Dark Day in the Deep Sea (3 page)

J
ack threw their book into his pack and quickly ran to join Annie. “Hi,” he said to the three men.

“Don’t be afraid,” said Annie. “We come in peace.”

The three men kept gawking. “Who—who
are
you?” one of the sailors sputtered.

Jack and Annie walked closer. “I’m Jack, and this is Annie,” said Jack.

The man in the bow tie stepped forward. He had a long mustache and a big, friendly smile. “My name is Henry,” he said. “I came ashore to look for rare butterflies, plants, and shells. But it
seems I have found a rare creature called a Jack-and-Annie instead.”

“And we’ve found a creature called a Henry,” said Annie, giggling. “That’s what we named a pteranodon when we went to the time of the dinosaurs.”

“I beg your pardon?” said Henry.

“Uh … she’s teasing,” said Jack.

“What an unusual wit,” said Henry, his eyes sparkling. “Well, you have not only found a Henry. You’ve also found a Joe and a Tommy, the two able seamen who rowed me here.”

“Hi, Joe and Tommy,” said Annie. She gave the two sailors a big smile.

But Joe and Tommy didn’t smile back. They were both scowling. “Where are you from?” Joe asked suspiciously.

“Frog Creek, Pennsylvania,” said Annie.

“Where is that?” asked Tommy.

“America,” said Jack.

“How nice!” said Henry. “Why are you here?”

“We, uh … we’re on vacation,” said Annie.
“We’re camped with our family back there somewhere….” She waved vaguely.

“Vacation?” said Henry.

“Our parents like to vacation in really out-of-the-way places,” said Annie.

Henry chuckled. “Americans!”

“Are you a scientist from the HMS
Challenger
?” Jack said. He was eager to change the subject.

“Why, yes,” said Henry. “I am one of the team trying to solve the riddles of the deep.”

Jack loved the sound of that:
riddles of the deep
. “What kind of riddles have you solved so far?” he asked.

“Well, for one thing, we’ve learned that the ocean floor is absolutely teeming with life,” said Henry.

“You didn’t already know that?” asked Annie.

“We thought it was probably the case,” said Henry. “But mind you, many people cannot imagine that life can exist in the icy darkness of the
deep. In fact, some still believe there is no floor to the ocean at all! They think the sea goes down forever.”

“Are you serious?” said Annie. “Ha. I guess you’ll be letting them know that most of the ocean is not more than two miles deep. Of course, some ocean trenches are deeper than six miles. But—”

“Annie …,” said Jack.

“My, you know a lot about the sea,” said Henry, looking at Annie with curiosity.

“Well, I know that mountain ranges and volcanoes are down there, too,” said Annie.

Jack leaned in close to Annie. “Stop showing off,” he said under his breath.

“Um … I mean
maybe
, just
maybe
,” Annie said to Henry. “Of course, I’m only guessing.”

“You are a very good guesser,” said Henry. “On our voyage, we’ve collected many volcanic rocks from the deep.”

“Cool,” said Annie. “How’d you get them? Mini-subs?”

“Mini-subs?” asked Henry.

“You know, they carry you down into the deep sea,” said Annie.

“Annie!” said Jack between his teeth. He gave her a look that said
Just stop!
Jack was pretty sure mini-subs hadn’t been invented by the early 1870s. He quickly changed the subject again. “And you study butterflies, too?” he said, pointing to Henry’s net. “And seashells?”

“Indeed I do,” said Henry. “In fact, I came ashore to search for a rare shell just now. And I think I may have found its cousin.” He opened his book to a page that showed a pencil drawing of the shell.

“Would you like us to help you look for more?” asked Annie.

“Why, thank you,” said Henry. “But I have quite successfully found what I came for. We’ll be going back to the ship now.”

“Oh,
please
, can we visit the HMS
Challenger
?” Annie blurted out.

“Out of the question,” said the sailor named Joe.

“Well, I’m—” said Henry.

“Sir, the captain would
never
approve of bringing children on board,” Tommy broke in. “It’s absolutely against the rules.”

Henry looked at Jack and Annie. Jack didn’t want to break any rules, but at the same time, he really wanted to visit the ship. “We’d really like to learn more about sea exploration,” he said. He gave the scientist a hopeful smile.

“We promise not to get in anyone’s way,” said Annie. “And our parents like us to learn new things.”

Henry turned back to the two seamen. “Surely such bright and curious young people should be
allowed to visit our ship,” he said. “Since we’ll be drifting and dredging in this area all day, we can return them to shore before nightfall.”

Joe and Tommy frowned at each other. But Joe finally gave a quick nod.

“Yay!” Annie said.

“Thanks!” said Jack. “We promise we won’t cause any trouble.”

“See that you don’t,” said Henry with a smile. “Joe and Tommy, would you mind lending our two visitors your life preservers?”

“Never fit ’em, sir,” said Joe.

“Well, we must do what we can to keep them safe,” said Henry.

The two seamen grudgingly handed Jack and Annie their bulky vests.

So these are old-fashioned life preservers!
thought Jack. The vests were made of blocks of cork tied together. Even though Jack buckled his tightly, it hung low on his body, almost slipping off.

“I’m afraid they are rather big,” said Henry, “but still they might save you should we capsize.”

“Don’t worry,” said Annie. “We’re really good swimmers.”

“We should go now, sir,” Joe said impatiently.

“Yes, yes,” Henry said. “Let us be off!”

Joe and Tommy pushed the rowboat into the shallow water. While Jack and Annie had been talking with Henry, the water had turned choppy. Dark gray clouds had rolled in, hiding the sun.

“Climb in after me!” Henry told Jack and Annie, and they followed him into the rowboat.

