Deep Trouble II by R. L. Stine Read Free Book Online

demanded. “Can it?” Sheena
sneezed. Dr. D. said nothing. It can’t get any worse, I repeated to myself. And then it did.

 
 
24
     
     
    The sky darkened to black. Then lightning crackled overhead.
    KABOOM!
    A roar of thunder shook our tiny lifeboat.
    Rain poured down on us. Heavy sheets of cold rain.
    “I don’t believe this!” Sheena wailed. She wiped strands of wet hair from her
face.
    We sat glumly in the boat. The waves bounced us. The wind blew across our
drenched skin. The rain hammered down on us.
    Lightning ripped across the sky.
    Dr. D. gazed up at the heavy, low clouds and frowned. “It’s not going to let
up anytime soon,” he announced.
    Great.
    Meanwhile, the lifeboat filled up with water.
    Dr. D. tried to scoop the water out with his hands. “Help me bail, kids!” he
ordered. “If the boat fills up too much, we’ll sink!”
    We furiously scooped the water out. But the rain filled the boat as fast as
we could empty it. What were we going to do?
    I took off one of my sneakers and tried bailing water with it. It worked
better than nothing. So Dr. D. and Sheena used their shoes to bail too.
    The rain roared down for hours. “I’m so tired!” I complained. I threw down my
shoe. “I can’t bail any more water. I can’t!”
    “Don’t give up, Billy,” Dr. D. scolded. “We’ll make it.” He didn’t sound as
if he really believed it, though.
    “Don’t worry,” he said, shouting over a boom of thunder. “We’re going to be
all right.”
    I don’t see how, I thought. If we don’t starve to death, we’ll sink! There’s
no one around to save us. No one…
     
    The rain finally stopped. By then it was night. Totally dark. No moon. No
stars. Just a black sky blanketed by clouds.
    “I’m so cold,” Sheena whined.
    “I’m hungry,” I added.
    “I’m seasick!” Dr. D. admitted.
    “I’m all three,” I told them. “Plus thirsty, tired, and wet.”
    We all laughed. What else could we do?
    When things get this bad, it suddenly seems ridiculous!
    We huddled together for warmth. My stomach growled.
    But I was so tired… so tired. I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I fell asleep.
    I woke up with a THUMP. The boat had hit something.
    I opened my eyes. And stared out at a silvery, pale world.
    I’m dreaming, I thought. I closed my eyes again.
    But then I felt my wet clothes sticking to my skin.
    No, I realized. I’m awake.
    My eyes flew open. Sheena and Dr. D. sat up, yawning and stretching.
    “What’s happening?” Sheena murmured.
    “The boat’s not moving,” I realized. “It stopped.”
    I reached out to touch the water. Instead of water, my fingers sifted through
sand.
    Dry land!
    “Hey!” I cried. “We’ve landed somewhere!”
    The sky lightened a little. The sun was just rising. I could begin to make
out where we were.
    “Land!” Sheena shouted. She jumped out of the boat. “Hurray! Land! I don’t
believe it! I don’t believe it!”
    Dr. D. stood up and stretched. “Wow! That feels good.”
    The sun shone brighter now. I threw myself on the sand. “Bake me, sun!” I
sighed.
    “I wonder where we are,” Dr. D. said softly, gazing around.
    “Wherever we are, I hope they’ve got food,” Sheena added.
    Our lifeboat had landed on a sandy beach. Up a slope I could see a stand of
palm trees. Other than that, nothing. No docks, no boats, no houses.
    “No sign of any people,” Dr. D. noted. “I’m going to take a look around.”
    “I’m coming too,” I said.
    “Me too!” Sheena said.
    We followed Dr. D. along the beach. We walked along the edge of the water.
    “Look! A coconut tree!” Sheena pointed to a tall tree on the beach. A few
coconuts nestled in the sand beneath it.
    “Let’s open one,” she insisted. “I’m starving!”
    Dr. D. grabbed a coconut and smashed it against a rock. The coconut split
open.
    Sheena and I pounced on it. We picked up the broken pieces and chewed the
coconut meat.
    “Feel better?” Dr. D. asked, sipping coconut