Across the Sea Read online

  PRAISE FOR

  ‘I really enjoyed this book. It was intense and I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. Five stars!’

  Poldy, age 11

  ‘Wolf Girl kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time … I never knew what was going to happen next.’

  Piper, age 13

  ‘Wolf Girl is an exciting and adventurous book. I loved how brave Gwen is, and with the help of her pack she is strong enough to survive anything!’

  Cate, age 12

  ‘I loved it because it was full of adventure. The best thing was the ending, which was so exciting. I can’t wait until the next book.’

  Olivia, age 9

  ‘Each page was more exciting than the last!’

  Leo, age 12

  First published by Allen & Unwin in 2021

  Text copyright © Anh Do, 2021

  Illustrations by Lachlan Creagh, 2021

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or ten per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act.

  Allen & Unwin

  83 Alexander Street

  Crows Nest NSW 2065

  Australia

  Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100

  Email: [email protected]

  Web: www.allenandunwin.com

  ISBN 978 1 76087 904 4

  eISBN 978 1 76106 212 4

  Cover design by Jo Hunt and Lachlan Creagh

  Text design by Jo Hunt

  Set by Jo Hunt

  CONTENTS

  1 A Small Glow

  2 The Lake

  3 Tiny!

  4 Atchoo!

  5 Gulfoss

  6 Pirate

  7 All Aboard

  8 Stowaways

  9 Ham and Strawberry Jam

  10 Sneaking About

  11 Wings in the Night

  12 Safe at Sea

  13 Clearing the Decks

  14 The Cargo Bay

  15 The Docks

  16 Aye Aye, Captain

  It had been several days since we’d fled from Riverside Reptile Park. We had taken paths with tree cover in order to avoid pursuit, but I knew that zigzagging through the wilderness wasn’t getting me any closer to my parents.

  Rupert came to the fireside, leafing through the printouts we had taken from the enemy base where we rescued Sunrise.

  I still wasn’t sure if ‘rescued’ was the right word for it. Maybe it was more like ‘convinced her to leave her mum and dad behind and come with us instead’. I told myself Sunrise was better off without that collar around her neck, being forced to serve the enemy – but I also knew, in my heart, that I simply wanted her with us. With me.

  Had I been selfish?

  I glanced around, but couldn’t see Sunrise with the other dogs. I tried not to get nervous every time she left my sight.

  You have to trust her, I told myself. She wouldn’t just run away again, right?

  Rupert plonked down next to me.

  ‘Find anything?’ I asked him.

  ‘It’s difficult,’ he said. ‘The trucks drive all over the place, and these printouts give routes but not reasons.’ He slapped a page in frustration. ‘They could be carrying loads of rocks for all I can tell.’

  I sighed in disappointment.

  ‘There is a place they all seem to visit eventually, though,’ he muttered. ‘At one point or another.’

  Tiny’s ears pricked up, and I felt like mine did too.

  ‘What place?’ I said.

  Rupert held out the GPS tracker.

  ‘Gulfoss?’ I said.

  ‘Yeah. Looks like a village by the sea, a few days’ walk from here.’

  I felt a small glow of hope flare within me, although I didn’t like the look of the fuzzy blob of land I was seeing on the GPS.

  ‘Is that ice?’ I said.

  ‘Yes, ice and tundra, I think. Not the easiest journey.’

  ‘Nor the easiest hunting,’ I added.

  We had no food left in our backpacks. We’d been surviving day by day on what we could gather and hunt on the go.

  ‘We could try to stock up first,’ Rupert suggested, reading my thoughts.

  As if in answer to our worries, Sunrise appeared from out of the trees and laid a pair of badgers at my feet. Rupert and I exchanged a glance of wonder and amusement.

  ‘Seems like a sign, maybe?’ he said.

  I wrapped my arms around the wolf. ‘Thank you, Sunrise. Do you think we can find any more?’

  Sunrise regarded me with a twinkle in her eye.

  How many do you want? she purred.

  At least our strips of badger – some cooked for humans, some raw for dogs – would keep well in the cold.

  I’m freezing my tail off here, whined Brutus.

  Just keep moving and you’ll stay warm, said Sunrise.

  Easy for you to say, grouched Brutus. You have such nice long fur.

  Sunrise looked at him with amusement. Was that a compliment?

  Brutus growled and looked away. No.

  As we continued on, I remembered the first time I had ever seen snow. I was with my father in the field behind our house. Mum called out to us, ‘Come inside or you’ll catch a chill!’ but we’d pretended not to hear her. We were having fun racing about when something white drifted past my head. I stopped and stared at a strange shape floating in the air.

  As more and more snowflakes had swirled around us, I’d been filled with wonder at their beauty.

  The warmth of the memory vanished as my foot came down in some slushy snow. ‘Yuck,’ I said, shaking it off before it could soak through to my socks. ‘Do you think we’ll reach the village tonight?’

  Rupert’s teeth chattered as he glanced at the GPS. ‘If we keep this pace,’ he said.

  I hoped he was right. I didn’t want to spend another night with us all huddled together in a gully, having failed to start a fire.

