Island Read Online Free Page A

cove. Nothing was familiar.
    I knew the coves of Nesconset. All of them.
    This was someplace else.
    Where?
    The nearest island to Nesconset was just beyond the horizon line. Twenty-nine miles away. There was also a cluster of small islands near Woods Hole. But that was at least thirty miles to the west.
    I couldn’t have swum that far. Impossible. Even the steamship ferry took two and a half hours to cover the distance.
    Besides, the sun was still in the same spot. I’d been in the water for a half hour, tops.
    “Colin?” I called out.
    I headed up the nearest sand dune. At the top I’d have a better view. My dress and hair were dripping, my feet bare.
    Halfway up, I stiffened.
    Voices. From the other side.
    Muffled. Unintelligible.
    “HELLO?” I shouted, breaking into a hobbing run. “I’M OVER HERE!”
    I crested the dune.
    And someone sprang at me from the other side.

She did it.
You were lucky, Number 209.
    I trust she’s in good hands.

7
    “A AAAAAAGH!” I SCREAMED.
    I bit my attacker’s arm.
    He jumped off. I scrambled to my feet and faced him. He was at least six feet tall. His face was acne scarred, his hair short on the sides and slicked back into a severe ducktail. He sneered at me as he massaged his arm.
    “Who are you?” I demanded.
    “Who are you ?” he said.
    Behind him, a crowd was walking toward us. At least twenty people.
    I scanned the faces. About half guys, half girls. None were familiar. They were chattering excitedly with one another. A couple of them ran off into the surrounding woods.
    “She bit me!” called my attacker.
    “You tackled her blindside, Carbo,” one of the girls called out. “What do you expect, a thank-you?”
    Carbo?
    Some of the kids were snickering. Carbo looked flustered. “I — I thought she was — ”
    “I’m Mary Elizabeth,” the girl interrupted. “Sorry about Carbo. He gets excited easily.”
    Carbo slumped away, muttering something that sounded like an apology.
    “I’m Rachel,” I said. “I — swam here. Through those clouds. The water was unbelievably rough. I was off Nesconset — on this yacht? — and I jumped off, but I thought we were far away enough — we meaning this guy and me — Colin — dark hair, about five-ten? Have you seen him?”
    Mary Elizabeth shook her head. “Nope.”
    “Then he might still be in the water!”
    “We have binoculars — and some strong swimmers,” said a blond guy, wearing a retro-looking bowling jacket embroidered with the name WES. “If he’s anywhere near, we’ll find him.”
    As he jogged away, shouting instructions to the others, Mary Elizabeth looked at me with concern. “You must be so tired.”
    “And lost,” I replied. “Where am I?”
    “Onieron.”
    The name didn’t ring any bells. I tried to picture a map of the bay. But all I saw was a big expanse of blue.
    “C-c-can I use a p-p-pay phone?” My lips were quivering.
    The blond guy was heading back now. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders. “No electricity here,” he said. “We rough it.”
    “Come back to our cabin,” Mary Elizabeth said. “You need a rest and a change of clothes. Maybe a warm bath.”
    “B-b-but I have to go back,” I insisted. “They’re waiting for me!”
    “It’s too late to make the trip now,” Wes said. “Not with that cloud cover. Especially if the water’s as rough as you say it is.”
    “All we have are rowboats and canoes,” Mary Elizabeth said. “Tomorrow morning the clouds’ll be gone.”
    “Tomorrow? But — ”
    “Besides, we’ve already sent for a cab,” Wes added.
    I pictured the look on Grandpa Childers’s face. Looking out to the cloud wall. Thinking I died.
    What about his heart? Could it take this?
    And what about Colin?
    Maybe he was back by now. He’d swum off in the opposite direction. Maybe if he’d kept going, he’d broken through …
    There’s nothing you can do about it now, Rachel.
    Except hope. And pray.
    A warm bath and dry clothes