to the left from his car, it stopped at the wooden dock on the other side of the warehouse. The dock looked like it was sliding down into the ocean. In the center, the rusted remains of a twelve-foot-wide conveyer belt lay in chunks inside two large grooves in the dock. He supposed the fishing boats had tied up alongside it, and then the fish had been taken off the boat and loaded onto the conveyer belt. From there, they must have gone straight into the warehouse.
“I’m cold,” Heather said. “Can’t we do this faster?”
“
We’ll
try,” he replied.
Toward the back of the warehouse, a spiral of weathered cement stairs was attached to the dock. They led down the side of a chalky cliff, then onto more gently sloping ground. The remains of a red-and-white parking barrier tilted at the head of a narrow, twisting road pointing like an arrow to the water’s edge. Moonlight spilled onto a pitted cement ramp, a boat landing, he assumed, that sloped down and disappeared into the ocean waves.
“Do you see anything?”
He turned around impatiently and glanced up at Heather, who had been trailing behind him.
“Not yet. You can sit on the stairs and wait for me if you want to.”
“Okay.” She said it without a jot of apology.
So entitled.
As he was heading away from the buildings down toward the beach, the silvery tide splashing into inlets and cubbyholes of rock, he thought he heard someone calling his name. He paused and cautiously turned about, examining his surroundings. It definitely wasn’t Heather, who was up on the stairs, busy examining her nails. Frowning, he stopped walking and listened.
On second thought, he didn’t think it was his name after all.
It sounded like someone whispering
“Help.”
CANNERY ROW
ROBIN’S RULE #3: Always support your friends, new and old. You are a part of their safety net and they are a part of yours.
Soap on a
row your
Robin blinked. That didn’t seem like much of a clue. Beth’s envelope contained a piece of paper with the first line and Thea’s envelope had the second.
“That’s
it
?” Thea shrieked as she took the envelope from Beth and looked inside, tipping it upside down as she shook it. They had run out of the warehouse as soon as August told them their penalty was over, and now they were brought up short. “Are they all going to be this hard?”
“We’re already behind,” Beth groaned. “I have no idea what this is supposed to mean.”
“Row your
boat,
” Robin suggested. “Maybe we’re supposed to go down to the beach and find a boat or an oar or something like that.”
“I think there’s a path over that way,” Beth said, gesturing ahead and to the right.
They walked shoulder to shoulder, listening to other kids hooting and hollering. The ground was too uneven to risk moving any faster. Robin could hear the sound of glass breaking somewhere out in the darkness.
“These people party pretty hard,” she said. She’d seen the rows of glittering wine and liquor bottles in the factory, the large tub of ice and bottles of beer. If Beth was to be believed, Cage was on a steroid diet and the bass player in Maximum Volume was a major addict.
Kyle had stuck to water. That was pretty cool. Her dad had always called Kyle a straight shooter. He liked Kyle a lot. So did her mom. Whenever the team had come over for dinner, Kyle would help clean up. She imagined herself inviting him over next weekend for chicken enchiladas. Did he have a girlfriend? If he did, she wasn’t at the party.
Beth was scanning everywhere, searching for clues, although Robin wasn’t sure exactly what she was looking for. Robin didn’t expect to find a boat up here. Beth was serious about winning this hunt, and Robin wondered what her prize would be should they win. She was a bit surprised at what Beth would win; apparently she wanted to get a letter of recommendation for Oberlin from August’s dad, which was the prize listed on her clue paper. Robin had had no idea
“I’m cold,” Heather said. “Can’t we do this faster?”
“
We’ll
try,” he replied.
Toward the back of the warehouse, a spiral of weathered cement stairs was attached to the dock. They led down the side of a chalky cliff, then onto more gently sloping ground. The remains of a red-and-white parking barrier tilted at the head of a narrow, twisting road pointing like an arrow to the water’s edge. Moonlight spilled onto a pitted cement ramp, a boat landing, he assumed, that sloped down and disappeared into the ocean waves.
“Do you see anything?”
He turned around impatiently and glanced up at Heather, who had been trailing behind him.
“Not yet. You can sit on the stairs and wait for me if you want to.”
“Okay.” She said it without a jot of apology.
So entitled.
As he was heading away from the buildings down toward the beach, the silvery tide splashing into inlets and cubbyholes of rock, he thought he heard someone calling his name. He paused and cautiously turned about, examining his surroundings. It definitely wasn’t Heather, who was up on the stairs, busy examining her nails. Frowning, he stopped walking and listened.
On second thought, he didn’t think it was his name after all.
It sounded like someone whispering
“Help.”
CANNERY ROW
ROBIN’S RULE #3: Always support your friends, new and old. You are a part of their safety net and they are a part of yours.
Soap on a
row your
Robin blinked. That didn’t seem like much of a clue. Beth’s envelope contained a piece of paper with the first line and Thea’s envelope had the second.
“That’s
it
?” Thea shrieked as she took the envelope from Beth and looked inside, tipping it upside down as she shook it. They had run out of the warehouse as soon as August told them their penalty was over, and now they were brought up short. “Are they all going to be this hard?”
“We’re already behind,” Beth groaned. “I have no idea what this is supposed to mean.”
“Row your
boat,
” Robin suggested. “Maybe we’re supposed to go down to the beach and find a boat or an oar or something like that.”
“I think there’s a path over that way,” Beth said, gesturing ahead and to the right.
They walked shoulder to shoulder, listening to other kids hooting and hollering. The ground was too uneven to risk moving any faster. Robin could hear the sound of glass breaking somewhere out in the darkness.
“These people party pretty hard,” she said. She’d seen the rows of glittering wine and liquor bottles in the factory, the large tub of ice and bottles of beer. If Beth was to be believed, Cage was on a steroid diet and the bass player in Maximum Volume was a major addict.
Kyle had stuck to water. That was pretty cool. Her dad had always called Kyle a straight shooter. He liked Kyle a lot. So did her mom. Whenever the team had come over for dinner, Kyle would help clean up. She imagined herself inviting him over next weekend for chicken enchiladas. Did he have a girlfriend? If he did, she wasn’t at the party.
Beth was scanning everywhere, searching for clues, although Robin wasn’t sure exactly what she was looking for. Robin didn’t expect to find a boat up here. Beth was serious about winning this hunt, and Robin wondered what her prize would be should they win. She was a bit surprised at what Beth would win; apparently she wanted to get a letter of recommendation for Oberlin from August’s dad, which was the prize listed on her clue paper. Robin had had no idea
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