Knockdown (10 page)

The boat slid
sideways into another swell. Cole had increased the angle we were taking the waves in order to make the ride smoother. Freezing water crashed across the bow and drenched us.

Jervis
stopped hauling up the anchor and made a face. “It’s slipping.” He reached out with his other hand to grab it, but the boat rocked, and he fell against the rail. Water ran in rivulets down his face. “I can’t hold—” he bellowed as he lost his grip on the anchor chain and it dropped down again. The anchor swung back in a wide arc and rammed into the bow.

Without a word, Takumi and Nick
dropped down and slid on their stomachs to the opposite sides of the bow. They simultaneously reached down to stop the swinging anchor.

The boat rocked to the
right. The anchor swung to the right. Nick grabbed for it. The anchor pivoted on its chain. Nick jerked his hand away seconds before his fingers were smashed between the anchor and the boat.

The anchor swung toward
Takumi. I held onto his feet as he hung over the side. With both hands free, he grabbed hold of the top of the anchor. “Got it,” he called out. “Someone pull the chain in from the top.”

When the anchor
was almost up, Nick moved to the tip of the bow and grabbed hold of it from above. Soon it was back in its holder. I opened the locker. Jervis easily picked up the anchor and chain and stuffed them into it. When I closed the lid, we collapsed on the cabin deck. Spray from a wave soaked us.

“I can’
t look,” I moaned.

Takumi leaned over the side and inspected the damage.
“It’s not that bad.”

I to
ok a deep breath and slid on my stomach to the edge. Someone grabbed my legs. I knew by the current flowing between us that it was Takumi.

There were two dents in the hull, but I couldn’t tell how deep they were.
Takumi helped me up and we made our way back to the stern.

“Cole, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have tried to pick up the anchor. It’s all my fault.”

Cole closed his eyes and inhaled. “How bad is it?”

“Two pretty deep dents. The paint is intact and the dents are all above the water line.” I hung my head.

Cole nodded. “That’s good. Maybe it didn’t crack the fiberglass.”

I started to shiver. The
wet guys looked as miserable as I felt. Then I realized. None of them had a change of clothes.

Dylan appeared on deck, squinted, and ran his fingers through his messy hair. “What’d we hit?”

Cole told him about the anchor swinging loose.

“How stupid can you be?” Dylan snarled at me.

“I told her to move the anchor,” Cole said. “It’s my fault.”

“I didn’t know how heavy it was.”
Tears of frustration spilled down my cheeks.

Dylan
glared at me.

I’d had enough.
“I’m going below to change.” I ignored Dylan and threw a couple of towels at Takumi, Jervis, and Nick. “I’ll find you something of Dad’s to change into.”

Angelina was at the radio
and Makala was still asleep when I climbed below. Angelina smiled encouragingly at me. “It will be okay.”

Obviously
, she’d heard what happened on top. I wiped my eyes and I hurried to Dylan’s cabin. Zoë was on the bed with her arm over her eyes. I began to rifle through Dad’s closet. She didn’t move.

Dad had a drawer full of
tees, two pairs of old jeans, three pairs of sweats, and a surprising number of lightweight jackets with names of companies on them. There was even a size-XL Seahawk sweatshirt from a football friend of Dad’s. It was the best bet for Jervis. I knew none of Dad’s pants would fit him, but I managed to find a pair of flannel drawstring pajama bottoms. I hoped they’d work. I didn’t find any boxer shorts, but there was a drawer full of socks.

Dylan
and Cole probably had underwear in the packs that Mom and Dad left this morning, but they would kill me if I touched their stuff.

Jervis
, Takumi, and Nick came down and stood, dripping in the main salon. I threw the pile of Dad’s clothes onto one of the couches and went to get some towels.

“Remember the color of your towel. Who knows when we will be able to do
laundry? And find a place to hang stuff to dry. Throw your wet clothes up top for now. I’ll hang them up in the bathroom when I’m done with my shower.”

“Shower?”
Zoë sat up on the bed. “You said we couldn’t take a shower.”

“I filled
the sun shower, remember? You can share it with me if you want. We need to use it soon. When the sun goes down, the water gets cold.”

Zoë
moved fast for a sick girl and stood beside me. “How does it work?”

I
hung the nozzle end from the sun shower bag over the real shower head. “Push this nozzle back and you’ll get warm water. Spray yourself down and then shut off the water. Soap up, then rinse off. There isn’t enough water for you to wash your hair. If you’re careful, we should be able to get at least three short uses out of the bag.”

I glanced at Angelina and
she smiled.

“This is salt water, right?”
Zoë scrunched her nose.

“Yeah, but I promise it will feel good. If you dry off quickly, y
ou won’t get salty skin. And Mom has lots of lotions on board.”

“Okay. Maybe a shower will make me feel better.”

I handed her a towel and brought out our collection of shower gels and soaps. They wouldn’t last long, but we might as well enjoy them for now. “Your towel is burgundy. Remember that. I’ll find you some dry clothes to change into. Yell when you’re done and I’ll bring them to you.”

I
slid the bathroom door closed.

The
guys were taking turns changing in the bow cabin. The jeans and tees were too big for Takumi. Nick’s tee fit, but the pants were too short. We waited for Jervis to come out of the bedroom.

“What do you think?” He pretended to strut like a model, but
Whistler
hit a wave and he had to grab hold. The blue and green Seahawks sweatshirt covered only half his stomach. The Christmas plaid pajama pants fit only if he shoved them below his waist.

He was embarrassed, but hamming
it up to save face. He looked silly, but there was nothing else on board for him to wear. And that wasn’t funny at all.

