Josephine Routledge is the twin sister to John B Routledge. Their dad goes missing during the search for the famous shipwreck, the Royal Merchant. The twins and their friends, JJ, Pope, and Kiara, come across the sunken boat that holds a clue to the...
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Look, for nine months everybody has been trying to get John B and I to believe our dad is dead. They say that we're in denial. Whatever. Denial's underrated. You should really try it sometime. Because as John B always tells me, it's highly effective and it's only denial if you're wrong.
I kept flipping my dad's compass open and closed as I swung in the hammock. This had been and always would be my favorite spot. It was always in the shade and provided a perfect view of the docks and the water. It was the perfect nap spot. JJ and I usually fought over it.
I snapped the compass closed again before letting out a heavy sigh and glanced up at the night sky through the tree branches.
It didn't make any sense. Dad was the last guy who would ever get lost at sea. He taught John B and I everything we know about boating and how to use a compass and even the night sky to find our way home. So, the compass coming back to John B and me is a sign. I was pretty sure John B saw it as a sign that Dad was still alive and that we were gonna find him.
But, me? I wasn't so sure it meant that he was a hundred precent okay.
John B starting up the HMS Pogue woke me up the next morning. I groaned and tried to roll over on the hammock, but the sun was starting to rise and was getting in my face.
I rolled off the hammock, where I spent the night, and slunk my way into the Chateau. I fell face first onto the pull out bed, not having the energy to make it to my room, and felt myself slowly drifting back to sleep.
I was going to drown.
My chest was burning and the waves were dragging me further under the water. I was so desperate to take a breath, but the only thing stopping me was knowing that I was surrounded by water and not air.
I didn't know how much longer that knowledge would stop me.
Just as I felt like my head was going to explode, I opened my mouth and took a breath, only I still couldn't breath.
I tried to suck in any air, but I just kept suffocating on water, getting further and further away from the surface and further and further down into the darkness of the ocean.
I gasped and sat straight up, a hand over my chest as I tried to regain my bearings. I wasn't drowning. I was on the pull out bed in the Chateau. I was okay.
Just as my heartbeat was returning to normal, a pounding on the front door caused it to spike again, and the voice following caused it to stop altogether.
"DCS! I know you're in there!"
I was frozen as I stared at the door. Would they just barge right in and demand that I come with them? Would they take me away to the mainland without so much as a goodbye to my friends? Would I ever see my brother again?
The window rattled as JJ jumped and hit it with his hands. I screamed at his appearance and the loud noise he caused.
