“We are!” said Nacho.
“On three,” said Cash. “One big push.”
Sarah adjusted her hands that were hurting from holding on to the bamboo for so long. “Okay. Ready.”
Cash said, “One. Two. Three!”
Groaning, the three of them shoved the platform as Marco pulled, and enough of it got over the edge that it tipped up and out of their grip.
“You got it?” called Sarah, crossing her fingers. Marco was hidden by the bamboo.
“Yeah!” called Marco. The bamboo went flat and he was visible again, kneeling on the platform.
Sarah stepped back so she could see what he was doing. He set the new section of platform in place next to the other, then leaned over the side with a wide grin. “It’s perfect. Just hand me some vines so I can tie it into place.”
Cash already had a handful of rope, and tossed it up.
Nacho said, “Here. I made something.” His arms were full of vines. But with a flourish, he flung them out, hanging on to the very end.
“A ladder?” asked Sarah.
“That’s so cool,” said Cash.
“Will it work?” Marco was gazing at them, his face shiny with sweat from the exertion.
Nacho nodded. “Let’s try it.”
Marco reached down as Nacho tossed up the end of it. Marco secured the top of the ladder with more braided vines, then unrolled the rest of it, so it wavered in the air. “Who wants to be first?”
Nacho looked skeptical.
Sarah didn’t want him to feel bad if the ladder didn’t work. Maybe it would work for her, since she was so light. She raised her hand. “I’ll do it.” She kicked off her flip-flops and grabbed ahold of the nearest vine rung, which was about at chest level. “I might need a boost.”
Cash came up behind her and said, “Here, let me give you a piggyback.”
Sarah climbed up on Cash’s back, grabbed a higher rung, and managed to get one of her bare feet onto the lowest rung. Then she slowly began to climb.
The vines cut into her hands and feet, but not too badly. She quickly reached the top where Marco took her arm and pulled her up onto the platform. She sat there and caught her breath as she looked around. To be up that high in the tree on such a wide, sturdy platform made her feel safe. She smiled.
Marco grinned. “It’s cool, huh?”
She nodded at him. “Let’s get the mattresses up here.”
The mattresses were smaller, and not quite as unwieldy as the bamboo had been. The four of them managed to pad the platform within half an hour. Cash and Nacho tossed up pillows and blankets, and Sarah quickly made a cozy nest of the space. She plumped up one last pillow and arranged it with the others. “There.”
“It looks great,” said Marco. “Way better than the cave.”
Sarah pointed at the branch where she spent the night the crabs invaded. “Or my perch.” Sweat dripped down her face and she wiped it off. “I’m thirsty.”
“Me too,” said Marco. He went down the ladder, then Sarah followed. She jumped the final three feet or so, landing in the sand. She brushed herself off and accepted the bottle of water Nacho handed her. “Thanks.”
Cash was wiping sweat off her face. “I’m so hot.” She gazed down at the beach. “I want to swim, but the salt water makes my hair all stiff and salty.”
“Mine too,” said Sarah.
Marco said, “I know where we can swim. And it’s fresh water.” He reached into a canvas bag and pulled out a bottle of shampoo. “And you can even wash your hair.”
Sarah didn’t want to leave the safety of their camp. She wanted to wait for her dad. But swimming, getting clean, and being refreshed? That sounded way too good to pass up. She took the bottle from Marco, picked up a towel off the pile from the boat and said, “Show us where to go.”
8
Marco went to check on his mom. She was asleep and he wondered whether leaving her was a good idea. But he was so sweaty and hot. Cooling off in fresh water was too tempting. She would be fine if they weren’t gone too long.
He grabbed a towel off the pile. “Okay, anybody got a watch?”
Nacho raised his wrist.
“What time is it?” Marco asked.
“Ten,” said Nacho.
“We have to be back by eleven, okay?” Marco glanced back at his mom once more. “I don’t want to leave her more than an hour.”
“My dad might be back before then. Should we leave a note?” asked Sarah.