Jack’s backpack wouldn’t fit over his life jacket. So he clutched the pack to his chest as Joe and Tommy pushed the boat farther into the ocean. The sailors jumped in, picked up their oars, and began rowing back to the ship.

“
T
he wind’s against us!” Joe said as he and Tommy rowed.

Even after the boat moved past the breakers, it kept bouncing up and down on the swell of the waves. Water splashed over the sides and soaked Jack’s clothes. But Jack wasn’t worried about the wind or water. He was worried about being seasick, because waves of nausea had started to come over him.

“Sorry it’s a bit of tough going!” Henry said.

“We can take it!” Annie said.

We hope
, thought Jack. The last thing he wanted to do was throw up, especially in front of Joe and Tommy!

“We should get back just in time to see the men haul up this morning’s catch!” said Henry.

“This is so much fun!” said Annie, her eyes shining as the little rowboat bobbed up and down.

Jack wasn’t having any fun at all. To keep from being sick, he gripped his backpack, closed his eyes, and gritted his teeth.

“Every day we make new discoveries,” said Henry. “Off the coast of Argentina, we found over one hundred new species! Giant worms several feet long! Shrimp the size of lobsters! Caught them in our nets, didn’t we, Joe?”

“Aye,” said Joe as he pulled on the oars. “But the creature that’s never been caught is the one these mates should be worried about!”

“What creature is that?” asked Annie.

“The great monster,” answered Tommy.

Jack opened his eyes. “What? You mean like a shark?” he asked.

“No, no, lad, ’tis much worse than any shark, even the twenty-foot tiger shark that’s been following us,” said Tommy. The sailor blinked nervously.

Whoa, twenty-foot tiger shark?!
thought Jack. He looked at the dark water for a shark fin.

“Aye! This monster’s much bigger than
any
shark!” shouted Joe. “They say it looks like a cross between a dragon and a gigantic starfish.”

“Nay, more like a floating nest of snakes, mate,” said Tommy with a shudder. “They say it’ll curl around your body and strangle you to death!”

“A floating nest of snakes?” Annie asked.

Jack gulped. He turned to Henry. “Have
you
seen the monster?” he asked the scientist.

Henry shook his head. “I’ve never seen it,” he said. “But a few of our crewmen claim to have glimpsed something monstrous in these waters just yesterday.”

“Don’t be scared, mates!” said Joe. “If we see a monster, we’ll hurl our harpoons at ’im!”

“We’ll shoot ’im with our cannons!” said Tommy. He and Joe laughed loudly.

Maybe the sailors on the ship are just trying to scare the scientists
, Jack thought hopefully. Why else would they be laughing?

When they reached the HMS
Challenger
, the rowboat drew alongside the big ship, rocking on the water. Jack gripped his pack tighter as more waves of seasickness washed over him.

“You go first, mate!” Joe said to Jack. “You’re looking a bit green.”

Clutching his pack under one arm, Jack grabbed the sides of the ladder. He held on tightly and climbed from the wooden hull of the ship up to the top deck. Annie came after him, then Henry, Joe, and Tommy. When they were all on the deck, the two seamen hauled up the row-boat.

Jack took a long, deep breath. Though the large ship rocked in the wind, it wasn’t nearly as bad as the small rowboat’s movement on the waves. Looking around the deck, Jack saw teams of sailors working. Some were coiling thick ropes. Others were hauling up strange-looking buckets.

Jack turned to ask Henry what the sailors were doing. But Henry was staring at a tall man in a white uniform and a heavyset older man in a dark suit who were walking briskly toward them. The two men were frowning.

“Oh, no,” murmured Henry. “Prepare to meet thy doom.”

“Who are they?” asked Annie.

Before Henry could answer, the man in white shouted, “What have you done
this
time, Mr. Moseley?”

Jack moved closer to Annie. He clutched his pack to his life vest.

“Well, Captain, I—” started Henry.

“Goodness, what have you brought up from
the sea now, Henry?” the portly man asked. “A four-legged, four-armed creature of the deep?”

“Yes, Professor. It’s a Jack-and-Annie from America,” said Henry. “I found the creature vacationing on the island.”

The portly man smiled. “Oh, I see. I thought perhaps it was the monster that was sighted by some of the men yesterday.”

The monster again!
thought Jack.

“This ship is
not
a place for children, Mr. Moseley,” the captain said gruffly.

“Yes, I know, sir,” said Henry. “But these two are extraordinary. They hardly seem like children at all. They’re quite independent and have great knowledge of the sea. I thought it might be permissible to bring them aboard for the afternoon and then return them to shore.”

“I’m afraid it goes against all the ship’s rules,” said the captain.

“It’s not Henry’s fault, Captain,” Annie piped up. “We begged him to let us visit your ship.”

“Ah, did you now?” the portly man asked, his eyes twinkling. “Why is that?”

“We love the ocean!” said Annie.

“And we’d really like to learn more about sea exploration, sir,” said Jack.

“Well, you’ve come to the right place!” said the man. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Professor Thomson, the scientific director of the
Challenger.
”

“The professor is one of the world’s most renowned experts on the ocean,” said Henry.

“Wow,” said Annie.

“Well, I don’t know about
that
,” the professor said modestly. But he put his thumbs in his vest and began speaking as if he were giving a lecture. “Since the beginning of time, the secrets of the deep have been hidden from us. But now, with our expedition, we have learned many things.”

“Like what?” asked Jack.

“We have used miles and miles of steel wire to measure the depth of the sea,” said the professor.
“We have lowered thermometers to measure temperatures in the deep. But perhaps most important of all, we are learning about the amazing creatures who live in the dark regions far beneath the ocean waves—”

“That is all well and good, Professor,” the captain broke in. “But I want these children off this ship immediately! Before the weather gets worse. Do you hear, Mr. Moseley? Off the ship!”