Nim at Sea (11 page)

C
ARLA KISSED
D
ANIEL,
hugged Nim, patted Selkie, and almost patted Fred—all at once and all while she was talking. “Glad to help out. I thought Daniel must be kidding, but you’re for real, all right! You can tell me your story on the way—where is it you need to go?”

Daniel gave her Papyrus Publishing’s address, ruffled Nim’s hair, and jogged back to the dock where the tugboat was waiting.

“We’ve got to do a few deliveries on the way,” said Carla. “The cakes can’t wait! I’ve stacked up the boxes so the sea lion can fit—Selkie, is it? Selkie, can you hop right in there, honey? Just don’t squish the boxes!”

Selkie flopped into the back of the van, in front of the stacked cake boxes. It was cool, and if she sat up high she’d be able to see out the back window. She gave a
honk
of approval.

“And what about this little guy?” Carla asked, pointing to Fred. “He’s not going to climb all over the boxes, is he?”

“He might,” said Nim.

“Okay, Fred, in the front with Fritz. And you too, Nim. Fritz, stop barking. I’m sure Fred’s much nicer than he looks. Buckle up and off we go; we’ve got a bunch of cakes to get where they’re going.”

Fritz was a dachshund, a short-legged, long-bodied dog about the same size and shape as Fred. At first he squeezed himself against Carla, but then he wiggled up against Nim. Fred glared fiercely, and Fritz crawled across Nim to the side window so he could stand and look out, carefully ignoring Fred.

Fred did the same, carefully ignoring Fritz.

A bus went by. It was completely covered by the same
Nim’s Island
picture as the water taxi.

Carla laughed. “Would you look at that! How do you feel about people staring at you all over Manhattan?”

“A bit strange,” said Nim, because it seemed more polite than saying it made her stomach squirm like a tangle of worms.

“So?” asked Carla. “Spill the story. What’s a kid doing in New York City all on her lonesome? Or to put it another way, what’s a kid doing with a sea lion and an iguana and their picture on a bus? You know, I see a lot of strange things driving around this town, but I’ve never seen that before. Now, where did I put the address for that Dalmatian cake? There it is, under your feet. Just grab it for me, will you?”

A yellow car with a
Nim’s Island
sign on the back blared its horn.

“Hey!” Carla shouted back. “I’ve got the real thing in here, so just watch who you’re
honk
ing at!”

Fritz barked in agreement. Fred stared fiercely. Nim began to tell her story.

“Here we are!” Carla exclaimed a few minutes later, turning into a side street and stopping with a jolt. “We’ll have to get Selkie out so I can reach the cake…will you guys be okay while I run it up? It’s only half a block, twelfth floor, this says—won’t take me more than ten minutes.”

“We’ll be fine,” said Nim—but Selkie had seen a pond.

It was a wide, shallow pond in a small park, with a splashing fountain in the middle. Two boys and a girl were standing by the fountain, and a mother and her toddler were slapping at the shallow water at the pond’s edge. Selkie galumphed down the sidewalk, went through a big marble arch, and can-nonballed in. The pond was even shallower than she’d realized, and instead of sinking down she skidded right across to the other side.

The toddler laughed and clapped his hands. His mother whisked him up and stood, ready to run.

“She won’t hurt him!” Nim called, jogging across with Fred and Fritz close behind.

“Okay,” said the mom, and after a while she put the toddler down again to splash and watch Selkie.

Selkie rolled on her back and Nim splashed water over her dusty belly. Fred waded across to the fountain. Fritz followed him, till Fred climbed into the jet of spray so that it bubbled up to tickle his tummy.

“Cool!” said one of the boys.

“Is he yours?” asked the other.

“And the sea lion?” asked the girl.

“They’re my friends,” said Nim.

“Do you belong to a circus?”

“We don’t belong to anyone,” said Nim. “We’re just us.”

But now she could see Carla crossing the street back toward the park. “Fred!” she called. “Selkie! Fritz! Time to get going!”

The kids ran back to the van with them, waving goodbye as they drove off.

Alex saw the Statue of Liberty out her cabin window as the ship sailed past. She had nothing to pack but the pajamas and toothbrush she’d bought and the book that Delia had sent her.

For the first time, she opened her new book and began to read.

The ship gradually slowed to nearly a full stop. The engines were barely purring. There seemed to be quite a long wait before a tugboat towed it to the dock.

Alex began to smile as she read.

The ship docked. Ropes were run out and looped over the bollards on the dock; the gangplank slammed down.

Alex looked up, wishing she were reading the book aloud to Jack and Nim, with Fred, Selkie, and Chica looking on.

People were walking past her window, wheeling suitcases and carrying backpacks.

The mother of the next-door children called, “I asked you to pack this morning!”

The children shouted, “We were going to! But we had tons of other things to do!”

Alex went on reading.

Virginia knocked on the door to tell her it was time to leave the ship and ask if she needed help with her bags.

“No thanks,” said Alex, and went to stand in line to say goodbye to the crew. She went on reading as she stood.

She shook hands with the captain and saw that the family in the cabins next door had lined up behind her. The children looked as bouncy and friendly as they’d sounded through the walls, and Alex wished she’d been brave enough to meet them. She joined an even longer line to show her passport and leave the dock—and very nearly finished her book.

“I do know the ending,” she reminded herself. “At least I think I do.”

Suddenly she could hardly wait to get off the ship and sort out the ending to her even newer story.

“Do you see that woman’s book?” Ben asked Erin.

Erin stared hard. A nasty little shock went through her as she read the title. “Do you think Nim just read it and made everything up?”

“She couldn’t have. She had Fred.”

“And Selkie.”

“It’s still very weird.”

“What’s even weirder is that woman’s wearing pants like Nim’s.
Nobody
has pants like Nim’s.”

“And she hasn’t got a suitcase.”

“As if she got on in a hurry…”

“…like Nim.”

“Do you think it could be?”

“Let’s ask her!”

But by the time all their passports were stamped and bags checked, Alex had vanished.

Ben and Erin followed their parents and the twins out to stand in line for a taxi. The first one to pull in had a sign on the roof: NIM’S ISLAN
BY ALEX ROVER: IN STORES JULY
14!

“That’s today,” said Erin.

“So the only person on the ship who could already be reading it…”

“…is Alex Rover!”

Ben started to giggle. “Can you imagine what she’ll say when she sees Nim!”

“And Selkie and Fred!”

Jack’s plane didn’t go all the way to New York; he had to change planes twice. He rushed to check his e-mail again at an airport computer as he waited for the last plane. This time he went straight to the Trash folder. It was crammed with messages.

As he skimmed down the list, his heart started
thump
ing so fast he could hardly breathe.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Date: Wednesday 14 July, 11:30 a.m.

Subject: Very very urgent about Nim

Dear Mr. Rusoe,

I’m the girl who sent Nim’s e-mails to you before. I hope you don’t think I’m rude, but I think it’s very mean that you haven’t written to Nim yet. Anyway, I thought you’d like to know that the ship’s in New York now and it’s going to dock in about half an hour. We’re getting off at the cruise ship terminal, but Nim and Selkie and Fred jumped off when everyone was looking at the Statue of Liberty.

“Jumped off the ship?” Jack exclaimed.