Escaping the Giant Wave (8 page)

Daren glanced around, wondering if all the other people who were watching the fire would heed the warning and run for higher ground.

Nearby, a group of teenagers began debating what to do. “I'm going to stay right here,” one girl said. “If a big wave hits the beach, I'll be able to see it from here, but we're far enough back to be safe.”

Two women hurried past.

“You won't be safe here,” one woman said to the teens. “You need to get as far from the beach as you can. Everyone does.”

The two women got into a pickup truck at the edge of the parking area, started the engine, and drove off toward the town of Fisher.

The girl called after them:“Send me a postcard!”

Her friends laughed.

Daren laughed along with the teenagers, but his laughter felt forced. What if those women were right? It was embarrassing enough that Kyle had found him unconsciousness in the hallway; it would be even worse if Kyle was safe on top of the hill while Daren got hit by a big wave at the beach.

He turned to the man standing next to him, who wore a bellhop uniform from the Frontier Lodge.

“Are you going to go up the hill?” Daren asked.

“Not me,” the man said. “I've heard that song too many times before.”

“What do you mean?”

“The government is always coming around with tsunami warnings that scare away the tourists. People get hysterical, check out of the hotels, and leave town. They don't come back even though the tsunami never hits. I'm tired of the whole thing. It's bad for business.”

If anyone should know about possible danger,
Daren thought,
it was the bellhop who worked here every day.

“If it was really risky to be here,” the bellhop continued, “those men wouldn't be driving around in their van scaring people; they'd be racing uphill to save themselves. This is just another false alarm. It happens all the time.”

A woman standing nearby spoke up. “I worked at the Totem Pole Inn for ten years and my mother worked there before me. In all that time, it never got hit by any tidal wave.”

Daren smiled. So Kyle was wrong after all. Good.

He decided to go down to the water's edge. If he saw a big wave approaching, he could always run away then. Even if the wave caught up to him, he was a strong swimmer. He'd be okay, and tomorrow he could tease Kyle about being a scaredy-cat who ran away from a foot-high wave. Daren liked that idea.

He looked at his watch again. Five-twenty-four. Only six minutes until the tidal wave was supposed to arrive. Daren turned away from the smoking hotel and hurried down the wooden stairs that led to the beach.

Someone had started a small driftwood bonfire. Four people stood near it, gazing out toward the water. Two others gathered more wood and tossed it on the flames.

Their voices buzzed with excitement as they took turns calling out the exact time.

“Five-twenty-five!”

Daren walked past the bonfire and stood as close to the water as he could without getting his feet wet. He felt daring, and brave.

“Five-twenty-six!”

What a day! Daren had never had so many exciting things happen. He had been in an earthquake and a hotel fire, and now he was standing at the edge of the ocean during a tsunami warning.

He looked toward the horizon. None of the approaching waves seemed any higher than the waves that had splashed the shore all day. The bellhop was right. The officials were frightening people for no reason.

The sun was a red basketball as it slid toward the horizon.

Tiny white lights twinkled far out to sea. Daren wondered if the lights were from the
Elegant Empress.

“Five-twenty-seven!” the voices shouted.

Daren kicked off his sneaker and waded into the water. He wished Kyle could see him now. When they talked about this tomorrow, Daren would make Kyle look like a baby.

Someone shouted from the top of the wooden steps: “Hey! You people on the beach! There's a killer wave coming! Get away from the water now!”

Daren froze. Killer wave sounded a lot worse than tsunami. What if he wasn't being brave by staying in the water? What if he was being stupid?

Kyle and BeeBee were not here now; they wouldn't know whether Daren stayed or ran. He could still brag tomorrow that he had waded in the water while they ran away.

The shout came again: “Run, you fools! A killer wave's almost here!”

Daren bolted away from the water. Two of the people who had been watching the bonfire ran after him, ignoring the jeers of their companions.

Daren took the steps two at a time. He reached the top and was racing toward the burning Totem Pole Inn when he heard the voices on the beach yell, “Five-thirty!” A cheer rose from around the bonfire.

