Chapter 6

The cubs were hiding in the bush when the man finally woke up. It must have been at least fifteen minutes since he fainted and the children scampered into the bushes. They had been discussing quietly of him fainting just because he saw kids. They knew he would wake up soon because he kept on stirring now and then.

He propped himself up on one arm to gather his bearings. This gave the girls a better chance to examine him. (before he was laying on his face) He was a rough shape, wrinkled and dirty, he looked like he had been through a lot. He looked untrustworthy and unkempt. He had a fearsomely white beard, so bright it almost glowed against the dark, floral background. He had a single tuft of that bright white hair, curling up at the top of his head.

“Ugh…” the man whimpered. He tried to lift himself up off the leafy ground, but fell in dizziness. He needed to rest for a few minutes after fainting, and even Della knew that.

“We must go help the poor old man!” Della whisper-yelled at her sisters, starting to creep around the bush. “No!” Elmi whisper-yelled, almost too loud, swinging an arm out to stop Della. The man raised his head a bit, wondering if he heard something. Eh, it’s probably just the wind. He thought. There was no wind today.

“He might be a black magic wizard!” Elmi finished. Kaylin, Annabel, and Della looked at her with an amused expression on their faces. “You’re too superstitious, Elmi,” Kaylin stated. “Well,” Elmi said, trying to look as protective as she could. “I can’t have you going out there to help this mysterious man, let alone on Arkk! Have you ever heard of stranger-danger?”

Della opened her mouth to protest, but she knew her sister was right. Now, they were lost on an island with a strange, untrustworthy looking man, and no hope of finding their boat before he caught them.

The Cubs sat down and shuffled a little closer to the bushes. They heard footsteps walking closer towards them. They curled up in balls and hoped so badly that he would not see them. That he would glance so quickly at them, he would not see them or not glance at them at all. He broke through their shield of hopeful wishes so easily.

“Kids?” He asked in a scratchy voice. They could feel him bending over them, but the dared not look back. They curled frozen, trying to make him think they are not there and they were never there in the first place. “I see you.” This scared them so badly they looked up to him just so he would not say it again. He sounded to the Cubs like a voice that had been searching for them it’s whole life.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” The man said. That’s what everyone says, don’t they? Elmi thought, not saying it out loud for the fear of him recording her voice and using it for dark black magic.

“Kids?” He repeated. (They were still looking at him) “Wait…” He said and screwed up his face. “Elmi, Annabel, Kaylin and little …. Um…. Della?”

The girls were stunned.

Chapter 5

“Seagulls, Annabel! SEAGULLS!” Kaylin screamed, shaking poor Annabel by her sweater. “SEAGULLS, AUAUAUGH! I AM SO HAPPY!”

Elmi and Della were rejoicing also, just in a calmer fashion. After Kaylin finished shaking her with joy, Annabel crawled over to the edge of the boat and stooped her head down as to see better. Just where the water met the sky, there was land. It looked blue from the distance, but Annabel could see it fine with her glasses. “We’re headed towards Fuzz!”

It may have been a mistake to offer more good news after the excitement of seeing seagulls, for when she told her sisters, Kaylin immediately grabbed her and shook her harder and longer than before. “Okay, okay, Kaylin,” Annabel said. “But, you need to settle down before we hit land.

That did not happen. It wasn’t because they wouldn’t settle down, it was because they did not hit land. An hour went by.Just as they were making out the outlines of trees, rocks, and beaches, a large speedboat whizzed in front of them. The big wave it made towered over the Cubs, shadowing half the boat. They shoved over, but Elmi was too late. The wave crashed down hard on the little boat and tipped them all over the bench onto the floor of the boat.

Elmi’s hips and below were soaking wet. “It looks like you-” Kaylin started, trying to hide a laugh. (And doing a bad job) “I DIDN’T PEE MY PANTS! YOU KNOW THAT!” Elmi yelled, her face turning red. “Well, you’re going to smell like…” Kaylin trailed off. She was looking oddly at Annabel.

Annabel looked horror-stricken. The fear in her face made her sisters cringe. When they saw what she was looking at, they cringed harder. The big wave pushed them into the second layer of the barrier. The second layer flows to the place they dread going: Arkk.

Fuzz floated further from view. Every second they floated, they went faster. Momentum built up quickly in the second layer and by dark, Arkk was in sight. Crunch. They hit land. But, this land was not the large island Arkk, it was one of the many small side-islands that are too small to map.

“Okay, guys,” Elmi said, carefully stepping out of the boat. “Not all of these small islands are inhabited, but we still ought to be careful.”

They quietly crept through the bushes and black sand. Elmi heard a stick snap under a foot some way away. “Shh,” she whispered. They were extra careful, but the other creature was not. The creature definitely sounded human from all their steps.

Suddenly, an older looking man appeared from the bushes. From the sound of his scream, he sounded more surprised to see them than they were to see him.

