Sixteen

STACY LOOKED OUT over the beach at the dead mangrove trees. Their black and twisted roots were sticking out of the sand so far that the wolves could walk underneath them. Clumps of garbage had washed up on the shore and were strewn around the beach, along with the skeletons of several birds. Stacy looked beyond them into the water. Oh no. The coral reef near the shore looked to be dead as well. What awful thing happened here? Pearl and Noah swam out into the coral reef. Stacy followed after them. The coral was various shades of grays, browns, and white—not the vibrant colors Stacy knew it would be if it was healthy. This beach is dying . . . but why? Stacy had never seen coral before, but she knew that it was a living thing. And that it was a vital part of the ocean’s ecosystem. Fish, turtles, dolphins, squid . . . they all relied on the coral—some ate the coral itself, and others ate the fish who fed on it. Stacy looked again at the dying coral before swimming back to shore. We may have finally come across a rescue we cannot do. . . .

Stacy, Pearl, and Noah rejoined the others on the island. Despite the dying beach, it seemed to Stacy that this island was the best spot for them to make a camp. Breeze Island was, well . . . too breezy. And besides that, it was the largest of the three islands and that meant that passing ships might be inclined to stop there and explore. That was the island we crashed into, after all. We don’t want that happening to someone else, and then they stumble onto a pack of magical wolves. As for Hatch’s Island, Stacy didn’t want to do anything to disrupt the ecosystem there. That island is the home beach of those turtles. I don’t want them to return there to mate and get scared off by wolves. This is our little island. We should live here. As Stacy was thinking, she noticed Paisley was standing near one of the dead mangrove trees, concentrating really hard on something. Stacy walked over to her and saw a small sprig of new growth on one of the mangrove’s branches.

“Did you do that, Paisley?” Stacy asked, surprised. Paisley wagged her tail. “Well, that settles it then. We’ll live here and Paisley and the rest of us can work on restoring the beach!”

The group walked back to the small lagoon in the center of the island and began to construct a shelter using the crossed palm trees. Stacy couldn’t have been more pleased with her decision. She knew that if Paisley was able to regrow the mangrove trees, the greenery would provide excellent cover for the mesa pack from any explorers or passing boats. They won’t even be able to see the middle of the island! She also knew the mangroves would protect against hurricanes and that their root systems would help stabilize the beach and restore the island. It won’t help the coral reef, but it’s a start.

Everest, Noah, and Atlas returned to the wreckage of their ship near Breeze Island and brought back with them some hardwood planks, rope, and what was left of the shredded sail. While they were gone, Paisley and Stacy worked to weave palm fronds together that Ribsy collected from around the island. Next, Stacy and Everest used the hardwood planks to create a crude treehouse where the two palm trees’ trunks crossed. They laid the planks to form a platform about six or seven feet off the ground and then positioned the woven palm fronds on one side of the platform to make a lean-to. Stacy used the box of nails from the boat and a rock from the beach to hammer pieces of driftwood up the base of one of the palm trees, so she’d be able to climb up to the platform and down quickly.

Stacy looked up at the setting sun. She was tired from working so hard, but it felt good to have accomplished so much during their first day on the island. She walked over to the small lagoon near their campsite to wash up for dinner. Stacy had just stuck her hands into the water when she noticed a small fish swimming near her fingers. It was yellow and had large, wide eyes on either side of its small body. Its tiny mouth was turned up at the sides—making it look as if the fish was smiling.

“Aren’t you cute?” Stacy said, extending her fingers to see if she could touch the fish in the water. Suddenly, the fish tripled in size.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch!” Stacy exclaimed.

The pufferfish had puffed out its spines in self-defense. Stacy yanked her hand out of the water and checked to see if the pufferfish poke had pierced her skin. Pufferfish are poisonous, but luckily, Stacy’s skin hadn’t been broken. Phew! Not sure if Ribsy would have been able to heal me from that.

