Shipwreck!, page 2
Gabby glanced at the last flare they had. “Maybe the pilot saw the flare,” Gabby said. “Maybe he called for help.”
“Maybe,” Miles said. His stomach gurgled. “Maybe we could try to catch a fish in the meantime.”
“I hate fish,” Gabby said.
“Well, we can’t exactly order pizzas,” Miles said. “And we have to eat.”
“We don’t even know how to fish,” Gabby said.
Skylar shuddered. “I like fish, but I don’t think I could kill one,” she said.
“Just let me try,” Miles said. “Maybe it’s not that hard.” He took out the fishing kit. He attached one of the little metal hooks to the fishing line.
Miles peered over the edge of the raft. “I see some fish!” he said, smiling. He carefully tossed the hook into the water.
“Here, fishy, fishy, fishy,” Skylar said quietly.
A few fish inspected the bait. None swam close enough to take it.
“Don’t wait,” Miles said. “Bite that bait.” Gabby rolled her eyes at the silly rhyme.
Finally, a foot-long fish swam up. It chomped on the bait. Miles yanked on the line. The fish let go.
“Shoot!” Miles said. He dropped the line back into the water.
A few minutes later, another fish swam up to the hook and latched on. Miles pulled fast on the line. Suddenly, the fish was flopping on the floor of the raft.
“You did it!” Skylar said. They all cheered.
“What now?” Gabby said. “Do we just watch it die?”
Miles shrugged. “I guess so,” he said.
The fish flopped around. Miles reached down, trying to make sure it didn’t bounce out of the raft.
“Ow!” he yelled. He pulled his hand away. Gabby saw blood on his finger. “That thing has teeth!” Miles said.
Skylar unwrapped a bandage from the first aid kit. Miles put it on his hand.
Gabby cleaned the red drops of blood off the raft. “Ew, it looks like some got in the water,” she said.
“Gross,” Skylar said.
Just then, a surge of water shook the raft. Gabby screamed. She fell over the edge of the raft and into the water.
“Gabby!” Miles shouted. He moved toward the edge of the raft. He tried to grab his sister, but she was already too far away.
“Can you swim to us?” Skylar called.
Gabby didn’t say anything. She knew how to swim, but she was panicking.
Then Miles and Skylar saw a dark shadow swim beneath her.
“Miles, is that what I think it is?” Skylar asked quietly.
Miles clamped his hand over her mouth. “Don’t freak out,” he said in a firm whisper. Then he removed his hand. Skylar nodded and covered her mouth with her own trembling hands.
Gabby didn’t know there was a shark swimming below her. She stopped panicking and started to swim toward the raft. When she was ten feet away, her foot touched the shark.
She didn’t see it, but she knew what it was. She stopped swimming and began to spin around. She slapped the water with her hands. “Get away!” she yelled.
Miles took a deep breath. Then he jumped into the water.
“Don’t splash!” Skylar called out. “Stay calm!”
Gabby didn’t listen. She didn’t notice that Miles was swimming toward her. She was too scared.
Miles slowly swam up to his sister from behind. She was still slapping the water. When she heard Miles behind her, she screamed.
Miles swam up and put his arm across her chest. “It’s okay, Gabby,” he said quietly. “I’m going to help you, but you have to stop moving so much.”
The shark bumped Miles in the shin. Miles took a deep breath. Slowly, he began to pull Gabby to the raft.
Standing on the raft, Skylar whispered, “Hurry!”
Then Skylar had an idea. She took off one of her shoes and hurled it as hard as she could. It flew over the shark and away from Miles and Gabby. But the shark didn’t chase it.
Miles reached the raft. He didn’t have much strength left. He pushed Gabby up, while Skylar pulled her into the raft by her arms. Once she was safely in the raft, Gabby curled up under the canopy.
Skylar tried to help Miles climb in, but he was too heavy. “Gabby, I need your help!” Skylar called.
