‘What if the people at the top are all Becketts?’
‘Well there’s one less Beckett there now, isn’t there? And a few less of his protégés too.’ Spinner smiled. ‘It’s easy to say that the Admiralty ought to be different. But sometimes, if you want to make something different, you have to get in there and make it different. Be the change that you want to see.’
Annalie nodded, taking this all in. ‘You think I should go, don’t you?’
‘For all its faults, Triumph is still an excellent school. And maybe at the end of all this, you’ll decide you don’t want to go to university, you don’t want to join the Admiralty, you don’t want to be a part of any of it. That’s fine, you can do that. But at least you’ll have the choice.’
‘Are you saying I have to do it?’ Annalie asked, squirming.
‘We both know I can’t make you do anything you don’t want to do,’ Spinner said with a grin. ‘But you should think about it.’
‘Are you crazy?’ Essie shrieked down her shell. ‘Of course you have to come! I won’t go if you won’t!’
‘I don’t know if I can go back to all of that,’ Annalie said. ‘The uniforms and the rules and the mean girls…’
‘Annalie,’ Essie said. ‘We faced down pirates and cannibals. We are the mean girls!’
Annalie began to laugh. ‘All right, all right! You’ve convinced me!’
And so, as the new term began, Annalie walked once more up the front steps of Triumph College, with Spinner on one side of her, Essie and Everest Wan on the other.
‘Are you sure about this?’ she whispered to Essie.
‘Don’t worry,’ Essie said. ‘If anybody gives us a hard time, I’ve got my slingshot in my pocket.’
And the two girls walked, laughing, in the school doors.
Epilogue
The sky was a deep blue over the vividly green ocean.
From the top of the mast came a ripping cry: ‘Land!’
‘What is it, Graham? Can you see it?’ Pod asked.
Will, Annalie, Essie, Blossom and Spinner each came drifting up onto the deck to see what was happening.
Pod had the binoculars out. ‘There’s land ahead,’ he confirmed.
They sailed closer and closer and the island began to take shape above the horizon, first as a dark shape. Then they began to see trees, and as they drew closer still, they saw the distinctive shape of a tower rising above it.
‘The castle in the sea!’ Will cried.
They all took it in turns to look through the binoculars at the island that had been Will and Essie’s prison, and the strange castle-like structure that rose over it.
‘It’s beautiful,’ Annalie said.
‘I think that was probably a temple,’ Spinner said.
‘That’s what I said,’ Essie said.
‘Castle sounds better,’ Will said.
It was the start of another summer, and the Sunfish was loaded with all the things they’d need for a long, long summer holiday: a generator for power, hammocks to relax in, books and games and plenty of food. They anchored off the shore, and Spinner called, ‘Who wants to be in the first dinghy to shore?’
But Will couldn’t be bothered waiting for the dinghy. He was already throwing his clothes off and diving into the water. ‘Last one to shore’s a rotten egg!’
Annalie and Essie looked at each other, then jumped in after him.
Spinner looked at Pod and Blossom. ‘Come on, let’s race them!’ And the three of them hopped into the dinghy.
And the whole crew of the Sunfish, with Graham on the wing, began racing towards the shore, and journey’s end.
Acknowledgements
There are many people who’ve helped bring this series into the world.
I’d like to thank Fiona Inglis and her staff at Curtis Brown Australia, for the support she’s given me over many years.
Anna McFarlane is both my publisher and my friend and it’s been fantastic to work with her again on this quest. My editors on the series, Jennifer Dougherty and Radhiah Chowdhury, have given me wonderful editorial support with the lightest of touches, and the whole team at Allen and Unwin have been very supportive of me and this book.
I was thrilled to receive the support of Garth Nix and Lian Tanner, two amazing authors whose work I hugely admire.
This book probably would not exist without the inspiration of my daughters Annabelle and Lila, whose creativity, resourcefulness, and refusal to do what they’re told had some influence on the crew of the Sunfish.
And finally, this book most certainly would not exist without James Bradley. He is not just an exceptional writer, he is the best partner another writer could have. He keeps the whole ship afloat.
When Will and Annalie’s father disappears, they set out with their friends, Essie and Pod, on a perilous sea voyage to find him. The motley crew of runaways put their faith in each other, and in a small sailing boat called the Sunfish. In a world transformed by a catastrophic Flood, they embark on an adventure that will test their ingenuity—and their friendship—to the limits.
The crew face off against storms and pirates, but the biggest threat of all comes from the Admiralty, the all-powerful navy that rules the oceans of the world. The Admiralty are supposed to be the good guys, but the deeper the Sunfish voyages into the Moon Islands, the more they realise that nothing is what it seems.
Once more, Annalie, Will, Essie and Pod set out on the Sunfish to look for Spinner. Their only clue is a coded list Spinner left behind, naming four scientists who were once his colleagues on a top-secret project.
When a terrible storm separates the crew and almost wrecks the boat, Will and Essie must use all their courage and ingenuity to try and make their way back
