Read Online Sadie Walker Is Stranded by Madeleine Roux - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Madeleine Roux
Ads: Link
about that?”
“You can’t promise that,” he said reasonably.
“I guess not. How about … I’ll try really, really hard not to get sick and I’ll be in and out so fast the germs won’t even have a chance to catch me!”
Shane frowned, arching one quizzical eyebrow. “You don’t get germs from the cold.”
I really shouldn’t have let him read so many damn books .
“No, I suppose not, but they can weaken your immune system and then other germs can get you, right?” It was easier to argue with Andrea. She wasn’t nearly so perceptive.
“I guess that’s true. Okay. In and out.”
“Yup. You won’t even miss me.”
Easy, right? Right.
Andrea walked to the ocean-side railing of the boat and waited for me to jump in. The others had congregated to watch Arturo bait a line and drop it into the water. Even Cassandra perked up, standing a few feet off to examine the process. Arturo gave directions to Noah, who followed the old sailor’s lead and set up his own rig. I heard their lures splash over the side just as Andrea gave me a little nudge.
“Nobody’s watching, you pansy,” she said. “Go on, I’ve got your back. Shane is fine.”
I crouched down behind the cockpit and pulled off my sweater, T-shirt, jeans and thermal leggings. Those could use a good wash too. Since Arturo didn’t plan on telling us our destination, I figured it would be easier to wait and do the washing up once we stopped for good. Wearing sopping wet clothing at night was not my idea of a good time and I had no intention of compounding seasickness with chills. I smiled to myself as I looked over the edge of the railing into the water; it was kind of exhilarating not to know where we were going. Maybe when we got there I’d ask Cassandra if she’d like me to rinse her scrubs. I’d even let her borrow a shirt if she promised not to cry all over it.
“Come on,” Andrea muttered, “they won’t fish forever.”
“Doesn’t fishing take hours?”
“Get in!”
“I knew it. You just want to see me suffer,” I grunted, but she laughed and gave me a wolf whistle as I dropped into the ice-cold water.
A walk-in blast chiller on the polar fucking ice cap is probably more welcoming than Puget Sound before summer hits. The urge to panic was strong, but I remembered to breathe, to keep moving and make the blood pump hard through my legs and arms. At some point during my stalwart boycotting of the sea I had forgotten just how difficult it is to tread water. I held my breath and plunged beneath the surface for one second, half-terrified I wouldn’t come back up. But the cool rush of water over my head was worth it. This wasn’t grubby, industrial waste water just off the coast of a city; it was pure, refreshing and beautifully untouched. A silvery shape slipped by my side. A minnow, I thought, or something slightly bigger.
Odd, to think that there were still fish down there. Maybe the waterways were the last parts of the world to go on unchanged. Out of all the ways I could end up taking a swim in an unspoiled inlet in the middle of nowhere, international undead crisis was the least probable. But there I was. There was no denying it and no way to avoid the cliché. Something good and small was happening to me. And I didn’t look panicked, which may just convince Shane that being on a boat wasn’t so bad after all and that we might even return to some sense of normalcy.
Well, it was nice while it lasted anyway.
“Okay,” I said after less than a minute of splashing around, “I need to get out … preferably now, before the blood freezes in my veins.”
The railing above me was awfully quiet. I glanced up. Andrea was gone, nowhere to be found. She had taken Shane with her. “Son of a bitch,” I shouted. “This isn’t funny! Andrea! Andrea? Shane?”
There was a commotion on the other side of the boat, shrieking and screaming and the sound of arms beating the water. My heart sank like a lead ball to my numb little
“You can’t promise that,” he said reasonably.
“I guess not. How about … I’ll try really, really hard not to get sick and I’ll be in and out so fast the germs won’t even have a chance to catch me!”
Shane frowned, arching one quizzical eyebrow. “You don’t get germs from the cold.”
I really shouldn’t have let him read so many damn books .
“No, I suppose not, but they can weaken your immune system and then other germs can get you, right?” It was easier to argue with Andrea. She wasn’t nearly so perceptive.
“I guess that’s true. Okay. In and out.”
“Yup. You won’t even miss me.”
Easy, right? Right.
Andrea walked to the ocean-side railing of the boat and waited for me to jump in. The others had congregated to watch Arturo bait a line and drop it into the water. Even Cassandra perked up, standing a few feet off to examine the process. Arturo gave directions to Noah, who followed the old sailor’s lead and set up his own rig. I heard their lures splash over the side just as Andrea gave me a little nudge.
“Nobody’s watching, you pansy,” she said. “Go on, I’ve got your back. Shane is fine.”
I crouched down behind the cockpit and pulled off my sweater, T-shirt, jeans and thermal leggings. Those could use a good wash too. Since Arturo didn’t plan on telling us our destination, I figured it would be easier to wait and do the washing up once we stopped for good. Wearing sopping wet clothing at night was not my idea of a good time and I had no intention of compounding seasickness with chills. I smiled to myself as I looked over the edge of the railing into the water; it was kind of exhilarating not to know where we were going. Maybe when we got there I’d ask Cassandra if she’d like me to rinse her scrubs. I’d even let her borrow a shirt if she promised not to cry all over it.
“Come on,” Andrea muttered, “they won’t fish forever.”
“Doesn’t fishing take hours?”
“Get in!”
“I knew it. You just want to see me suffer,” I grunted, but she laughed and gave me a wolf whistle as I dropped into the ice-cold water.
A walk-in blast chiller on the polar fucking ice cap is probably more welcoming than Puget Sound before summer hits. The urge to panic was strong, but I remembered to breathe, to keep moving and make the blood pump hard through my legs and arms. At some point during my stalwart boycotting of the sea I had forgotten just how difficult it is to tread water. I held my breath and plunged beneath the surface for one second, half-terrified I wouldn’t come back up. But the cool rush of water over my head was worth it. This wasn’t grubby, industrial waste water just off the coast of a city; it was pure, refreshing and beautifully untouched. A silvery shape slipped by my side. A minnow, I thought, or something slightly bigger.
Odd, to think that there were still fish down there. Maybe the waterways were the last parts of the world to go on unchanged. Out of all the ways I could end up taking a swim in an unspoiled inlet in the middle of nowhere, international undead crisis was the least probable. But there I was. There was no denying it and no way to avoid the cliché. Something good and small was happening to me. And I didn’t look panicked, which may just convince Shane that being on a boat wasn’t so bad after all and that we might even return to some sense of normalcy.
Well, it was nice while it lasted anyway.
“Okay,” I said after less than a minute of splashing around, “I need to get out … preferably now, before the blood freezes in my veins.”
The railing above me was awfully quiet. I glanced up. Andrea was gone, nowhere to be found. She had taken Shane with her. “Son of a bitch,” I shouted. “This isn’t funny! Andrea! Andrea? Shane?”
There was a commotion on the other side of the boat, shrieking and screaming and the sound of arms beating the water. My heart sank like a lead ball to my numb little
Similar Books
