Touch the Sky (Young Underground #8) (21 page)

             
Peter, Henrik, and Uncle Morten each bobbed down into the water below and around the swamped canoe. Each breath, each dive became a frantic prayer.

             
Lord, help us find her!
Peter ducked down for the second time. He waved his hands around, trying desperately to see farther. His lungs began to burn as he pushed deeper and deeper into darker water, and he knew they would have to find his sister quickly, or else
...

             
She has to be here!
he thought.

             
Deep down, his fingers brushed against something that felt like a leg, but then he lost it. His head spinning, he kicked for the surface once more and gasped for air.

             
“
I
’
ve got her,
”
sputtered Henrik, almost right next to him.
“
I
’
ve got her.
”

             
Uncle Morten was there in a second, helping them pull Elise
’
s lifeless body to the side of the speedboat.

             
“
Pull her up,
”
gasped Uncle Morten. The couple obeyed, tugging at Elise
’
s body like a sack of potatoes. Peter and Henrik pushed from behind. Lisbeth pulled her canoe up to the speedboat and climbed aboard as well, then turned to help the others over the edge and in.

             
“
Oh dear,
”
the woman with the straw hat kept repeating.
“
Oh dear. Is the poor girl all right?
”

             
“
I told you to keep watch,
”
growled the man. His double chin quivered with anger, and his face had turned bright red.
“
I told you
—”

             
“
Let
’
s get to shore fast,
”
interrupted Uncle Morten.
“
We can come back for the canoes later.
”

             
Elise was lying on the floor of the little boat, and they crouched around her as the man obeyed. Uncle Morten began pushing on her back with his big hands, then pulling her elbows back, while the boat
’
s engine roared to life, and they wheeled around in the direction of the town. It was only a few hundred yards away, but to Peter it seemed like miles.

             
“
Oh dear,
”
whispered the woman.
“
Oh dear.
”

             
Peter shivered and stared at his sister as his uncle continued to try to revive her. But her eyes were closed, her lips were blue, and her skin looked as pale as a corpse.

             
Don
’
t let her die, Lord
, he prayed, but he wasn
’
t at all sure it wasn
’
t too late.

             
Henrik looked almost as pale. He clutched for a handhold as they flew to the shore.

             
“
Where
’
s a hospital?
”
yelled Uncle Morten above the motor. Peter took a turn slapping his sister on the back while Lisbeth rubbed Elise
’
s hands between hers. Lisbeth
’
s thin lips moved as she looked into Elise
’
s face, and Peter knew Lisbeth was praying, too.

             
“
I
...
I don
’
t know.
”
The man shrugged helplessly.
“
We only just rented this boat for a quick cruise. We
’
re from Copenhagen.
”

             
“
Fine,
”
snapped Uncle Morten.
“
Then let us off at the dock in front of the youth hostel.
”
He pointed just ahead and to the left at a cluster of one
-
and two
-
story buildings. A small dock poked out into the lake at the edge of the property, under a grove of tall shade trees that hung over the water.

             
The man nodded nervously but didn
’
t slow the boat down. Instead, he waved his hands to warn off the people who were launching canoes from the lawn area. A couple of teenagers standing at the water
’
s edge with their pants rolled up to their knees dove for the safety of the lawn.

             
As they came within a few feet of the dock, their speedboat driver clenched his teeth and threw the boat into reverse, but of course it was too late. The boat
’
s engine churned the lake into foam behind them, but still they streaked ahead.

             
“
Slow it down, man!
”
warned Uncle Morten seconds before they plowed into the dock. Peter winced and ducked down to keep Elise
’
s body from flying. He could only hold on to his sister with all his strength and try to cushion her as much as he could.

             
“
Oh dear,
”
whimpered the woman.

             
Peter opened his eyes to see that they had ripped a piece of wooden trim off the side of the boat, but the dock was still in one piece. Fortunately, the engine had stalled. People from the youth hostel were running down the lawn to see what had happened.

             
“
Oh dear,
”
the woman repeated again.
“
I think we should have slowed down a little more, Karl.
”

             
Peter got to his knees and tried to pull Elise up by her shoulders. Suddenly her body jerked, and she coughed uncontrollably.

