Chapter Three

Max and the others quietly stood at the water's edge. Max picked up a handful of sand and let it run through his fingers. After a while Marissa spoke,

"Maybe we should say a few words."

"She was my best friend," Max said softly, "I'm really going to miss her."

There was silence. Suddenly, Marissa gasped. "Oh no!"

"What?" Linus asked.

"Sharkboy! What are we going to tell him?"

"We're not even sure we can find him."

"I know, but what'll he do when he finds out his girlfriend's dead?"

Max smiled grimly through his tears. "Probably a shark-frenzy."

"What's that?"

"You don't want to know."

00000

Sharkboy awoke to the clicking of computer keys. His highly trained ears twitched towards the sound and he got up slowly to follow it. No one in the house stirred. He followed the clicking keys across the house and right to Tucker's door. Sharkboy hesitated then knocked softly.

"Come in." Came Tucker's irritated voice.

Sharkboy pushed open the door and saw Tucker, looking small in his wheelchair, at a computer. On the screen was a map of New Zealand and its surrounding waters in neon green lines. Little moving dots blinked all over the portion that was water. Sharkboy stepped closer for a better look.

"Whatcha doing?" Sharkboy asked.

Suddenly the screen went blank. Tucker slowly turned his wheelchair around. Sharkboy started in shock. Tucker's right leg ended at the knee.

"Not pretty is it?" Tucker stated. "That's why I wear these."

He reached over and lifted a plastic leg from his bed. He put it on carefully over his knee. He stood shakily and walked very slowly to his desk to pick up his school books. He walked unsteadily back to his wheelchair and collapsed heavily into it.

"It happened recently so I'm not used to it." Tucker moved his chair forward. "It's easier just to use the wheelchair."

Sharkboy was surprised. Tucker was talking to him civilly. He was about to speak when Tucker interrupted.

"You gonna stand there all day? I've got to get to school."

Sharkboy stepped aside mumbling an apology but the boy was gone. He was about to leave when a breeze came through an open window and papers from Tucker's open desk drawers fluttered to the ground. Sharkboy quickly ran over and closed the window. He glanced at all the papers around his feet and stifled a groan. He knelt to pick them up. Suddenly he stopped. The pictures were of sharks, hundreds of sharks. Some were photos; some were drawings or clippings from magazines. Then there was the picture.

It was of Tucker feeding a great white shark with a man standing beside him. The man's face was blurred from a fingerprint but something seemed familiar about him. Sharkboy was leaning in for a closer look when he heard something behind him. He turned sharply and there stood Danny in the doorway. Sharkboy stood quickly.

"The, I was just, uh . . ."

Danny did not seem to hear him. "He used to love sharks." He said sadly. "That was before the accident."

He knelt on the floor and started to replace the pictures.

"What really happened to Tucker?" asked Sharkboy.

Danny sighed and sat back on his heels. Sharkboy sat also.

"It was about a year ago," Danny began. "It was summer and Tuck and I were out swimming in the oceans. We were both really good swimmers so my mother and father were not worried that we might be in danger. We were daring each other to see who could go out the farthest. Stupid idea. Anyhow, one moment Tuck's laughing and bragging, the next he's flaying about and screaming. I pulled him back to shore and it was only then that I noticed his leg were gone.

"Mom was mad at Dad for awhile saying he shouldn't have made us love water so much. She got over it. Tuck didn't. It ruined him, he said. He wanted to be a professional football player; you American's know it as soccer. But now he can't. He was pretty upset."

"So is that why he's so mad all the time?"

"Yeah," Danny sighed. "Dad went to America to get some kind of mechanical leg doohickeys to see if it'll help him. You'd like our dad. He loves sharks. You know, you look a lot like him."

"I do?" Sharkboy asked, surprised.

"Yeah, he—"

Suddenly a loud bleating noise sounded from outside. Danny stood quickly. "Oh! I forgot the sheep!"

He ran through the house and out the door. Sharkboy followed him. The sheep were upset about something. As Danny calmed them down, Sharkboy noticed what was bothering them. Three kids were making their way towards them. Sharkboy recognized one of them as Max but could not quite place the other two. As they got closer he saw they were Marissa and Linus. They reached him and Max cried happily,

"You're alright!"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Sharkboy asked.

"Lavagirl told us that your sub crashed and we came to look for you."

"Where is Lavagirl?" Sharkboy asked warily.

The three kids looked at each other.

"We've got some bad news." Max said.

No, don't say what I think you're going to say, Sharkboy thought.

"Lavagirl is . . . dead."

NOOOOO!!!!! Sharkboy's mind screamed. "How? When?"

Sharkboy's voice was monotone, not betraying his thoughts.

"Our sub broke down right where yours did—"

Sharkboy did not wait for him to finish. He darted off to the shore and dove into the large waves.

"Where does he think he's going?" Danny asked. "I found him farther than any man could swim. And what is a 'Lavagirl'?"