Fifteen

BEFORE STACY COULD retrieve the life jacket from the boat’s cabin, the storm was upon them. The deck of the boat was slick with rainwater, and Stacy knew if she tried to maneuver toward the stairs, she’d slip and fall. She feared for her life like she never had before. She was more scared than when the taiga forest had been engulfed in flames. More panicked than when an avalanche swept her hundreds of feet off a cliff and buried her under snow. And more frightened than she’d been when she was staring down the barrel of a farmer’s shotgun. Because right now, Stacy and her wolves were completely at the mercy of the sea. There was nothing they could do to escape the huge waves that were crashing down on top of the boat’s deck. All they could do was ride out the storm and hope they survived.

The small sailboat rocked back and forth wildly as it was pummeled by one huge wave after another. Noah and Pearl watched in horror from the sea as they swam alongside the boat, waiting to see if Stacy or one of the wolves was going to fall overboard and need rescuing. Stacy was relieved that Ribsy and Paisley were safe at least—they were huddled together in the ship’s small cabin. On the deck, Atlas was doing all he could to keep the sail from being torn to shreds in the storm’s fierce winds. Stacy was at the wheel of the boat, trying in vain to keep it sailing in a straight line. Everest stood behind her, keeping Stacy secure between him and the wheel, but every couple minutes, a giant wave would come crashing down and send them sliding backward on the deck. They’d spend the next minute fighting their way back to the wheel only to repeat the process a minute later.

“Rocks ahead!” Stacy screamed at the top of her lungs to Everest and Atlas. Those weren’t on the map, Stacy thought to herself as she caught glimpses of the formidable rocks in between the wave’s sizable swells. I’ll have to try to steer the boat around them! Stacy turned the boat’s wheel just in time to narrowly avoid the first large rock. Yes! Maybe I can do this! She wiped the rain and wet hair away from her eyes and looked ahead.

A bolt of lightning struck the water in the distance, illuminating a maze of rocks looming in front of them. On second thought . . . maybe I can’t. C-C-C-R-A-C-K. The boat rammed into one of the rocks. Stacy, Everest, and Atlas all slid across the deck, nearly falling overboard altogether. They managed to get up and back to their positions, only to hit another rock head on. Ribsy and Paisley were barking down in the cabin. Stacy glanced over the side of the boat to see they had begun kicking water out of the boat’s broken porthole. We’re taking on water. We’re going to sink. What was I thinking trying to sail a boat in the first place? I’m not strong enough to help Atlas.

Suddenly, lightning struck the boat’s mast, splitting it in half. Atlas commanded a gust of wind to keep the mast from falling directly onto them while Everest grabbed Stacy by her raincoat and pulled her overboard. Stacy looked below her to see Paisley and Ribsy jumping out of the boat’s porthole as she and Everest plunged into the cold water alongside them. The boat was heading directly toward more rocks; there was nothing they could do to save it.

Stacy held on as Everest pulled her deeper and deeper underwater, away from the storm’s turbulent waves on the surface. Stacy knew this was wise, to avoid the crashing waves and their out-of-control boat, but she also knew that she needed to come up for air soon. I can’t hold my breath as long as you, Everest. What are you doing? Stacy looked to her right to see Atlas was swimming beside her and Everest. Together they were guiding Stacy over to where the water was much calmer. Stacy tried to kick away from them to paddle up for a breath, but she was sandwiched between the two wolves. I’m going to drown! Stacy held her breath for as long as she could, about a minute, and then started frantically puffing her cheeks out and in. Everything had happened so fast in the chaos of the storm; Stacy didn’t know what was going on. She was losing consciousness. Everest must have forgotten I can’t hold my breath as long as him. . . . Stacy couldn’t last another second. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth to accept her watery fate. Stacy expected salt water to enter her mouth, filling her throat and burning its way into her lungs. But instead, her mouth was filled with a gulp of sweet ocean air. What . . . is . . . happening? Stacy looked over at Atlas. He was swimming incredibly close to her. I can . . . I can breathe? Underwater? Atlas can keep air . . . around him? Stacy couldn’t fully appreciate this new development in Atlas’s powers. In her mind, she was still back on the deck of the boat, trying desperately to steer around rocks. Her brain could not keep up with her body and the fact that she was now hurtling through the turbulent ocean waters. Stacy, Everest, and Atlas surfaced, and through the rain, Stacy could see land up ahead. A wave, at least twenty feet tall, crashed over them, knocking Stacy away from Everest and Atlas. Stacy was pushed under the water and felt a sharp pain in her leg and then a tug on the hood of her raincoat. She looked around to see Pearl, pulling her toward the shore.

