If I owned the rights to RotG or "The Guardians of Childhood" books, do you honestly think I would be writing fanfiction? Exactly.

CHAPTER ONE

"The Strangest Things Can Start a Story"

Of all things that Jamie Bennet thought he would be doing during Christmas break, being in the middle of the ocean, looking at whales was not one of them. Not that he could complain. Quite the contrary: when Monty asked him to tag along, Jamie was ecstatic. When else would he have the chance to be on a real ship?

"Oh, wow, look at that!" he said, pointing his arm out as far as it could reach in the direction of a waterspout. "This is so cool. Thanks, Monty."

The blonde-haired boy returned Jamie's thankful grin, then pushed his glasses back up his nose. "No, thank you, Jamie. If you hadn't come along, I would have been miserable."

"Why's that?"

"Because," Monty said meekly, "I'm afraid of water."

Jamie scoffed. "C'mon, Monty, be serious!"

"I am being serious! Whoa!"

A strong gust of wind surged across the deck. Jamie almost slammed into Monty. When it had passed, he laughed loudly.

"Man, that was cool! With winds like that, I bet you could pull a Mary Poppins if you had an umbrella up here, right, Monty? Uh, Monty?"

Jamie glanced over at his friend. The color disappeared from Monty's already pale face, so now his freckles stood out like specks on a "connect-the-dot" page. He had hunkered down, his gloved hands were gripping the rail tightly, his teeth clenched and eyes clamped tightly shut.

"Are you alright?"

Monty shook his head.

"Hey, I was just kidding about the Mary Poppins bit," Jamie said, trying to smooth things over. "You really are afraid of water, aren't you?" Monty nodded. "But when? I mean, you went skating with me on the pond last week, and that's nothing but frozen water on top of more water!"

"It's not the same," Monty said. "Being out on the ocean is different. It's scary. If you're stuck out here, how can you get back? People used to die from being adrift at sea! And what if you got sick? Just how fast could you get to a hospital? Or if a storm came up? I mean, water conducts lightning, and we're floating in an endless pot of it!"

"You could just go inside if a storm came. Plus your aunt is a doctor, and she's working over on that ship."

Jamie pointed out toward a ship that was barely a dot on the horizon. There were three such ships out today, and they had passed several fishing trolleys over the past two days. Monty's uncle had explained how the cruise line worked, the way they set up a relatively well-trafficked route so that, if any of the ships met with any distress, the others could help it. The fact his uncle had been a cruise ship captain for ten years apparently wasn't helping. Monty's fear had won that battle.

"Why did you come if you are so afraid?"

"My parents went on a second honeymoon, and this was their Christmas present to me," he told Jamie. "I went on a small tour a few years ago. I didn't tell them, but never was I so happy to be back on dry land in my life!" He sighed wearily. Jamie frowned, and then looked up at the sky.

"It's getting late. Do you want to go inside for a little while?"

"Yes!"

Jamie tried not to laugh at Monty's enthusiasm. He helped steady his friend as the two of them made their way across the deck and toward the door that would take them below. As they headed into the warm bowels of the ship, Monty whispered.

"Jamie?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you...well..." Monty shook his head. "Never mind. It's a stupid question."

"What? Tell me."

"Promise you won't laugh?"

Jamie smiled. "I promise."

"Do you...believe in sea monsters?"

Jamie blinked a few times. "Sea monsters?"

"Yeah, sea monsters. Like that big fish that ate Jonah? Or...or those sea serpents pirates used to fear?"

"Why do you say that?"

Monty looked at the ground. "Well, Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, the Easter Bunny, and Jack Frost are real," he reminded Jamie. "You know, I caught a glimpse of the Easter Bunny last year. It's kinda hard not to notice a six-foot-tall rabbit in a tree."

Jamie laughed. "What was he doing in a tree?"

"My neighbor had just got his new dog."

"Ah." Jamie remembered. That sheepdog was almost bigger than he was! "No wonder he was scared."

Before either of them could say anything else, a man in a dark navy uniform stepped onto the landing. He spotted them almost immediately.

"There you two are!" his voice boomed in the stairway.

Monty looked down. "H-hey, Uncle Preston."

"Enjoying the view, were you?"

"Yeah, we saw a waterspout!" Jamie said.

"Did you now? Well, you can tell me all about it at lunch. Let's go, boys."

Monty opened his mouth, likely to tell his uncle he didn't feel like lunch, but his stomach answered for him- loudly. Jamie had to laugh. I guess fear doesn't do much to someone's appetite. He made his way downstairs and into the ship's interior.