waves destroyed it?
What had happened to Norm and Josie?
My mind overflowed with questions, but I didnât know how to find any of the answers.
11
Each minute seemed like an hour.
We sat on the fallen tree, listening for another giant wave. I kept the flashlight off, saving the batteries in case we needed to see.
My mind was as weary as my body. The fire, the fear of a tsunami, and my worry about Mom and Dad had drained me of energy as much as climbing the hill and running through the woods had.
Tired as I was, I worried that we shouldnât stay where we were; we ought to keep going. When we first got to the top of the hill, we should have kept running rather than sitting on the bench. That decision had probably been fatal for Norm and Josie. Now we were sitting again instead of running farther inland. Was I making the same mistake twice?
With so many trees down, the next wave would have less resistance. It might travel faster and farther. I fretted and stewed over the possibility, but I didnât move. BeeBee and I were exhausted. If a bigger wave came now we wouldnât be able to outrun it anyway.
I had done my best to save us. Now I sat in the dark, and waited.
The only sound was Pansyâs gentle snoring.
BeeBeeâs head kept drooping down, then jerking back up, the way it does when she falls asleep in the car.
âLetâs sit on the ground,â I said, âand lean back against the tree.â
We sat in the damp sand.
âMy clothes are getting dirty,â BeeBee said, âand my shoes are all wet. Mom wonât like that.â
âItâs okay. Mom will be so glad to see us, she wonât care how dirty we are.â
âI wonder if Daren drowned,â BeeBee said.
âHe should have come with us.â
âIâm glad he didnât.â
The anger in her voice surprised me.
âI didnât tell Mom and Dad the truth about Daren,â BeeBee went on.
âWhat do you mean?â
âHe hits me. At school he sneaks up behind me during recess and pushes me. Sometimes he pokes me with a pencil, and if I cry, he calls me a baby.â
Outrage exploded inside me. I was far more furious at Daren for bullying BeeBee than I had ever been over getting hit myself. I wondered if Daren had picked on BeeBee because she was my sister. That possibility made me feel sick.
âI never told on him because I was scared heâd do something worse to get even.â
Remorse settled on me like a quilt; I felt its weight on my shoulders.
âI know this is a terrible thing to say,â BeeBee continued, âbut if Daren doesnât come back, I wonât miss him.â
I wouldnât miss him either, but I hoped he was alive. If I never saw Daren again I would always regret letting him get away with hassling me for so long. I should have taken a stand with Daren years ago. If I hadnât wanted to confront him myself, I should have talked to a teacher or my parents about the problem.
I had always been afraid to tell him off, for the same reason BeeBee hadnât told a teacher. I feared Daren would get angry and beat up on me. Now I saw that there are worse things in this life than getting thrashed, and one of them is feeling shame for not having the courage to do whatâs right.
I wished with all my heart that I had stood up to Daren when he wrecked my sea picture. With my parents in shouting distance, it had been the perfect chance to tell him to knock it off, but I hadnât done it. Now I might never be able to, and I would always regret acting like a coward.
Iâm not a coward, I thought. I saved us from the fire, and so far weâve survived the tsunami because of me. Darenâs the one who panicked on the hotel stairs, not me.
Why did I ever let him bully me? If I had stopped him years ago when his bullying first began, he might never have picked on BeeBee at all.
âIf Daren escapes from the tsunami,â I vowed,
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