Knockdown (15 page)

The radio static came back on.
“This is Angelina. Anyone, come in, please. Over!” Angelina repeated her message, we heard static, and she tried again.

I glanced
back at the debris field we’d motored away from. We were drifting or being pulled to it. I wasn’t sure.

A
white picket fence floated a little ways off our stern. An animal whined. I concentrated and heard it again. I scanned the wreckage.

“Takumi.
” I motioned for him to join me. “Do you hear something? It kinda sounded like a dog.”

He dropped the chart he was studying
. “Probably a seal.”

I nodded
. Seals and dogs do sound alike.

We searched the water behind us anyway.

“Here boy, here boy!” I called.

A small dog yipped
. It was definitely not a seal.

I focused on where
the sound had come from. “There.” I pointed to a huge evergreen tree floating a hundred feet behind us to the left. A tiny Dachshund ran out of the branches and onto the six-foot wide trunk. Its short legs and long body kept it firmly in place.

Takumi jumped up
. “I see it!”

“Col
e, look. There’s a dog stranded on that floating tree.” I began unfastening the stern lifelines so I could climb down to the swim platform.

“Where
?” Cole asked, narrowing his eyes as he studied the water behind us.

Dylan,
Zoë, and Nick hurried to the stern.

“Wha
t’s going on?” Dylan checked the water. “Did you find the dinghy?”

Angelina’s voice carried up from below. “This is Angelina
. Come in, please. Over.”

“There’s a little dog
over there. In that big tree.” I squinted.

Dylan nodded. “Too bad we don’t have a way to get to it
.
He walked over to Cole and tapped on the broken instruments. Did he think he could tap them into working?

The dog yipped. His
tail wagged.

I glared at
my brothers.

“What are you talking
about? Turn on the engine and back up.”

“No!” Dylan
and Cole spun around at the same time.

“Look.
See that.” Dylan gestured at the tree. “That’s a float. There’s a fishing net caught in the tree. There’s no way to tell where it is in the water, but we’re screwed if we get that net caught around our engine prop or rudder.”

The dog ran back into the branches and barked.

I faced Dylan. “But he’s so cute. There has to be a way.”

Nick stepped to
the side of the boat. “I could sit on that drift log and paddle to the dog.”

We watched a ten
-foot long smooth log float by.

“Grab it,” Cole said.

“Are you out of your mind?” Dylan snarled. “We don’t have time for this.”

Zoë
scrunched up her face. “I agree with Dylan. I don’t want to share my food with a dog.”

“It’s a tiny do
g. I’ll give it part of mine,” I pleaded.

“I’ll share too,” Takumi said.

Nick nodded. “Me too.”

Cole stared at the sky. It
was growing dark and colder. Clouds blocked what was left of the sun. He smiled at Dylan. “You’re probably right. But there’s been so much bad news. We need something good. What could saving one little dog hurt?” He nodded at Nick. “Make it quick.”

“This is stupid.” Dylan grabbed Cole’s arm. “We’re not going to waste time and risk lives for a dog.”

Cole jerked his arm away. “You were out-voted, bro.”

They stood glowering at each other. Finally Dylan lowered his gaze, huffed, and stomped
back to the bow.

We used the boat hook and paddles to capture the floa
ting log. Takumi and Nick rolled it up to the swim step.

“Okay
.” Nick picked up an oar.

“Wait a minute.” Takumi’s eyebrows cinched. “
If we can find another one, we could nail the table top onto both, and make a raft.”

A broken tree trunk was headed our way. Not as big around as the
drift log, but close. “How about chopping some of the branches off that?” I asked the guys.

Nick brought up
Mom’s table and unscrewed the folding legs. The guys tied the two logs together. I winced as Takumi pounded nails through the teak design on the table top and into the logs beneath.

When they dropped the raft into the water it was a little lopsided, but floated. I
tightened Nick’s life jacket.

“Here
goes nothing.” Nick took off his shoes, rolled up his pant legs, and stepped onto the raft.

T
he raft tipped back and forth.

“Sit down,” I
motioned with my hands. “Sit down.”

Faster and faster the raft
rocked. Nick stood, arms waving. “Ah-h-h-h,” he yelled as the raft capsized and he splashed into the icy water.

Angelina,
Makala hurried up on deck. “What’s going on? Is everyone…?” Angelina shook her head at the floating wreckage around the boat. Then she saw the overturned raft.

“Nick!” she screamed
.

Nick pulled himself up onto the raft and laughed. “That was smooth.” He s
hook the water out of his hair and smiled at Angelina. “Water’s a little chilly.”

The dog emerged from t
he branches again and scampered back and forth on the trunk.

Makala squ
ealed and pointed. Jervis swung her up onto his shoulders.

Nick smiled
. “Let’s try it again.” This time he sat on the swim step, scooted onto the table top, and slid to the front.

The tiny raft listed to one side.
Nick leaned the opposite way and reached back to the table top to steady himself. He paddled slowly across the gentle ocean swells.

A loud thump rocked
Whistler
and Dylan scrambled forward to shove a plastic storage shed away from the hull. We were back in the debris field.

“I’m staying on the bow to keep watch. Let me know how Nick
is doing.” He picked up the boat hook.

Makala squared her shoulders and nodded at Dylan. After a few moments she called to him in her high little voice. “Nick almost slid off, but he’s okay now.”

Dylan shoved part of a shake roof away.

