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Then he rowed back to the boat.”
    As Cash finished telling the family her story, tears welled up again.
    Marco asked, “Do you know what the cargo was that Fox hid on the island?”
    She hesitated half of a second before shaking her head. But it was enough of a pause to make Marco wonder what—if anything—she might be keeping from them about Fox’s supposed stash.
    John said, “I think that’s more than enough for tonight. Cash has had a long day.”
    Sarah blurted, “But she hasn’t told us about the—”
    â€œThat’s enough,” said John. “There will be time in the morning.”
    Marco knew what Sarah was going to say: But she hasn’t told us about the message in the sand.
    And he wished John hadn’t interrupted Sarah, because he wanted to know about it as much as she did.
    Cash swiped a hand across her eyes and nodded. “If it’s okay with you, I’d rather just tell you all now. The rest of it, I mean.” She glanced around the cave. “I think I’ll sleep better.”
    The hair rose on the back of Marco’s neck, making him wonder if he really wanted to hear the rest after all.

 
    3
    Sarah handed Cash another bottle of water. Cash took a drink, cleared her throat, and told them more about her past few days.
    â€œI crawled up on the beach. Fox got back to the sailboat. Sarge lifted anchor and began to sail out of the lagoon.” Cash wiped away some tears. Her voice broke as she added, “It was so hard to watch him sail away without me.”
    Yvonna patted her arm.
    Sarah wondered what she would do if she’d been left all alone on that island. This place creeped her out enough and she had her dad with her the whole time.
    Nacho asked, “What did you do then?”
    â€œI remembered the last thing Sarge told me. And that he’d put something in my pocket,” Cash said.
    â€œWhat was it?” asked Nacho.
    â€œHis magnesium fire starter. He’d taught me how to make a fire in his backyard in Louisiana. And so I made a fire. A big one to get me through the night.” She sucked in her lower lip.
    Marco asked, “What? Did something happen in the night?”
    She nodded. “Well, in the late afternoon there was this awful howl. I can’t even explain it.” Goose bumps rose on her arms. “It freaks me out to even think about it.”
    Marco’s gaze met Sarah’s. She said, “I think we’ve heard it too.”
    Cash said, “It was so scary.”
    Marco and Sarah both nodded.
    â€œI couldn’t sleep, I was so scared.” Cash shrugged. “So I sat there all night. I only moved when I had to put more wood on the fire. Finally, the sun came up and I fell asleep. It was hot when I woke up. So I walked down to the water.” She smiled. “This place is so beautiful. Like a picture from a postcard.”
    John said, “That it is.”
    â€œBut then my stomach started growling and I realized I didn’t have any food. I knew there was a bag of food out there and I just had to swim out to get it.” She lifted and lowered a shoulder. “But I’m not that great at diving. I was trying to talk myself into it when I heard something in the trees.”
    â€œSomething scary?” asked Nacho.
    Cash smiled. “No, for once it wasn’t. It sounded like a meow . I thought it can’t be. I didn’t really want to go barefoot into the trees, but then I heard the sound again. And if there was a cat, I wanted to find it, so I wouldn’t be alone.”
    Sarah understood that. She glanced down at Ahab and rubbed his head.
    â€œBut I never had a chance to find out. I got two steps into the trees and I heard this WHOOSSSSSHHHH! and a white net fell on me.” Cash shivered.
    Sarah looked at her dad. He raised his eyebrows a little, like he didn’t exactly believe the girl’s story. Sarah asked, “What kind of