Nim at Sea (12 page)

Nim didn’t ask me to write to you this time, but I hope it’s okay because she’s worried that you’re angryat her about Alex, and she’s my friend so I don’t want her to be upset, so could you please write to her soon? I guess she can check her e-mail when she finds Alex.

From Erin Caritas

Jack felt hot and cold at the same time. He read the e-mail over and over, even though every word was already burned into his brain, especially “jumped off” and “when she finds Alex.”

Then he went down through all the e-mails that had been in the Trash folder every time he’d checked for mail from Nim or Alex.

He found all five messages that Nim had asked Erin to write. When he’d finished reading, he knew that: Nim, Selkie, and Fred had jumped off a ship in the middle of

New York Harbor about two hours ago. They weren’t with Alex.

There were lots more things that he didn’t know, but the most important were:

Did Nim, Selkie, and Fred drown when they jumped off the ship?

If they hadn’t drowned, where were they now?

Where was Alex?

The other things he really wanted to know but would worry about later were:

Why did they get onto the ship?

How did they get onto the ship?

When did they get onto the ship?

Why did Alex leave?

But the most important question of all he couldn’t even ask because no one knew the answer: Would they all be able to find each other?

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Date: Wednesday 14 July, 1:01 p.m.

Subject: re: Very very urgent about Nim

Dear Erin,

Do you really mean that Nim jumped off a ship and swam to land?

I’m arriving in New York 6:00 this afternoon on Flight 123. If you talk to Nim, please tell her.

I’m very sorry I didn’t read your e-mails before.

Yours truly,

Jack Rusoe

P.S. Thank you for being Nim’s friend.

He started another e-mail.

To: [email protected]

The airport loudspeaker crackled. “Passenger Jack Rusoe, please go to the boarding gate immediately. Your flight is about to leave.”

Jack left the computer and raced to the gate.
Five more hours till I’m there!
he thought.

It was going to be the longest five hours of his life.

C
ARLA DROVE
N
IM
and her friends past old buildings, new buildings, buildings of carved stone, buildings of shiny glass, and building after building whose top was high above the clouds. None of them were where Alex’s books were published.

How would I ever have found Delia by myself?
Nim wondered.
And if I couldn’t find her, how would I ever find Alex?

They passed banks, dress stores, camera stores, jewelry stores, postcard stores, hotels, cafés, and stands on the street corners selling handbags or sunglasses or snacks and drinks. They saw flags waving, neon signs flashing, stairs going down into the ground, and steam hissing up from a hole in the street, the way it did from the Hissing Stones when Fire Mountain was getting angry.

They stopped at traffic lights and watched the people crossing. “Isn’t it funny,” Nim said, “there are so many people—and none of them are ever the same!”

“That’s what makes life interesting, honey,” said Carla. “But what I want to see right now is the apartment waiting for this poodle birthday cake. Don’t yap, Fritz, poodles are nice too. Let’s see, if I turn here, go down this street, and now…oh dear, that was exactly what I didn’t want to do. Okay, we’re going to have to park here and walk. You guys can hop out and stretch if you want. Better put Fritz on his leash—has Fred got a leash?”

“He’ll go on my shoulder,” said Nim, because the sidewalks were even more crowded here.

“Okay, don’t go far. I’ll be quick as I can.” Carla opened the back of the van to let Selkie out, grabbed the cake box, and raced off. Nim and the others followed more slowly, with Selkie pressed close to Nim’s side.

On the corner a man was selling pretzels. The pretzels were like bread twisted into knots and were covered with salt. Fred liked salt. He leaned out from Nim’s shoulder and chomped half a pretzel from the stand.

“That’ll be one dollar!” said the man.

I don’t have any money!
Nim thought—but then she remembered the tips from the show that Erin had dropped into her pocket as they got into the elevator. She showed them to the pretzel seller.

“Too much!” he said, taking one green piece and giving her back the rest. Nim bought a bottle of water too, and she still had money left.

They crossed the road, turned the corner—and walked into a solid wall of people. Most of them tried to jump out of Selkie’s way, though they were too jammed in to jump far.

There were giant computerized screens on the fronts of buildings on both sides of the street. Some of the screens had pictures that changed from one thing to another and back again; others had brightly lit words running across them, starting over again as soon as they’d finished.

One of the running signs proclaimed:
ALEX ROVER’S
NIM’S ISLAND
RELEASED TODAY.

Nim felt as if the only things that were real were the feel of Fred’s spine under her chin and the warmth of Selkie’s shoulder.

“Let’s go back to the van,” she said, but now it was hard to turn around.

“Whoof!”
Selkie barked.
“Whoof-WHOOF!”

The crowd shifted just enough for Nim to get through—but then some people noticed Selkie and crowded closer to see.

“They’re from Alex Rover’s new book!”

“They must be filming a movie!”

More people crushed closer against Nim and her friends.

A policeman whistled. Selkie stopped, but the whistle wasn’t for her. It was to make the cars stop so Selkie and Nim could cross, with a long parade following behind.

“Where are we going?” a girl asked.

“Back to Carla’s van,” said Nim. “And then to find Alex Rover.”

“We’re on TV!” shrieked a boy, leaping in front of Nim to wave to a man walking backward with a camera on his shoulder.

Some people stopped following, but some came closer to ask about Alex. One man pushed his way through with a pen and a book and asked Nim to sign it. It was Alex’s book—and even though looking at it made Nim feel sorry, ashamed, and confused, when she read Alex’s name she felt a tiny trickle of hope that maybe Alex would still like her after all.

