Suddenly, we heard a megaphone squeal. “Hey, kids! You all right?” we heard a voice boom. It was Connor!

I had never been so happy to hear an Australian accent in my life! I stood up and waved as a third boat entered the channel. Inside it were some of our crew members, cameras in their hands, pointed right at us. I looked back to Feye, who had relief written all over his face. Even Duke seemed relieved, back to his happy barking!

I turned to look at the poachers. The man put his hat and sunglasses back on and the woman pulled her hat down over her face more. It was as if they didn’t want to be seen.

“What are you guys doing here?” Connor yelled to us. “I didn’t see you or Duke around and had wondered where you had gone!” It was then that Connor acknowledged the other boat. “Err … hello. Thanks for finding them,” he said to the couple.

“Pleasure,” the man said. He revved their engine and their boat roared back to life.

Connor turned his attention back to us. “Do I want to know?”

I smiled at him. “It’s a long story.”

“How did you find us?” Feye asked. Connor pointed at Duke, who was now watching him and wagging his tail.

“Duke’s barking,” Connor explained. “We were coming out here to film some sunset action in the mangroves when we heard him. It sounded different, meaner than usual, so we thought you guys might be in trouble.”

“Well, it is a good thing you came when you did,” I said. I pointed to the cooler. “We figured out the crocodile was a mom and so we just had to come back for her eggs. And we found them!”

“We should get back. Before Mom and Dad get too worried,” Feye said.

Connor nodded. “We’ll see you guys later. Going to try to shoot some footage now.”

“Thank you! Good luck!” Feye said. His knuckles were white on the handle of the dinghy’s steering stick. He was still scared … and to be honest, so was I.

Feye turned the engine back on and made his way slowly down the path we had come from. When we were far enough from the crew’s boat, Feye sped the dinghy up. Duke settled down at his feet and closed his eyes. I moved back to be closer to them both, bending down to pet Duke and tell him how much of a good boy he was. Soon, we were zipping back down the channel, the dread in our stomachs still weighing heavy.