Stacy turned away from the pufferfish, who she lovingly nicknamed Ouch, and looked back at the makeshift home she had built for the mesa pack. Atlas had jumped all the way to the top of the tallest of the two palms and was harvesting its coconuts. Everest was sitting on the plank platform they’d constructed, keeping an ever-watchful eye on what Stacy was doing. And Paisley was slung in the hammock Stacy had fashioned from the boat’s ripped sail, napping peacefully—a tropical flower tucked behind one of her ears.

It was dusk now. Stacy reached into her satchel and pulled out the flint and steel Basil had given to her back in the taiga and used it to start a fire with kindling Ribsy had gathered earlier in the day. Noah had spent the rest of the afternoon fishing around the island. From the looks of his catch, he had taken care not to kill the same variety of fish twice. That’s good. We don’t want to decimate any of the fish population while we’re here. Still, Stacy didn’t like the idea of him fishing around the dying coral reef. We should be looking for ways to increase life in the ocean here, not take life. But she also knew that Paisley needed time to grow food on the island. Okay, we’ll have a good meal tonight, and that should last the wolves for a while. As for Stacy, she was loving all the new foods she’d been nibbling on that were growing naturally around the island. Coconut and coconut milk, bananas, and sugar apples—Stacy couldn’t get enough of the sweet fruit.

After everyone ate dinner, Paisley returned to her cozy spot in the hammock while Pearl and Noah fell asleep near the lagoon. Ribsy set off to patrol the island for the night, while Everest turned around a couple times underneath the treehouse before plopping down on the sand. Stacy climbed up into the treehouse to sleep. It had been such a long day—from crashing their boat on the rocks, to exploring the three islands and building the treehouse. Stacy was already drifting off to sleep when Atlas jumped up and curled his soft body protectively around her.

Stacy woke up to the sweet smell of rice cooking in coconut milk with mango. Wow, Paisley grew that already? Stacy peered over the edge of the treehouse and watched Paisley as she toiled over the fire. Pearl and Noah were splashing around in the lagoon. Everest was now by Stacy’s side, dozing.

“Wake up, Everest!” Stacy said, gently nudging the giant wolf. “Paisley’s made breakfast!”

Despite eating a big meal the night before, Stacy was ravenous. As she tucked into the mango and rice, she couldn’t help but think about Page, Molly, her cats, and the other wolves and wishing they were all here with her on the island. Addison would get along so well with Paisley. She would love getting to create new dishes with the food Paisley can grow. And Milquetoast and Pipsqueak would be in heaven with all the varieties of tropical fish they’d be eating here. Tucker and Ribsy would probably get along too—their powers are so similar. Stacy was so lost in thought and savoring the deliciousness of her breakfast that it took her a long time to recognize Milo the bat fluttering in the air in front of her.

“Milo!”

Stacy was ecstatic to see the little brown bat. Partly because she had come to love the adorable creature, but mostly because she knew his presence here meant that Wink and Basil had returned to the taiga safely with Page and Molly. I can’t believe you flew so far! Stacy had assumed Milo would hand off his message to other bats who could locate Stacy, but she realized that he must have deemed this information too important to not deliver himself. Stacy was so relieved they were okay.

“Welcome to our little island, Milo,” Stacy said, putting a few morsels of mango on a nearby piece of driftwood for Milo to munch on. “You’re welcome to stay with us as long as you’d like.”

After eating her fill of mango and coconut rice, Stacy walked with Milo and Everest to the beach at the north side of the little island. Ribsy, Noah, and Atlas were standing near the water where Pearl was swimming, everyone looking slightly distressed. Oh no. What’s the matter now? Is everyone feeling okay? Everest ran to the pack and then turned to Stacy and scrawled a set of runes in the sand. Stacy was surprised he’d learned the language already (and that she could read it)—apparently she’d translated enough of the diary that she was becoming fluent.

“R-E-S-C-U-E,” Stacy said with a gasp, suddenly realizing why everyone looked so anxious. “Oh my . . . we have our first ocean rescue!”