Rescue On Nim's Island (6 page)

It was hard to tell if the sea lions had understood. Edmund decided to walk on the grass for a while.

On the other side of the point, the reef met the rocks in a huge ring. The sea shushed in and out through a hole in the reef, but inside the cove, the water was so calm and clear that he could see the sand and giant clams on the bottom, and the sea horses and tiny bright fish darting in between.

Edmund stood on the edge of the rocks watching them. He lay on his stomach and went on watching. Finally he jumped in. He swam with the polka-dot fish and dived down to see the clams up close. He floated on his back and let the sun warm him, and swam and dived again. He had never felt so free.

N
IM MET
J
ACK
and Alex on the trail home.

‘I wanted to walk now if I’m going to hide in my studio all day,’ Alex explained.

Nim hated the thought of being stuck anywhere that long, even somewhere like Alex’s studio, with its big open windows looking out to the forest.

‘I guess I’d rather meet people than stay inside,’ she said.

‘Even Tiff-Tris?’ Jack teased.

Nim didn’t think there was anything funny about the twins.

‘I guess so,’ she said. ‘At least their little brother is cute. He’s a lot nicer than they are.’

‘Everyone has something good in them,’ said Alex. ‘Some people just hide it at first.’

‘Luckily you’ve got two days to find it,’ said Jack. ‘Because I want you to stay with the other kids and make sure they don’t fall into any trouble while they’re here.’

Nim knew there was no point in arguing – but at least they’d forgotten to ask where she’d been. She decided to wait and tell them about the fern fossil later. A surprise like that would be a present for Jack as much as for Leonora. Even more, because it would always be here on the island.

In fact, it was such a good present that Nim decided she didn’t feel guilty about going somewhere dangerous without telling anyone.

T
HE OTHER TWO
tents were still closed and quiet when Edmund got back to the camp. He took his water bottle and toothbrush up to the freshwater pool. He filled the bottle at the waterfall and brushed his teeth out on the hill. Looking down over the grasslands to the sea was much better than looking at the bathroom sink at home.

But he’d already used half his water. He went back to the waterfall. Nim was there filling a bottle too.

‘Did you fall in?’ she asked.

Edmund had forgotten he was still wet. ‘I went swimming in Keyhole Cove – it was amazing! I saw sea horses, and clown fish, and …’ His voice trickled away when he saw Nim’s expression. ‘Was that okay?’

Nim didn’t know how to say that she’d been imagining how much he’d like it when she showed it to him, and now he’d spoiled it by finding it himself. ‘Just don’t take Tiffany and Tristan,’ she said.

‘They’re too cool to go anywhere with me anyway.’

‘But Jack said all the scientists are going to do science stuff all day,’ Nim began.

‘And the kids are supposed to hang together?’ asked Edmund.

Nim pictured them all hanging upside down like the bats in the cave. She laughed, but it didn’t change the problem. It was her job to keep the other kids safe on her island, but if Tiffany and Tristan mocked one more thing she truly might explode – she didn’t want to share her discovery with them until she knew exactly what it was and how good it was.

But if she didn’t share it now, she wouldn’t have time to figure out exactly what she’d found before everyone left. She wanted to show her fossil to Leonora more than she didn’t want to spend the day with the twins.

And maybe, just maybe, they’d be different after spending a night on the island. Maybe they’d wake up realising what a special place it was, and how amazing Selkie and Fred were. Maybe they’d even want to be friends.

‘It’ll be okay,’ Nim told him. ‘I’ve got something really cool to show you. Even Tiff-Tris will think so.’

B
ACK AT THE
camp, everyone was busy getting up and deciding what they should do for the day.

Anika wanted to take their boat out to study the algae on the faraway reef and compare it to those living on the coral around the island. Ryan wanted to test water samples and temperatures all the way in between.

‘I’ll take you,’ said Jack. ‘The sailboat won’t disturb the water the way a motorboat does.’

‘No more boat!’ said Ollie.

‘You can stay with Tiff-Tris,’ said their mother.

‘But …’ the twins whined.

‘We’ll be working,’ Anika told them. ‘Ollie will be much safer here with you than on the boat. Take him to the beach, or whatever you want – just keep an eye on him.’

‘I’ve got two eyes!’ said Ollie, holding up two fingers.

‘So do I,’ Nim said. She smiled and held up two fingers too.

‘And I’m this much old,’ said Ollie, putting up three fingers.

Human babies take a lot longer to grow up than sea lions
and iguanas!
Nim thought.

Jack grinned at her as if he knew what she was thinking.

‘Where do you want to explore?’ he asked Lance and Leonora.

‘The cliffs and the mountain,’ said Lance. ‘Whether it’s algae in rock pools or some other undiscovered vegetation, the perfect source of biofuel must be out there somewhere.’

‘Unless you have any ideas for us, Nim?’ asked Leonora.

Nim shook her head. It would completely spoil the surprise if they came with her.

But she wasn’t used to keeping secrets, and she knew her face was glowing as hot and red as a frigate bird’s throat. She hid it against Selkie’s warm neck.

Hmphh!
Selkie snorted. She knew that Nim wasn’t really cuddling her.

