Rescue On Nim's Island (17 page)

And behind that, the sailboat looped in wide, lazy circles. Tristan loosened the sails so that only the vaguest puffs of wind stayed in them, just enough that Edmund could steer while Anika looked after her wounded daughter.

There was nowhere for Leonora and Lance to go. Their faces twisted with rage, but they didn’t try to fight when Jack and Alex leapt on board, not even when Alex tripped and nearly skidded across the deck into them. They watched as Ryan checked the boat for damage, then pushed it off the rocks and climbed on board too. They didn’t speak when he started the motor and drove a little further out from the rocks.

All the while, Nim stayed on Selkie’s back, watching but saying nothing.

Then, when Ryan cut the engine and Jack let down the anchor in the middle of the honking, barking sea lion army, Lance finally asked, ‘Where are we going?’

‘You’re not going anywhere for now,’ said Jack. ‘Selkie’s friends will see to that.’

‘We’re going back to check the kids’ injuries,’ said Alex, and she glared at them so fiercely that Lance sat down hard and Leonora stepped back, forgetting that she was already standing against the rail. Her foot slipped out, she waved her arms to balance, and flipped backwards over the side.

The sea lions surrounded her, whuffling curiously. Leonora screamed as if she were being attacked by sharks. Her arms and legs thrashed, she gulped in water each time she screamed, and with every gulp she bobbed a little lower.

Nim could still feel her anger bubbling, lava-hot.

‘Come on, Selkie,’ she said.

Selkie pushed her way through the other sea lions. Nim slid off. With a mighty shove, she pushed Leonora across Selkie’s back. Ryan and Jack grabbed the struggling woman’s arms and hauled her back on board like a hooked fish, while Lance sat still, staring into space.

Leonora stayed where she’d plonked onto the deck, dripping and bedraggled. She didn’t speak.

And just like that, Nim’s rage washed away. She didn’t ever want to see the Bijous again, and she would never forget the terrible things they’d done. But these miserable, defeated people couldn’t go on making her feel as if she was going to explode.

‘Selkie,’ she said, ‘ask your friends to let us pass. But make sure Lance and Leonora stay right where they are!’

Selkie barked sharply; some of the other sea lions barked back. Leonora shuddered. Ryan took the boat keys out of the ignition and dropped them safely in his pocket.

Then Jack, Alex and Ryan dived overboard and swam through the crowd of honking animals back to the sailboat.

As Jack took the tiller again to circle for home, Selkie flopped up onto the coconut raft. The other sea lions watched as she rode, honking happily, back to Shell Beach.

T
HEY ALL WENT
up to the house together. Tiffany rode on her father’s back, and Ollie wanted his mum to piggyback him too. There was a lot to tell, and they had to keep stopping because everyone was talking at once and asking questions, and the parents were wiping their eyes and getting angry as they listened … but the first thing was to check Tiffany’s wound. Her foot was swollen, bruised and bloody, but Anika didn’t think anything was broken.

She cleaned and bandaged it again, and then made the rest of them line up to check all the scratches and cuts that they’d been too busy to notice.

‘What about that cramp in your other foot?’ Edmund asked Tiffany.

‘It was okay as soon as I put it in the hot water,’ said Tiffany.

‘Hot water?’ Jack asked,

‘The water in the bat cave was hot,’ Edmund explained.

‘And thick and slimy,’ said Tiffany.

‘Like algae sludge,’ said Edmund.

‘That’s what the water in the side tunnel was like too,’ Nim said slowly. ‘But it didn’t get hot until I dropped Tiffany’s sneaker in it.’

‘There was no algae in my sneaker!’ Tiffany protested.

‘But it was full of coconut oil, and the puddle was full of algae,’ said Nim. ‘When they mixed together, the water heated up so fast it was fizzing.’

‘The puddle started fizzing when I put my foot in, too!’ said Tiffany.

‘I tried to find a test tube in Lance and Leonora’s tool bag,’ said Nim. ‘They didn’t have one.’

‘I did,’ said Tiffany, and pulled her water bottle out of its pouch on her belt.

It was just a plain plastic drink bottle, but they all stared at it as if it were the most precious jewel in the universe.

‘What’s that?’ asked Ollie.

‘It might be the biofuel that saves the world,’ said Jack.

‘Oh,’ said Ollie.

‘An algae that lives in stagnant water,’ said Ryan, ‘and reacts with coconut oil.’

‘Let’s not get our hopes up,’ said Anika.

‘Why not?’ asked Nim, because whatever happened in the end, it was always much more fun to hope.

Chapter 16

From:
[email protected]
To:
Nim@RusoeSanctuaryforRare&EndangeredSpecies.com
Date: Friday, 27 June, 10:05am
Subject: Crutches

Hi Nim

I never knew how beautiful your island was until we were going home. I sat on the deck watching until I couldn’t see it anymore and Mum made me have a rest in the cabin.