Angelina was
thoughtful. “The tape. We could make the end of the sweatshirt longer with—”

“Duct tape!” I
grinned.

Takumi handed me the
end of a roll we had left over from wrapping the sails. I cut a strip off a thick blue sheet. Angelina attached the material to the bottom of the football shirt with duct tape. Soon Jervis had a top that came down past his thighs. The gray tape and blue material almost matched the Seahawks colors.

Jervis
grinned, mostly at Angelina. He really liked her.

If we survived,
Jervis, Nick, and Angelina were going to be a problem. But first we needed to survive.

Chapter Eleven

Two Hours Before

I found a pink sweatsuit with little blue sailboats and handed it to Zoë through a crack in the door.

“Really?” she groaned.

The guys left to go back on deck. Makala whimpered in her sleep.

“I’m
glad you figured out how to make a top for Jervis.” I turned to Angelina. “I think he likes you…”

A high
-pitched wail erupted from the shower.

“
Zoë!” I ran to the bathroom door. “What happened?”

“
No! No! No!
I can’t do this!” She banged on the door.

Dylan raced down the steps. “What’s going on?”

“It’s Zoë,” I pointed. “I think she fell.”

“
Zoë, open up. It’s me.” Dylan knocked on the door. She didn’t answer.

“I’m coming in.” Dylan slid the bathroom door open.
I peeked in around him. Zoë sat on the floor wrapped in a towel.

Dylan
knelt beside her. “Babe, what’s wrong?”

She covered h
er face and sobbed. “This is too much. I want to go home. Now!”

He reached out to comfort her.

She pushed him away. Her arms flailed in the air. “I mean it. I can’t do this. I can’t. I can’t.”

Dylan rocked her in his arms. “You’re s
easick. You’ll get better. It’ll be okay.”

She wept
. “No it won’t. I just took a salt water shower. Salt water! I’m wearing your mom’s dorky clothes. I’m sick. No more.”

“Come on
, Zoe. We don’t have time for this,” Dylan whispered.

She
began to sob. “You don’t understand. I don’t have any make-up. I don’t have my flat iron. I don’t even have a toothbrush.”

A
stampede of footsteps raced down the stairs to the main salon. Takumi, Cole and Jervis all asked, “What’s going on down here?”

Makala
woke up and began screaming, “Mommy, Mommy!”

Angelina dropped the hand piece to the radio a
nd rushed to her. The rest of us just stood and helplessly watched Zoë and Dylan.

Zoë
was hysterical.

Makala crie
d.
Jervis leaned into the bathroom and growled, “Knock it off, Zoë. You’re scaring Makala.”

Zoë
sniffled and grew still. She took a deep breath, wrapped her towel tighter, and stood. “Dylan, turn this boat around. Right now.” She wiped her nose on her towel.

The burgundy towel was now hers forever.

“Come on. You know I can’t do that.” Dylan shook his head.

Zoë
swayed with the boat. Dylan caught her in his arms.

Zoë had
been seasick for hours. But she wasn’t hurt. As I was about to leave, she reached for a hand towel, and started to dry her hair.

I frowned
. Zoë’s hair was wet. She’d washed it. I shoved past her and turned on the water in the sun shower. Nothing came out. “You used up all the water,” I cried.

“What?”
Zoë rubbed her eyes.

“You washed your hair. I told you not to
!” I huffed and stepped out of the bathroom. “I dug out the sun-shower, filled it with sea water, and I waited all day for it to heat. I can’t believe you went and…”

“Well, excuse me
, Little Red Hen. From now on, you can have it all because I’m out of here!” Zoë screamed.

We glared at
each other.

Dylan
frowned at me. “What’s the big deal? It’s not like there’s a shortage of salt water.”

“You don’t get it. I
didn’t take a shower after swim practice. I’m all chlorine-y. She was supposed to share the water with Angelina and me. I told her not to wash her hair, because that would use up all the water.”

Zoë
squeezed her eyes tight and pulled away from Dylan. Her fists lashed out in rapid succession. “I hate you. I hate you all.” Her left hand struck Dylan’s broken nose.

He yelped and jumped back.
Zoë teetered and almost fell.

“That’s enough.” I pointed to the cabin she’d claimed as theirs. “Go to your room!”

Zoë grew still, her eyes wide. “Did you just send me to my room?”

Dylan held his nose. Blood dripped toward his mouth.

Cole and Takumi fidgeted and looked everywhere but at Zoë.

Zoë
pushed past Dylan and came at me. I planted my feet and waited for her to strike. Cole and Takumi were suddenly beside me.

Snot ran from
Zoë’s nose. This time she wiped it across her face. “You do this boating thing for, for, fun? You’re all crazy. I’m done. I’m going home. Do you hear me?”

“Everyone can hear you.” I gritted my teeth. “I promise to drop you off at the first piece of land we can find. Until then
?” I pointed at the cabin.

Zoë
glared at Dylan. “Are you just going to stand there and let her...?”

My brother shook his head. “No, I’m going up on top.” He
snatched a wad of paper towel from a roll, shoved the wad up his nose, and left to go on deck.

“Dylan!”
Zoë yelled. “Dylan, get back here.”

I grabbed her arm, led her to the bedroom, and closed t
he door behind me. She called Dylan’s name one more time, then began to sob.

Takumi and Cole were waiting when I came out. “What was that all about?” Cole asked.

“Zoë lost it. She’s sick and just realized she doesn’t have a toothbrush.” I grimaced as she wailed. “But that doesn’t excuse her from washing her hair.”

“Washing her hair?” Cole and Takumi looked at
each other.