Fire in the Sea by Myke Bartlett

Author:Myke Bartlett
Language: eng, eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile fiction, Action and adventure, Fantasy and magic
Publisher: The Text Publishing Company
Published: 2012-07-04T16:00:00+00:00

15

JACOB’S WAY

The journey back to the jetty was intolerably slow. Sadie paced the deck as her uncle brought the boat around. He was soaked through, but otherwise unharmed. Burping up river water, his face glowed with fury and he didn’t dare look at anyone.

Margot sobbed in the kitchen. So did Heather. Tom stood by, occasionally laying a hand on someone’s shoulder and then removing it again.

There were few injuries among the other sailors, although the paramedics waiting on the pier treated almost everyone for shock. Nobody else had gone missing; those thrown overboard were all safely pulled back on deck. Everyone except Kimberley.

Sadie knew it wasn’t her cousin the Drowners wanted. They had come for her.

The police wanted details, but no one seemed too sure what had happened.

‘Kids,’ someone said, ‘just kids mucking about.’

A white-haired gent shook his head. ‘Ask me, they looked Japanese.’

As soon as they were docked, Sadie hurried down into the kitchen and tugged at Tom’s elbow. ‘Come on,’ she said. ‘You’re driving.’

Margot looked up. Her face was bloated. ‘Driving? Driving where? You can’t just leave. Kimberley’s gone!’ This last word was wrought across a dozen syllables. It only ended with Margot’s head dropping to the table-top.

‘She’s right,’ Tom said. ‘I mean, you know, there’s the police and stuff.’

‘They can’t do anything,’ Sadie told him. ‘We can. Get your car keys.’

There were faces and voices Tom had learned not to argue with. Sadie was using both. As they left, Heather stood up. Her cheeks were streaked with mascara. She tried to speak but said nothing.

Nobody stopped them as they walked along the jetty and back to shore. Just in case anyone tried, Sadie wore her best look of distress, keeping her shoulders stiff and her hands in front of her, as if she was about to collapse in tears at any moment. It wasn’t that hard, she only needed to listen to the ugly thought tugging at her gut. This is all your fault, it said.

Turning his key in the ignition, Tom looked across at her. ‘Where are we going?’

‘I don’t know, a pizza? No, idiot. We’re going to get Jake.’

Tom was more patient than ever. ‘Yeah, I worked that much out. But, I mean, he’s back with his mum. Where’s that?’

‘He’s not going to be there. You didn’t see him at the police station, he seriously didn’t recognise that woman. There’s no way he’s going to be staying with her. He’ll be at Ocean Street.’

With his hand on the handbrake, Tom paused. ‘You don’t think she’s dead, do you?’

‘No, I don’t. I think they wanted a hostage. I think they want to trade her for something. Something they think Jake has.’

‘Okay. So how long have we got to get her back?’

Sadie was trying not to think about it. She put her hand on Tom’s. ‘Please Tom, just drive.’

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.