Swept Into the Sea Read online

  This book is dedicated to:

  C.B. – Breña, Ryder, Emily, Carter, Katie, Joey, Beau, Mason, Norah, and Natalie

  S.S. – Beverly Johnson for her inspiration and love of family

  Swept into the Sea

  © 2020 Focus on the Family. All rights reserved.

  A Focus on the Family book published by Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.

  The Imagination Station, Adventures in Odyssey, and Focus on the Family, along with their accompanying logos and designs, are federally registered trademarks of Focus on the Family, 8605 Explorer Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80920.

  TYNDALE and Tyndale’s quill logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers.

  All Scripture quotations have been taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of Focus on the Family.

  With the exception of known historical figures, all characters are the product of the authors’ imaginations.

  Cover design by Michael Heath | Magnus Creative

  For Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data for this title, visit http://www.loc.gov/help/contact-general.html.

  For manufacturing information regarding this product, please call 1-800-323-9400.

  For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Tyndale House Publishers at [email protected], or call 1-800-323-9400.

  ISBN: 978-1-64607-000-8

  ISBN 978-1-68428-280-7 (ePub); ISBN 978-1-68428-281-4 (Kindle); ISBN 978-1-68428-279-1 (Apple)

  Build: 2020-07-15 17:49:31 EPUB 3.0

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1: The Storm

  Chapter 2: A Man of God

  Chapter 3: Paul’s Doctor

  Chapter 4: The Lifeboat

  Chapter 5: The Tackle

  Chapter 6: Aloe Oil

  Chapter 7: The Fourteenth Day

  Chapter 8: Four Anchors

  Chapter 9: A Final Meal

  Chapter 10: Narrow Passage

  Chapter 11: A Long Swim

  Chapter 12: Deadly Bite

  Chapter 13: The Courtyard

  Chapter 14: Bambinella

  Secret Word Puzzle

  About the Authors

  Prologue

  In the last adventure, Poison at the Pump, Patrick and Beth learned more about the Imagination Station. The Model T car has a bubbling mixture in its engine. The bubbling mixture is a blend of three liquids.

  The liquid is in a glass container. But the container was only half full.

  Mr. Whittaker, the Imagination Station’s inventor, wanted to fill up the container.

  The cousins would go on an adventure to search for the liquids.

  Whit gave the cousins a pocket-sized black box with a wand. On the top of the box was a light that looked like a button.

  Whit told the cousins to dip the wand in liquids. The right liquid for the Imagination Station would turn the button green.

  The cousins stepped into the Imagination Station.

  But Whit noticed the container with the liquid was cracked. Drops were trickling out.

  Whit said that a trip in the Imagination Station was too dangerous.

  Patrick started to get out. But his elbow accidentally hit the red button on the steering wheel.

  Beth and Patrick’s adventure began.

  The Imagination Station took the cousins to London during a time of great sickness in 1854. Here is how that adventure ended.

  Patrick stuck the wand into a gray-blue oil. The button on Whit’s gadget turned green.

  “This is it!” Beth said.

  Patrick whooped. He heard the hum of the Imagination Station. It was a welcome sound. The Model T appeared.

  “I’m so glad to see the Imagination Station,” Patrick said. “I thought we might be stuck here. I was afraid too much of its power source had leaked.”

  “Me too,” Beth said. “But now we can go home.”

  Patrick hopped into the passenger seat.

  Beth slid into the driver’s seat.

  Patrick found the compartment on the passenger side. He placed the oil inside. Then he noticed a keyhole next to the compartment.

  Patrick took the small key out of his pocket. It fit the lock perfectly. Patrick turned the key.

  A sliding panel moved to cover the compartment. Then the panel opened. The container full of oil was no longer there. The oil was now inside the Imagination Station.

  Beth put on her seat belt. “Ready?” she asked.

  Patrick left the key in the lock. He buckled his seat belt. Patrick thought he might have the great sickness. He couldn’t wait for the Imagination Station to cure him. He couldn’t wait to go home.

  Beth hit the big red button.

  The Model T sprayed them with a fine mist.

  “What’s happening?” Beth asked.

  Patrick laughed. “Maybe it found the cholera germ on me. No germs are leaving with us,” he said.

  The Imagination Station made a loud squeak. Then metal scraped against metal.

  Something didn’t feel right to Patrick. He heard the sound of glass shattering and looked at Beth.

  “There’s that smell again,” Beth said.

  Patrick smelled it too. There was the scent of apricots, lemons, pears, and oranges.

  The fine mist grew into a heavier spray. Drops of water began to rain on the inside of the Model T.

  Then everything went black.

  The Storm

  It’s a night without stars, Beth thought.

  A shadowy form moved past the driver’s-side window of the Imagination Station. Then it melted into the darkness.

  “This isn’t Whit’s End,” Beth said.

  Icy cold water covered her feet and slowly climbed up her ankles.

  “We must have landed in a river,” Patrick said. “Or we’re in a flood.”

  “Maybe. But something’s out there,” Beth said. “I saw it move.”

  “What was it?” Patrick asked.