Gabby didn’t say anything, but she came over and helped pull Miles in. Just as Miles fell onto the floor of the raft, the shark leapt out of the water, snapping at the air. They all shrieked and scooted back. The shark disappeared.
Skylar sat down and took a deep breath. “Are you guys okay?” she asked quietly. Miles and Gabby both looked scared and seasick.
“Yeah,” Miles said, panting. “I’m okay. Are you okay, Gabby?”
Gabby nodded. She didn’t say anything.
Skylar looked out at the ocean. After a few moments, she asked, “Do you think it’s gone?”
Miles shrugged. “I hope so,” he said. “Hey, nice try with the shoe,” he added, smiling gently. “At least we know it’s not a dog shark.”
“Miles,” Gabby said softly. “You jumped in. I can’t believe it. You got me.”
Miles looked down and smiled again.
Gabby went on, “Thank you. I won’t joke about you being a lifeguard ever again.” She hugged Miles tightly.
“No, you can,” Miles said. “I’m not.”
The girls looked puzzled. “What do you mean?” Skylar asked.
“I lied,” Miles said. “I didn’t pass the test to become a lifeguard. Not even the third time.”
Gabby hugged him again. “You passed today,” she told him. “You saved my life.”
CHAPTER 6
Down Here
After they rested for a while, all three kids felt a little better. “I’m starving,” Skylar said finally. “I guess we should deal with this fish, huh?”
Using the knife from the emergency kit, Skylar scraped the scales off the fish. She laid it to dry in the afternoon sun. “I guess this makes me the baker,” she said
“Which means I’m the butcher, since I caught the fish,” Miles said.
Gabby looked over at the fish and gagged. “Gross,” she said. “Hamburgers would be about the best thing in the world right now.”
“Well, rescue would be the best thing in the world,” Skylar said. “But hamburgers are a close second.”
“How are we going to cook the fish?” Gabby asked.
“We’re not,” Miles said. “We’ll let it dry in the sun.”
“That’s disgusting,” Gabby said. “There’s no way I’ll eat that.”
Miles frowned. “Gabby, you have to eat something,” he said. “Anyway, people have been eating fish dried in the sun for thousands of years. It’s perfectly safe. Really.”
Gabby looked at Skylar. “Are you going to try it?” Gabby asked.
Skylar shrugged. “I don’t think I have a choice,” she said. “I’d rather eat something gross than starve to death.”
“We’ll have to leave it for a while, though,” Miles told the girls. “It has to dry out really well.”
“Can we have something to drink while we wait?” Skylar asked.
Miles frowned. “We have some water, but we don’t have very much,” he said. “We’ll have to be careful with it. You can have a little bit now, and then we can have more in a few hours. We should try to save as much as we can.”
“You’re really sunburned,” Gabby said, noticing her brother’s pink skin.
Skylar laughed. “You are too, Gabby,” she said. “I think we all are. We should’ve listened to your mom and put on way more sunscreen.”
“Now you must be kicking yourself big time that you didn’t stay home,” Gabby said to Miles. She paused, then added, “Why did you come, really?”
“I told you already,” Miles said. “Research.”
“Since when are you into the ocean?” Gabby asked. “We went to Marine Planet and you sat on a bench with your face in a comic book the whole time.”
“First of all, it was a graphic novel,” Miles said. “And secondly, I’m not doing research about the ocean. I’m doing research about you.”
“What do you mean?” Gabby asked. “What kind of research about me?”
Miles explained, “We used to be best friends. Now that we’re older, most of the time we just bug each other. We barely even know each other anymore. So Mom said I should go somewhere with you where we wouldn’t be busy with soccer practice and phone calls and IMing.”
Gabby smiled. “I guess Mom didn’t plan on a shipwreck,” she said.
Miles shook his head and smiled. “Nope,” he said.
“I’m sorry, Miles,” Gabby said. “Sorry I’ve snapped at you so much.”
