With Jessie leading the way, the children hiked along the Pineapple Bay beach.
This is a good snorkeling spot,” Jessie said. “Pineapple Bay is peaceful, and there are no sharks! My guidebook says there are some lava formations near the shore. So what are we waiting for? Let’s get our equipment on.”
Henry and Jessie helped the younger children slip into their life jackets. They helped one another adjust their goggles so the water wouldn’t leak in. Finally they all walked backward into the water wearing their fins, just like experienced snorkelers.
The Aldens snorkeled along the shore in shallow water. This made it easy for the younger children to stand up if they grew tired. The children waved at one another underwater and pointed to a school of parrot fish that swam right by. Jessie took Soo Lee by the hand, and Henry took Benny’s hand. They pointed down to underwater sea fans swaying in the gentle current. Several tiny angelfish fed on other plants.
The Aldens floated along, enjoying the underwater world of colorful fish and rocks.
After a while, the children stood up.
I saw lots of minnows!” Soo Lee said. “I tried to touch them, but they swam away.”
Let’s take a little break right now,” Jessie suggested. “When you’re snorkeling, it’s easy to forget the time. We don’t want to tire ourselves out or lose track of where we are.”
Violet pushed her mask up on her forehead. “I’ll stay on the beach with Soo Lee and Benny if you and Henry want to snorkel some more.”
Jessie smiled. “Thank you, Violet. Henry and I took that special snorkeling class in Florida. I’d like to go farther on, out by the reefs near the rocky point. I just wish we had those special maps Cousin Mary told us about. We’ll be back in about twenty minutes, okay?”
The younger children settled on the deserted beach and began to build a sand castle. Jessie and Henry snorkeled farther out to the coral reefs. After a while, Henry waved Jessie over. He pointed to something up ahead. Jessie caught up with Henry. She and her brother were in deep water now. They were strong swimmers and good snorkelers. They knew how to stay afloat without getting too tired.
I think I just spotted some kind of underwater cave down there, Jessie,” Henry said while treading water. “At least that’s what I think it is. The tide is coming in, and the water’s getting rough, so it’s hard to see what’s down there. Want to take a look?”
Jessie bit down on the mouthpiece of her snorkel and swam by Henry’s side. An underwater cave! That would be something to see.
Henry swam above the cave, which looked to be five or six feet below the surface. “I’m going to dive down, Jessie. Here, hold my snorkel.”
Like an arrow, Henry dived down toward the cave entrance. But the current kept him from getting too close, no matter how hard he swam. He thought he saw a metal object inside, but he ran out of breath and came to the surface.
I saw something shiny, like metal, inside that cave, but I couldn’t check it out no matter how hard I tried,” he told Jessie. “I’m afraid we’re caught in a strong current.”
I thought so,” Jessie replied. “I guess that’s why the snorkeling seemed so easy at first. The current carried us all the way out here to Reef Bay. We’d better get out of it right now before we tire ourselves out and get in trouble.”
Henry and Jessie swam across the current as they had been taught. Their plan worked. After a few minutes, they were close to the shore again. They were so glad when they felt solid ground beneath their feet.
Whew,” Henry said. “Too bad I couldn’t get down to that cave. I’d like to find out what that silvery object was. I guess I’ll have to scuba dive down there if I get a chance.”
Jessie took several deep breaths in a row. “I’d like to find out what that was, too. Hey,” Jessie said, waving to a figure up on the nearby hillside. “Somebody’s watching us. Can you tell who it is?”
Henry squinted, but the person stepped away. “Whoever it was is gone. Well, never mind. Let’s head back to Pineapple Bay.”
Jessie and Henry walked along the shore for nearly fifteen minutes until they reached the rocky point that separated Reef Bay and Pineapple Bay.
I guess it would be safer to climb the rocks the way we did last night,” Henry said.
Oh, I think I see Benny up ahead,” Jessie said when she and Henry stood at the top of the rocky point. “At least, I see a speck moving around the beach.”
Sure enough, the speck on the beach turned out to be Benny. He was running up and down the beach and skimming flat stones over the water. Nearby, Violet and Soo Lee were putting the finishing touches on their sand castle.
There you are!” Benny cried when Henry and Jessie joined him. “Did you see any sharks?”
Henry chased Benny and lifted him into the air. “No. Did you?”
Benny laughed. “Not on the beach, silly!”
Jessie put away the snorkeling gear in her duffel bag and pulled out a pair of binoculars. “Let’s go back up to those rocks. I want to take another look over Reef Bay to see if we can figure out where the cave is. Let’s leave our snorkeling gear here in this bag. There’s not a soul on the beach to worry about.”
The children walked a bit until they reached the rocky point. It was much easier climbing to the top during the day than it had been the night before.
Here.” Henry handed the binoculars to Benny when the children reached the top of the ledge.
There’s a boat out there where you’re pointing, Henry,” Benny said.
Henry bent down to help Benny focus the binoculars.
Benny held the binoculars steady. “Now I see the boat better. It’s a little red sailboat, only the sails are down. Someone is swimming near the boat, but I can’t tell who it is.”
Jessie checked her watch. “We should be getting back. Grandfather’s going to call us this afternoon from Honolulu. I don’t want to miss his call.”
The Aldens climbed down from the rocks. They walked along the shore until they spotted the sand castle the younger three children had built.
Where’s our snorkel bag?” Violet asked. “You put it down right by our sand castle, didn’t you, Jessie? I hope the ocean didn’t wash it away.”
Jessie shook her head. “The water is calm here. Besides, the sand castle would have been washed away, too, and it’s not even wet.”
The children walked back to the palm trees behind the beach. There was no snorkel bag to be seen.
Jessie was upset. “I should’ve been more careful. I thought it was fine to leave our bag here since no one was around.”
Soo Lee, being the littlest Alden, noticed something the other children had missed. She pointed down at the sand. “Someone was on the beach. Look at the footprints. We don’t have such big feet.”
Sure enough, a set of footprints led away from the sand castle into the rain forest behind the beach. Whoever made them had worn shoes or sandals with V-shaped markings — someone with much bigger feet than any of the Aldens.
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