Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 NINE DAYS EARLIER… JULY 3, 1916 9:00 A.M. THE ELM HILLS DINER The Monday morning breakfast rush at the Elm Hills Diner was finally over. Chet's feet ached. He was covered in syrup, doughnut crumbs, and bacon grease. His curly red hair was damp with sweat. But he was

surprisingly happy. Uncle Jerry was paying him a fortune to help out at his diner this summer — fifteen cents a day! Chet liked being surrounded by familiar faces and hearing folks calling out his name while he worked. Best of all, he was finally making some friends, his first since he came to live with Uncle Jerry last January. He was staying here for the year, while Mama and Papa were in California on business. Chet was wiping down the counter when the front door banged open. He smiled when he saw Dewey, Sid, and Monty rushing toward him. They came in every morning on their way to work at the tile factory. Chet had seen them at school — the loud boys who were always talking about baseball. But he hadn't gotten to know them until this summer. "Did you hear?" Dewey said, his freckly cheeks red with excitement. "You won't believe it!" said Monty, whose spectacles were fogged up from the humidity. "Let me tell him!" said Sid, pushing his friends aside. He was the shortest of the three, and always in charge. "It was a shark!" And then they all started talking at once.

"A shark attack!" "It was huge!" "Bit off a man's leg!" "There was blood everywhere!" "The man is dead!" "It happened right in Beach Haven!" said Monty. Beach Haven was about seventy miles south of Elm Hills, right on the Atlantic Ocean. Chet had heard about the fine hotels there, and the people who swam in the ocean in their fancy bathing costumes. But he'd never heard of any shark attacks! Uncle Jerry appeared from the kitchen, his bright blue eyes shining and his thick dark hair neatly combed back. The guys always stood a little straighter when they saw Chet's uncle. He'd been a baseball legend growing up here in Elm Hills. He could have gone pro, but he'd hurt his knee sliding home in a championship game. The team won, and Uncle Jerry could never play again. He still limped a little after a long day of work. "What's this about a shark?" he said as he passed out cinnamon doughnuts to each of the

boys. "You fellas aren't trying to fool us, are you?" Chet knew the guys loved to pull pranks. On the last day of school, they'd put a frog in Minnie Marston's lunch pail. She was the prettiest girl in school, but she'd been so mad her face turned an ugly shade of purple. "We're not foolin'!" Monty said, pulling a rumpled piece of newsprint from his trouser pocket. "Look at this!" he said. He handed it to Chet. It was from the New Jersey Herald. The hair on the back of Chet's neck stood up as he read the story. Uncle Jerry read it over his shoulder.

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KILLER SHARK ATTACKS SWIMMER! JULY 2, 1916 BEACH HAVEN, NEW JERSEY Charles Vansant, 25, was attacked by a large shark Saturday, July 1, while swimming in chest-deep water. He and his family were vacationing at the luxurious Engleside Hotel. Mr. Vansant, known by all as a man of exceptional charm and great promise, was swimming with a dog when the attack occurred. The beach was filled with fashionable ladies and gentlemen enjoying the early evening breezes, when panicked shouts suddenly echoed through the air. A large black fin could be seen swimming toward Mr. Vansant. Onlookers screamed warnings. But it was too late. The shark brutally attacked the young man, who struggled to swim to shore. A lifeguard and two men rushed to his aid and finally managed to free him from the water. But he died a short time later of his injuries. This is the first fatal shark attack on