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"Why did Sean have to break his stupid leg?" Lani muttered "We need Simber"

"Simber couldn’t transport all of us anyway," Alex pointed out weakly

"The safest way out is by fixing the ship," Florence said "We don’t kno far we are frooing to harm us They could be friendly, like on Karkinos"

"Friendly people don’t hide," Sky muttered She looked at Alex "Mean people and scared people hide"

Alex shifted uncomfortably He wasn’t sure if her statement was aimed at him, but he’d learned to assume most cryptic comments were And it was true--Alex had a tendency to hide when he was scared to confront a probleirl That’s how he ended up in this current predicament with Sky They talked at, about, and around each other rather than directly with each other He kneasn’t right, but he didn’t kno else to function He had to focus on leading his people out of this mess There simply wasn’t time for difficult relationships But he ht, of course," Alex said carefully, eyeing her to see her response

She slance his way But then she recovered her serious approach to the issue at hand "I don’t think there’s enough food on this rocky island to sustain very et to work on this ship and have people keep watch See if he or anyone else approaches us Don’t forget how scary Florence is when you haven’t seen anything like her before"

Florence popped her biceps "Right Don’t ever forget"

Alex nodded "It’s probably just someone in the same predicament we’re in A lucky victi on how you look at it" He looked around to assess his teaine we’ll run into hiet to work?"

"We should at least have a lookout," Lani said, wringing out her hair, which was soaked with rain by now "I’ll do it I’d feel a lot better about this that way"

"Great," Alex said "We can take turns" He looked up at the sky It was growing darker The clouds weaved restlessly together

Lani ran a few yards away, climbed up a tall rock formation and perched on top of it The steady rain beat down on her She held her knees and mopped her eyes with her sleeve

"Florence," Alex said, "what are we looking for?"

"Whatever we can find to patch this ship together Planks, sheets of metal Waterproof stuff Cloth for sails, ropes, tools--you na it to me and Copper And let’s make it beautiful and creative, Unwanteds! That’s our specialty, after all" She stood up, a giant against the s for you to carry, you kno to find led impatiently, excited to explore the shipwrecks that littered the area

"All right, go," Alex said with a grin as they bounded away "Stay together and be careful! There could be sea critters about" He thought briefly about the eel they’d fought on Karkinos and wondered if it had any friends out this way, lurking and waiting for a ain

Everyone scattered, so boats and wreckage, and others heading out toward the rocks in the water to see what lay below the surface

Alex watched as Sky followed her brother into the water He wished he could follow her He longed to talk with her the way they had before things got complicated Was she really over hihed and joined Ms Octavia They swam carefully amidst the rocks and headed toward the weathered stern of a sunken ship that just barely stuck up above the water

They couldn’t see ot close Once they reached it, they dove down and followed the line of the ship’s side, Octavia going first The ship rested at a forty-five-degree angle, its snout planted firmly in a bed of rocks and , but Octavia lit several highlighter couide the at the beautiful sides of the near-perfect ship He wondered how it ca like it in the waters or on any of the other islands they’d visited

Nestled in the rocky sea bottom nearby was an enored when the boat sank Alex knew he’d have to check that out later It looked fascinating, and he couldn’t iine what it was used for It probably wouldn’t be of any use to the shipbuilders, butit on shore sometime

Ms Octavia reached the sea floor, swam across the bow and up the other side Alex went after her, peering through the water and peeking into the ship’s many orifices Schools of fish flashed and disappeared in and out of the openings Alex wondered how they all knew just when to turn It was like they were dancing,to soripped the ship and the rocks nearby As Ms Octavia swam upward, Alex knew he’d have to surface soon--even all of Ms Octavia’s training had not enabled him to hold his breath forever