Out of the Deep (11 page)

“I
t looks just like a white castle,” Ashley exclaimed.

“No, it looks like a lighthouse,” Bindy corrected her. “'Cause that's what it is—Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse. It was built in 1858, and, according to this brochure, it stands 56 feet above the mean high water mark.”

When Ashley murmured, “Well, it looks like a castle to me,” Bindy put an arm around her and teased, “You're such a romantic. Maybe
you
should take up acting!”

“No way! I'd rather save whales.”

Steven's voice floated up to them, “Kids, come down the stairway—you've got to see the ocean from here.”

As Ashley and Bindy followed the path toward the stairs, Jack called after them, “Tell Mom and Dad I'll be right behind you guys. First I want to get a few shots up here.” He'd brought his camera to Acadia, but with all the exciting things that had happened, he'd hardly had a chance to take pictures until now.

He checked his camera settings as he moved around to get the best view of the lighthouse. Ashley was right, Jack decided—Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse did look like a miniature castle, rising from a cliff that overlooked the ocean's endless blue-green water. A small roof of red tile capped the big lights at the top of the tower. Once the sky darkened, those lights would come alive, sending out beams like
Star Wars
light sabers. Jack could imagine himself inside the lighthouse, scanning the ocean for tall, masted ships; it would be like living in a postcard. He kept clicking the camera's shutter until he ran out of film.

After their exploration of the lighthouse, they drove to the nearby town of Bass Harbor and found a small restaurant huddled in a row of brightly painted stores. Inside, Jack and Ashley sat opposite their parents while Bindy perched on a chair at the end of the table. Since this was Bindy's celebration party, she'd been allowed to order anything she wanted from the menu.

She set down her spoon and stared ruefully at half of a chocolate fudge nut sundae still in her dish. “Whew, that's enough!” she exclaimed. “Even
I
have a limit. But I hate to waste it.”

“It's all right, Bindy, you can waste it,” Jack told her. “After all, it's your third one.”

To stifle a giggle, Ashley covered her mouth with her hand, getting a bit of chocolate on the tip of her nose. That made Bindy giggle, too.

“Wasting a fudge sundae isn't important,” Olivia commented. “Wasting a life—that's tragic.”

“You're thinking about Alex?” Steven asked.

“Yes, former Lieutenant Commander Alex Turner, the technical wizard with no moral principles. Greed got in the way of that brilliant mind. What a waste!”

“And she's so pretty, too,” Ashley said. “She could have been anything she wanted to be. A model!” When Bindy glared, Ashley stammered, “Not that good looks mean anything! Anyway, Bindy, you said everyone believes you if you're beautiful. Well, no one believes Alex now. She's in jail. Maybe forever.”

“For selling technology secrets to the enemy,” Bindy agreed.

“And that punk Scully is in jail too,” Jack added vehemently. “I hope he stays there till he rots.”

“Take it easy,” Steven told him. “They'll both get what they deserve.”

Olivia reached over to wipe the chocolate off Ashley's nose just as Ashley asked, “Dad, I still don't understand everything about how you found us. Tell me one more time.”

Steven answered, “Luckily, I got back to the room within minutes after you two were abducted. Bindy had been trying to call the police, but they weren't paying any attention to her, and neither would I, at first, and I feel really bad about that now. Anyway, she dragged me out onto the balcony to show me where the boat had gone.” Steven paused. “It just happened that I already had my strongest telescopic lens on my camera, so I was able to see the boat and take pictures of the direction it was headed. After that, everything fell into place.”

“That's the part I want to know about. Keep going, Dad,” Jack urged.

“It all worked out because of our nation's homeland security program—that, and our incredible communications system. I talked to the Bar Harbor police; they called the Navy. The Navy was keeping an active file on Alex, so they knew about the boat she'd bought.” As he spoke, Steven traced circular patterns and lines on a paper napkin with his fork, explaining, “They plugged into a surveillance satellite that within minutes located the tug in the Atlantic. It even spotted the speedboat just when it was docking alongside the tug. The Coast Guard was contacted next, because they already had units patrolling the area. That's it!”

“Amazing!” Olivia breathed.

