Catching Waves Read online

  He swam frantically to the side and managed to give the surfer a clear path. He sighed with relief, knowing that if he’d caused her a problem he’d have lost precious points for interfering with her ride.

  Kai caught three more waves in that heat, but none of his rides were as good as his first. Still, he thought, that first one was strong enough to move me to the next round.

  Unless, of course, Roger decides to vote me out, he thought as he left the water.

  Kai pushed the unwanted thought from his brain. After all, he wasn’t even sure if Roger knew he was there.

  Kai was on his way back to his chair when he noticed that his father wasn’t there anymore. He looked around for him, then stopped in his tracks.

  Mr. Ford was talking with Sunny — and Raymond!

  Kai turned away quickly, hoping none of them had seen him. No such luck.

  “Kai! Come over here right now!” his father bellowed.

  16

  His father fixed him with a steely glare. “Raymond here tells me he got a very unusual e-mail message earlier this week. The return address is ours. I’m quite sure I didn’t send it.” He folded his arms across his chest. “Well?”

  Kai stared at his feet. “I was the one who sent it.”

  His father sighed loudly. “Oh, Kai, when are you going to learn to mind your own business?”

  Kai dug his toes in the sand. “I’m very sorry, Ms. Pierce, if I’ve caused you any problems because of it,” he whispered. “I guess I kind of invaded your privacy. I’m sorry.”

  No one said anything for a moment. Then Sunny laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. Kai looked up, surprised to see her giving him a warm smile. “Thank you for your apology, Kai.” She glanced at Raymond. “I’ll admit I was shocked when I saw Raymond. After all, I’d spent many years trying to make sure he couldn’t find me.”

  “Really? Why?” Kai blurted. Then he caught himself. “Uh, I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me. It’s none of my business.”

  Sunny gave a small shrug. “It’s okay. I don’t mind telling you.” She held out her arm and pointed to her scar. “You were right about this being from a surfing accident. I got it the day Raymond was attacked.”

  She dropped her arm and sat in her chair. “I was surfing off the coast of Australia. I had read stories about shark sightings in that particular spot earlier in the week, but because other people were surfing there that day, I figured the stories were exaggerated.” She looked at Raymond again. “Obviously, I was wrong.”

  “Anyway, that surf spot was well known for its fantastic barrels. As you probably know, good barrels are often made near coral reefs. Well, long story short, I took a digger on a particularly sharp piece of coral. My arm was bleeding pretty badly, but I didn’t get out right away because I wanted to practice tubing. When the bleeding didn’t stop, I finally got out and wrapped it in a spare shirt.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “I didn’t get out soon enough, though. My blood attracted a shark — the shark that attacked Raymond.”

  Raymond spoke for the first time. He had an Australian accent, Kai realized. “You have no way of knowing if that’s true or not!”

  He turned to Kai. “The water was pretty murky that day, as I recall. I was still learning to surf and found paddling out past the reef pretty tough going.”

  “You were wearing a black wet suit, weren’t you?” Kai put in, remembering the photo.

  Raymond nodded. “Exactly. So there I was, all in black and floundering around on my board in the murk. From a shark’s point of view, I probably looked like a sick fish or something.” He lifted his shoulders. “Easy prey.”

  “But the blood —” Sunny started to say.

  “— may or may not have been a factor,” Raymond concluded. “We have no way of knowing, Sunny! But I do know this. If you hadn’t been there to help me that day, I’d be walking with a fake leg instead of just a limp. And,” he added with a broad smile, “I would never have met my wife. She was my doctor, you see. We fell in love, got married, moved to the States, and have been living happily ever after since.”

  Kai’s father suddenly perked up. “Oh, so you’re married? That’s nice.” He looked at Sunny with new hope.

  Sunny didn’t seem to notice. “I’ve always blamed myself for your attack,” she said. “If my blood hadn’t been in the water, maybe it wouldn’t have happened.”

  “Is that why you gave up surfing?” Kai asked curiously.

  She nodded. “Every time I looked at my arm, I saw that shark grabbing hold of Raymond’s leg. I felt so guilty I couldn’t get on my board again.”

  Raymond looked horrified. “But that’s terrible! You were one of the best surfers on the scene! I never would have let you quit if I had known!”

  Sunny smiled ruefully. “Guess I should have come to see you instead of running away.” She sighed and gazed around at the ongoing surf contest. “Then again, as you can see, I didn’t give up the sport entirely. And who knows? Maybe some day I’ll ride again.”

  “You know,” Mr. Ford said slowly, “I’ve got my longboard here. If you wanted to use it today, I’d be honored to lend it to you.”

  Sunny smiled. “I just may take you up on that, Alex,” she said. “But now, I have to finish running this contest. Kai, would you do me a favor and ask the judges for the names of the winners of the last two heats?”

  “Uh, sure,” Kai said. He started to leave.

  “Hold on, Kai.” His father’s stern voice called him back. “I hope you’ve learned a lesson here today. Just because things turned out right with Sunny and Raymond doesn’t mean it’s okay to butt your nose into other people’s business. What you did could have caused them a lot of pain.”

  Kai hung his head. “I know, Dad.” He looked from Sunny to Raymond to his father. “From now on I’ll think before I act.”

  “Okay then,” his father said. “Now go on and get that list.”

  Kai hurried across the sand toward the raised platform where the judges sat. His eyes fell on Roger — another victim of his thoughtlessness, he realized with a sharp stab of guilt. Well, he knew he couldn’t leave things with Roger as they were now. He climbed the platform and tapped Roger on the shoulder.

  “Excuse me, R. William?”

  Roger regarded him through narrowed eyes. “What do you want?”

  Kai gulped. “I want to say I’m very, very sorry for what happened the other day. I was totally out of line when I gave away who you were. I promise if you come surfing there again, I’ll stay out of the water.”

  Roger blinked. Then he smiled. “That’s okay, Kai. I wasn’t happy with what you did, but I guess I’ve got to accept the fact that people are going to recognize me. Chances are, if you hadn’t that day, someone else would have. And Kai? Don’t clear the waves because of me. You’re a good surfer. I wouldn’t mind sharing the sea with you sometime.” He handed Kai a piece of paper. “You better get this list of names to Sunny, pronto. You’re in the next heat.”

  Kai glanced down and saw that he had indeed moved up to the next round. “Thanks, Roger!”

  “See you in the surf, Kai.”

  Kai grinned. “It’s my favorite place to be!” He started to leave, then stopped. “By the way, Roger, could I maybe interview you for my school magazine?” He put a hand over his heart. “I promise you I’ll only write about what you want to tell me — no snooping!”

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  CATCHING WAVES

  Will Kai learn to keep his nose out of other people’s business?

  When it comes to surfing, fourteen-year-old Kai Ford knows his stuff. He’s been riding the waves since he was ten. He can do grabs, turns, snaps, and other tricks on his shortboard. He respects the awesome power of the sea and knows—firsthand—how dangerous it can be.

  But what Kai doesn’t seem to respect is the privacy of others. Unfortunately, his curiosity sometimes leads to trouble. Will Kai learn the importance of minding his own business before he sticks his nose where it doesn’t belong?

  Matt Christopher is the name young readers turn to when they’re looking for fast-paced, action-packed sports stories. For a complete list of all Matt Christopher titles, please turn to the last pages of this book.

  * Previously published as Crackerjack Halfback

  ** Previously published as Pressure Play