Seagulls soared and waves lapped and people laughed as they whizzed by on their bicycles He couldn’t wait to start adventuring but first he had to manage Mum Convincing her to even come to the island had taken him ages School holidays usually meant Isaac was shipped off to vacation care while Mum went to work These holidays he’d planted the idea of a winter getaway She’d studied the website for ages Peace quiet fresh air and a good book It does sound perfect she’d said Then she’d looked at Isaac and frowned I’ll be fine Isaac had promised Seriously Mum you can relax all you like Mum had wrung her hands She wrung her hands a lot We can play cards and ride our bikes and bake cakes Isaac hesitated Mum hated baking I just worry that something might happen she’d said 7
Isaac had nodded Something might happen An awesome holiday might happen I’ll be fine he promised You’ll make sensible decisions Mum asked Super-sensible Isaac had assured her So here he was sensibly standing in the middle of a jetty the size of a small nation trying not to fall off or jump in He scanned for kids his age but only saw littlies running and screaming and drooling There was no one interesting No one to hang out with and explore with And then he saw the girl She was climbing on the wall of boulders Racing across them If Mum saw she’d have a heart attack The girl had long bronzed hair and although it was winter she was wearing just a T-shirt with shorts the khaki sort with lots of pockets Isaac checked his own clothes He was trussed up in so many layers he could hardly bend his arms to scratch his nose Mum had smiled 8
and called that a sensible decision It didn’t feel so sensible now The girl saw Isaac staring and made a horrible face at him Isaac made his own face back She grinned right at him Isaac said Mum Keep an eye out for our bikes High above them loads of bicycles were lined across the ferry’s deck in a twist of colourful metal There weren’t many cars on the island so almost everyone rode bikes Up on deck a man with sticking-up hair was rolling bikes down a narrow ramp and onto the jetty Isaac’s bike was up there Somewhere It was a blue mountain bike with an all-black helmet and chunky pedals He’d never done actual mountain biking because Mum thought actual mountain biking was dangerous but since there were no actual mountains on the island he might be okay There were loads of hills and trails He couldn’t wait 9