  Up ahead, something reflected the sun so brightly that it was hard to make out. As we drew closer, we saw it was an enormous lake that was beginning to freeze over. On the horizon beyond it was the endless sea, and the dark outline of a village on the coast.

  ‘That’s Gulfoss!’ said Rupert. ‘But this lake didn’t show up on the GPS. I thought we could travel in a straight line from here, but we’ll probably have to go around.’

  ‘Let’s have a closer look,’ I said.

  We made our way to the lake’s edge. The ice ran out for some thirty metres before it became water. Walking across it wouldn’t be much of a shortcut, certainly not enough to be worth the risk.

  ‘Too dangerous,’ I said. ‘How long will it take us to …’

  Suddenly, Tiny started yapping. I glanced over to see what had set him off.

  The snow fox took off with Tiny in pursuit.

  I shall catch you! Tiny barked.You will not escape!

  They were heading directly towards the ice.

  ‘Tiny!’ I shouted. ‘Leave it!’

  But Tiny was too caught up in the chase. As the fox dashed onto the ice, the chihuahua followed in reckless pursuit.

  The fox was light and fleet of foot, and seemed to know what paths to take. Tiny may have been tiny, but he was slipping and sliding and landing heavily.

  ‘Tiny!’ I called in alarm.

  The other dogs
circled around me on the shore, barking their heads off.

  You little idiot! woofed Brutus. Get back here at once!

  That creature is nothing but bone and sinew! barked Sunrise. It is not worth the effort!

  Tiny didn’t pay attention. He made an almighty leap for the fox, missed, and landed on a patch of cracks.

  The ice broke beneath Tiny and he disappeared from view.

  I hadn’t thought it was possible to feel any colder, but in that moment a piece of ice lodged deeply in my heart. I went to run to Tiny, but I was stopped by a firm grip on my arm.

  ‘Be careful where you tread,’ Rupert said. ‘Look.’ He stepped onto the ice himself, and tapped his foot on the surface. ‘Where there are fewer cracks, it’s safer. And we should stay close together in case anyone else falls through.’

  We quickly followed a back-and-forth path towards the spot where Tiny had gone under.

  I heard someone yelp – Nosey had lost his footing! And suddenly all the dogs were sliding about, their claws leaving scratch marks across the frozen surface.

  ‘Oh no,’ groaned Rupert. He was looking down at the GPS, broken into pieces.

  I didn’t have time to worry about it – Tiny was still nowhere to be seen. I pushed ahead to the hole where he had fallen in. There was no sign of him there.

  ‘He’s been pulled under!’ I screamed.

  We fanned out, dogs sniffing along the ice, all of us searching desperately. Had Tiny sunk? Was he drowning?

  Then movement beneath the ice caught my eye.

  Tiny’s little face floated along beneath me, caught in some kind of current.

  ‘Here!’ I shouted.

  I ran after him and heard a CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! following my footsteps. The ice was breaking apart behind me.

  ‘Gwen, be careful!’ called Rupert.

  ‘Get the others back to land!’ I shouted over my shoulder.

  I was fast approaching the edge of the ice. If I didn’t reach it in time, Tiny would float out into the middle of the lake!

  My foot slipped and I fell in a heap. My heavy clothes weighed me down as I struggled to push myself to my feet, costing me time I couldn’t afford. As I rose, I saw Tiny bob to the surface beyond the ice shelf.

  ‘Eagle!’ I cried at the sky. ‘Where are you?’

  She was nowhere in sight.

  What could I do? If I could break a block of ice from the edge, maybe I could use it to float after Tiny?

  I reached the edge, then fell to my knees and started digging. My mittens were thick, the ice was hard, and I barely made a dent. I blinked away tears, clouding my vision and frosting my eyelashes. I was going to lose him.

  ‘No,’ I murmured. ‘No!’

  Suddenly I was surrounded by helpers – the pack had not obeyed my command to return to shore. Rupert and the dogs dug around me, gouging out chunks with their claws.

  My sheet of ice broke free. Rupert tensed to push it away as he stared at me in concern.

  ‘How will you get back?’ he asked.

  ‘Push!’ I said.

  He gave an almighty push, and I floated out into the lake.

  I started to paddle, the freezing water soaking through my mittens in about two seconds. I didn’t care – I hardly felt it. My eyes were focused on Tiny’s head, bobbing along in front of me. I paddled for all I was worth.

  I caught up to him and scooped him from the water!

  ‘Tiny?’

  Relief swept through me as his eyes opened, but his nose was blue and he was shivering violently. I tried to dry him on my clothes, squeezing the water from his fur. I had to get him back to land.

  I turned to see how far we had drifted, and my heart sank.

  The lake was draining into the sea, taking us with it.

  I couldn’t even use both hands to paddle, as I was too terrified Tiny would slip from my grasp. I dug my right hand into the water again and again, working both sides of the ice sheet so we didn’t turn in a circle. Meanwhile, the current carried us ever further from shore.

