tell me to stay away from the kayak? Heâs being such a jerk. Itâs not fair. Heâd never say something like that to Saul.
He taught me to kayak. He knows how much I love watching animals. With each thought, my breath grows sharper. I want to f ling my pillow across the room. What will happen to the sea otters if no one watches out for them?
Nothing. I wonât let it.
By morning Iâm worn out, but Iâve made a decision. I canât abandon the sea otters now that someone knows about them. I canât stop now, no matter what Dad says. Dadâs wrong. Thatâs all there is to it. Iâm going to have to be more careful, thatâs all.
I wait until Dad and Saul are gone, then creep out of the house. My heart beats so fast I have to put my hand over my chest to still it. No lights turn on when I close the door. I take a deep breath and check my heart again. Without looking back, I sprint across the lawn. At the dock I slip into my life jacket and slide the kayak into the water. It hardly makes a splash. I edge into the cockpit and push off. Iâm going to paddle to the sea otters and make sure theyâre okay and then kayak back. Thatâs all Iâm going to do. No one will miss me.
I see the sea otters as soon as I round the headland into Riley Bay. âHey, guys,â I call. I smile, and my shoulders relax. Until I look up.
Someone is standing at the top of the hill.
Again!
My hands shake as I grasp the paddle harder and steer my kayak away from the kelp bed. Maybe if I paddle across the bay without stopping, the man on the hillside wonât see the sea otters.
Or maybe he already has.
I have to find out. Itâs the only way to make sure the sea otters are safe.
It only takes me a second to paddle to shore and pull my kayak onto the rocks. What am I doing? I must be crazy. I have no idea what this man is doing up there. I turn around. But then I think of the sea otters.
What if he catches them?
Or worse, shoots them?
It makes me sick to think about it. Thereâs nothing else to do. I start up the hill before I can change my mind.
The hill is steep, but there are lots of tree trunks to hold on to. As I climb, I think about what I will do when I reach the top. Iâll just talk to the man, ask him what heâs doing. Weâll be two innocent people meeting on a hilltop.
Right. If only I can convince my breathing of that.
Iâm about to rise over the crest of the hill when my foot slips, and I step on a twig. It cracks. I jump. My head hits a branch. I stuff my hand into my mouth before I cry out.
When my head stops hurting and my heart slows, I stand up and peer over the hilltop. The man is running along the crest of the hill. He turns into the woods. Without thinking, I scramble up the last steps to the top of the hill and follow him. There are huge footprints in the mud near the edge of the trees. I track them for ten paces into the woods. Then they disappear. I spin around. Where has he gone?
Heâs vanished.
The forest is dense. I canât see a path. I pace across the top of the hill. How could I let him get away?
I want to shout in frustration, but there is no point. Whoever it was is gone. If I donât leave soon, Iâll be late.
That would not be good.
I donât want to learn what consequences Dad has planned for me. I take one last look around, then head back down the hill.
Itâs harder going down than it had been coming up. Each step is more like a slide. I have to grab tree trunks to stop myself from slipping down the hill and into the water. By the time I reach the bottom, my shoes are covered in dirt and my hands are sticky with tree sap. I rinse them in the ocean so Mom and Dad wonât notice.
I pull my kayak into the water and paddle around the rocks for a last look at the sea otters. Today theyâre ignoring me. They donât move when I paddle close.
âHi, guysâ I say. âI canât
He taught me to kayak. He knows how much I love watching animals. With each thought, my breath grows sharper. I want to f ling my pillow across the room. What will happen to the sea otters if no one watches out for them?
Nothing. I wonât let it.
By morning Iâm worn out, but Iâve made a decision. I canât abandon the sea otters now that someone knows about them. I canât stop now, no matter what Dad says. Dadâs wrong. Thatâs all there is to it. Iâm going to have to be more careful, thatâs all.
I wait until Dad and Saul are gone, then creep out of the house. My heart beats so fast I have to put my hand over my chest to still it. No lights turn on when I close the door. I take a deep breath and check my heart again. Without looking back, I sprint across the lawn. At the dock I slip into my life jacket and slide the kayak into the water. It hardly makes a splash. I edge into the cockpit and push off. Iâm going to paddle to the sea otters and make sure theyâre okay and then kayak back. Thatâs all Iâm going to do. No one will miss me.
I see the sea otters as soon as I round the headland into Riley Bay. âHey, guys,â I call. I smile, and my shoulders relax. Until I look up.
Someone is standing at the top of the hill.
Again!
My hands shake as I grasp the paddle harder and steer my kayak away from the kelp bed. Maybe if I paddle across the bay without stopping, the man on the hillside wonât see the sea otters.
Or maybe he already has.
I have to find out. Itâs the only way to make sure the sea otters are safe.
It only takes me a second to paddle to shore and pull my kayak onto the rocks. What am I doing? I must be crazy. I have no idea what this man is doing up there. I turn around. But then I think of the sea otters.
What if he catches them?
Or worse, shoots them?
It makes me sick to think about it. Thereâs nothing else to do. I start up the hill before I can change my mind.
The hill is steep, but there are lots of tree trunks to hold on to. As I climb, I think about what I will do when I reach the top. Iâll just talk to the man, ask him what heâs doing. Weâll be two innocent people meeting on a hilltop.
Right. If only I can convince my breathing of that.
Iâm about to rise over the crest of the hill when my foot slips, and I step on a twig. It cracks. I jump. My head hits a branch. I stuff my hand into my mouth before I cry out.
When my head stops hurting and my heart slows, I stand up and peer over the hilltop. The man is running along the crest of the hill. He turns into the woods. Without thinking, I scramble up the last steps to the top of the hill and follow him. There are huge footprints in the mud near the edge of the trees. I track them for ten paces into the woods. Then they disappear. I spin around. Where has he gone?
Heâs vanished.
The forest is dense. I canât see a path. I pace across the top of the hill. How could I let him get away?
I want to shout in frustration, but there is no point. Whoever it was is gone. If I donât leave soon, Iâll be late.
That would not be good.
I donât want to learn what consequences Dad has planned for me. I take one last look around, then head back down the hill.
Itâs harder going down than it had been coming up. Each step is more like a slide. I have to grab tree trunks to stop myself from slipping down the hill and into the water. By the time I reach the bottom, my shoes are covered in dirt and my hands are sticky with tree sap. I rinse them in the ocean so Mom and Dad wonât notice.
I pull my kayak into the water and paddle around the rocks for a last look at the sea otters. Today theyâre ignoring me. They donât move when I paddle close.
âHi, guysâ I say. âI canât
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