Makala began to bounce
. “He made it. He’s tying the boat to the tree.”

The little dog barked and spun
in circles.

“The puppy is barking. He’s happy to see Nick.” Makala
turned back to watch the rescue. “Oh, no! Nick called to him, but the dog ran away. It’s hiding in the bushes.” Makala jumped and almost fell. “A wave just hit the raft. Nick’s feet are in the water… It’s okay. He’s in the tree now.”

Dylan hurried back to t
he stern. “No wreckage around for the moment. You can just watch.” He patted Makala’s head. “Thanks for the updates.”

Angelina and I grinned at
each other. Nick crawled along the floating evergreen tree. He pushed aside large limbs and disappeared into the branches.

“Gotc
ha.” He emerged holding the wet dog away from him. It squirmed and tried to lick his face. Finally he gave up and cradled it in one arm. “You’re welcome, you’re welcome,” he laughed.

Makala
screamed. “He’s got it, Sissy. He saved the puppy.”

Nick leaned way out and sat the dog on the table top. A breeze swept over us. The do
g cowered and shook. Nick climbed alongside the dog and paddled back. The dog snuggled as close to Nick as he could. Nick shivered too. I ran to get a couple of towels.

Angelina
hurried down the swim platform.

Makala
raced to the stern rail. “Can I see the puppy? Can I?”

Nick held the dog in
one hand and climbed aboard our boat. Angelina wrapped a towel around his shoulders. They stood close together.

“I was
so frightened…” Angelina touched his cheek.

Nick shrugged
. “I’m fine.”

“Can I
see it?” Makala pulled on Angelina’s sleeve.

I handed Nick another towel. He enveloped the quiveri
ng dog and handed it to Makala. “It’s your dog now.” He glanced nervously at Angelina. “If it’s okay with your sister, that is.”

“Mine?” Ma
kala squealed. The towel fell and the dog buried its head in her neck. Makala looked up at her sister. “Sissy, can I…?”

“If
it’s okay to have dog on board.” Angelina looked at Dylan.

The dog licked Makala’s face and s
he giggled.

Dylan eyed Col
e and threw up his hands. “I was out-voted. We don’t have any dog food or a place for it to pee, but what the hell. Just keep it off my bed.”

The dog whimpered and shook again.

“Don’t be scared. He’s not a bad man,” Makala whispered. Angelina picked up the towel, grinned at Dylan, and stole the dog from her sister. “Come on, Makala. Let’s go below and clean your puppy up.”

I gave Dylan a hug. “She’s right, you know. You’re not such a bad man.”

Chapter Seventeen

We floated in the debris field. Dylan stomped around and checked his cell: Still no service.

“We’re running out of time. Can’t you feel it? The cold? We have to start heading south.” He
untangled lines and tried again and again to raise the sails, cursing every time he failed. The ropes were snarled up at the top of the mast. Everything he did made the problem worse.

Cole and Takumi’s heads were bent over
the sea charts, looking for clues to where we might be. Below deck the dog barked excitedly, and Makala laughed.

Nick rubbed the towel over his head and studied the water. “On the way back I was thinking. Maybe we should gather up some of this stuff.
The fishing net might come in handy. And we could empty out some of the plastic bins to carry water or supplies back to the boat when we go ashore.”

It was a great idea.

Dylan stared up at the mast and pulled a red line. “Our first priority is the sails.”

“Takumi and I can
get the net,” I said before I had a chance to think.

Takumi grinned.

Dylan swore at the sail, tossed the line down on the deck, and clamped it off. “Fine.”

Nick hoisted
Dylan up to the top of the mast in the boson chair while Takumi and I paddled back to the tree. It was eerie how calm the seas were. I watched the gentle swells raise and lower the floats in the net as we approached. The seas wouldn’t stay this calm for long.

Freezing water from the paddle splashed my leg and I gasp
ed. Dylan was right. The wind had a chill to it that hadn’t been there just a day before. I held onto Takumi, as much for warmth, as affection.

“This is nice
,” Takumi whispered.

I rested my head on his back. “Beats the bathroom, but can you turn the heat up
?”

“Wish I could.”

The net was tangled in the tree’s branches. Takumi climbed on to the trunk to loosen it. He was only gone a few minutes when he called from deep within the tree’s foliage.

“Toni, come help me.
”

“What’s wrong?” I tied the raft to a strong branch. ”Where are you?” I couldn’t believe he could disappear so quickly.

“Over here.” He parted a couple of huge limbs, and waved his arm.

I crawled until I found him perched in the ‘v’ of the trunk. “Is everything okay?” I searched his face.

He took my hand and pulled me to him.

“
What are you doing?” I protested.

He held a fi
nger to his lips to shush me. “Just breathe.”

“Toni!
” Cole called. “Toni!”

“The net
’s stuck. We’re working on it,” I yelled back to
Whistler
.

I glanced around and inhaled the piney aroma of the tree.
It smelled like the forest behind my house and Christmas. Light filtered through the long needles. It was magical. The tree rocked in the gentle ocean swells and for a few short moments I forgot all about the horrors of the last two days.

Then
almost everyone from the sailboat began calling for us. I sighed. The spell was broken.

“
Thanks. That was so pretty,” I told Takumi as we climbed out of the tree. We freed the net and dropped it on the raft. It had only a few gaping holes. I figured we could fix those with fishing line.