Sample Chapters
Chapter 1 – SCARECROW IN THE SAND
Close your eyes. Imagine you’re walking barefoot on a lonely beach at night. The sand is cool and wet and it tickles your toes. The gently rolling waves of the ocean are the only sounds you hear except for some mariachi music coming from a radio far off in the distance. The sky is pitch black but there are billions of stars—more than you’ve ever seen before.
Then something else catches your eye. There’s an orange glow coming from far out on the ocean. Maybe it’s a freighter making its way to some foreign port. Or maybe it’s a lighted buoy, warning ships to stay clear of Shipwreck Reef.
Or maybe it’s something else.
Close your eyes and try to imagine, because that’s where our adventure begins.
A young boy sits alone on the beach you’ve just imagined. It’s hard to tell in the darkness how old he is—maybe ten or eleven? He’s kind of skinny with long black hair tucked under a red baseball cap. Crouched, holding his knees tight against his body to stay warm, he wishes he’d remembered to bring a warmer shirt and long pants. But tonight he was in a hurry and forgot.
He stares out at the ocean as if he’s looking for something. Or maybe he is listening for something. But tonight, except for the waves, the only sounds he hears are the squawks of gulls fighting over discarded food scraps on the beach. And that radio playing crackly music on a channel not tuned in quite right.
“Hey, kid,” says a voice from behind him.
Startled, he spins around. Even though it’s dark, he can see it’s a girl about his age with her hands on her hips. She’s wearing a colorful but faded dress. On her feet are sandals made of rubber from old truck tires. On her head she wears a big, floppy straw hat that hides most of her face. Lit by the moon, she looks like a raggedy scarecrow that somebody stuck in the sand.
“Who said you could sit here?” the girl demands. “This is my beach.”
“I suppose this is your ocean too?” the boy tosses back.
“Maybe. Probably is,” she replies with a smug little laugh.
The boy is starting to feel a bit uneasy. Who is this bossy scarecrow, anyhow?
“What’s your name, kid?”
The boy does not answer.
“Didn’t you hear me?” she repeats. “I said, what’s your name?”
“I heard you,” he finally replies.
“So what is it, then? I don’t just let anybody sit here on my beach!”
“I don’t have a name. You can call me Kid. Everyone else does.”
“Works for me. My name is Olivia O’Malley but you can call me Ollie.”
“Ollie, huh? Is that what everybody calls you?”
“That’s what I call me,” she replies.
“Ollie the scarecrow.”
“Very funny. At least I have a real name.”
“I had one. Don’t use it anymore.”
“Where’d it go?” she demands.
The Kid thinks about what his answer will be. Will she understand him? Will she laugh at him? Will she believe him? Can she keep a secret?
“I buried it where no one will ever find it,” he says quietly.
Chapter 9 – OUT ON THE OCEAN
Uncle Corky pushes the rowboat into a sandy shallow spot on the beach, throws in the oars and attaches a long rope to the front cleat of the boat. He then hands a life vest to each and says, “Here, put these on. I want to make sure they fit.”
After Corky is satisfied the vests are good and tight, he gives the horizon one last scan. He notices a small black cloud off in the distance.
“Get in,” he says. “There’s a small storm cloud out about five miles, but it looks like it’s moving away from shore so you should be ok. Keep an eye on it and head back to shore immediately if it starts coming your way.”
The two jump into the boat – the Kid on the front bench and Ollie in the back. Uncle Corky gently pushes the boat out into a little deeper water and hands the Kid a long rope tied to a cleat on the front, while Ollie grabs the oars.
“Now remember what I said. Pay attention to the weather and waves. Get back pronto if you see anything building.”
“Aye, aye, sir,” Ollie snaps back with a salute. “I’ll row first for a while and you can be my lookout,” she continues with the confidence of a ship’s captain. “If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll run into a school of porpoise – or maybe even spot some whales or sea turtles.”
“I bet we will,” says the Kid in a way that almost sounds like he knows maybe something is about to happen.
Ollie rows the boat with strong strokes. You can tell she’s done this before. The Kid keeps his eyes glued to the horizon. Soon they are out about fifty yards from shore. “Keep your eye out for any porpoise or anything else, Kid.”
The boat glides quickly through the smooth water. It looks like a perfect day. The two kids scan the surface for anything interesting. A short while later, Ollie yells “Look!” as she stops rowing. “There’s a big green sea turtle floating on the surface over there. They’re very shy, but we can watch it from a distance.”
The Kid stands up and moves to the very front of the boat. He stares at the turtle, and Ollie almost thinks the turtle is staring back at him. All of a sudden, the turtle starts to swim over to the front of the boat. The Kid kneels down and reaches his hand out to gently touch the top of the turtle’s head.
“Be careful, Kid,” Ollie whispers, watching in amazement. “I heard they can bite.”
“She won’t bite me,” the Kid replies softly. “You want to touch her? I’ll tell her you’re my friend.”
“Yeah, right! Like you actually know each other,” Ollie says.
Ollie can’t resist the opportunity to get this close to a sea turtle, but she wonders how the Kid can be so sure the turtle won’t quickly swim away – or worse, bite her. She carefully moves to the front of the boat.
The Kid says, “Reach out your hand slowly and pet her on the head. She promises not to bite you.”
“She better not.” Ollie says.
Ollie is a bit nervous, but she gently reaches out and places her fingers on the turtle’s head. “Wow!” she exclaims. “Her skin isn’t slimy like I thought it would be. And she almost seems to be smiling, like she likes being petted.”
The two kids spend so much time with the turtle that they don’t notice the small, black storm cloud has gotten bigger and blacker and is heading right for them!