here in the morning.” Dylan stared up at the cave. “Greg, the father of the two kids, won’t be happy with visitors––especially if they decide to stay––but in the long run, he can use some support.”
“I see,” the commander said and rubbed his chin.
Dylan picked up the oars and continued rowing. “Toni, I didn’t get a chance to talk to you. Mom and Dad had been there. At the settlement I kayaked to. They stayed for a couple of days, resting up after the rough crossing.”
I bolted up in my seat. “How were they? Did anyone know where they were headed?”
“The people I talked to said they were okay. Still looking for us. They’d heard from some guy in Santa Barbara that a blue sailboat was headed for the border. Shortly after Mom and Dad arrived on the island a large custom sailboat named Carolina anchored off the beach. I guess most of its crew decided to stay on the island. Mom and Dad offered to crew, and the captain was happy to have them. The boat was headed for Tijuana.”
“No!” My knees started to buckle. “We were so close. It’s not fair.”
Takumi wrapped his arm around me. I’d missed having him to lean on.
The commander stared at Dylan and me. “With your permission, captains, I’d like to anchor in this bay for the night. When we are secured, you and all your crew are invited onboard for dinner. What do you say?”
I sniffed. “That would be nice.”
Takumi and I sat on the bow of Whistler, watching the clouds darken. Night finally arrived. He reached for my hand. I pulled it away and pretended to smooth my hair.