“And they caught Alex before she could put the replacement part in the new sonar she was selling to the bad guys. That means whales' lives are going to be saved. All because of Bindy!” Ashley exclaimed. “Let's all celebrate Bindy, the hero!”

Looking a little sheepish, Steven said, “I apologize for not believing you at first, Bindy.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Yeah, getting believed. That's always the hard part.”

“You're right,” Steven said, covering her hand with his. “Now I understand what it's like not to be trusted. When I tried to tell the police what you'd said, they just brushed me off. I knew what they were thinking—I was some kind of incompetent who couldn't keep track of a foster child. After all, I'd already been to them twice about you running away, Bindy.”

“And then you called them with this wild story about your two children missing, too,” Bindy said. “So they figured this guy's a nut case, trying to get some attention. Yeah, I've been there.”

All of them fell silent, probably thinking about Bindy's problems with Cole. Ashley asked, “How'd you get them to listen to you, Dad?”

“I made them call Harvard Medical School for the necropsy report on the dead whale. That's when they started to pay attention.”

“Yay!” Ashley cheered, clapping her hands. “What a smart dad I have!”

Steven still looked a bit unhappy, and Jack wondered whether he was regretting all those great pictures he didn't get to take of Spud returning to the ocean. Maybe Olivia was thinking the same thing, because she said, “I know Steven's whale rescue photographs would have been the best, but there was plenty of media coverage about Spud. As the day went on, all the television stations for hundreds of miles around sent reporters and cameramen. The whole rescue is on videotape, so you kids will get to see Spud swimming back to his mamma.”

“And you'll see me, too,” Bindy said.

“What? Swimming back to your mamma?” Jack was trying to be funny, but as soon as he said it he wished he could bite his tongue. Bindy looked crestfallen.

“No. I meant I was on camera. Three of the TV reporters interviewed me about how I got you two rescued.” Suddenly she brightened. “You know what?

I
liked
being back on camera. I decided I really miss it.”

Olivia nodded. “I can understand that, Bindy. You're a natural-born actress.”

 

The stone steps leading down to Thunder Hole were slick with seawater. Careful to keep his hand on the railing, Jack could feel the condensation as he slid his palm down the cool metal. Since his parents had run into Greg in the parking lot, they'd told the kids to go on ahead to Thunder Hole, promising to catch up soon.

Before they left, Greg asked, “You kids know much about Thunder Hole?”

The three of them shook their heads no.

“It's a true natural wonder. Every once in a while a really big wave hits, and the force of it smacking the air inside the hollow cavern creates a clap so loud it's almost like a sonic boom. But it gets cold down there,” he warned them. “Thunder Hole sprays out a lot of water, and with the breeze up like it is now, well, you'll feel the chill. You might want to grab your jackets.”

“We didn't bring any,” Ashley told him.

Olivia brightened. “Bindy, why don't you get those blankets we're going to return to the rangers? I left them in the car.”

“Sure thing,” Bindy answered, backtracking quickly.

Now, as the three of them made their way down the steps, Bindy threw one of the blankets around her shoulders while Ashley draped a second blanket over her head, clutching it under her chin. Jack had already decided that wearing a blanket would look too wimpy. He preferred to tough it out in his T-shirt.

The end of the pathway led to an enormous slab of rock enclosed by a steel railing. Its shape reminded Jack of the bow of a ship. Beneath him, he saw a natural cavern that had been carved, over eons, by the force of waves crashing against rock. The bullet-shaped hollow was deep enough that when the ocean rushed into it, water shot into the air like a geyser, before curling back on itself.

As Jack leaned over the railing, a spent wave retreated; the blue-gray water roiled as if boiling in a cauldron.

“How come I don't hear anything but splashing?” Ashley asked. “Where's the boom?”

“Remember what Greg said. We have to wait for a really big wave before the sound happens. You have to be patient.”

Another wave hit the hole, sending up a spray of water that seemed to burst into a million water crystals, but there was no boom. Jack watched the ocean, shivered, and waited. More swells hit Thunder Hole and retreated. A mist chilled his bare skin, and he could feel gooseflesh rising on his arms. Maybe he should have accepted a blanket.

