Breaking Point by Lesley Choyce Read Free Book Online Page B

someplace safe. That was just a little rainstorm. The real thing will come later. I think we’re going to have to find some way to get help.”
    â€œNo,” she said emphatically, pushing me away suddenly. “I’m not going back there. I know where they’ll send me now, and I know it’s not going to be some summer camp.”
    She didn’t need to worry. We were on an uninhabited island. The weather was going to be god-awful. If they had been looking for us, they would give up the search when the real storm hit.
    We were on our own.

Chapter Thirteen
    Despite the sudden change to good weather, I felt in my bones that things would only get worse. I pulled the kayak even farther up into the forest and lashed it to a sturdy spruce tree. I tied the two paddles as well and opened the sea hatch, hauled out the tent and the few supplies. Brianna didn’t look too happy.
    â€œCameron, I think I’m going to have to continue on without you,” she said.
    â€œYou can’t do that,” I said.
    â€œDon’t worry. When I get ashore, I’ll have someone phone and tell them about you. Someone will come and get you.”
    â€œIt’s not that,” I insisted. “It’s you. You can’t go back out there.”
    It was still windy but very warm, and the sun was out.
    â€œI got you ashore, didn’t I? I can handle this,” she said. “I’ll go toward the mainland and hug the shoreline. I got this far, didn’t I?”
    I was getting mad at her now. “You can’t go back out there,” I shouted.
    â€œI don’t like people telling me what to do,” she snapped back. “And I don’t like being shouted at.”
    I calmed myself. “If you go back out there now, I think you might die.”
    â€œNobody would even care,” she said, now sounding more hurt than angry.
    â€œYou got that wrong,” I said. “You need to stay here with me tonight. We have to ride this storm out. Tomorrow we’ll come up with a plan.” I didn’t know what else to do to make her see my point, so I kissed her hard on the mouth. She pulled away a little at first but then suddenly changed, and she kissed me back.
    In about an hour, the wind came up stronger, and the sky began to get darker. We wandered into the forest. I knew the tent wasn’t going to be enough to keep us dry and safe. Halfway up a small rocky hill, there was a stone outcropping facing away from the wind. We stopped. We were both exhausted.
    â€œHere,” I said. “This is the best we’re going to find. We’ll tuck in there and wrap ourselves in the tent. “It’s gonna be one hell of a night.”
    She smiled at me—almost a shy smile. The girl was tough, but she had no idea what we were in for. I had been outside once at Lawrencetown Beach when a hurricane had come ashore. You could lean into the wind, and it would hold you up. It was wild. Stuff was flying through the air, and I got hit in the head with a piece of asphalt shingle that gave me a large cut. They said that it was a Category 2. What Chris had said was that this one might be a Category 3. That could be deadly.
    There was a flat area covered with moss under the rock outcropping. It wasn’t exactly a cave, but it was the best shelter we were going to find. I rooted in the pack and found the water-proof container with five matches left.c “I’m gonna make a fire,” I said. “Get us dry and dry out the tent. And then we’re going to stay put right here until it’s all over.”
    She nodded. I began to gather dry twigs and pine needles from beneath the rock and bigger branches from nearby. Without saying another word, Brianna began to gather more dead wood. It took two of the precious matches, but I got a fire going. All the damp wood made for too much smoke, but soon I had a big blaze with flames leaping when the wind gusted. I wanted to go back