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years. No backup. It’s just us. Besides, we’re running out of time. That storm’s gonna be on us soon. Get a look out.”
    I looked back to the east and saw the dark horizon. I saw the endless lines of waves, pushing our way. Then I put the binoculars to my eyes and began to scan the water. There was a lot of wild water between us and the dark granite cliffs of the Newfoundland coastline.
    â€œGreg,” Harold shouted up to me, “youwant to call it quits, you just say the word.”
    I kept my mouth shut and held the binoculars up tight against my face. I held on for dear life as the boat rolled and pitched in the sea.

Chapter Eleven
    I caught sight of something halfway between us and the cliffs. “There!” I shouted. Harold turned the boat in the direction I was pointing.
    I fell flat onto the top of the cabin and clung to the aerial, praying it was solidly anchored. When I crawled up on my knees again, though, I couldn’t see anything. Maybe it had just been some driftwood.
    â€œHang on, Greg,” Harold said. “I saw something too.”
    It was an up and down fight to make any headway against the waves. I hung onto the antenna pole and stood again. I waited until we were at the peak of a swell and then put the binoculars up to my eyes.
    We were closer now. It was a dory, a dory filled to the gunwales with water.
    â€œHurry!” I screamed.
    Harold made the engine roar just as we took the first real smashing impact of a wave breaking over us. I hung on with all my strength. I saw Harold fight the wheel as the wave threatened to spin us about.
    â€œWe’re getting in too close,” he screamed at me. “Too shallow. We can’t take too many like that.” Harold was scared.
    I heard the engine sputter like it was going to stall, but then it came back to life. Harold gunned it again. I could see the dory clearly now. It was upright but swamped. Still hanging on inside it, though, were three people. I saw Tamara put one arm up in the air and wave.
    Their boat was drifting dangerously near the cliffs. At the foot of the cliffs, monster waves smashed on jagged rocks. The wind and waves were pushing the dory closer to the cliffs, closer to disaster. It would only be a matter of minutes. There was no place for them to scramble ashore. There was no way they would get out of there alive.
    Suddenly Harold’s boat connected with something hard. We lurched to a near stop and I slid across the cabin roof on my stomach. I grabbed onto the steel pole just before I would have ended up in the water.
    â€œThat’s it,” Harold shouted to me as I scrambled off the roof of the cabin. “We have to get out of here. This place is nothing but hungry rocks.”
    â€œNo!” I shouted. I made him look, made him see Tamara’s family.
    â€œGet below and see if we’re taking on water,” Harold said.
    I opened the cabin door and went in. Water was coming in a steady stream through planks that were cracked prettybadly. Already there was a foot of water on the floor. As the boat shuddered and lurched, I made it through the indoor swimming pool and flicked on the bilge pump. If I was lucky, Harold would never notice the noise of the thing.
    I clambered back up on deck. “Dry as a desert down there. No problems,” I said. I kicked the door shut.
    We were off the rock, in one piece, and still floating. Our luck was holding. Harold gunned the engine again between swells and managed to avoid more hidden rocks. In fits and starts we neared the dory.
    As we came alongside, I leaned over and grabbed the dory. I tried to hold the two boats together. Ravi grabbed onto the boat as well. We held on grimly as Tamara and Indra climbed across.
    Just then a wave crested and cold water smashed down on us like frozen cement. Tamara and her mom had made it in to Harold’s boat. The force of the water made Ravi lose his grip. I couldn’t hold onto the