  Icy water soaked up through wet patches on my knees. I could only imagine how Tiny felt after his full drenching. I needed to get him warm as quickly as possible.

  ‘Eagle,’ I murmured, ‘where are you?’

  Finally she was back!

  Eagle dived down and sank her claws into the edge of the ice sheet as she continued to flap powerfully. She was pushing us towards the shore!

  There wasn’t any ice in our way – it was a straight shot to solid ground, if only we could make it.

  Eagle had to flap so hard to keep us moving. The wind from her wing beats washed over us, making us shiver. How long could she possibly keep it up?

  ‘Come on, Eagle!’ I said, through chattering teeth. ‘Just a little further!’

  ‘Come on, Eagle!’ echoed Rupert, and the dogs barked their encouragement, as they all raced around the shoreline to meet us.

  Eagle’s eyes glinted as she mustered her strength.

  She unleashed a series of mighty sweeps, building momentum to send us skimming over the surface. As the shore grew closer and closer, I realised we weren’t going to slow down.

  I sprang clear of disintegrating ice, clutching Tiny tightly. As I hurtled into Rupert, Eagle sped past us and crashed into a snow pile.

  I shoved Tiny into Rupert’s hands. ‘Here, get him dry!’

  I ran to Eagle to help her out of the snow.

  She shook white clumps from her feathers as she clambered out, and eyed me with a look that said, Well, let’s not do that again.

  She seemed to be okay, just exhausted.

  ‘Why don’t you ride on Sunrise for a while?’ I said. ‘Like you used to.’

  Rupert rubbed Tiny with his clothes. ‘I think he needs to eat, drink and rest,’ he said. ‘A fire would be good as well.’

  I’m okay! Tiny stood up in Rupert’s hands and wagged his tail.Nothing like a freezing cold swim to wake a doggy up!

  You little fool, growled Brutus.Chasing that fluffy nothing!

  I would have caught it, too, said Tiny, if not for that weird break-apart ground!

  Despite the fright he’d given us, I had to laugh. I took Tiny from Rupert and squeezed him to my cheek.

  ‘You silly billy,’ I said.

  Put me down! he yipped. I have to shake it off!

  I did what he wanted, setting him down among us. He immediately shook himself vigorously, spattering us all with freezing drips.

  Argh! said Brutus. Is there no end to your nonsense?

  At least he smells fresh for once, said Nosey.

  Tiny finished his shake with a great big sneeze.

  He looked up at me with watery eyes and sniffled.

  ‘That’s all we need,’ muttered Rupert. ‘It looks like he’s coming down with a cold.’

  I turned my eyes to the shoreline ahead. To my amazement, in all the drifting and running, we had almost made it to Gulfoss!

  ‘Maybe someone in the village will help us warm up,’ I said.

  ‘Maybe,’ said Rupert doubtfully. ‘If it hasn’t been taken over by the enemy, like everywhere else.’

  He had a point. Recent times had not taught us to hope for the best.

  ‘And the GPS …’ murmured Rupert mournfully, looking back to where we had been. ‘It’s gone.’

  ‘We used to find our way well enough without it,’ I pointed out.

  ‘That was before we’d trekked into the middle of nowhere,’ he said.

  I sighed and shivered. ‘Come on,’ I said. ‘We’ve made it this far.’

  We approached the village using whatever scant cover we could, in case anyone was watching from the shadowy windows. As we reached the outskirts, I strained my ears for any sound of human habitation, and heard nothing but the wind whistling between houses.

  ‘Looks abandoned,’ I said, and stepped into a laneway.

  ‘Be careful,’ Rupert said. ‘Someone might still be holed up somewhere.’

  We made our way along empty
streets in the dying light. Shop windows were either smashed in or boarded up. It didn’t look like anyone had been living here for a very long time.

  ‘There’s a supermarket,’ said Rupert, pointing the way. ‘Might be worth a look?’

  As Sunrise trotted after him, Eagle took off from her back. I was thankful she had recovered her strength, at least.

  The supermarket had already been ransacked. Any food still left had gone to rot.

  As we worked our way through the aisles, I noticed a bunch of bullet holes in the wall. Anger burned deep within me – was there anywhere in the world not ruined by the enemy?

  ‘A storeroom,’ said Rupert, looking through an open doorway. ‘It’s out of the wind, at least. Oh!’

  He ducked inside.

  ‘What is it?’ I said, hurrying in after him.

  ‘There’s a can of beans or two,’ he said. ‘And some old workers’ uniforms. We could pile them up to sleep on!’

  It seemed sad that this was the best we could make of the situation, but the light was almost gone. We can explore the village properly tomorrow, I told myself. Maybe we’d find a warm basement where a kindly old survivor like Ma Taylor would welcome us in and feed us hot stew?

  At least I knew what I was going to dream about that night.

  The dogs weren’t interested in cold beans, so Rupert and I ate those as they finished off the last of the badger meat. Then we huddled on a heap of musty uniforms, draping a few over ourselves. Our packs were too empty to serve as pillows, since we had no more food and were wearing everything we owned – so we mounded up uniforms for those as well.