  “I don’t know,” she said. “I couldn’t tell. It was too dark.”

  The Imagination Station shook as if it were a baby’s rattle.

  Beth fell against the driver’s-side door. It flung open.

  Splash!

  Beth landed in a puddle on a hard, wooden surface. “Ow!” she said. The wood had a musty smell. “Patrick?” Her words were almost drowned out by a rumble of thunder.

  Large raindrops fell from the sky and drenched her.

  “I’m here,” Patrick said.

  Beth heard his footsteps splash on the wood. He slid around the front corner of the Model T.

  “Whoa!” he said. His feet slipped out from under him. He landed with a thud.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “I think so,” he said. He rubbed his arm.

  The Imagination Station flickered. Then it disappeared.

  Beth felt a rocking motion. She had felt this type of movement before on another adventure. They had to be on the deck of a ship.

  The ship creaked.

  This must be an old wooden ship, Beth thought.

  Crates and barrels were stacked everywhere on the deck. They kept Beth from seeing much of the ship. Canvas covered the wooden crates. The fabric was tied on with thick ropes. The edges of the canvas flapped in the wind.

  Beth stood. Her feet were cold. She looked down. She was wearing sandals.
Her feet were covered with bits of seaweed.

  Patrick stood also.

  Beth said, “Maybe we’re sailors.”

  Patrick looked at their clothes. “We’re dressed like people in Bible times,” he said.

  Beth looked at Patrick through the rain. He wore a soggy, tan tunic that stopped at his knees. A rope belt was around his waist. A leather pouch hung from it. He looked like he had stepped out of a Sunday school lesson.

  Lightning lit the sky.

  Beth looked down. Her tan dress stopped at her sandals. The dress was wet and heavy. It felt like one of her itchy wool sweaters.

  She touched her head. Her hair was in a tight braid. The end of the braid fell over her shoulder. Beth also had a rope belt with a pouch hanging from it.

  “You’re right,” Beth said. “We are dressed like Bible-times people. We might be in a Bible story. I wonder which one.”

  Patrick put his hand into his pouch. He pulled out Whit’s gadget and knelt down. Then Patrick dipped the wand into the water on the ship’s deck.

  Beth held her breath.

  The light on the gadget did not turn green.

  Beth sighed. “That would have been too easy,” she said.

  There was liquid all around them. But they needed the right liquid for the Imagination Station.

  Patrick grunted. He put the gadget back into his pouch. Then he pulled out a pair of green swimming goggles. They glowed in the dark. He put them on.

  Beth laughed. The goggles looked out of place on the old ship.

  Patrick took them off and put them back into his pouch. “What do you have?” he asked.

  Beth pulled out a large bag of dried leaves. She opened the bag and took a leaf. It broke in half.

  “Smells like peppermint,” Patrick said.

  “Strange,” Beth said. She closed the bag. The Imagination Station had given them these gifts. Beth had no idea why.

  “The goggles and the leaves will come in handy,” Patrick said.

  Beth nodded. The Imagination Station’s gifts were always helpful. She put the bag of peppermint leaves back in her leather pouch.

  “I wonder where this ship is going,” Beth said.

  “I don’t know. But I hope it gets there soon,” Patrick said. “The storm is really bad. Maybe we can ask someone.”

  “Like who? I haven’t seen anyone,” Beth said. She wondered if the shadowy figure counted as someone.

  “It’s a large ship. It must have a large crew and a captain,” Patrick said. “Oh no!” He pointed behind her.

  Beth looked over her shoulder.

  A ten-foot wave was coming over the side of the ship. It was moving directly toward them.

  Beth reached for Patrick’s hand.

  “Hold on tight,” he said. He squeezed her hand.

  The wave crashed into them. It pushed Beth off her feet and onto her back.

  Patrick fell beside her.

  They started sliding with the water.

  Beth’s free arm and shoulder slammed into a crate. Then her arm scraped against a large wooden barrel.

  Beth screamed. Her arm throbbed in pain. But she still grasped at every passing crate with her free hand. Her fingers slipped off each one.

  Beth saw Patrick trying to stop also. He was using his legs to find footholds between objects. He kept slipping too.

  The wave passed over the side of the ship.

  Beth rubbed the salty water out of her eyes.

  Another wave came over the side of the ship. And another. They weren’t as large. But they were powerful.

  The cousins kept sliding.

  A small patch of deck was between the barrels and the railing. And she and Patrick were headed straight toward it.

  Someone appeared on the other side of the barrels. It was a man on his knees with folded hands.

  Patrick yelled, “Watch out!”

  Then the cousins slammed into him.

  A Man of God

  Patrick landed on Beth, and Beth landed on the stranger.

  “Aughhh,” the man said. His graying mustache and beard danced in the wind beneath his long nose.

  Patrick used the ship’s railing to pull himself up.

  “I’m so sorry,” Beth said. She rolled away from the stranger. Then she stood.

  The waves were still coming. But the barrels shielded them. The rain continued to fall.

  “Are you okay?” Patrick asked. He hoped they hadn’t hurt the older man.

