said.
âFunny, huh? Like, boom , suddenly they call me that.â Then he laughed. It sounded like a small explosion.
Zeek couldnât wait anymore. âSo, dig that Golden Crest , huh?â
âYeah! We were just going to motor out to it.â
âLike, what is it?â Zeek said, nodding his head. âSpanish galleon? Dutch schooner?â
âKiller question!â said Boomer.
âI donât know, though,â Zeek went on. â Golden Crest sounds English. A warship, maybe?â
âNo, mini-dude. Itâs a wave!â
âWhaaa â¦?â Zeek looked like he does when Mr. Strunk gives us homework on the weekend. His mouth hung open, and his eyes went hazy.
I tried to help him out. âYou mean the Golden Crest is not a sunken treasure ship?â
âNo, mini-dude! Itâs a wave. But what a wave! Likeâ boom âit comes from nowhere. And you ride it for miles!â
âYeah, well, no thanks,â Zeek finally said. Then he bent over to look at Boomerâs surfboard.
âWhere is this wave?â I asked.
âOut by the island. There.â Boomer pointed out across the water to a tiny dot of land. âBut youâve gotta watch out for the Ugly Dude.â
âIs that another wave?â Zeek snorted.
âUnh-uh! A sea monster that lives near the island. Ugly. Huge bug eyes. Big snapping claws!â
âBut there arenât any sea monsters,â I said.
Thatâs when Zeek did this really dumb thing. For a guy who is so good at sports, he did something incredibly clutzy.
âNoodle,â he said. âCheck it out!â
I turned to see Zeek holding up Boomerâs huge green surfboard. It was about ten feet tall.
âYou can call me â¦â Wham! The board slid in the sand and slammed down on Zeek.
And on me. We both fell facedown into the motorboat with the board on top of us.
But that wasnât the worst part.
When Zeek fell on me, his foot hit this little switch on the motor.
Vrrrooom! The motor burst into life.
The propeller hit the water.
And we took off like a jet-powered racing boat.
TWO
âHey, mini-dudes! My boat! My board! Come back!â
Sure. If we could. But we couldnât.
When Zeek hit that switch on the motor, he jammed it. There was no way to stop the boat.
âNoodle! Canât you stop this boat?â
He also jammed the rudder so there was no way to steer it either.
âCanât you at least steer it?â
I was about to make a face whenâ wham! âthe boatâs nose bounced high off a wave.
âWhoa!â shouted Zeek. âThis is like sledding on rocks!â
âWell,â I snapped back. âYou wanted something different !â
âYeah, but ⦠Noodle, watch out!â
I whirled around.
Through the spray I could see a lady on water skis. She was crossing right in front of us.
She had a really big smile until she saw us. Then her smile kind of went away. Her mouth dropped open. And she screamed.
Thatâs when I saw the towrope.
âDuck!â I shouted to Zeek.
Vooom! Our boat shot under the towrope just in front of the ladyâs skis.
I looked back. The lady was still screaming.
I turned to Zeek and gave him the thumbs-up.
He usually smiles when I do that. Not this time. He had a really strange look on his face.
âNOOOOODLE!â
I turned around. A huge iron buoy bobbled in the water just ahead. I jammed my eyes shut.
Wump! We hit a wave at incredibly the right time and incredibly the wrong way. We shot into the air and cleared the buoy by three feet.
Bam! Then we landed and really took off. Spray shot straight up on both sides of the boat. I could barely hold on. If I had eaten my cheeseburger, I sure would have lost it then.
âOkay,â I yelled. âYou wanted different, you got it. But itâs not fun. So letâs stop now, okay?â
Zeek made a face, braced himself against the side,