19

The fire died out in the dim, wee hours of the morning, leaving Sarah in nearly complete blackness. The only light came from the moon that slipped slowly toward the horizon. Stiff from crouching in the branches for so long, she shifted her body, trying to find a more comfortable position. Her left leg had fallen asleep and began to tingle as it woke up. She patted and shook it until it felt normal, then she moved down a foot or so, to a wider branch, and lay down, her back to the massive trunk. The only good thing about the discomfort was that she’d finally stopped being terrified.

“You okay?” Marco was only a few feet away, but she couldn’t see him.

She said, “As okay as you can be when you’re stuck in a tree all night.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

Just then, there was a snore.

“Is that your brother?” asked Sarah.

Marco laughed a little. “Yeah. He can sleep through anything.”

Sarah said, “I expected him to be more annoying. But he’s pretty smart.”

“Yeah, he is.” He paused a moment. “But he can still be seriously annoying.”

Sarah heard a rustle below her and sucked in a breath. “Are they back?”

There was a snuffle below, but she couldn’t see what it was. Her imagination began to run, and her hands began to tremble as visions of Marco’s weird bird and her kangaroo popped into her head. Along with those long-legged, scary crabs that looked like giant spiders—

A whine.

“Ahab?”

Marco said, “I see him!”

“Do you think it’s safe to go down?” Sarah asked.

Her dad called from the other side of Marco’s tree, “Is the dog back?”

“Yeah!” said Sarah. “Can we get down?”

Her dad didn’t answer, but then a light shone up in Sarah’s face. “I think we can get down. I’ll build up the fire again.” As Sarah started to edge down the tree, her dad held up an arm and helped her jump down. She stepped into him for a hug. “That was too scary.”

Marco appeared beside them. “I’m gonna let him sleep.” He pointed up.

John pointed the beam into the tree where Nacho had his head back against the tree trunk, snoring away. He laughed. “Let’s get that fire going.”

Yvonna called from her perch in the tree. “Is it okay to get down?”

Marco went over to her as Sarah put her arms around Ahab. “He knows, Dad.”

“Knows what?” Her dad squatted by the fire pit, digging into the embers with a stick and trying to coax the fire back to life.

“He knows when there’s danger.” Sarah stood up and rubbed Ahab’s giant head. “Don’t you?” She took the flashlight and checked the dog all over for injuries, but found none. “You must have just gotten pinched, huh?”

Yvonna and Marco joined them, and sat down on some of the bedding that remained where they’d left it, still circling the fire. She said, “We should all try to get some sleep.”

“Tonight was rough,” said John. “If we’re here for another night, I think that it would be wise to stay in that house Marco and I found.”

Marco spoke up. “But I thought we needed to stay by the beach.” His words were rushed. “I mean, we wouldn’t want to miss a boat coming to rescue us.”

The fire began to flame, and John added some wood to it, then sat down on the sand beside it. He looked at Marco. “It’s just safer to be inside a structure.”

Sarah said, “Yeah, way better than spending another night in a tree.”

Yvonna said, “John, would you help me get Nacho down? He can’t sleep the whole night up there.” They left the fire to Marco, Sarah, and Ahab. Sarah looked over at Marco. “Why don’t you want to stay in the house?”

Marco shrugged. “I just think we should stay here, in case a boat comes. Plus it’s way too far to haul all our stuff.”

Sarah glanced over at the pile of supplies. He had a point. “But we can’t stay here.” She shivered. “What if those crabs come back?”

Marco glanced over at the trees they’d just come down from. “I think we could build a platform in those trees. We’d be off the beach that way, but still close enough in case a boat comes.”

Sarah frowned. “How can we build something?”

Her dad came back carrying Nacho in his arms. He carefully laid the boy on the bedding and drew a blanket over him. “What are we building?”

Marco told him his idea and John began nodding. “I like it. We could salvage what wood we can from the boat, haul the berth mattresses and stuff up there…” He smiled. “Great idea.”

Marco grinned and, to Sarah, he suddenly seemed far more at ease.

Nacho seemed to snore again immediately.

Yvonna said, “The rest of you need to get some sleep too.”

John said, “I’ll stay up and watch the fire, probably catch a nap sometime tomorrow.”

Sarah snuggled down in her bed, being sure to keep one hand on Ahab, who had sprawled out next to her. As long as he was with them, she felt that at least she—that all of them—would have some kind of warning before whatever other danger lurking out there headed their way.