Shipwreck Island by S. A. Bodeen

help it, he would never spend a night in that house.
    Because, for some reason, he had a feeling that whoever had lived there … might just mind after all.

 
    17
    After the hallucination on the beach, Sarah was only too happy to spend the rest of the afternoon helping Yvonna and Nacho set up the camp in the shade. She had hauled a pile of coconuts from a tree down the beach, and then spent the better part of an hour trying to crack one open with rocks, to no avail.
    Then she helped Nacho find driftwood to add to the fire, which was blazing. Sarah sat in the sand next to Nacho, holding a stick out, the skewered hot dog on the end dripping juice onto the flames with a sizzle. She hadn’t noticed him put hand sanitizer on at all since he’d started the fire. Probably because he seemed as worried about safety as he was about germs.
    Nacho said, “I thought you were a vegetarian.”
    She lifted and lowered one shoulder. “Too hungry to be a vegetarian.”
    He sighed. “You just wanted to make my mom feel bad, huh?”
    Sarah’s mouth fell open. The way he said it, straightforward like that—no trace of accusation—made her feel awful. Because it was the truth. She’d picked up the PETA shirt online, but only because she liked animals, not because she wanted to be a vegetarian. “I was mad, I guess.”
    Nacho slowly rotated his stick. “Marco was too. He didn’t want Mom to get married.”
    â€œWhat about you?” asked Sarah.
    He shrugged. “Sometimes she seems lonely. I want her to be happy.”
    Sarah swallowed. She could say the same thing about her dad. “So you’re glad they got married?”
    â€œKinda.” He nodded. “I mean, your house is way cooler than ours. I always wanted more brothers and sisters. But it was hard to leave home. I miss my friends.”
    She hadn’t thought about that. They would have had to leave everything back in Texas just so their mom could marry her dad. At least she got to stay in her own house.
    Before she could say anything else, John and Marco returned. John held the bag aloft. “Look what we found! Fruit!”
    Yvonna exclaimed, “I love mangos!” She took the bag from John and said, “I’ll cut some of these up.”
    Marco knelt in the sand on the other side of Nacho. He shoved a stick into a hot dog, then held it over the flame.
    Yvonna hugged John. “And did you find any water?”
    â€œYep.” John nodded. “A waterfall and a stream!”
    Sarah asked, “Nice enough to swim in?”
    Her dad nodded. “Yeah, we did! It was like an oasis. We’ll go back with containers when we start running low.”
    â€œAnd to go swimming?” asked Nacho.
    â€œDefinitely,” said John.
    Sarah said, “So if we do have to stay here for a few days, it will be safe, right?”
    Her dad nodded. “We have fresh water and fruit, and enough food to last until then.” He smiled. “We were already heading to an island, and I can’t picture a better one.”
    As they sat there, Sarah watched the palms fluttering in the warm breeze, then gazed around at the stunning alabaster sand and sparkling turquoise waves. She had to admit that, as much as she didn’t want to be there, the island was beautiful.
    Nacho asked, “Do you think this place has a name?”
    Yvonna said, “We should name it.”
    â€œIsland of the Blue Waters,” suggested Nacho.
    â€œRight,” Marco scoffed. “Because no other islands have blue water.”
    Nacho crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. “So what do you want to call it?”
    Marco said, “What about Island of Eco Boy and his Hand Sanitizer?”
    â€œMarco,” said Yvonna.
    â€œWhat about Shipwreck Island?” asked Sarah.
    Yvonna quickly raised her hand. “I vote for Shipwreck Island.”
    John smiled at her. “Me