chapter 5

Sand Dunes

After days on the water, land felt strange but glorious. The warm sand beneath their toes was solid and steady.

Char stretched his body out in the sun, looking a little more alert. The radiant sun on his scales was rejuvenating.

Twig looked cautiously at the sky. Instinctively, he knew the danger of being on an exposed beach. He examined the dunes away from the shoreline. “Let’s get out of here,” he said. “This way.”

They staggered and scrambled along the wet beach and then the dry sand until they got to the base of a series of enormous dunes. There didn’t seem to be anywhere to go but up.

“Well, maybe from the top of these mountains we can see exactly where we are.” Twig sighed.

“Char, do you think you can make it?” Lily asked. She stroked his face with concern.

“He can do it,” Twig remarked. “Sometimes I think Char is invincible! C’mon, Char.”

They struggled up the steep, sandy slopes. The sand was loose, and the breeze from the ocean blew it in their faces. Sometimes they lost their footing and slid back down in a cascade of furry feet and sand.

The going was treacherous, but after much effort they mounted the crest of the tallest dune. They stood on the crest and gazed around.

Off to the east was the ocean, vast and undulating.

“We were out there?” Basil gasped, as they finally saw the enormity of what had been their watery world.

Twig thought sadly of the Captive, lying at the dark bottom of the sea.

They turned to face west. Before them lay a forest of scrubby pines and shrubs. Suddenly the sand beneath their feet collapsed and they tumbled and slid down the other side of the long, steep dune. Down, down, down they fell, tumbling head over heels until they landed in a heap. An avalanche of white sand continued to fall, nearly covering them up.

Coughing and spitting sand, Twig dug his way out. “Lily! Basil! Are you all right?” He pulled at the thrashing arms and legs of his friends and spotted Char’s wiggling tail, giving it a yank. Soon they were all shaking sand off and brushing it from their eyes.

“Everybody okay?” Lily asked, examining the crew. “Char?”

Char looked a little bewildered but unscathed.

Twig looked up the side of the dune. “Looks like we found the fast way to the bottom!” He laughed.

They were all tired from a night in the water. The warm sand felt good.

“Let’s rest here for a while,” he said. “Regain our strength. Something tells me we’re going to need it.”

Not far away was a small clump of vegetation. Twig pointed to it. “It isn’t much, but it’s some protection. Let’s use that as a place to catch some sleep.”

After they nestled beneath the prickly leaves, the extent of their exhaustion hit them. Lily was bone weary. Twig was drained. And Basil was the worst off. He hadn’t eaten in days and was drained of all energy. “I can barely keep my eyes open.” He yawned. In a moment he was asleep, his furry face in the sand.

Twig covered Char’s tail with the warm sand and made little mounds of it on his back. Char closed his eyes. In minutes they were all asleep.

TWIG AWOKE. HE WONDERED WHERE HE WAS. IT WAS dark, but he didn’t recognize the fuzzy, prickly leaf that tickled his ear.

There was sand beneath him.

Then he remembered; the storm, the sinking, the sand.

Night had fallen. He was finally warm again after sleeping for hours on the sunbaked dune. He glanced over at his friends. Basil was asleep, although fitfully, and his tail and paws jerked in a dream. Lily stirred a bit. Char was still tucked under his blanket of sand, snoring.

Twig ducked beneath the prickly leaves and cautiously poked his head out into the nighttime air. He heard, far off, the rhythmic crashing of waves on the shoreline. He sat in the sand and looked up. The stars were shining, brilliant against the black of night.

The leaves rustled, and Lily emerged from their hiding place.

They sat and watched the sky. A shooting star zipped across.

“I see some of the same stars from home,” Lily said at last. There was a wistful note to her voice. “I wonder if my parents are looking up and seeing the exact same stars.”

“You wish you were there now? Home?” Twig asked quietly.

“Uh-huh.”

“Me too.”

“But this has been quite an adventure.”

Twig swallowed a nervous lump in his throat. “You sorry you came along?”

“Nope.”

“I’m really glad you did.”

Lily giggled. “I can see you trying to sail the Captive without me. You’d never make it!”

Twig smiled, and then thought of the beautiful ship, lost forever. “We made a great crew,” he murmured.

“Yep. She was a great ship.”

“Question is, how’re we getting back, once we get Char to where he needs to be?”

“And that’s a good question, Twig,” Lily replied.

They both curled up in the sand. Another shooting star split the nighttime sky.