Outlaw in India by Philip Roy Read Free Book Online Page B

out of here. Maybe the safest thing was
     to keep pretending to be a sailboat. But it was painfully slow. Besides, the sun
     would be up soon and we’d have to submerge then anyway. I bet the navy was
     keeping an eye on the water with helicopters. They would spot us easily if we
     were anywhere near the surface. I decided to crank up our engine speed now to
     twenty knots and sail as far as we could before we’d have to go under and slow
     down.
    With the hatch open, and even with the engine running, Iwould normally have heard a helicopter in the air above us. But now I
     couldn’t. If there was one, I would never know. And there was one! I only found
     out because I had climbed the portal to pee over the side. I saw the lights in
     the sky and I saw a floodlight almost tracing our wake. “No!” I yelled, and
     climbed in, pulled the hatch down and sealed it, then ran for the controls and
     hit the dive switch.
    Had they seen us? I didn’t know. Maybe. They must have known we were there if
     they were out at night with their search lights on. Man, they were taking this
     search really seriously. Now I couldn’t risk sailing even on battery power. I’d
     have to go down deep and pedal. Shoot!
    So, I submerged to three hundred feet and climbed up on the bike. I kept sonar
     on to know where we were going and make sure we didn’t run into the bottom. At
     least I knew there wouldn’t be a submarine after us. And there hadn’t been any
     ships close enough to pick up our sonar when we went down, so I felt confident
     we were hidden enough to use it. I sighed. We were going so slowly now. But at
     least we were going. As much as I liked Kochi, I didn’t want to be stuck there
     forever. I felt badly for Radji though. I wondered if he had gone to sleep in
     his little hiding spot in the wall. Then Hollie jumped up and went into the
     stern again. He wanted to play that game.
    “I can’t play now, Hollie, I have to pedal.”
    But he wouldn’t give up. He came back and stood beside me and stared at
     me.
    “He’s not there,” I said. But Hollie kept staring. “Oh, forHeaven’s sake!” I jumped off the bike and followed Hollie into the stern.
     This time he stood at the compartment where we kept our root vegetables. It was
     the one compartment we didn’t heat. I opened the door and turned on the light.
     “See? There’s nothing here but bags of potatoes and carrots and onions.” But
     Hollie went to the pile of potato bags and barked. “You’re being silly, Hollie,
     barking at potatoes.” And then I saw a foot sticking out beneath one bag, and I
     recognized the white sneaker. It was Radji.
    At first I thought maybe I was dreaming. I couldn’t figure out how he could
     possibly have snuck inside. Then I realized that he must have run past me in the
     dark of the warehouse and I never heard him. No wonder he hadn’t been too upset
     about us leaving him behind; he had no intention of being left behind.
    “Radji!” He didn’t move. “Radji! I can see your foot.” The foot disappeared
     beneath the potatoes. I was about to give him a blast. I was about to tell him
     how he should never have come because it was too dangerous, and how I couldn’t
     look after him and what was he hoping to find by coming with us anyway? And I
     wondered how to take him back. But I sure didn’t want to go back there now. Then
     I remembered telling him not to let anyone stand in the way of his dreams. As I
     stood and stared at the pile of potatoes concealing him, I realized that he
     hadn’t, and I had to smile. Radji had done to me exactly what I was trying to do
     to the India navy. He had outsmarted me.

Chapter Eight

    “ CAN YOU SWIM ?”
    “Yes.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Yes.”
    “Can you hold your breath under water?”
    “Yes.”
    “How long?”
    “I’m not sure. Maybe ten minutes.”
    “Nobody can do that. See how long you can hold it now. Take a deep
     breath.”
    Radji took a deep breath, shut