6 Marooned!

CHAPTER 6 Marooned! We paddle until we reach the island. I jump out into the shallow water and pull the others safely to shore. 'Thanks, Terry,' I say. 'You saved our lives!' 'Don't thank me,' says Terry. 'Thank my underpants.'

'Thanks, Terry's underpants,' I say. 'You're welcome,' says Terry in a high-pitched voice, which I think is supposed to be his underpants. 'What are we going to do now?' says Alice. 'Be marooned,' I say. 'That's what!' 'How do you do that?' says Albert. 'Easy!' I say. 'You sit around on a desert island with no food, no water, no map and no way of ever getting back to the treehouse.'

'That sounds kind of boring,' says Albert. 'Why don't we get rescued by that ship instead?' 'What ship?' I say. 'That one!' says Albert, pointing to the horizon. Albert is right. There is a ship. A big ship.

We all jump up and down and yell and wave our arms like a bunch of wacky waving arm-flailing inflatable tube men at a wacky waving arm-flailing inflatable tube men festival. 'It's not stopping!' says Terry. 'Maybe they can't see us,' says Jill. 'We need to start a fire and make some smoke signals!'

We collect a bunch of driftwood and use a packet of driftmatches to start a driftfire. I rip one of the biggest leaves off a palm tree and hold it over the fire to smother the flames. Then I pull the leaf away and a big puff of smoke puffs up into the sky. But the ship doesn't stop. 'It's not working,' says Jill. 'They probably just think we're having a barbecue. Let me try making a

message!' I give Jill the leaf and she makes three small puffs of smoke that spell out 'SOS'. 'Let me have a turn,' says Terry, reaching for the leaf.