Going back in the water wasn’t an option. Maya undid her ankle leash and put her shoes on. They were soaking wet, but that didn’t matter. She just needed something on her feet as she ran.
It was going to be a long run, and she had to make it fast. She slipped twice just trying to get off the beach of Ripper’s Cove. The shale rocks were slick with rain and slid out from under her feet. She picked herself up each time, and even though her hands hurt from each fall, she didn’t bother to check for injuries. There simply wasn’t time.
She bolted down the cove’s rocky beach, feeling especially unsteady, and up the hill onto the boardwalk. Running on the boardwalk was easier, but Maya still felt sluggish. She didn’t know exactly how long she had before Paige would be underwater. Shark infested water, Maya thought. As if it wasn’t bad enough that Paige might drown, the shark swimming around the sandbar would be sure to go for the easy, injured prey.
Maya started pumping her legs a little faster, fighting against her body’s urge to slow down. There was absolutely no way she was going to let anything else happen to Paige. She needed to make it home. Her parents could help, call the police or an ambulance, maybe the Coast Guard. They needed to get someone out to Ripper’s Cove and fast.
She reached the beach where they’d intended to surf. Maya’s legs were burning from the effort. Her quads felt like they were going numb, and she was sure she’d have blisters on her feet for the next few days. Can’t stop, she thought. Push through it. Push through it.
She passed the dividing mound between the surfing part of the beach and the casual area, ran for another block, and hung a left toward the residential neighborhood. Still a couple of miles to go.
Her chest hurt from heavy breathing, and even though she was cold and wet, she could feel beads of sweat running down her back.
Just then she realized her parents might not be home. It was Saturday, and sometimes they went out to dinner on the weekends. But she didn’t stop. I’ll have to go to the neighbors, she thought, her feet pounding beneath her.
“You trying to ditch your friend?”
Maya snapped her head to the side. Kai was sitting on the front porch of his house with his feet up on the wooden railing.
Maya took a sharp turn. Instead of continuing down the street, she ran right up to Kai’s porch. For a second he looked nervous. He probably thought that Maya was coming to confront him . . . or worse.
“Give me your phone,” she said, trying to catch her breath.
“No,” he replied, looking confused.
“Give me your phone!” she cried louder and angrier.
“No!” he shouted back. “Use your own!”
“It’s broken! Give me yours!”
“Not if you broke your own phone. These things cost money, you know,” he said, holding up his cell phone and wiggling it in the air.
“I need it! Paige is—” Maya was trying to catch her breath and fight the pounding in her head. She swayed. Her vision was blurry, and she felt like she was about to pass out. “Paige is—” She tried to steady herself on the porch railing.
“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.”