motor. Summer sat down behind the wheel and in a few seconds, they were
pulling away from the dock, leaving the cabin behind.
They stayed silent, but it was mostly because the roar of the gassy
smelling engine drowned out all possibility of conversation.
While Summer was driving, cruising at a good pace, her hair flying out
behind her like a scarlet flag, Arabella’s fingers suddenly started tapping
out a nervous rhythm on the back of the boat seats right by June’s shoulder.
She whipped around on instinct and got a face full of Summer’s hair.
“Ack!” June untangled herself, peeling red hairs off her tongue.
When she could finally see, she found Arabella angled towards her, her
legs tucked up on the seat, leaning as far away from the back of the boat as
she could. Her face was only a few inches from June’s, and while that did a
number on her in the form of her stomach clenching and her body coming
alive with a buzzing energy, she realized quickly that Arabella’s face had
gone totally white.
“Are you okay?” she shouted over the infernal roar of the smoky, ancient
motor. “We really aren’t going to drop you off somewhere and make you
swim for your life, or anything close. There are life jackets on board too.
The boat might be old, but it’s steady. Summer’s a good driver.”
Summer, who probably couldn’t even hear half of what June had just
yelled, gave them a thumbs-up with her left hand, taking it off the wheel for
just a second.
“Mpheeder!” Arabella shouted.
“What?” June yelled back.
“Mider!”
“Murder?” Summer screamed. “No, no, I was just kidding about that.”
“Bliiiiiiider!”
June didn’t know what a blider was for the life of her, but she finally got
the message when Arabella practically leaped up onto her seat, squatting
like a duck chased from the water by a hungry crocodile. She pointed