Suddenly, Bindy grabbed Jack's arm. “Look! Here comes a huge one!” she cried, pointing. “Whoa—this ought to do it!”

He watched the line of a wave swell and curl, pushing toward the shore with mounting force until it hit the hole with tremendous power. A sound like thunder exploded around them, causing spray to shoot so high it seemed to touch the clouds. The water rained back down onto Thunder Hole before receding to the ocean once more. In the silence that followed, Jack heard droplets drizzle off the rocks in tiny waterfalls. “Man, that explosion sounded like a cannon,” he exclaimed. “It was
loud!”

“Hence, the name,” Bindy told him, grinning. Pulling the blanket around her, she squinted into the sea, the wind tousling her hair into languid wisps. She seemed to be thinking about something.

“Hey, Bindy,” Ashley commented, “what's wrong? It's like you got sad all of a sudden.”

“I'm not sad. It's just—oh, I don't know. I was looking out there in the ocean for Spud and his mamma, hoping the two of them would be all right. I guess that made me think of my own mom. I…I miss her. So much.” A flush crept across her cheeks, and Jack could hear her voice tighten. “Sometimes I'm OK, and then I see real families and I feel so
cheated.
It's not fair. None of it's fair.”

Ashley moved closer, huddling against Bindy. “I heard that you got a call from your aunt today. Dad told me.”

“Yeah.” Bindy's face contorted. “So?”

In a voice barely heard above the waves, Ashley asked, “Is everything all right?”

Bindy shrugged. “Everything's fine. Couldn't be better.” She pulled a strand of hair from her mouth, then looked back at the sea. Neither Jack nor Ashley said a word. Another huge wave rolled in, exploding into Thunder Hole and then showering the rocks in a furious torrent. After what felt like forever, Bindy finally spoke. “I might as well tell you what happened. I didn't tell your folks because I didn't feel like talking about it, but….” She took a deep breath. “Cole got into more trouble.”

Jack leaned forward, alert. “What trouble?”

“I don't know all the details. I guess he beat up some player after a football game the other team won. This time a coach caught him doing it. Cole outweighed the other guy by about 60 pounds and hurt him pretty bad.”

“Wow!” Jack breathed.

“Aunt Marian told me Cole has to go for psychological counseling. It's like a court order or something.” Bindy frowned. “Cole tried to lie his way out of it, but when the coach told him he might lose his scholarship if he didn't complete the counseling, he broke down and confessed everything. He even told the coach how he used to hit me.”

Ashley touched Bindy's arm and said, “That's good, isn't it?”

Waving her off, Bindy answered, “So now Cole's in this anger management class and Aunt Marian said….” She swallowed, then went on, “She said she…she wants me back. She said she realized she was wrong. She promised that Cole will be better now.” Bindy laughed, but it wasn't a happy sound. “Like that fixes everything. All of a sudden I'm supposed to be grateful when she tells me she
understands
now. The part I don't get is—” Her eyes filled with tears as she wailed, “Why wouldn't she
believe
me to begin with? I told her what happened—I told her and told her and told her. How come my words weren't good enough? Why wasn't
I
good enough?”

Jack didn't know what to say. Bindy was right—what happened to her wasn't fair. But one thing he learned about having foster kids in his home was that sometimes bad things happened and there was no justice to it, but in the end you just had to go on, somehow. He rubbed his arms and searched for something to say, but everything that came into his mind sounded hollow, even to him.

Quietly, Ashley said, “You know, Bindy, when you were talking about Spud, I thought of a story I heard. It's an Inuit legend. Would you like to hear it?”

“I thought I was supposed to be the performing artist,” Bindy said. “But go ahead, Ashley. Tell your story.”

Pulling her blanket tightly around her shoulders, Ashley closed her eyes and began.

 

Many, many years ago, when the Earth was born, the Great Spirit created the land. Everything he made was good—he placed the sun in the sky to give warmth by day and the moon in the heavens to give light by night. He placed fish in the sea and filled the air with every kind of bird. He made the great bear, and the walrus, and the seal. Then, the Great Spirit made the Inuit people. And because the Great Spirit had a special love for the Inuit people, he became their teacher, showing them how to live by using everything around them.