             
“
Elise!
”
Peter knelt and put his arm around Elise
’
s shoulders as she coughed and gasped. Her eyes fluttered open as Lisbeth wrapped someone
’
s towel around her shoulders.

             
“
Peter?
”
groaned Elise, coughing and shivering.

             
“
I
’
m right here, sis.
”

             
With Henrik and Uncle Morten
’
s help, they managed to lift Elise out of the boat. A crowd quickly gathered around them on the grass.

             
“
Let
’
s give her a little room to breathe here,
”
commanded Uncle Morten. Then he looked at a teenager.
“
You. Run up and get the manager. Tell him we need a doctor, quick.
”

             
The boy nodded seriously and ran up to the buildings, while Elise held up her hand.

             
“
I
’
m okay now,
”
she told them softly, then put her hand to her head and moaned.

             
“
You are not,
”
Peter told her, feeling the top of her head.
“
You have a giant goose egg.
”

             
“
The last thing I remember is the canoe slamming down on top of my head,
”
she whispered.
“
It hurts.
”

             
“
Oh dear,
”
said the woman from the speedboat, who had crawled out of the boat and now crowded in to see.

             
Elise coughed again, and Peter patted her on the back.

             
“
Of course it hurts.
”
Lisbeth, looking strained and red
-
eyed with worry, put another towel around Elise
’
s shoulders.

             
“
And then you nearly swallowed all of Silkeborg Lake,
”
said Peter.

             
Elise smiled weakly, choked, and coughed.
“
How long was I out?
”

             
“
Only a few minutes,
”
answered Lisbeth.
“
But it seemed like an eternity.
”
Lisbeth looked
around at the crowd, then turned to Uncle Morten.
“
Let
’
s get her up to a bed and get her dried off.
”

             
Peter tucked the towel around Elise
’
s shoulders.
“
Think you can walk up to the dormitory?
”

             
Elise nodded, then gasped as she took Peter
’
s arm.

             
“
Elise?
”
Peter looked at his sister, but she could only cough.

12

H
e Got My Attention

             
“
Oh, there you are,
”
said Peter as he spotted Henrik sitting on the edge of the big lawn by the youth hostel.
“
I
’
ve been looking for you since dinner. You just disappeared for the last hour.
”

             
Henrik didn
’
t turn around, only grunted as he heaved another rock into the water. The evening sun cast long shadows across the water, and swallows were patrolling the air for low
-
flying bugs.

             
“
Four skips,
”
observed Peter.
“
Pretty good.
”

             
Henrik grunted again.

             
“
Are you all right, Henrik? You
’
ve hardly said a word all afternoon since we got back in.
”

             
Henrik heaved a stone far out across the lake.
“
Your sister almost died out there today, Peter.
”

             
“
But she
’
s fine now. The nurse said there was no need to bother the doctor this afternoon. She just needs to rest, and he can come look at her tomorrow.
”

             
“
I know, I know. It
’
s just that
...
well, I
’
ve been thinking all afternoon.
”

             
“
About the accident?
”

             
“
More than that.
”

             
Peter was silent for a minute, waiting for Henrik to finish.

             
“
So what else?
”
Peter finally asked.

             
Henrik sighed and splashed his bare foot in the water.
“
I
’
ve been trying to tell you for a long time. And it
’
s like you
’
re afraid to talk about it.
”

             
Peter hurled a stone as far out into the lake as he could, and Henrik took another deep breath.
“
Okay, it
’
s like this, Peter.
”
His voice quivered.
“
I
’
ve been reading your Bible.
”

             
“
My
Bible? I don
’
t
—”

             
“
Not
your
Bible, the one you carry around with you all the time. I mean, the New Testament. Your Bible.
”

             
“
Oh.
”
Peter dug through the pebbles next to him, afraid to look up, afraid to believe what Henrik was saying. But his friend went on.

             
“
And
...
uh, I don
’
t know who else to tell, but I read through the whole thing. It
’
s pretty good.
”

             
“
Really?
”

             
Henrik nodded.
“
It
’
s not as if I understand every word, but lately, it
’
s started to make more sense.
”

             
“
And you liked it?
”
Peter asked.