  Patrick held out a hand to help the man up.

  The stranger took Patrick’s hand. But he used his own strength to stand.

  The man had dark eyes. His wet, tan robe stopped at his ankles. A brown cloak went from his shoulders to his sandals. He looked like he was from Bible times too.

  “Thank you,” the man said. He didn’t sound upset. His voice was kind. “You must have lost your footing.”

  “Yes,” Beth said. “I thought we’d be thrown over the railing and into the sea.”

  “This storm threatens to pull all two hundred seventy-six of us into the sea,” the stranger said. “But it hasn’t taken even one yet.”

  “That’s a lot of people!” Patrick said. “Where are they?”

  The stranger pointed toward the center of the ship.

  Patrick peeked over the top of a barrel. He could just make out the outlines of people. They were huddled together in large groups. They were trying to protect one another from the storm. Many people were sleeping.

  “Why isn’t everyone below deck?” Beth asked. “It would be safer there.”

  “Below deck is filled with grain,” the man said. “People and cargo stay on the deck. You should know that by now. We’ve been fighting this storm for more than a day.”

  “I guess I’m a little confused,” Beth said. “It’s been a long night.”

  The stranger nodded, as if he agreed. “My midnight prayers have never ended like this before. But life is full of surprises. I don’t think we’ve met,” he said.

  “My name is Patrick,” Patrick said. “This is my cousin Beth.”

  “Hello,” Beth said. “Thank you for stopping us.”

  “You are welcome,” the man said. “But I didn’t have a choice.” He gave them a warm smile. “My name is Paul.”

  Paul looked at Beth oddly. “You’re the first girl I’ve met onboard,” he said. He leaned toward her. “That’s quite a scrape on your arm.”

  Patrick turned toward his cousin.

  Beth was holding her arm.

  Patrick felt bruised from the waves and the hard, wooden deck. But he hadn’t scraped against anything.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “I cut my arm on something,” Beth said. “It really hurts.”

  “Come with me,” Paul said. “I’ll take you to my friend Luke. He’s a doctor.”

  Patrick and Beth followed Paul.

  The waves kept coming.

  Paul leaned with the ship and walked slowly through the crowds.

  Patrick leaned too. The waves won’t knock me off my feet again, he thought. Patrick started counting his steps. This ship was even larger than it looked at first.

  Paul said, “Are you followers of the Way?”

  “Which way?” Beth asked.

  “There’s only one Way. Let me tell you about my Lord,” Paul said. “I am His servant. I once fought the Way and tried to harm followers of the Truth. But I saw a great light on the road to Damascus.”

  The name Damascus sounded familiar to Patrick. Where have I heard it before? he wondered. Nothing came to mind.

  Patrick returned to counting his steps. Eighty-seven. Eighty-eight.

  “Luke? Aristarchus?” Paul called.

  Patrick whispered to Beth, “This ship is almost the size of a football field.”

  Beth didn’t look at him. She winced in pain.

  Patrick watched Paul’s friends. They came forward. Both young men wore tunics and cloaks like Paul.

  “Luke, my friend Beth has hu
rt her arm,” Paul said. “Would you look at it?”

  “Of course,” Luke said. “Come with me, Beth.”

  Patrick was surprised Beth went with him. Her arm must really hurt.

  Suddenly the names made sense to him. Paul. Damascus. Luke.

  Patrick knew who these people were. This man was Paul from the New Testament. He was part of the early church after Jesus returned to God the Father. Patrick felt excitement grow inside of him. Paul was one of his heroes of faith.

  “I leave you in the hands of good friends,” Paul said. “I must be off. I promised to help another new friend after my prayers.” He gave a short wave and left.

  Patrick wanted to follow Paul. But he knew he should wait for Beth. They’d find Paul together later. First, Luke had to patch up her arm.

  “Hi, I’m Aristarchus,” the man next to Patrick said.

  He was about a foot taller than Patrick. His skin was very tan, and he had deep dimples. His mouth was turned up at the ends like he wanted to laugh.

  “Aris Tar Kiss?” Patrick asked. What an odd first, middle, and last name.

  The man laughed. “You can call me Aris,” he said.

  “Hi, Aris, my name is Patrick,” Patrick said.

  “Hello, Patrick,” Aris said. “How do you come to be on this grain ship?”

  “It’s a long story,” Patrick said. “I guess I’m here for the adventure. How about you?”

  “I’m a prisoner,” Aris said. “Many of us are.”

  Patrick looked at the men with shaggy beards around him. They were all huddled together. He was on a grain ship surrounded by prisoners!

  And then a thought even worse worked into Patrick’s mind.

  Are Beth and I prisoners too? he wondered.

  Paul’s Doctor

  Luke lifted Beth onto a crate. Then he swung a large cloth pouch off his shoulder. “First, I need to clean your wound,” he said. He set the pouch next to her. Then he took out a cloth.

  Beth bit her lip.

  The cloth scraped against her skin. Tears welled in her eyes.

  Luke said, “We don’t want any wood slivers in there.” He reached into his medical pouch and pulled out tweezers.