Page 30 of Amelia and Her Prince Charming
I sat and started to stand when I heard a familiar sound.
A boat’s engine.
A jolt of adrenaline brought me all the way to my feet.
“Hey! Help!” I yelled through my dry throat. There was no way they’d be able to hear me over the noise of the ocean and their boat. The tide had gone out while I was lying on the shore, so I limped over exposed tide pools and sea foliage to get further out.
“Help!” I yelled again, waving my arms. There were two boats, traveling horizontally to the island, but facing in an away direction. It wouldn’t be long before they were out of sight.
I screamed as loud as I could, jumped and waved, and ignored every pain, every spot of darkness that hovered behind my vision. But my voice was hoarse, and they were still going in the wrong direction.
I ran out to the edge of the tide, and tripped and fell, scraping my knees and elbows on the hard, exposed rocks. The crackle of sea life met my ear as I dropped my cheek onto the marshy surface. I couldn’t do it. I couldn't stop them. I couldn’t save us.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. The breeze blew over my back and hair, lifting it and cooling my neck.
Something crunched near me, like a footstep. I opened my eyes, but no one was there.
Instead, a glint of light caught my eye. Something shiny sparkled in the dark recesses of a tide pool, the sunlight catching it just right.
I reached out and grabbed it. A compact mirror, the kind my mom used to use. A spark of hope flickered to light in me. What if it doesn’t work? What if they keep going and all I’m left with is devastation?
What if it all works out?I heard Hudson ask me.
I inhaled a deep breath and then used every bit of strength I had to stand up one more time. I turned the mirror so that it reflected the sun toward the boats.
“Please,” I whispered. I didn’t have any more shouts left in me. “Come on. See me.”
They kept going, until suddenly one of the boats stopped. The sound of an engine quieting was followed by the other engine as well.
Then they turned toward me, racing back to the island.
My knees gave out, and I fell backward into a tide pool, among the brilliantly colored starfish, and sobbed without tears.
Help was coming.
We were going to be okay.
Chapter 19
Hudson
“Hudson!”
The words sounded like they were coming from down a long tunnel. It was so dark; I couldn’t see anything. I didn’t want to wake up from the best dream I’d ever had.
Just a little more sleep.
“Hud-son!”
I reached out to pull Amelia closer but met empty air. I cracked my eyes open with a groan. Even my eyelids hurt. I rolled my head to the side to look for her, the room spinning. Dust motes shone in the light coming through the broken window.
In the other direction, the fire was mostly banked, leaving behind red coals. A shiver rolled through me.
I tried to swallow, but my throat was too dry. I had to get up. Find Amelia.
In a minute.
“The cabin’s right here!” A herd of moose stomped closer, pulling me from sleep again. “He’s here!”