             
“
I told you I liked it. Especially the Jesus parts
...
where He
’
s talking.
”

             
Peter finally grinned.
“
What made you think of all this?
”

             
“
I think it was your sister almost drowning today. It could have been you or me that got hit on the head instead of her, you know what I mean?
”

             
“
I know what you mean.
”

             
They were silent for a few minutes, then Henrik cleared his throat again.

             
“
You
’
re going to think this is silly....
”

             
“
No.
”

             
Henrik sighed.
“
All right. It
’
s kind of like what Elise was saying back in my room, before we left
Helsingør
.
”

             
“
What was she saying?
”

             
“
That God is trying to get my attention. Well, He got it.
”

             
Henrik hurled a rock so far Peter lost track of how many times it skipped.

             
“
I remember that feeling,
”
Peter began,
“
when I
...”

             
“
When you what?
”

             
This time Peter hesitated only a moment.
“
That was the same feeling I had when I decided to follow Jesus two summers ago at my cousins
’
farm.
”

             
Henrik chuckled.
“
Same place we
’
re going now, huh?
”

             
Peter nodded and threw his own rock out into the lake while Henrik pulled a familiar
-
looking faded yellow envelope out of his back pocket. The letter from his grandfather.

             
“
You
’
ve been carrying that thing around?
”
asked Peter.

             
Henrik nodded.
“
I
’
m not sure what my dad would have said,
”
he finally announced with a quiet firmness.
“
But I want to be like my grandpa.
”
He tapped the letter in his palm a couple of times for emphasis.
“
I
’
m going to
...
follow Jesus.
”

             
“
But, Henrik, you
’
re
—”

             
“
What, I
’
m Jewish? Is that what you were going to say?
”

             
“
Well, no, I mean
...”

             
“
So was Jesus, right?
”

             
“
Yeah.
”

             
“
And so were all the people who wrote the Bible, right?
”

             
“
Who told you that?
”

             
“
Read it somewhere.
”

             
Peter scratched his head.
“
Except for one.
”

             
“
Okay, except for one. So it all makes sense, Peter. I know who the Messiah is. My dad always talked about the Messiah.
”

             
“
I didn
’
t know Jewish people knew about the Messiah.
”

             
“
Are you kidding? We just didn
’
t know it was Jesus.
”

             
“
So what made you change your mind?
”

             
Henrik sighed and shook his head.
“
The stuff I
’
ve been reading. My grandpa
’
s letter. Elise. You.
”

             
“
Me?
”

             
“
You. Besides, I
’
ve made up my mind. I
’
ve been thinking about it for a long time.
”

             
“
Why didn
’
t you tell me all this before?
”

             
“
I wasn
’
t sure before now, that
’
s all. Now I
’
m sure.
”

             
“
You
’
re sure?
”
In the back of his mind, Peter somehow still thought it would be
him
convincing Henrik, not the other way around.

             
“
I
’
m sure. So what do I do now, Peter?
”
Henrik held up his hands.
“
Isn
’
t this what you wanted to tell me about for the past couple of years, but you never did?
”

             
“
Yeah, Henrik.
”
Peter closed his eyes and nodded, and he had to smile.
“
You have no idea.
”

             
Twenty minutes later, they could hear singing drifting down through evening shadows from the youth hostel
’
s dining room. Peter and Henrik still took turns tossing rocks into the water.

             
“
I want to tell your uncle.
”
Henrik finally spoke.
“
Maybe I can get baptized, like that Ethiopian guy in the Bible.
”

             
Peter didn
’
t have a chance to answer as Elise padded across the lawn toward where they were sitting.

             
“
There you are,
”
she called out.
“
I was wondering where you two were hiding.
”

             
“
Elise!
”
Peter put his hands on his hips.
“
What are you doing out here? The nurse said you
had to stay in bed until a doctor came tomorrow.
”

             
She cleared her throat.
“
I think I
’
m doing a lot better now.
”

             
With her hair brushed back and a smile on her face, Peter almost believed her. It hardly looked as if she had almost drowned earlier that afternoon.

             
“
I really am,
”
she continued.
“
Except for the world
’
s worst headache. But I
’
d rather have a headache than stay under that canoe.
”

             
“
We just thought you were doing some deep
-
sea diving,
”
joked Henrik.

             
“
You can
’
t make me laugh,
”
she told them.
“
It hurts to laugh.
”