“Come on, guys,” Skylar said. “You’re making me wish my annoying brother was here.”
Gabby and Miles laughed.
* * *
For the rest of the afternoon, Gabby, Miles, and Skylar tried hard to ignore their surroundings. They slept a little, talked, and watched the sky.
Soon, the sky turned dark. Miles fell asleep.
“Tonight seems colder than last night,” Skylar said.
Gabby nodded. “I know,” she said. “It does.”
Somehow, they fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, Miles opened his eyes. Both girls were asleep.
As he stared at the starry sky, Miles realized what had woken him up.
One of the stars was making a sound.
It was moving. And it was red.
“Another plane!” Miles shouted. He flipped on the flashlight and waved it wildly. “Gabby, the flare!” he yelled.
Gabby woke up and jumped to her feet. She grabbed the last flare and set it off. “Hey! We’re down here!” she yelled.
Skylar had woken up too. She looked around, trying to find another way to help.
Suddenly, an idea flashed into her head. She found the banner from Captain Steve’s boat and opened it up. Then she grabbed the flashlight from Miles.
Skylar aimed the flashlight at the silver words printed on the banner. The shiny letters reflected the light, creating a glimmering, eight-foot-long SOS.
“I think it’s coming back!” Gabby yelled.
But the sound of the plane’s engine faded. A moment later, it was gone.
CHAPTER 7
Found at Sea
It was hard to fall back asleep that night, but Gabby, Miles, and Skylar were exhausted enough that they finally slept. In the morning, they woke up starving.
Miles tried to eat a strip of the dried fish, but the taste almost made him throw up.
“We can’t eat this,” he said. “I don’t think it’s safe.” He looked like he was going to cry. Then he tossed the fish overboard.
As the hours went on, Gabby began to cough more and more. Skylar’s sunburn hurt really badly, and it was starting to blister.
All three of them were moving very slowly. More than half of their water was gone.
“Look!” Gabby said, sitting up. She pointed at the sky with a shaky finger. “Who knew flamingos lived this far north?” she asked. “Or do you think we floated all the way down to Florida?”
Miles and Skylar looked where she was pointing. There were no birds of any kind.
“Either way, if they’re here,” Gabby said, “we must be near land.”
“You should try to sleep,” Miles told Gabby.
Gabby lay back down, but didn’t close her eyes. She just stared up at the sky.
Skylar looked upset. “Gabby is seeing things,” she whispered to Miles. “I’m really worried about her.”
“Me too,” Miles said quietly.
“There’s another one,” Gabby said, pointing again.
Miles didn’t look up. Skylar peered into the bright sky. Then she gasped. “Look, Miles!” Skylar said.
Miles rolled his eyes. “You’re seeing things too, huh?” he said.
“No, really, look!” Skylar shouted.
Miles looked up. His eyes were wide when he saw the plane. He whispered, “They found us.”
This time, none of them shouted or waved. They just waited.
Within five minutes, the small plane landed on the ocean, not far from the raft. The door swung open and a man stuck his head out.
“You must be Miles, Skylar, and Gabby,” he called. “Your parents sent me to get you.”
He threw a rope to the raft. Miles grabbed it and tied it to the raft. Then the man pulled the raft to the plane.
“So our parents are alive,” Miles said. He smiled and hugged his sister. Gabby smiled too.
“Yes, they’re fine,” the pilot said. “They were picked up an hour after the ship went down.” He smiled.
“But of course they have been worried sick about you,” the pilot added. “Now, climb into the plane. My name’s Jack, by the way.”
One by one, the kids took Jack’s hand. They each climbed into the small airplane.
“How’d you find us?” Miles asked once everyone was inside.
“Another pilot saw your signal last night,” Jack told them. “They sent out five planes looking for you. I’m really sorry it took so long. The ocean can push a raft miles away in less time than you’d think. Well, you’re safe now.”
“Where are our parents?” Gabby asked quietly.
