Touch the Sky (Young Underground #8) (20 page)

11

D
anger on the Lake

             
Peter squinted his eyes to see better through the dark but couldn
’
t find his way along the narrow road. Henrik and Elise were up ahead, but Peter couldn
’
t make them slow down.

             
“
Elise!
”
Peter shouted until he was hoarse. They were bicycling through countryside that looked familiar, yet Peter had the panicked feeling of being lost.

             
“
Henrik!
”
he shouted once more, but they were out of sight. A little car came up behind him and bumped into his fender once, twice. Peter was afraid to look over his shoulder, afraid that he would fall. He could hear laughing, and he knew Mr. Broken Nose was trying to run him down. But no one could hear him, and where was Uncle Morten?

             
“
Uncle Morten!
”
Peter tried one more time with the last of his breath. He was just about to fall, and his bicycle seemed to shake from one more terrible bump.

             
“
Peter, wake up!
”

             
When Peter opened his eyes, he was staring into Henrik
’
s face.

             
“
Wake up,
”
repeated Henrik, shaking his friend
’
s shoulders gently.
“
You
’
re having a bad dream.
”

             
Peter shook his head and tried to sit up. The room was still dark, but the light from down the hall showed a couple of people were also sitting up in their cots to see what was going on. Peter felt silly and tried to catch his breath. It had seemed so real.

             
“
Boy, was that ever a bad dream.
”
Peter
’
s throat felt hoarse, as if he really had been screaming.

             
“
I thought you were going to wake up everyone in the room,
”
whispered Henrik, pointing across the dormitory. It was set up like a camp, with beds lined up along both walls of the big room. On the other side, the two older boys who had woken up groaned and flopped back down on their pillows.

             
“
Sorry,
”
apologized Peter.

             
“
I heard you yelling,
”
Henrik told him.
“
Sounded like you were about to die.
”

             
“
Felt like it,
”
admitted Peter.
“
Mr. Broken Nose was after us, and he was trying to run me down on my bike.
”

             
As soon as he said it, Peter regretted telling Henrik his nightmare. There was a long silence, and Henrik slipped back into his bed next to Peter without a sound.

             
“
Sorry,
”
Peter said once again.

             
“
I
’
m glad it was only a bad dream,
”
Henrik said softly, so softly that Peter almost couldn
’
t hear his words above the gentle wash of waves outside.

             
Another wave hit them from the side, and Peter grinned. Out in the canoe and the sunshine, his bad dream from the night before was forgotten.

             
“
Hey, this is more like it,
”
said Henrik, paddling from behind. Elise rode in the middle of the long, white canoe, while Peter stroked from the front.

             
“
We need to keep up with Uncle Morten and Lisbeth,
”
said Elise, pointing up ahead.

             
Peter squinted across the water.
“
Which boat is theirs?
”

             
“
I
’
m not sure,
”
said Henrik after a minute.
“
There are so many boats out today. Let
’
s try to catch up with them.
”

             
“
It
’
s so pretty out here,
”
said Elise, leaning her head back to soak up the sunshine. She
trailed her fingers in the cool, clear water while the boys started paddling faster. Peter
’
s paddle slipped out of the water, sending a shower onto his sister.

             
“
Hey!
”
She splashed Peter back, but he kept paddling.

             
“
I think that
’
s them up ahead,
”
said Henrik.

             
Peter was breathing hard, but he didn
’
t want to be the first to slow down. Their plan was to make it to the far end of the lake, where there was a place to tie up and a winding trail up to the top of a tall hill called
“
Sky Mountain.
”
But they had just left the dock at the youth hostel, and they had a long way to go.

             
“
It
’
s not really a mountain,
”
said Elise, shading her eyes and looking at the green
-
covered hills. In the distance, they knew there was a tower set up on top of the hill, but no one could see it yet.
“
Not like a mountain in Switzerland.
”

             
“
Well, it
’
s the best we could come up with here in flat Denmark,
”
grunted Peter, pulling hard.

