Storm Tide by Kari Jones Read Free Book Online

the tide dozens of years ago. This could all be for nothing. The thought makes me so disappointed that I feel like puking. But then I look around. The rock I’m aiming for is still above water, the tide licking around its edges. As I watch, a wave comes in, darkening a patch that had dried in the sun. Hope rises in me again, and the sick feeling is replaced with excitement.
    My destination is only five feet away, but the water is higher than it was even three minutes ago. A wave crashes against the rock. I consider jumping, but if I slipped on the other side, I would hit my head. So I wait until the water recedes again, then launch myself and swim the five feet through the briny water. My fingers scrabble for a hold, and I pull myself up.
    I’m finally on the rock that’s only visible in the lowest tide. It is barely above water now, and it’s covered in purple sea stars. Through chattering teeth, I laugh as I find a small spot free of sea stars to sit on.
    Here are the stars that climb out from the deep.
    I made it. But the rowboat is getting closer—close enough that I can see the wildness in Joseph’s eyes.
    He shouts, “It’s mine! I’ve searched all year.”
    I don’t respond. If he thinks he can scare me away now, he’s wrong.
    Joseph continues. “You and your sister are pathetic. You even left your boat out for me.” He laughs, and my spine tingles. He sounds like the Joker in Batman .
    As he talks, I search with my fingers around the rock face, under the small cracks, anywhere my fingers can go.
    â€œWhat did you think you would find?” I ask as I keep looking, my fingers searching frantically.
    Joseph laughs again. “You don’t even know. Treasure, boy, treasure beyond your imagination.”
    At last I feel something, and I pull.
    A box the size of a man’s hand emerges from a deep crack in the rock. I hug it to myself and shout, “Ellen, help!”
    Joseph is almost upon me.

Chapter Fifteen
    I have no time to stop and worry, no time to think about what might happen if Joseph catches up with me.
    â€œJump,” shouts Ellen. She’s ten feet away. She points to a spot I could leap to. The tide is coming in fast, and everything looks different than it did minutes ago. I have to hurry—before the tide submerges my route back to shore. I take a deep breath, exhale and jump to the next spot that’s still not submerged.
    I look back. Joseph is closing in on me. He could almost reach out and grab my shirt. His face is purple with rage. He’s spluttering madly at us. “You’re ruining a life’s work. You’ll pay for this, you’ll pay.”
    I scramble as fast as I can among the rocks in the shallows, where the boat can’t go, until I reach Ellen.
    â€œHe’s trying to get out of the boat!” Ellen shrieks at me. I turn and see that he’s stuck. The boat is knocking hard against the rocks as the tide rushes in. Soon he manages to steady the boat and climb out. He turns toward us. He looks murderous.
    I grab Ellen’s arm, and together we scramble, crawl, jump and run toward shore. I keep the box clutched to my chest, ignoring how it digs into my chest every time I jump. When we reach the shoreline, Ellen says, “Don’t stop. He’s going to follow us. I have a plan.”
    She runs, circling the rocks, heading for the boat. The boat is floating closer and closer to us. Ellen leads us in a circle heading away from the boat, then turning quickly toward it so that Joseph is behind us. We are between him and the boat.
    With a leap, Ellen lands on a rock and clambers over it. She lowers herself and gets her feet into the boat. She pushes off toward me, and I launch myself into the boat, nearly overturning it. I am still clutching the box. Ellen steadies the boat, and in a second we are clear of the rocks.
    Ellen angles us back toward the deepest rocks, rowing wildly. Her arms pump and