McKenzie’s Oregon Operation (2 page)

McKenzie stepped inside the cave, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness. Nothing but a black hole loomed before her. She had no idea how far the tunnel reached into the cliff. She glanced downward and noticed a paper fast-food cup lying on the sand at her feet.

“Hey, look. Somebody's been here.” McKenzie pointed at the cup.

“Maybe it's been here awhile,” Alex said as she bent over and picked it up.

“I don't think so,” McKenzie answered. “The cup hasn't even started to get soggy. I think someone was here not too long ago. Or maybe somebody is still here.”

McKenzie shuddered as she spoke the words. Standing in the cave without a light was starting to give her the willies. She turned to make sure Alex had followed her.
I'm thinking this isn't exactly the place I want to explore without a guide. On the other hand, maybe I don't want to explore it at all.

“Maybe this isn't such a good idea,” Alex said. “We can't see where we're going without a flashlight.”

“I agree. I'm not about to get lost in this place. It's way too creepy for me. Besides, my feet are cold,” McKenzie said, rubbing the goose bumps forming on her arms. Her wet swimsuit felt icy against her skin. Eager for the warmth of the sun outside, she hurried toward the entrance. After stepping from the darkness of the cave, she stopped in her tracks.

A thick blanket of fog was creeping across the smooth surface of the cove toward them. The sun that had warmed them earlier had disappeared behind the haze.

“We'd better go before the fog closes in on us.” Alex sprinted toward the rock piling and quickly climbed to the top. “I want to be able to see our way back.”

Dashing back to the beach, they hurried into their life jackets. Then they carried the
Sea Skimmer
to the cold water's edge.

“Hop on,” Alex said as she steadied the boat. “I'll tow us out into deeper water.”

McKenzie pulled herself up, the boat teetering as she climbed aboard. Alex waded out a little farther, pulling the boat behind her. A few seconds later she pulled herself onto the deck of the boat, tipping the skimmer slightly. McKenzie gripped the sides praying Alex wouldn't tip the boat over.

“I'll teach you to sail sometime,” Alex said, grabbing a stick that was fastened to the floor of the sailboat. “But not today.”

McKenzie watched in amazement as Alex's hands flew back and forth. “What is that thingy?” she asked, pointing to a sticklike device attached to the floor.

“It's called a tiller. It's connected to the rudder, so I can steer the boat. It will even let us sail against the wind,” Alex answered. “But barely any breeze is blowing now. We're not going anywhere very fast.”

Alex turned the tiller, trying to catch what little breeze they could in the orange, yellow, and blue sail.
Turtles can swim faster than this,
McKenzie thought as Alex steered the skimmer into deeper water.

Minutes later they sailed out of the inlet into the open waters of the cove. McKenzie focused on the fog pressing closer and closer. The water shimmered like an aquamarine stone, an occasional breeze causing slight ripples on the surface. Alex caught every puff of wind, no matter how small, and slowly sailed the boat toward home.

McKenzie had never sailed before. She had only ridden in speedboats and rowboats on lakes near her home in Montana. She gazed toward the shore, noting the unfamiliar landmarks. Nothing but pine trees and steep bluffs lined the shoreline.

“Are you sure you know where we are? None of this looks familiar to me. Shouldn't there be houses along the beach?” McKenzie's grip on the side of the boat tightened.

Alex kept her hand on the tiller and gazed at the overcast sky. She looked up and down the mainland. Then she brought her free hand up and chewed on a fingernail.

Alex's eyes looked worried. “I thought I paid a lot of attention earlier, but I don't recognize anything. Those trees aren't familiar, and I don't see the resort. I'm not sure where we are. I guess maybe I was watching for sea lions more than I thought.”

McKenzie felt her stomach lurch. “What do you mean? We aren't lost, are we?”

Alex fixed her gaze on the mainland, struggling to keep the sailboat from going too far into the open cove. “I'll figure it out in a minute,” she finally said.

