127 / 195
10
Charlie and Kami both looked to Riley, hoping that he had a solution. Before he could say
anything, a massive rock rose up in front of them.
Charlie grabbed the wheel again, trying to turn the ship around. The wind got stronger. She leapt
around the boat, cutting ropes free, in an effort to let the sail swing around, but it was no good.
She sank onto the deck, as she realised all their efforts were useless. Their ship was doomed.
“JUMP!” Riley screamed.
Kami climbed onto Riley’s back as the two kids leapt off the side of the ship. They landed in the
freezing cold sea, salt water filling their mouths. Charlie started to panic, she couldn’t see, she
couldn’t breathe. The ocean current tugged her body in two different directions, and she felt as
though her body was being ripped apart. Suddenly, she was grabbed by a pair of strong arms,
that she clung to as they dragged `her to the surface. Charlie spluttered, trying to drag in a breath.
Riley had her arm in his grasp, and together they swam towards the cliffs, hoping to find a
shoreline. Kami clung onto Riley, shivering against the cold. They struggled against the tide, and
finally made it to a small beach at the bottom of the cliffs. Dragging themselves onto the sand,
they sat there for a moment, catching their breath. Charlie suddenly began to laugh.
“We got away! We defeated the pirates!” she giggled.
Riley and Kami stared at her as if she was crazy, and then began laughing too.
“Technically, they retreated…. And then they shot a cannon at our ship”, Riley pointed out.
“We still won!” Kami exclaimed.
Before long, the three were rolling about on the sandy ground, shaking with laughter. Charlie
pushed her hand through the sand, discovering something hard beneath the surface. Digging
through the sand, she found a wooden covering under the beach.
“Hey Riley, look at this!” She turned around. But Riley was busy dragging bits of wood from
their damaged ship up from the water’s edge.
“We could build a shelter!” Riley said, as he began sticking pieces of wood into the sand to
create a room. Charlie watched, as the familiar cardboard boxes appeared within the room Riley
had created. Suddenly, she remembered Kami.
“Kami?” Charlie shouted through the dust that was covering the room like a blanket. “Where are
you?”
Squinting, she spotted Kami sitting in a solitary ray of sunlight that made its way through the
broken window. She picked Kami up, and hugged her friend close, as she had on the boat. But