Dark Day in the Deep Sea

serious?” said Annie. “Ha. I guess you’ll be letting them know that most of the ocean is not more than two miles deep. Of course, some ocean trenches are deeper than six miles. But—”
    “Annie …,” said Jack.
    “My, you know a lot about the sea,” said Henry, looking at Annie with curiosity.
    “Well, I know that mountain ranges and volcanoes are down there, too,” said Annie.
    Jack leaned in close to Annie. “Stop showing off,” he said under his breath.
    “Um … I mean
maybe
, just
maybe
,” Annie said to Henry. “Of course, I’m only guessing.”
    “You are a very good guesser,” said Henry. “On our voyage, we’ve collected many volcanic rocks from the deep.”
    “Cool,” said Annie. “How’d you get them? Mini-subs?”
    “Mini-subs?” asked Henry.
    “You know, they carry you down into the deep sea,” said Annie.
    “Annie!” said Jack between his teeth. He gave her a look that said
Just stop!
Jack was pretty sure mini-subs hadn’t been invented by the early 1870s. He quickly changed the subject again. “And you study butterflies, too?” he said, pointing to Henry’s net. “And seashells?”
    “Indeed I do,” said Henry. “In fact, I came ashore to search for a rare shell just now. And I think I may have found its cousin.” He opened his book to a page that showed a pencil drawing of the shell.
    “Would you like us to help you look for more?” asked Annie.

    “Why, thank you,” said Henry. “But I have quite successfully found what I came for. We’ll be going back to the ship now.”
    “Oh,
please
, can we visit the HMS
Challenger
?” Annie blurted out.
    “Out of the question,” said the sailor named Joe.
    “Well, I’m—” said Henry.
    “Sir, the captain would
never
approve of bringing children on board,” Tommy broke in. “It’s absolutely against the rules.”
    Henry looked at Jack and Annie. Jack didn’t want to break any rules, but at the same time, he really wanted to visit the ship. “We’d really like to learn more about sea exploration,” he said. He gave the scientist a hopeful smile.
    “We promise not to get in anyone’s way,” said Annie. “And our parents like us to learn new things.”
    Henry turned back to the two seamen. “Surely such bright and curious young people should beallowed to visit our ship,” he said. “Since we’ll be drifting and dredging in this area all day, we can return them to shore before nightfall.”
    Joe and Tommy frowned at each other. But Joe finally gave a quick nod.
    “Yay!” Annie said.
    “Thanks!” said Jack. “We promise we won’t cause any trouble.”
    “See that you don’t,” said Henry with a smile. “Joe and Tommy, would you mind lending our two visitors your life preservers?”
    “Never fit ’em, sir,” said Joe.
    “Well, we must do what we can to keep them safe,” said Henry.
    The two seamen grudgingly handed Jack and Annie their bulky vests.
    So these are old-fashioned life preservers!
thought Jack. The vests were made of blocks of cork tied together. Even though Jack buckled his tightly, it hung low on his body, almost slipping off.
    “I’m afraid they are rather big,” said Henry, “but still they might save you should we capsize.”
    “Don’t worry,” said Annie. “We’re really good swimmers.”
    “We should go now, sir,” Joe said impatiently.
    “Yes, yes,” Henry said. “Let us be off!”
    Joe and Tommy pushed the rowboat into the shallow water. While Jack and Annie had been talking with Henry, the water had turned choppy. Dark gray clouds had rolled in, hiding the sun.
    “Climb in after me!” Henry told Jack and Annie, and they followed him into the rowboat.
    Jack’s backpack wouldn’t fit over his life jacket. So he clutched the pack to his chest as Joe and Tommy pushed the boat farther into the ocean. The sailors jumped in, picked up their oars, and began rowing back to the ship.

“ T he wind’s against us!” Joe said as he and Tommy rowed.
    Even after the boat moved past the breakers, it kept bouncing up and down on the swell of the waves. Water splashed over the sides and soaked Jack’s clothes. But Jack wasn’t worried about the wind or water. He was worried about being seasick, because waves of nausea had started to come over him.
    “Sorry it’s a bit of tough going!” Henry said.
    “We can take it!” Annie said.
    We hope
, thought Jack. The last thing he wanted to do was throw up, especially in front of Joe and Tommy!
    “We should