Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9 Minutes passed, and Ben floated on the couch, his face buried in his arms. The blue sky of the morning had turned a dark, bruised gray. The water had calmed, the churning had stopped. Now Ben just drifted along, like a castaway in the middle of the sea. He had never felt so cold in his life. Or so alone. Ben hadn't even felt this alone in those first weeks after Dad's accident, when he had locked himself away in his room. He had refused to see or talk to anyone, even Ojisan, who had stayed for weeks after Dad's funeral. But in

that lonely darkness, Ben had known that Mom was never far from him. There was always Harry knocking on his door, his coach and his friends ringing the doorbell. Ben had sent them all away. But now he understood how important it had been, knowing that all those people were there for him. Waiting. Now there was nobody. A bitter wind blew. Ben shivered. His teeth chattered so loudly that at first he didn't hear the high-pitched sound drifting from somewhere nearby. Eee, eee. Ben looked up, sure he was hearing things. But there it was again. Eee, eee. He searched the water. Objects floated by: a lamp, newspapers, a huge stuffed teddy bear, bottles, papers, a soccer ball. And about ten feet away, something tiny moved slowly on the water, floating on top of a mattress.

At first Ben thought he was looking at a ragged stuffed animal. But then he noticed the z-shaped tail. And he heard the noise again. "Eee, eee!" Nya! Before he could stop himself, Ben leaped into the water. He swam as quickly as he could, blazing a trail through the wreckage. He reached the mattress and grabbed hold. "Nya! It's me, Ben!" The cat stood there, shivering, staring at him with cloudy blue eyes. "Don't you recognize me?" He'd gone crazy now, Ben realized, if he was talking to a cat. A cat that probably had no idea who he was. But then he saw a kind of flash in Nya's eyes. She limped to the edge of the mattress, and put her nose right up to his face. And she started to purr.

Tears sprang into Ben's eyes as Nya nuzzled him. He felt such a rush of relief, as though this scrawny old cat was a helicopter filled with marines coming to his rescue. He hoisted himself up onto the mattress, and sat with his legs crossed. He lifted Nya and held her against his chest, the way Harry always held her. It was the first second of calm he'd felt since the earthquake. But it didn't last. Because suddenly the water was moving again. The mattress was being carried through the water, fast. Only this time the water was flowing in the opposite direction — toward the sea. What was happening? Ben thought about a trip to the coast the family had taken last summer, one of the best weekends they'd ever had. Mom and Harry had built a gigantic sand castle on the beach. Dad and Ben had bodysurfed for hours, riding giant waves to shore. When the waves lost power, the water

would get sucked back out to sea. The current was so powerful that Dad had to hold Ben so he didn't get swept away. That's what was happening now. The giant wave had lost power. It was being sucked back into the ocean. And it was taking Ben and Nya with it. The mattress plowed through the water, pushing through piles of wreckage. Think! Ben told himself. Soon they would be out to sea! Just ahead, he saw something — a tall, skinny tree poking up through the water. It was his only chance. He'd have a split second to jump off the mattress and grab the tree. Ben lifted Nya, and put her around the back of his neck, like a scarf. "Hold on to me," he told her. He rose up, crouching low on the mattress. Nya dug her claws into his shoulders. But Ben didn't

flinch. He kept his eye on the tree, knowing that the timing had to be perfect. He counted down in his mind, like the numbers on a basketball shot clock: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 … He jumped off the mattress. Nya sprang off of his back and latched onto the tree. Ben reached out and tried to grab hold. But he couldn't get a good grip. His frozen hands slid across the slippery bark. And the water took hold of him and started pulling him away.