Chapter 4

“I want some breakfast!” Della said loudly. (Not that it matters because no one can hear her for a couple miles around)

“Yes, let’s eat,” said Kaylin. They rummaged in the snacks backpack. Della took out an apple, and Kaylin took out a sleeve of crackers. Della was about to take a big, juicy bite, when Annabel yelled at her to stop.

“What, Annabel?” Della asked, lowering the apple from her mouth.

“You can’t just eat, eat, eat!” Annabel shouted, probably louder than Della. “We need to start rationing out our food! Though it may only be one or two more days ahead of today before the barrier brings us to either of the islands, we won’t have enough food to last if you eat like that!”

“Eat like this? Having a healthy breakfast?” Della asked.

“Yes!... Well, no. What I mean is, we can’t eat all our food in one day. If we do that, we will be hungry for the rest of the time. We’re going to have to ration out our food. As I’ve already stated.”

“Okay, so what do we eat?” Kaylin asked, not really following the conversation from before. “I suggest two small items per meal. For example, a cracker, or a slice of apple. In that case, we would all have to eat a slice.”

“I’ve got a pocket knife in the snack backpack if that would help with cutting,” Elmi said unexpectedly. Della, Kaylin, and Annabel all looked at her suddenly, like they didn’t know she was on the boat. She had been very quiet since the talk of food.

“Elmi! Oh yes, what would you like to have for breakfast?” Annabel said, quickly. She figured that Elmi should decide on breakfast just so that she would not feel like they had forgotten her.

Elmi seemed surprisingly calm and careless. “I guess I’ll just cut up and apple into quarters and you can feast on a cracker or two each while I’m at it.” Then, quietly, Elmi rummaged through the backpack, removed a mini knife and took the apple Della was offering her. Kaylin held out the sleeve of butter crackers for everyone to take. Still in silence.

Once they had finished their small, continental breakfast, they decided to pass the time of the morning away with singing and chatting. At one point, Annabel had to yell at Della about rationing when she took a big gulp of water. “Don’t be picky, Annabel. The fish-poo-ocean-water is still drinkable...right?” Della stated.

“Della, salt water just makes you more thirsty, and after a while, it can make you sick,” Annabel replied. It was funny to think after all the times the Cubs had gone out to sea, that Della still hadn’t learned this simple fact.

By lunchtime, they were all more hungry than usual. They tried to shrug it off, but their stomachs kept reminding them with loud gurgles. Eventually, they gave up and had some cheese cubes and crackers. Two of each.

Chatting brought them past the sunset, and having no supper, they ate some crackers before bed. Kaylin’s stomach growled for the fourth time. It would not let her fall asleep. Maybe just one cracker… no! NO! I will not be tempted by my own hunger! Kaylin thought furiously. But then again… hmm. She was about to crawl over to the backpack when she saw Elmi and Annabel were also awake. Tired eyes on the snack backpack. Eh, If they can wait, I can wait.

Della woke up… or did she? I don’t remember falling asleep… Della thought. She slowly sat up, her hunger was starting to get to her. She was sitting on Elmi’s lap again. Elmi was awake, trying to shift over to Annabel without upsetting Della. It wasn’t working.

Della made a long exhale. It dramatically grabbed Elmi and Annabel’s attention. “Oh, little Della, you’re up!” Elmi observed. “Why, yes I am,” Della said drowsily, yawning. Unfortunately, during her yawn, she made a loud ‘aauauhh’ noise and woke up Kaylin.

“Whups! Sorry, Kaylin,” Della said quietly.

Kaylin rubbed her eyes. Oh, yes, Kaylin remembered inwardly. I was on my guardian’s boat in the middle of nowhere… with only my sisters to comfort me. Which was not too bad for them. Living at an almost reasonable amount of food per day, chatting, singing, pretending to draw, and talking about the other islands. Well, Fuzz mostly.

The man that had kidnapped them from the horrible orphanage in Arkk, was actually the reason that the Cubs met Bear. The police were in close pursuit of the kidnapper when he became desperate for escape and stole an expensive, fast speed boat on the docks. After a few hours of terrifying driving, the kidnapper abandoned the cubs near Bear's house on the island Kenol. They ran into the bushes as not to be seen by the police, who were tight on the kidnapper’s tail. In some ways, the children appreciate the kidnapper rescuing them from the evil orphanage. But, they still have horrible memories of Arkk.

Elmi prepared a small breakfast for her sisters and they had a boring rest of the day. They were all out of fresh foods and had to eat only crackers for lunch and supper. Boredom couldn’t take them over completely, for they were still quite shocked of their situation.

Once it was finally sundown again, the kids were not tired. They laid down and at least rested to make sure they would not be too tired for the morning.

It was an unusual sound that woke them up. Seagulls. It gave them a jolt of morning happiness because seagulls meant land.