Daren kept running.

“I need to rest,” BeeBee said. “I have a crick in my side.”

“We're almost to the top of the hill, honey,” Norm said, “and it's nearly five-thirty. Keep going just a little longer.”

“We made it this far,” I told BeeBee. “Let's try to reach the top before five-thirty. Then we can sit down until it's safe to go back.”

“My feet hurt,” BeeBee said. “I burned my ankle when we crossed the lobby.”

“We'll soon be there,” Josie said. “I see the park bench where we always wait.”

I saw a sturdy bench ahead, the kind with iron legs and wooden slats for the seat and back. When we reached the bench, Norm and Josie sank down on it, clearly worn out from the long climb. Pansy sniffed the grass beneath the bench.

“This is as high up as we can get,” Norm said. “We could keep walking farther inland, but there's no path—just trees and undergrowth that would be hard to get through, so we always sit here and wait until we hear the ‘all clear' signal.”

Josie scooted over close to Norm. “There's room for all of us on the bench, if you don't mind being cozy.”

BeeBee sat on the bench beside Josie. When Josie draped her arm around BeeBee's shoulders, BeeBee rested her head against the woman's plump figure.

“I'll sit in the grass,” I said. I dropped to my knees, then stretched out on my back. Instantly, a wet tongue began licking my face.

“Pansy!” Josie said. “Leave that boy alone.”

“Puppy kisses! Puppy kisses!” BeeBee said.

“Pansy loves kids,” Norm said. “Twice she dug under our fence and ran off; both times she went straight to the school yard down the street to play with the kids. We finally extended the fencing a foot down into the dirt so she can't get out, but she loves it if kids stop and talk to her when they walk past.”

I petted the coarse tan fur with my left hand. I still had the towel wrapped around my burned right hand and I wasn't in any hurry to take it off. “You're a good dog,” I said. “Good Pansy.”

“Someone has made a bonfire on the beach,” Norm said.

I sat up and looked. Far below, a small circle of light flickered against the dark sand, not far from the water's edge. Clumps of people stood near it, looking like miniature action figures. I wondered if one of them was Daren.

“I can see the hotels too,” BeeBee said. “The Totem Pole Inn is still burning, but the fire is nearly out at the new lodge.”

I gazed down at the remains of the two buildings.

“I suppose you lost your clothes,” Josie said, “and your luggage.”

“Yes,” I said.

“I lost Bill,” BeeBee said. “He burned up.” Her lower lip quivered and tears trickled down her cheeks.

“Bill was her teddy bear,” I explained.

“Now don't you cry, honey,” Josie said. “Here, use my handkerchief. It's my favorite one.”

BeeBee took the handkerchief and mopped her face.

“When your parents get back,” Josie said, “we'll take them and you to our place for the night. We have two extra beds and you kids can have sleeping bags on the screened porch. It'll be much better than trying to find a hotel room.”

“Cheaper too,” Norm added. “No charge.”

“Cheap is good,” BeeBee said.

“We can lend you pajamas and clean clothes for tomorrow,” Josie said. “I have an apple pie in the freezer. Won't take long to heat that up.”

“Don't we still have Arnie's old bear?” Norm said. “Maybe BeeBee would like to have that.”

“Arnie's our son,” Josie said. “He has kids of his own now, but he never wanted to keep any of his childhood toys. Yes, I believe the bear is packed in that box in the spare bedroom and in need of a child to love him.”

“That's nice of you,” BeeBee said. “Thank you.”

I could tell BeeBee was relaxing, comfortable with this kindly couple. I was glad to be with them too, but I couldn't stop thinking about the tsunami warning. Was it a good idea to wait here, or should we be running farther inland? Just because there had been false alarms in the past didn't mean that's what would happen this time.

I wished Mom and Dad were on top of the hill with us instead of—instead of where? I assumed they were still aboard the
Elegant Empress
but I didn't know that for sure.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“Five twenty-eight,” Norm said. “If there's a big wave coming, it'll be here soon.”

