Free Tsunami Blue by Gayle Ann Williams

Since the age of five, I’d never been anywhere other than my own small string of islands, what was left of the “old” San Juans in what was once Washington State. Now there were no states, just islands. Thousands and thousands and thousands of islands.
    “Watch your head, Blue. We’re coming about.”
    Coming about? As in changing direction? Heading back toward the Runners? My heart started to pound. Why? What game were we playing now?
    I ducked as the boom swung to the opposite side of the boat and watched as Gabriel trimmed the sails.
    “What’s happening? Why are we heading back?”
    “Not back. Over.”
    He pointed into darkness and I squinted into the night, trying to see what he could.
    Gabriel, seeing my confusion and sensing my fear, explained. “Tonight we drop anchor in what I call the ‘new’ False Bay. It’s similar to the bay off the west side of your island. That is, the False Bay that used to be there.”
    I nodded, remembering well the hidden beach I played on as a kid. The bay and the beach were long gone, swallowed up by a killer wave.
    “We’re close to New Vancouver,” he continued. “It’s about a twenty-four-hour sail from here. I’m entering this bay on a high tide. By morning a minus tide will set in, and the bay will look like nothing but miles and miles of wet beach. That’s why I call it False Bay. No one can approach. Plus we’ll be hidden in a tiny cove, with deeper moorage.” He sighed and pushed a dark lock from his face. “Safe haven, Blue. Not for long, but at least for the night.”
    Beach? My mind raced. I could do beach. I could walk on beach, run on beach, fight on beach. The beach worked for me on so many levels. I could lure Gabriel off the boat, get him to chase me—
    Again, Gabriel read my mind.
    “Don’t even think about it, Blue.”
    “Think about what, Kreskin?”
    Gabriel shook his head. “About escaping onto the sand. It’s linked with tide pools, some deep, some shallow, and all filled with box jellies.”
    I had nothing to say to that. But the jellies? I could do jellies. Box jellyfish were laced with a poison so powerful their tiny tentacles could cause paralysis in minutes, death in under an hour. Years ago their presence in these waters was unheard-of. But that was before the waves. Now our Northwest waters were home to all kinds of monsters, including—and I gave an involuntary shudder—great whites.
    But tonight I dealt with just jellyfish, albeit box jellyfish. I had my badass rubber boots on. Jellies couldn’t begin to penetrate them. That alone boosted my confidence. My ego kicked in. I was raised around the water. Tide pools? I wasn’t afraid of no stinkin’ tide pools. Bring it.
    “The tide pools…” Gabriel continued.
    Oh, boy , I thought, here it comes .
    “Well, the sand has changed. In this bay, it’s quicksand. Once you’re stuck, trust me, babe, you’re stuck.”
    Babe? What the…? I wouldn’t think about that now. I knitted my brows and thought about the pools. Quicksand, huh? Well, that just didn’t sound good. That is, if I believed him. I’d wait and see what daybreak revealed.
    “Believe it, Blue. Wait and see for yourself, in the morning.”
    Damn. Maybe he was a mind reader.
    A few minutes later Gabriel maneuvered the sailboat into a tiny cove. I could see the shadows on the water of crooked madrona trunks from the shore as they twisted into the moonlit sky. The wind had died down to just a whisper, and a soft rain started to fall. Time to go below. And didn’t that just bring a whole new set of circumstances to worry about.
    “Time to get below, Blue.”
    Damn it. I wished he’d stop doing that. It was beginning to freak me out.
    I huddled in the blanket, watching him stow and stash, as he’d promised. With the boat and sails secure he approached, and I trembled with anticipation. What now, Blue? What now?
    Gabriel pushed the hatch back and went below. Moments later a soft glow filtered up to the deck, and