Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 AROUND 3:00 THE EDGE OF THE BEACH GALVESTON, TEXAS It seemed every kid in Galveston was in the water—swimming, splashing, floating on a raft or tub, racing a toy boat. Charlie and Sarah waded to the

middle of the street, where the water came halfway up Charlie's thighs. "This is the spot," Sarah announced, plopping the washtub down. She climbed inside and sat with her legs crossed. Charlie gave the tub a spin, and Sarah whirled around. Charlie floated around on his back while Sarah spun around in the tub. After a few minutes, he stood up and looked out at the Gulf. It had probably been churned up during the storm. But it was already calming down. Most days, the water seemed like a big, rippling pond. The tub had stopped spinning, and Sarah drifted toward Charlie. She sighed. "Don't you think it would be fun to have a real ocean?" she said.

"This is a real ocean," Charlie said. "The Gulf is part of the Atlantic Ocean." "I know that," Sarah said, giving Charlie a look. "I meant with big waves we could ride on top of. Like in Hawaii." They'd learned about Hawaii in school. It was a bunch of islands in the Pacific that had just become a territory of the United States. Their

teacher had showed them a picture of someone in Hawaii riding on top of a giant wave on a long wooden board. Sarah stood up in the tub and held out her arms, like the people in the picture. "Look! I'm riding the waves!" she shouted. And then she teetered. "Whoooa!" She plopped into the water with a loud splash. Charlie laughed. He held out his hand and pulled her to her feet. "Look," she said, giving Charlie a nudge. "There she is." Charlie followed Sarah's gaze over to three girls from their class last year. His cheeks got hot when he recognized the one in the middle: Rosemary Cline. Charlie had a crush on her, and Sarah knew it. Rosemary had one of the best singing voices in their class. Plus, her dad was kind of famous; he was the chief of Galveston's weather office. He'd come to their class last year to give a talk on

weather. It was pretty interesting. He talked about different storms. Sarah asked about the big hurricane that had recently hit Puerto Rico, a big island not so far from Florida. They'd all heard about it, of course. Thousands of people were killed. Mama's church group collected clothes and money to send there. "Hurricanes are the most powerful storms in nature," Mr. Cline had said. "But we never have to worry about a big hurricane hitting Galveston. It's impossible." Everyone in Galveston knew this—Mr. Cline was always being quoted in the newspaper. Charlie looked out at the Gulf now, remembering how Mr. Cline had explained it to them. He said that most big Atlantic Ocean hurricanes follow the same path. They form off the coast of Africa, chug across the Atlantic, then sweep over Florida and the East Coast of the United States.

"These hurricanes can't reach Galveston, because the winds will always pull them north," he said. "And if a powerful storm does enter the Gulf, Galveston can't be damaged. This part of the Gulf is too shallow for there to be truly powerful waves." Charlie looked at the puny little waves now. It would be fun to have huge waves to ride on. But it was better not to have to worry about hurricanes. Sarah gave Charlie a little shove. "Go say hi to Rosemary." Charlie shook his head. He liked Rosemary. But that didn't mean he actually wanted to talk to her! Plus, the overflow was ending—the water starting to rush back into the Gulf. Soon the streets would be dry, and kids would be building sand castles on the beach. The current tugged hard on Charlie's legs, like it wanted to take him for a ride.