“Do you know what happens to ships when a tsunami strikes?” I asked.

“I heard about some fishermen,” Norm said, “in Japan, I think it was. They were out to sea when a tsunami went right under their boats and they never felt it. Didn't know anything had happened until they returned home and found their village in ruins.”

“That's right,” Josie said. “So don't be worrying too much about your mom and dad. They're probably safer out on the water than anywhere else.”

A happy shout went up from the people near the bonfire, then died away. It sounded like a crowd at a football stadium.

Norm looked at his watch and shook his head. “Those blockheads on the beach are cheering because it's five-thirty,” he said.

I kept one arm around Pansy as I looked down toward the water.

Norm and Josie didn't speak again. Even the dog sat still, as if she knew we were waiting and listening for something important.

“What does the ‘all clear' signal sound like?” BeeBee asked. “Horses neighing?”

Norm guffawed, and Josie laughed until she had to wipe tears from her cheeks.

“It's a
beep, beep
sound, like the noise big trucks make when they're backing up,” Norm said. “But I'll suggest the horses to the town council. They're so fond of the cows, they'll probably take your suggestion.”

We were still chuckling when Pansy started barking. “Woof! Woof! Woof!”

“What's Pansy barking at?” Josie asked.

“That's her warning bark,” Norm said, “the kind she makes when someone comes to our door.”

Pansy began to tremble, shaking as if she were scared silly.

“What's wrong, girl?” Norm asked. “We aren't at the vet's office.” He patted Pansy but she continued to shake.

That's when we heard the big wave.

A roaring noise like a dozen low-flying airplanes came toward us from the west. We jumped to our feet and looked down toward the ocean.

About a hundred yards from shore, the surface of the water lifted up, rising higher and higher as it approached land. I'd watched TV programs of surfers riding big waves, but this one was ten times higher than any I'd ever seen.

The wave spread sideways as far as I could see. It was not only going to hit Fisher Beach, but also all the shoreline on both sides of the bay.

“Look at that!” Norm said.

It was gigantic and it moved unbelievably fast. There was no point in us running into the woods now; the wave traveled far more swiftly than we could.

The people on the beach who had cheered just moments earlier, now turned away from the water and ran for their lives. The bonfire disappeared. The fleeing people were swallowed up before they ever reached the wooden steps that led to the hotels.

I could see the crest of the wave below us and knew it was not high enough to reach our vantage point. I also knew that if BeeBee and I had not come to the top of the hill, we would have been washed away along with the unfortunate people below us. I swallowed hard, blinking back tears.

We watched the wall of water rise over the top of the hotels, then curl back into itself and crash down on the back side of the burning buildings. In two seconds the giant wave did what the firefighters had tried to do for twenty minutes. The flames sputtered and died under the huge volume of sea water that poured down on top of the hotels.

The four of us stood at the top of the hill, staring down at the incredible wreckage as the wave slid back where it had come from, taking with it pieces of the two buildings and the people who had been near them. A yellow fire engine bobbed upside down on the receding wave, its tires spinning in the air.

My eyes darted back and forth, looking for survivors. Far from shore, a person straddled a piece of lumber, riding it like a horse. I saw objects in the water but couldn't tell if they were people swimming or bodies floating or merely items that had been washed out to sea.

The Totem Pole Inn was a heap of rubble except for the concrete tower that housed the elevator shaft. Two people lay on the flat roof of the tower, apparently carried there by the wave.

Frontier Lodge, blackened from the fire, still stood, but there was now a big boulder where the front door used to be and an uprooted tree leaned crazily off the corner of the roof.

Norm's voice brought me out of my shock. “We can't stay here,” he said. “We must go farther inland. Quickly!”

Josie took BeeBee's hand. “He's right,” she said. “That wave missed us, but the next one might be higher.”

“I'll carry Pansy,” Norm said. He scooped the little dog up and tucked her under one arm. “Let's go!” he said.