Marco shook his head. “He’ll figure we’re just looking for food or something. Besides, we’ll be back soon.” He started off toward the trees, everyone falling in behind him. He set a fast pace, not wanting to waste all their time walking, in order to leave plenty of time for swimming. He was tired, and didn’t feel like talking. Apparently no one else did either. Their footsteps, and the occasional swish of foliage as they brushed past, were the only sounds he heard.
They reached the clearing with the house, but Marco walked right past without giving it a glance. Now that they had the platform in the trees, they had no use for the building. He turned the corner at the side of the house and stopped at the curtain of vines.
“I hear water,” said Nacho.
Sarah nodded.
Cash said, “Me too.”
Marco swept aside the vines and stepped through, holding them up for the others. Sarah gasped as she walked past Marco, stopping at the edge of the crystal-clear stream. “It’s beautiful,” she said.
Cash squealed. “Look at the fruit trees!” She stood under a mango tree, gazing up.
Marco stopped beside her and reached down on the ground for one that looked perfectly ripe and not too bruised from the fall. He set down his towel and took his knife out of his pocket. “This will be a little messy, but…” He cut off the peel and handed the skinned slippery orange fruit to Cash.
She held it to her mouth and bit into it. The juice dripped down her face as she grinned. “Delicious.”
Marco grabbed a few more and put them in his towel. “Let’s go.”
“Wait.” Nacho had his towel tucked under his arm, a fat, dark green avocado in each hand. He held one to Marco. “Can you cut it open for me?”
Marco sliced the avocado in two, popped out the pit, and handed one half back to Nacho.
“Hey,” said Nacho.
“We can get more,” said Marco. He put the other half in his mouth, scraping out the insides with his teeth. Delicious.
Sarah was kneeling by the stream, splashing water on her face. Marco said, “Come on, we’re almost there.” He led the way around the corner as the sound of rushing water got louder. He turned to see the reaction of the others as the waterfall came into view.
Cash’s eyes widened as Sarah set a hand over her mouth. Nacho yelled, “Oh yeah!” He tossed his towel on the ground, followed by one avocado and what remained of the other. He tore off his T-shirt and jumped in the water. Out of sight for several seconds, his head popped back up, a wide grin on his face. “Awesome!”
Cash kicked off her flip-flops, pitched the rest of the mango into the bushes, and jumped into the pool fully clothed. She popped back up, sputtering.
“You okay?” yelled Marco.
She nodded, laughing. “Colder than I thought.”
Sarah set her flip-flops next to her towel, then sat on the bank and let her feet sink into the water. “Nice.”
Marco took off his shirt and dropped it on the ground with his towel. “You going in?” he asked.
“In a minute.” She kicked her feet, splashing. “Just taking my time.”
“We’re on a schedule, you know.” And before she could react, Marco put both his hands on her back and shoved her in the water. She bobbed back up, scowling. “I was going to go in on my own time, you know!”
Marco laughed and cannonballed next to her. He heard her screech even though he was still underwater. He surfaced, then took a face full of water as she splashed him. “Hey!” he called.
She l
aughed. “I owed you.”
“Where’s that shampoo?” called Cash.
Sarah grabbed it from the bank and pushed off from the bottom, bouncing her way over to Cash. The two squirted shampoo into their hands and quickly sudsed up their heads. Marco went over for some, and called out to Nacho, “Dude, you should wash your hair too. Don’t know when we’ll get a chance again.”
Nacho splashed around a bit before he complied, but within ten minutes of getting in the water, all four had dripping, fresh-smelling hair. Marco threw the bottle of shampoo onto the bank.
“What was that?” asked Cash.
Marco froze. Nacho was still splashing, and Marco slashed a hand across his throat. Nacho stopped and stood still, water dripping down his face.
There was a crashing in the underbrush, loud enough to be heard over the waterfall. Marco said, “Let’s get out.”
Sarah and Cash quickly scrambled up the bank and grabbed their towels. Nacho was farther away. He began to swim toward Marco, when there was a flash of black fur in the woods. Marco reached out and grabbed his brother, then waved at the girls, motioning for them to hide.