The man kept on asking till Nim scribbled her name across the face of the girl who was supposed to be her.

“Can I have your autograph too?” a boy asked, but just as other people started pulling out pieces of paper, notebooks, and pens, Fred sneezed. Hard.

And everyone stepped back.

Fred looked very pleased with himself as they met Carla and started off again. The van crawled through the traffic. “We’re nearly there,” Carla explained. “What we’re going to do is loop around, drop off this dog-that-looks-like-a-cat cake—stop yapping, Fritz, though you’re right, who’d want a dog that looks like a cat? But this customer asked for it, so that’s what she’s getting, and then we’ll get Nim where she needs to be.”

Carla turned where the road met a wide green park. Nim saw soft grass, flowers, tall trees, and hills. It was like the fresh green heart of this hot, busy city.

In the park, people walked and dreamed, lay on the grass, jogged, rollerbladed, and rode bikes and horses. There were mothers with babies, fathers with toddlers, grandparents with grandchildren, more mothers and fathers with little kids and big kids and almost grown-up kids.

Families!
thought Nim, and suddenly she didn’t want to see any more.

Carla parked in a row of horses and carriages in front of a hotel that looked like a palace. “Don’t go away!” Carla said, letting them all out again to get the dog-that-looked-like-a-cat cake. “I’ll just be a minute!”

Selkie
honk
ed in surprise at the horses. She’d never seen animals with such long legs. A big gray horse whinnied back, and Selkie lolloped over to meet it. “You’re a long way from home!” the driver said to Selkie. “It’s a good thing Mabel likes tourists.” He rubbed the horse’s neck affectionately.

Mabel and Selkie sniffed noses. Fred and Fritz gulped some popcorn they’d found on the ground.

Nim tried to enjoy the horses and carriages, the golden fountain, the palace, the brilliant sunshine, and the green park. But soon she’d be at Alex’s publisher, and if Delia Defoe couldn’t help her, she had no idea at all what she was going to do next.

Carla bustled back, looking flushed and cross. “Turns out they wanted two cakes! Would have been nice if they’d told me when they ordered! So I’m thinking…do you want to go back to the shop with me, and then I can go in to find this Delia with you?”

But Nim couldn’t wait any longer. “We can go in by ourselves,” she said, though she was suddenly more afraid than she’d been ever since she stood at the railing to dive off the ship.

“Okay, then…you didn’t think I was dumping you off for good? I’ll just be about an hour—plenty of time to find out if this Delia gal can help you. Then I’ll come back and see what’s happening, and you can all come and stay with me till you find your friend or your dad or whoever.”

“We can stay with you?” Nim asked, amazed.

“Well, I’m hardly going to let you sleep out in Central Park! For one thing, Daniel would never speak to me again. Though I warn you, at my house, it’ll be a squish.”

Nim tried to say thank you, but her throat was even more choked now than when she’d been afraid. Her new friend got them all back in the van and began driving away from the horses and the hotel.

“Here we are!” Carla pulled up in front of a tall, shining building with Alex Rover’s name hung in a banner across a window display of
Nim’s Island
books. She gave Nim a card, hugged her hard, and patted Fred before opening the back door for Selkie. “Here’s my number in case you need it. Remember, I’ll be back in an hour.”

She pulled back into the traffic, sticking her head out the window to shout, “Don’t worry!”

“I won’t,” Nim lied, and waved goodbye.

Nim pushed the heavy glass door, and when she stepped in, another door followed close behind, so there was only just enough space for her and Fred. Selkie threw herself at the second slot so hard that all the doors spun around, and Nim ended up back on the street where she’d begun.

Nim tried again. This time they all got into the building.

Books in glass cases were on every side, up to the ceiling. Nim knew she was in the right place.

Three men were sitting behind a desk.

“Oh my goodness!” said the first.

“You’d think Publicity could have told us about this!” said the second.

“Let me guess,” said the third. “You must be Nim!”

“Yes,” said Nim. “I need to see Alex Rover.”

The men looked at each other.

“Get Delia Defoe,” said one, and the second man picked up the phone.

“Wait there, sweetie,” said the third, and Nim and Selkie sat down in front of the bookcases. Nim read the titles while Fred and Selkie watched the people coming in and going out through the heavy revolving door.

Elevator doors opened, and a woman stepped out.

“I’m Alex Rover’s editor,” she said. “I appreciate your interest in this book—and I’m very intrigued about how you organized these animals so fast—but Alex Rover doesn’t give interviews.”

“I don’t want an interview,” said Nim. “I just have to talk to her.”

“Most people think Alex Rover’s a man—how did you know she’s a woman?”

“Because she’s my friend,” said Nim. “Or she was.”

“Well, I could give her your message. Why do you need to see her?”

“To say I’m sorry,” Nim muttered, hiding her face against her knees so Delia wouldn’t see her cry.

“Do you mean,” Delia said softly, as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was asking, “that you’re the real Nim? And this is truly Fred, and Selkie?”

Nim nodded.

Delia squatted down on the floor beside her, and Nim told her the story—everything except exactly what she’d said to Alex, because she thought Delia wouldn’t want to help her if she knew just how horrible Nim had been.

At first Delia looked excited, but as the story went on, she looked more and more concerned.

“So now can you tell me how to find Alex?” asked Nim.

“I’d love to,” said Delia. “The problem is—I don’t have any idea.”