“They’re back at your house, waiting,” Jack said.
“Will you take us to them?” Gabby asked.
“We’ll take you to the hospital first,” Jack said. “Make sure you’re all right. But your parents will meet us there. Now try to stay quiet and relax. We’ll be there soon.”
As the plane rose above the water, the kids glanced down at Tub. It had been their home for the past 68 hours.
Skylar waved at it. “What about the raft?” she asked.
“I’ll radio the boat to come get it,” Jack said. Then he added, “You must be starving.”
“Yes. For anything,” Miles said. “Even pineapple pizza.”
“This is all I have, but we’ll be on land in no time,” Jack said.
He handed them a box of crackers. They were shaped like little orange goldfish.
“Of all the food in the world, it had to be fish, didn’t it?” Gabby said. She laughed.
In less than a minute, the box was empty.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marc Tyler Nobleman has written books on everything from ghosts to Groundhog Day, belly flops to the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Superman to summertime activities. Besides writing books, he is also a cartoonist whose work has appeared in more than 100 magazines. He has never been through a real disaster but is living proof that it is possible to survive a bad hairdo.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
When Sean Tiffany was growing up, he lived on a small island off the coast of Maine. Every day, from sixth grade until he graduated from high school, he had to take a boat to get to school. When Sean isn’t working on his art, he works on a multimedia project called “OilCan Drive,” which combines music and art. He has a pet cactus named Jim.
GLOSSARY
abandon (uh-BAN-duhn)—to leave forever
canister (KAN-ih-stur)—a container
captain (KAP-tin)—the person in charge of a ship
first mate (FURST MAYT)—a ship captain’s assistant
flare (FLAIR)—a device that produces a bright light or flame as a signal
life preserver (LIFE pri-ZURV-er)—a belt, vest, or ring that can be filled with air and used to keep a person afloat in water
mission (MISH-uhn)—a special job or task
orca (OR-kuh)—a large, black and white whale. Orcas are also called killer whales.
research (REE-surch)—study or investigation about something
SOS (ESS OH ESS)—a signal meaning someone is in need of urgent help
SHIPWRECK
A SURVIVAL STORY
In 1972, the Robertson family was enjoying a trip around the world. The family of six had been safely sailing for a year and a half. They had no idea what was in store for them.
One day, a group of killer whales rammed into the family’s boat. Their boat sank beneath the surface in less than a minute. The family and a crew member scrambled to a life raft and a dinghy.
The food and water in the life raft was only enough for three days. The seven survived by eating flying fish and sea turtles. They drank rain water. As days turned into weeks, they used their imaginations to keep themselves busy.
For example, they imagined opening a restaurant. They even planned the entire menu.
Finally after 38 days lost at sea, the family was rescued. They were picked up by a Japanese fishing boat.
BE PREPARED FOR THE WORST
A well-stocked life raft emergency kit will have:
• flares and signaling mirrors
• drinking water
• a fishing kit
• sunscreen
• a first-aid kit
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Have you read other books or seen movies or TV shows about people who were lost at sea? Talk about the other stories you’ve heard.
What are some skills that would be good to have if you were shipwrecked? What are some skills that would not be helpful?
Gabby and Skylar wanted to go on Captain Steve’s boat to learn more about whales. What are some other ways they could have learned about whales?
WRITING PROMPTS
If you were shipwrecked and had to live on a raft for three days, what five items would you want to have with you? Make a list and explain your reasons for each item.
Gabby was stuck on the raft with her brother and her best friend. If you were stuck on a raft, who would you want to be with? Write about that person.
At the end of this book, the three kids are safely headed home. What do you think happens next? Write about it!
OTHER BOOKS BY JAKE MADDOX
Owen and Gray are stranded in the middle of a raging blizzard. Once the storm subsides, the boys decide to try to find their way back to civilization. Can they make it safely home, or will the frozen elements become too much for them to handle?