Uh-oh,
McKenzie thought as she stared at the isolated shoreline.
I sure hope she figures it out, because I have no clue where we are.

“Alex, I just had an awful thought,” McKenzie stammered. “Aunt Becca was already at work when we left. I forgot to tell anyone we were leaving.”

Alex blinked her eyes nervously. “We were supposed to tell Mr. Carney if we went sailing, weren't we?”

Mr. Carney, or Mr. C. as the girls called him, rented the cabin next door to Aunt Becca. He was an elderly man who, he said, had rented the same cabin every summer for the last twenty years. Since Aunt Becca had rented the same cabin for the previous three years, the two knew each other well. Mr. Carney had volunteered to keep an eye on the girls if they needed anything while Becca was at work.

“Nobody knows where we are,” McKenzie said, her voice trembling. “Aunt Becca won't know we're missing until she gets home from work. That won't be for hours yet.”

“Mr. C. will notice that our sailboat is missing,” Alex said, trying to sound reassuring.

“What if he's not home?” McKenzie asked, growing more worried by the minute.

Alex didn't answer. The girls sat in silence, watching the fog roll toward them. It settled over them like a cold vapor. McKenzie could barely see past Alex on the other end of the boat.

The sails of the little sailboat hung limply as the breeze died. The
Sea Skimmer
bobbed idly. McKenzie shut her eyes briefly, feeling the gentle rise and fall of the boat.
Dear God,
she prayed.
Keep us safe and help us find our way home.

“Have you figured it out yet?” McKenzie asked as she cautiously opened her eyes.

Alex turned to McKenzie, her voice faltering. “I… I…can hardly see anything through the fog. I don't know where the homes and the docks and the resort are. Oh, McKenzie, I think we're lost!”

A shiver ran down McKenzie's spine. “Shouldn't we just try to reach shore?” she asked, her voice higher than normal.

“The shoreline here is mostly rocks,” Alex pointed out. “So there could be lots of underwater rocks to get caught up on. We don't want to get too close until I know just where we are.”

The little sailboat floated listlessly. Only a few minutes earlier the sky had been clear. Now dense fog had settled over the cove, surrounding them in a white, swirling mist.

“What are we going to do?” McKenzie asked fearfully.

Alex chewed her bottom lip as she surveyed the situation. “Look!” she exclaimed, pointing at a flash of light cutting through the fog. “There's the light from the Heceta Head Lighthouse up the coast. We have to head back to our left to make sure we stay in the cove. I sure don't want to get out in the open waters.”

McKenzie wasn't used to the ocean. The thought of being swept out into the rough waters scared her. “You don't think…we'll get washed away. …” Her voice cut off.

“Oh, of course not,” Alex said with a smile.

A fake smile,
McKenzie thought.
She's trying not to scare me. She doesn't want me to know we're in big, big trouble.
McKenzie's hand clutched the sides of the sailboat until her knuckles turned white.

“We can't even see where we are.” McKenzie's voice trembled. “How will we know if we're being pulled out to sea?”

“The tide's coming in. It'll push us into the shore, not away from it,” Alex reassured her.

“It'll push us into the rocks, you mean?” McKenzie shivered.
Why, oh why, didn't we tell Mr. C. we were going sailing?

“I think we're just in a little pocket of fog. The sun is trying to break through,” Alex said as she turned the sails, trying to catch what little breeze she could.

A seagull cried overhead, and a motorboat puttered in the distance.

At least someone else is out here. If we could only see,
McKenzie thought,
then we could ask for help.

“I'm really sorry I didn't pay more attention. I'm the one who got us lost,” Alex said softly.

McKenzie smiled slightly. “It's not any more your fault than it is mine. I shouldn't have been gawking around so much. Anyway, I can't believe God would let us get lost at sea. I've been praying.”

“Yeah, I have, too.” Alex sighed. “I guess we have to trust Him.”