Mum took me to the hospital as soon as we landed. The doctor said my ankle is badly sprained and I have to use crutches and wear a big boot for a few weeks. I don’t think she believed me when I told her how it happened, especially when I said about Selkie carrying me out of the rainforest. She told Mum that I should stay in hospital for a while because I was confused. Mum said it was much better than how I was normally. Anyway, in the end she let Mum bring me home.

Please give Selkie a big hug for me.

Your friend

Tiffany

From:
[email protected]
To:
Nim@RusoeSanctuaryforRare&EndangeredSpecies.com
,
[email protected]
Date: Friday, 27 June, 10:15am
Subject: Tiff on crutches

Hi Nim, hi Edmund

Tiff wouldn’t let me take a picture of her on crutches because she says the boot makes her look like Bigfoot, but Ollie drew this one for you.

Thanks for saving my sister.

Tris

From:
[email protected]
To:
Nim@RusoeSanctuaryforRare&EndangeredSpecies.com
Date: Friday, 27 June, 10:15am
Subject: Hi to Fred

Hi Nim

It feels very weird being home. No sea lions, iguanas, crazy adventure girls, cliffs, caves or explosions. But at least I’m not grounded this time.

My mum took me to see Selina Ashburn on the way home. She looks like a ghost but she got so mad when she heard what Lance and Leonora did that she said she didn’t have time to throw up anymore. Luckily she’d saved a piece of the cake L & L made them. She’s sent it to the lab to see if it’s been poisoned. (I BET it has!)

When I told her about the algae she phoned Peter Hunterstone and he got straight into a taxi and came over too. They can’t wait to start testing and experimenting on the sample.

Edmund – missing the island as much as Fred would miss Nim

From:
[email protected]
To:
Nim@RusoeSanctuaryforRare&EndangeredSpecies.com
,
[email protected]
,
[email protected]
Date: Friday, 27 June, 10:18am
Subject: Fossil Pictures

These turned out even better than I expected. It’s sad it’s gone but at least we have proof that it was real.

Edmund

From:
Nim@RusoeSanctuaryforRare&EndangeredSpecies.com
To:
[email protected]
,
[email protected]
,
[email protected]
Date: Friday, 27 June, 11:25am
Subject: Super Algae and Super Friends

Hi everyone,

I’ve never had three emails all at once! Tiffany, I’m really glad your ankle is going to be okay and that you didn’t have to stay in hospital.

Tris, please tell Ollie I loved his picture.

Edmund, those pictures are fantastic! Now we know we’re not crazy. Or maybe a little bit crazy, but at least we didn’t make up the fossil of Chica’s great-great-grandmother. That’s good Selina and Peter are getting better. I wonder if it really was poison?

The island seems quiet now you’ve gone.

You know when Jack and Ryan took Lance and Leonora off your boat so you could leave? The Coast Guard got here a few hours later and took them away. I wished they didn’t have to be on the island even for that long, but Selkie sat in their tent doorway so they didn’t try to escape.

We went back to the cave yesterday to get more samples of the algae. It’s good there was enough in the drink bottle for you to share. Jack’s started an experiment already and is writing a report of what he’s discovered about the algae so far. He says he’s not too excited yet but I can tell that he is.

But the best news is that Jack says that if this algae is as good as he thinks it is, everyone should come back to finish the experiments together. Except this time Edmund should come with the real Dr Ashburn and Professor Hunterstone. I guess Lance and Leonora will be in jail anyway so we won’t have to worry about them.

And guess what else I found while we were collecting samples: part of Leonora’s amber pendant. It must have been smashed when a rock hit it. But I can’t find the scorpion anywhere.

Your friend

Nim – feeling as happy as Fred eating coconut – or Selkie scaring bad guys

P.S. Or as a scorpion free after thousands of years

P.S.S. Or as a girl with friends

about the author

W
ENDY
O
RR WAS
born in Canada and spent her childhood across Canada, France and the USA. Wherever she lived, there were always lots of stories, books and pets.

Wendy started writing her own stories soon after she learned to read. One story about a girl running away to live on an island eventually led to
Nim’s Island
. Another story about adventures in caves, inspired by finding a fossilised shark’s tooth, seems to have wiggled its way into Nim’s new story.

One day a film producer in Hollywood took Wendy’s book
Nim’s Island
out of the library to read to her son. The next day she asked if she could make it into a movie. Wendy said yes! They became good friends, and Wendy had the fun of helping work on the screenplay. A second film followed, called
Return to Nim’s Island
.

Wendy began writing for children after a career as an occupational therapist. She is the author of many award-winning books and lives on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.