W
HEN
A
NIKA AND
Ryan had sailed off with Jack, and Lance and Leonora were in their tent getting ready for the day, Nim announced to the others that she had something amazing to show them.

‘What kind of amazing?’ asked Tiffany.

Tiffany’s voice was quite loud. Nim beckoned for them all to come further away from the tents.

‘A cave,’ she whispered.

‘Cool!’ Tristan started to say, but stopped when his sister glared at him.

‘We’ll have to be quiet because of the bats,’ Nim added.

‘Bats!’ Tiffany shrieked.

‘Just the mothers and babies,’ Nim explained. ‘They’re sleeping now it’s day, so we can’t disturb them.’

‘So why would we want to go there?’ Tiffany demanded.

‘I think I’ve found a fossil,’ said Nim.

‘And you want us to help dig it out?’ Tristan asked.

‘We can’t dig out the walls in a bat nursery!’ Nim shouted, horrified. She remembered that she was trying to be quiet and started again. ‘I want to clean it up so we can see it.’

‘If you show it to Leonora, she’ll want to take it out,’ Tiffany said.

‘No, she won’t,’ Nim snapped. She didn’t understand why Tiffany had to be so nasty about Leonora. ‘Jack said everyone had agreed: the research is just observation. No one can do anything that changes the island.’

Edmund nodded. ‘That’s what Dr Ashburn said.’

‘And we got about sixteen hundred lectures about it before we came,’ said Tristan. ‘So let’s go see the cave.’

Nim breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t meant to snap, because she really needed them to go with her.
Stay
with them and make sure they’re safe
, Jack had said.

‘But we’re supposed to be looking after Ollie,’ said Tiffany. ‘I’m not taking him all the way back up the mountain.’

Ollie had dug a big hole in the sand. Now he was sitting in it and using a plastic mug to pour the sand back in from the edges. Nim trickled a handful over his toes as she tried to stop the volcano inside her from exploding.

They’re only here for two more days.
That was the other thing Jack had said.
Even Fire Mountain can last that long
without erupting.

Fire Mountain hasn’t met Tiffany,
Nim thought rebelliously.

S
O FIFTEEN MINUTES
later, when Tiffany was still telling Tristan they couldn’t go and Tristan was saying he could piggyback Ollie, and Tiffany was saying all over again that she wasn’t going into a cave with bats for anything, and it probably wasn’t a real fossil anyway, a bit of steam hissed out of Nim’s eyes, and she said she didn’t care what anyone else did, she was going.

‘So am I,’ said Edmund, coming out of his tent with his daypack.

‘We’re not,’ said Tiffany.

Tristan looked miserable and didn’t say anything.

Ollie was too busy burying his legs in the sand to listen.

N
IM WAITED A
few more minutes, until Leonora and Lance had come out of their tent and waved goodbye. They were heading towards Frigate Bird Cliffs.
Perfect!
Nim thought. She and Edmund were going exactly the opposite direction. And she’d asked the others to come – it wasn’t her fault they were staying behind.

She was nearly singing as she picked up her backpack. It had her bamboo drinker full of fresh water, two bananas, a big chunk of coconut and a chisel from her toolbox.

‘Would Fred ride on my shoulder?’ Edmund asked.

‘He might if you give him this,’ Nim said, breaking off a piece of coconut.

Edmund sat down beside the iguana and held out the coconut. Fred grabbed it and gulped it down. He looked across at Nim.

‘It’s okay,’ she said. ‘You can go with Edmund for a while.’

Fred scampered up to Edmund’s shoulder. Edmund stood up carefully, and felt the small sharp nails clinging. ‘You’re tickling!’

Nim laughed. She was so used to Fred that she hardly felt the tickle anymore, but she’d never thought how it would feel to someone else. It was almost as if she’d never seen him properly before. A bubble of love swelled inside her for her small spiky friend.

Her big smooth friend wasn’t nearly so happy. Selkie humphed and snorted when Nim told her they were going back to the caves. ‘You could stay with Tiff-Tris and Ollie,’ Nim said.

The sea lion snorted even harder and galumphed down to the sea without looking back.

Chapter 7

A
LEX STARED OUT
of her studio window. The rainforest was cool and green, but Alex was writing. All she saw was the hot dry desert that her Hero and his camel were trudging across, tired and thirsty …

‘That’s ridiculous!’ she scolded herself. ‘They’ll never get there in time.’

If her Hero didn’t find the treasure and stop the Bad Guys from blowing up the temple, that would be the end of the story, and it wasn’t the end Alex wanted.

Now the Hero was riding and the camel was galloping. Puffs of sand flew up from the camel’s hooves; the air was hot in the Hero’s face.

‘That’s better,’ said Alex. She watched him gallop through the narrow streets of the ancient city and leap off at the temple door.

‘But now the camel will die if the dynamite goes off!’

Worse, the temple and the square around it were crowded with people. The Bad Guys didn’t care – they just wanted to blow it up to get the treasure they thought was buried beneath it.

Her Hero had to be smart as well as brave. He had to make sure that everyone else was safe before he risked his own life to save a building.