McKenzie nodded. Though she still couldn't see the shoreline, she felt more relaxed than she had earlier. As she peered into the fog, a sleek gray object slid through the water beside her. She jumped. A whiskered nose popped through the water. For a second, McKenzie couldn't speak, then she cried, “Susie! Boy, am I glad to see you.”

The sea lion spun in the water, twirling like a ballerina. Her flippers flapped up and down as she performed her water dance.

“Alex,” McKenzie turned to her friend, “this is the sea lion I was telling you about.”

“You mean her pups are the ones that are missing?” Alex asked, working the tiller.

“Yes,” McKenzie said, relieved. “We can't be too far from Sea Lion Harbor.”

Aaarrr! Aaarrr!
Susie barked as she splashed the water with her flippers. With a final spin, the sea lion slipped away from the boat.

“I think she's calling for her pups,” Alex said. “I hope she finds them.”

A cool breeze brushed McKenzie's face. The bright sails snapped as they caught the breeze that suddenly rolled in across the cove.

“Hey, we're moving now.” Alex grinned at McKenzie.

“Look.” McKenzie pointed at Susie, barely visible in the fog. “Maybe we should follow her.”

Alex steered in Susie's direction. The sea lion swam slowly, as if waiting for the sailboat to keep up.

“I think the fog is lifting. I see some trees on the shore.” Alex brushed her damp hair out of her eyes.

McKenzie relaxed her grip on the sailboat and breathed deeply. She saw the vague outline of one the resort's beach homes. “God must have heard us. He sent good ol' Susie to show us the way back.”

Minutes later Susie had disappeared, but the girls had sailed out of the cloud of fog. Alex steered the boat toward Becca's boat dock, clearly visible in the emerging sunlight. After Alex hopped onto the dock, she tied up the boat.

McKenzie's knees wobbled as she tried to stand. She flailed her arms back and forth like a windmill as the skimmer teetered from side to side.

“Here, grab my hand!” Alex cried.

McKenzie grabbed Alex's fingertips and leaped onto the dock. “I've never been so glad to touch dry land before.”

“I told you we'd get back okay,” Alex said as she started up the dock. “I've never lost anyone yet.”

McKenzie shook her head teasingly. “Okay, I'll never not trust you again.”

As the girls approached their beach house, a voice called. Turning to the neighboring house, McKenzie saw Mr. Carney sitting in the shade in his lawn chair. A glass of iced tea sat in a wire cup holder beside him. The white stubble on his balding head contrasted with his black skin.

“Hi, Mr. C.,” McKenzie called out, jogging over to him. “This is my friend Alexis Howell, but everybody calls her Alex. She came from Sacramento to spend the week with me.”

Mr. Carney stood and shook Alex's hand, his teeth flashing a wide smile. “Nice to meet you, Miss Alex. You're quite the sailor.”

“Thank you, I've had quite a bit of practice. Except I don't like sailing in the fog.”

“You girls had me worried. I was about ready to call the Coast Guard. But then I saw your little skimmer. That fog can be tricky.” Mr. Carney scratched his head with his pinkie finger. “And girls, this ocean is too rough to take a sailboat out of the protected bay and into the ocean.”

“Lucky for us, we saw Susie and she led us back home.” McKenzie unzipped her life jacket and slid it off.

“That wasn't luck, young lady.” Mr. Carney's eyes grew serious. “The good Lord was looking after you two, He was. If I hadn't seen you leave, no one would have known where you went. You could have been in a heap of trouble out there if the fog hadn't lifted when it did.”

McKenzie glanced sheepishly toward Alex and met her gaze. She knew Mr. Carney was speaking the truth. They could have been in serious trouble.

“I'm not scolding you girls, but I know your Aunt Becca had already left for work when you set out. She asked me to keep an eye out for you while she's gone. You just had me a bit worried, that's all.”

“We're sorry we worried you. We were hoping to find Susie's pups. I want to show them to Alex,” McKenzie explained. “Has anybody seen them yet this morning?”