Chapter Two

While the orcas had glided through the waves, the boat looked as if it was caught in a battle. It was bouncing on the waves and getting tossed by the wind. It wasn’t a big boat—less than sixty feet—and it looked much smaller today, swallowed up by the waves.

“There he is!” Dylan yelled.

On the bow of the boat, in a bright-yellow rain slicker, stood his grandpa. He waved at them, and Dylan waved back.

The boat edged closer and closer. The first mate, Mr. Singh, appeared on the deck. He had a rope in his hands.

“I’ll help them dock,” Dylan’s father said.

As the boat neared the dock, Mr. Singh tossed the rope, and Dylan’s father caught it. The boat edged in and then bumped against the big tires that ringed the dock. Mr. Singh jumped off and tied the stern while Dylan’s father tied the bow.

Dylan’s grandpa got off, and there were hugs and greetings for everybody. Dylan got a particularly big hug from his grandpa.

“Looked pretty rough out there,” Dylan’s mother said.

“Not as rough as it’s going to get,” his grandpa said.

“He’s right,” Mr. Singh said. He placed three large bags—Dylan’s grandpa’s—on the dock. “Captain Ken said the marine weather report has warned that the winds are going to pick up even more. So the waves are probably going to get bigger.”

Dylan bit on his lower lip—something he always did when he was nervous. His grandpa had arrived safely, but his parents were about to leave. They had a show of their paintings and photographs in the city that had been planned for months, and it was very important to them.

Captain Ken Fukushima climbed off the boat, and everyone greeted him. He and Mr. Singh piloted this boat on a regular run through the islands every two or three weeks. Everything Dylan’s family needed came on this boat. Big bins of groceries arrived, along with paints and canvases, toys, clothing and whatever was needed to fix things on the property. The cabin was even older than Grandpa, and there was always something going wrong or needing to be fixed.

“We have to leave again as soon as possible,” Captain Ken said.

Dylan’s father could tell that his son was feeling anxious about the storm.

“We’ll be all right,” he said to him.

“I’ve seen it a lot worse than this,” his mother agreed.

Dylan didn’t look convinced.

“It’s rough, but it’s nothing we can’t handle. We won’t let anything happen to your parents,” Captain Ken added.

His father bent down and looked Dylan in the eyes. “We’ll be back in three days. Okay?”

Dylan nodded. “You should go. Grandpa will take care of me.”

“Would you please put our things aboard?” his mother said to Mr. Singh.

Along with their luggage, they had four wooden boxes that contained her latest paintings and her husband’s latest photographs, all of them framed and ready to be displayed.

Grandpa put a hand on Captain Ken’s shoulder. “Nobody in the world I trust more than this man.”

Captain Ken and Dylan’s grandfather had known each other for what seemed like forever. They had both lived on this island when they were little and their fathers worked at the old cannery on the far side. The cannery had been abandoned decades ago and now sat deserted and falling to pieces.

“We’ll help you get your bags up to the cabin,” Dylan’s father said.

“Dylan and I can take of it,” Grandpa said. “It’s better that you leave sooner than later, right, Ken?”

The captain nodded. “I’d like to try to stay ahead of the main part of the storm.”

“We’ll get the bags up there without you,” Grandpa said.

Dylan’s mother looked unsure.

Grandpa read her expression. “Don’t worry. I’m better than ever. No pain. I’m practically a bionic man.”

Dylan’s grandpa had had his hip replaced two months earlier. It was healing well, but it still caused him some discomfort.

“We’ll be fine. I have my big, strong grandson to help me.”

She wasn’t completely convinced, but she knew there was no point arguing with her father. He had always been stubborn and had only gotten more so with age.