He kicked her a third time. Samantha screamed in pain. She probably had some cracked ribs that would need another dose of fountain water to cure. While her instincts told her to get back to her feet, the pain was too much and she was too little to fight it.

"See you around, kid." She braced for another kick, but he only walked away.

Samantha lay on the beach for a minute or two, trying to breathe. By the time she managed to get on her knees, Mr. Delgado had untied the boat. The waves began carrying it away from the beach. He waded into the water after it. He'd left some of the netting along the side to use as a ladder to climb up.

He stood on the bow for a moment, water dripping off of him. Then he waved. In that moment she wanted to believe he really was her uncle, that he really would come back for them. She didn't have the strength to wave back or to chase after him. She could only kneel in the sand and watch him leave without her.

She watched as the boat drifted farther and farther back into the sea. Mr. Delgado disappeared from the bow. She didn't know where he'd gone until she heard the Lady Jane's motor roar to life. He had said it didn't have much gas left, but perhaps that had been a lie too.

It did at least have enough gas to turn the boat around. In the moonlight she could see only his back as he stood on the bridge, guiding the boat out to sea. "Come back," she whispered. "Don't leave me here."

As she watched the boat retreat from sight, she saw Wendell had been right. The Lady Jane wasn't ready to sail yet. At first she thought it was only an optical illusion that the boat was riding low in the water. Soon, though she realized that wasn't the case. The boat was sinking!

Samantha forced herself to her feet. She kicked off her shoes and then took off her denim jacket. She let the denim pants slip to the ground too so they wouldn't slow her down. Then she charged into the water. Uncle Hector would drown if she didn't.

As she began to paddle forward in the water, she saw the lights of the boat dip beneath the waves. She could only hear the crash of the waves for a moment. Then his scream came through the wind. He was calling her name.

She squinted in the darkness and saw him up ahead, thrashing in the water. For the many hidden skills she did possess, swimming was not one of them. No matter how hard she clawed and kicked at the water, she couldn't get any closer.




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