They ducked behind a large rock. Marco put a finger to his lips and led Nacho to the side of the water. There, they ducked lower than the bank, hopefully out of sight of whatever was there.
The waterfall continued to rush. Right above them, Marco heard chuffing. The girls were still out of sight behind the rock. Finally, the sound went away. Marco waited another moment, just to be sure, then he stepped out from the bank a tad to look into the underbrush. Nothing. He let out the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. He took Nacho’s arm and said, “Come on. We better get back.”
They quickly dried off and headed back to the fruit trees, where they stopped to pick some more for the camp. Then, towels laden and heavy and damp, they headed back to the beach, Marco glancing back every now and then, wondering whether there had been something back there. And whether it had seen them.
9
They walked in silence. Sarah felt cooler and cleaner. She couldn’t stop lifting and dropping strands of her hair in front of her face in order to smell the lovely scent of shampoo. She’d always taken being clean for granted and decided then and there to never do that again. Marco was up ahead, walking faster than she felt like. She hadn’t seen anything at the pool when they hid; maybe there had been something, maybe there hadn’t. She wished they could have stayed longer.
Marco asked Nacho, “What time is it?”
“Almost eleven,” said Nacho.
“Do you think my dad is back yet?” asked Sarah.
“He should be,” said Marco. “I mean, it’s been a while and he was just going to get bamboo.”
Sarah increased her pace. “He’s probably there and wondering where we are.”
“Will he get mad?” asked Cash.
Sarah shook her head. “Probably just worried enough to give me a lecture.” Her stomach growled. “I’m ready for some lunch.”
They emerged from the trees and headed over to their camp. Yvonna stood there, waving at them. But to Sarah, she looked no better than before.
Yvonna asked, “Where did you kids go?”
“Swimming!” called Nacho.
“Nice.” But the corners of Yvonna’s mouth barely curled. “Is John with you?”
Sarah shook her head. “I thought he’d be here by now.” Why wasn’t he back yet?
“Don’t worry,” said Marco. “He probably wanted to get as much cut as he could.”
Yvonna put her face in her hands.
“Mom?” asked Nacho. “You okay?”
She took her hands away. “I just feel so weak.” Then she quickly turned and stepped into the trees, sick once again.
Cash asked, “What’s wrong with her?”
Sarah glanced at Marco, whose forehead was all wrinkled. She set a hand on his arm. “She’ll be okay.”
Marco asked, “How do you know?”
But Sarah didn’t know. She didn’t know anything. She was simply trying to be nice because it felt like the right thing to do.
Nacho pulled out his notebook. “What if she gets dehydrated?” He read a little bit, then lifted his head. In a tone drenched with authority, he barked, “We need coconuts.”
Sarah pointed at the small pile of brown ones that remained. “There’s some.”
Nacho shook his head. “We need the raw ones, the drinking nuts. They’re big and green. They have juice in them that will be really good for Mom.” He replaced the notebook in his backpack.
Yvonna came out of the trees, her hair disheveled. Her steps were uneven, and Marco jumped up and ran over to her. “Mom?” He put his arm around her and she leaned on him.
He called out, “Somebody get the pillows and blanket.”
“I will!” said Cash. She ran over to the tree where Yvonna had been resting.
Sarah went to help Marco with Yvonna. Together, they got her over to the camp and waited for Cash to spread the blanket before lowering Yvonna down.
She immediately fell back on the pillows, a hand over her eyes.
Sarah said, “You should drink some water.”
Yvonna shook her head. “I can’t. I will in a minute.”
Sarah glanced at Marco. His mouth was a thin line, and his eyes were narrowed. She whispered, “She’s got to drink something.”
Marco said, “Maybe Nacho is right. We should find some of those drinking coconuts.” He glanced around. “Where is he?”
Sarah turned. Nacho was nowhere. She asked Cash, “Where’d Nacho go?”
Cash shrugged. “I don’t know. I was getting the pillows and stuff.”