Stacy stumbled onto the shore and collapsed on the soft sand. She turned onto her back, gasping for air, and saw that the dark rain clouds were beginning to break, giving way to a vibrant blue sky. The storm was over. Stacy sat up and looked down the beach. Pearl and Noah were with her. In the distance, she could see a ragged-looking Everest and Atlas and then, even farther down the beach, Ribsy and a bedraggled Paisley walking toward them. Stacy tried to stand, but her left knee buckled under her and she fell again to the sand. She looked down to see bright red blood running down her leg from a long gash right below her knee. Ribsy raced the last hundred yards or so over to her and knelt beside her. Stacy felt a strange sensation in her leg—the gash was closing! In a matter of seconds, the gash was healed, and the last few drops of blood trickled down Stacy’s legs.

“Thank you, Ribsy,” Stacy whispered. She knew how lucky she was to have found Ribsy and the other mesa wolves. That gash could have easily become infected. The infection could have killed me.

Stacy stood up and surveyed her surroundings. The island they had washed up on was . . . peculiar. It was covered in palm trees and tall, jagged mountains. Stacy felt a chill as a cool breeze blew through her wet hair.

“Breeze Island,” she said aloud. “That’s what we should call this place. But I don’t think we should stay here too long.”

Stacy looked at Everest and he nodded. It’s too windy on this island to camp here. It would be a constant struggle for Atlas to manage. And . . . I have a bad feeling about this place. I can’t explain it. It’s like . . . like people have died here.

Stacy and the wolves climbed to the top of one of the mountains and, much to Stacy’s delight, saw that Breeze Island was the largest in a small cluster of islands. To the south and east were two smaller islands, forming a trio. Hopefully one of those will be more suitable for building a camp.

The group quickly descended the mountain and swam over to the island to the east. Immediately, Stacy noticed this island wasn’t as cold and windy. It wasn’t mountainous either. It was flat and beautiful, with pristine white beaches and turquoise water. Stacy was just about to suggest they live here when she noticed something on the beach. A dozen or so tiny black dots were moving quickly across the sand. Stacy strode over to them and saw that they weren’t black dots at all, but rather, baby sea turtles! Their shells were black, their heads were spotted—they were each only a couple inches long. They must have just hatched! Stacy watched the tiny turtles as they wriggled toward the water. Stacy noticed one of the turtles was lagging behind the others on the beach. He had a tiny bit of shell on his head, covering his eyes.

Stacy bent down and carefully peeled the bit of shell from the turtle’s face. She yearned to pick the baby turtle up and help it down the beach to the ocean, but she knew that his struggle to the water was an essential part of his journey. He needed to fight his way down there to be strong enough to be able to swim. She also knew he was imprinting on his home beach, and that he would return here many times over the course of his long life. So instead, Stacy just crouched low to the ground and watched him in wonder as he determinedly shuffled through the white sand. Atlas kept the hungry gulls away, summoning a gust of wind anytime one of the birds swooped down too close.

I’m going to call you Hatch, Stacy thought.

“Well . . . I guess we can’t live here either,” Stacy said. “This is Hatch’s Island.”

She stood up and watched as Hatch made his way to the ocean.

“Good luck, little guy.”

Stacy turned back to the group. With Breeze Island and Hatch’s Island out of the running, there was only one island left. We can’t sail to any other islands . . . our boat is completely wrecked. I hope this next island is okay.

Once more, Stacy dove into the ocean to swim to the next island. Noah swam beneath her, ready to lift Stacy up to the surface if she needed it. Everest was a good swimmer, but his massive frame kept him from being all that agile in the water. Paisley and Ribsy were the slowest. They’ll improve, though. It’s not like they had a lot of opportunities to hone their swimming skills living in the dry mesa. With Atlas and Pearl next to her, Stacy felt like she was one of the dolphins. She could stay underwater for as long as she wanted. Paisley had managed to save Stacy’s satchel from the ship and, with it, the goggles she had tried to use with Molly. Stacy couldn’t wait until they were settled on one of the islands and could go out for a proper swim where she could explore the ocean floor, collect shells, and get a closer look at the tropical fish who were all around her. But right now, she was determined to find a good home for the mesa pack. Stacy got lost in her thoughts as they swam. Will they want to stay on this island? Will Paisley be able to grow enough food for them? Will they miss the diet they had back in the mesa? And how long will Everest, Noah, and I stay here to get them settled?

Stacy and the others made their way onto the third island. It was the smallest of the three, but Stacy liked it almost instantly because it had a small inlet that came into the center of the island. Pearl could use that to shelter for the night. She likes to spend more time in the water than out, after all. Next to the inlet were two palm trees that had grown crookedly, forming an X shape. Stacy thought it could be a good place to build a shelter. As Stacy and the group walked from the center of the island to the opposite side from where they’d started, Paisley paid particularly close attention to the ground. Stacy imagined she was plotting out where to put a small garden and looking for a suitable patch of dirt in the center of the island where things could grow.

They reached the other side of the island quickly. To the west, Stacy could see the rocks the boat had crashed on. They walked on the beach to the island’s southern tip, and Stacy’s heart sank.

“Oh no . . .” she groaned. “What happened here?”