             
“
I wish I
’
d brought my sketchbook in the canoe today.
”
Elise tried to frame the view with her hands.
“
I
’
ll just have to take a picture with my mind and draw it when we get back to the hostel.
”

             
Henrik imitated her with his hands.
“
Lake, mountain, boats, speedboat heading straight toward us. Perfect picture, Elise.
”

             
Peter noticed the speedboat, too. It was coming straight at them from the shore, throwing spray in all directions and roaring like a bull.

             
“
Watch out for that guy,
”
said Elise, sitting up straight.

             
Peter stiffened, trying to figure out where the gleaming wooden speedboat was heading. The front of the boat was pointed so high that Peter wasn
’
t at all sure its driver could see straight ahead.

             
“
Right.
”
Peter pointed with his paddle and tried to turn their boat to the right to get out of the way.
“
Turn right, Henrik!
”

             
The speedboat grew louder and closer, and Peter pulled with all his strength.

             
“
What?
”
yelled Henrik, sounding confused. While Peter turned the front of the boat to the right, Henrik was pulling the other direction.

             
“
We
’
re just going in circles!
”
said Elise. She sat up and the boat began to tip. The roaring, cigar
-
shaped speedboat looked as if it was going to cut them in two.

             
“
The other way, Henrik,
”
Peter yelled.
“
Turn back!
”

             
This time Henrik heard and understood, but it was too late. Elise grabbed for the side of the canoe as the boys only succeeded in turning their little boat back like a windmill. The speedboat passed by only a few feet to the right, pushing a wave big enough to surf on right into the side of their canoe.

             
“
Hey, HEY!
”
yelled Henrik, but Peter was sure the people on the speedboat either didn
’
t hear or didn
’
t care as they blew by. As the wave tipped them over and filled their boat, Peter tried to pull one last time. But this time he missed the water entirely as they turned over sideways.

             
In the next instant, Peter felt the canoe rise way up and flip over the top of them, and he hit the water face first, just as a wave picked up the boat and slammed it down next to him. The water wasn
’
t terribly cold, only a bit of a shock. He struggled to the surface, coming up next to their picnic basket and a couple of cushions Elise had been sitting on. Henrik was sputtering and waving his arms a few feet way, and the canoe had turned turtle between them.

             
“
You all right, Peter?
”
Henrik called. They met at the canoe and held on as best they could. The bottom of the boat was slippery with moss and it was hard to hang on, but Peter clutched the front edge as it bobbed on the waves. In the distance, they could see the speedboat taking a turn and heading back in their direction.

             
“
They
’
re coming back to finish us off,
”
joked Henrik, looking at the speedboat. Then he
pointed in the opposite direction.
“
And your uncle is coming back to rescue us.
”

             
“
Where
’
s Elise?
”
asked Peter, looking around to see what had happened to his sister.

             
There was no sound from inside the overturned canoe.

             
“
Elise?
”
called Peter, reaching under the canoe to see if she was there.

             
The smile disappeared from Henrik
’
s face as the motorboat pulled up closer. A middle
-
aged woman with a wide
-
brimmed straw hat and sunglasses was leaning over the side.

             
“
Do you need help?
”
the woman called at them. The man next to her, at the wheel of the shiny mahogany speedboat, took off his own sunglasses and stared at them with wide
-
open eyes.

             
“
Did we tip you kids over?
”
he asked, then turned to his partner.
“
Throw them something, Gerta. Get a boat hook. Do something!
”

             
But Peter wasn
’
t paying attention. He ducked quickly under the boat to find his sister. Sunlight filtered up through the blue
-
green water, giving the watery cave an eerie glow. But it only took a moment for Peter to realize that Elise wasn
’
t there. Panicking, he ducked back out.

             
“
She
’
s not under there, Henrik!
”
Peter looked around desperately to see his uncle and Lisbeth paddling up to them.

             
“
Uncle Morten!
”
Peter waved his hands furiously.
“
Elise isn
’
t here. She
’
s
—”

             
He didn
’
t need to finish the sentence, but Peter and Henrik glanced at each other for a moment.

             
“
I
’
m coming, boys,
”
replied Peter
’
s uncle, pulling off his shoes before he rolled over the side of his canoe.