Marco put both hands on top of his head. “He probably went to find the coconuts himself.” He sighed.
Sarah said, “I should go get my dad.”
Marco nodded. “And I need to find Nacho.” He looked at Sarah and pointed toward the beach. “We should go after them.”
Cash’s eyes widened and she shook her head so hard that her braids flew up. “No way. I’m not going that way.”
Sarah said, “You can stay here.”
“Yeah,” said Marco. “Will you watch my mom?”
Cash nodded. “Of course.” She glanced down at Yvonna. “Although I don’t know how much I can do for her.”
Sarah said, “We shouldn’t be gone long.” She hoped, anyway. “But just in case, I’ll get some supplies.” She went over to the monkey pod trees and found a small blue canvas bag with a long white strap. She packed it with some fruit, a few bottles of water, and a flashlight. A paring knife fell off a pile of towels, and she tossed that in there too.
Marco came over and dug in his suitcase. He held up a pair of sneakers. “We’d better wear something other than flip-flops.”
“Okay.” Sarah’s heart pounded at the idea of going off on their own, but she had to find her dad. Nothing would stop her from at least trying. She dug out her sneakers and put those on, then went back over to the group. She quickly put two braids in her hair. Then she stood up and asked Marco, “You ready?”
Marco nodded and sank to his knees beside his mom. “We’ll be back as soon as we can. With John. And some coconut juice for you.” He gave her a quick hug, then told Sarah, “Let’s go.”
10
As they walked along the beach, Marco hoped he wasn’t making a mistake by leaving his mom alone. Technically, she wasn’t alone—she had Cash—but Marco still worried about her.
Sarah said, “She’ll be okay.”
Marco glanced at her and nodded. “I know.” He lifted and lowered his shoulder. “I still worry.”
Sarah added, “And we’ll find Nacho. He can’t be far.”
Marco smiled then. “He drives me crazy sometimes, but he’s my little brother. I wouldn’t ever want anything to happen to him.”
“I get it,” said Sarah. “Not that I know what it’s like, but I like Nacho. He knows a lot. I mean that whole thing about the ape mermaids? Pretty crazy.”
Marco said, “Yeah, he does know a lot.”
Sarah smiled. “You sound surprised.”
“Well, I—” He wasn’t sure what was more unexpected: that she noticed his little brother was smart or that she admitted she liked him.
“What?” There was an edge to her voice.
“Nothing,” said Marco, although he couldn’t help but wonder how Sarah felt about him. He figured she still held a grudge because he hadn’t told their parents about the red bird the first time she asked him to. “I’m glad you like him. I guess I didn’t expect that. Some people might think he’s a little obsessive. I mean, with the hand sanitizer and all.”
Sarah raised her eyebrows. “I know a lot of people who use way more of that than he does. I use it all the time during flu season at school. And besides, what’s not to like? He’s pretty handy.”
Marco smiled. “Yeah, I guess so.”
Sarah said, “I think he likes Cash too. She’s pretty nice.”
“Yeah, I guess,” said Marco.
Sarah looked at him. “What?”
He said, “I just thought it was weird when I showed the trunk to you guys. You and Nacho both had the same look on your faces, like you thought it was cool. But Cash…”
“I didn’t notice,” said Sarah. “What did she do?”
“I don’t know,” said Marco. “It was almost like she recognized it.”
Sarah asked, “Do you think she’s seen it before?”
“No. But I do think that she’s heard about it before.” Marco stopped and faced Sarah. “Remember how she told us about Fox’s cargo? But then later, she slipped and called it treasure?”
Sarah nodded. “It could’ve been an honest mistake.”
“Maybe,” said Marco. “But I just got the feeling that maybe Fox spilled some details about his treasure, details which included that trunk.”
Sarah frowned. “But, if that trunk is actually Fox’s treasure, how did it end up on Moonflight?”
Marco shrugged and started walking again. “Captain Norm went all over these islands. There was like over a year after Fox got rescued before he went on the boat with Cash and Sarge.”