Chapter 22
Beckett stoodat the upper railing watching Luna and Dan and Jeffrey on the level below, suiting up to get into the water. Or rather Dan and Jeffrey were suiting up, Luna had on simple yoga pants and top. Her paddle board, Steve, and the Zodiac had been lowered down in the water. Dan climbed down the ladder after Jeffrey.
Luna casually said, “You’re going down the ladder, huh? Pretty Stiffneck of you.”
Dan looked up. “What, but — how are you going to get in?”
Luna looked up at Beckett with a question in her eyes.
He called down, “Don’t worry about me, I won’t look.” He turned away from the railing as Sarah walked up and asked, “Are they in the water already?”
There was a big splash.
Luna came up and yelled, “Whoooo! Beckett I’m good!”
Beckett turned back to the water and waved.
Dan said, “If I had known you were going to jump, I would have jumped too.”
Luna effortlessly lifted herself to the paddleboard and circled the Zodiac, giving Dan a lesson on holding the paddle and standing. Then she crawled effortlessly into the Zodiac while Dan moved to the paddleboard and sent it rocking. “Why’s it so small?” He got to his knees and sat there for a moment. “You made this look easy.”
Luna laughed, “It is. It’s totally easy. Just stand up.”
Dan got on his hands and knees trying to get a foot under him with the board shifting and rocking until he slid into the water.
Sarah laughed and spoke to Beckett. “This is so fun to watch. It’s going to drive him crazy that she’s better at this than him.”
Beckett said, “He’ll never get better than her, so he’ll need to get used to it.”
“Never, but he’ll have fun trying.”
Dan climbed back on with the paddleboard rocking up and down. He asked Luna, “Okay, how?”
Luna laughed and shook her head. “Put one foot under you and then the other.”
Dan jokingly glowered at her. “Very funny. The ground is moving.” He rose struggling and splashing until he had his feet under him, but was bent in half at the waist.
Luna laughed. “Now you have to stand up straight, but loose.”
“I’m not standing?” His top half was practically parallel with the board.
Luna cocked her head to the side. “Maybe? Can you see the horizon?”
“No! I can only see the board!”
Luna giggled. “Okay that’s probably fine, let’s call that standing. Now put your paddle in the water and push it back.”
Dan lowered the paddle to the water, lost his balance, spun his arms, dropped the paddle, it started floating away, and overturned the board. He hit the water with a giant, arms spiraling splash.
He came up with a whoosh and pulled his top half up on the board with a grin. “Was I doing it?”
Luna deftly fished the paddle out of the water. “Dan, I say this with kindness and gratitude, but it must be said — if you’re under the water, you’re not doing it right.”
He hoisted himself back to the board with a laugh.
He and Luna practiced for an hour. Dan finally got the hang of it and Jeffrey and Luna followed him in the Zodiac and returned him to the ship a while later. Dan climbed the ladder and called down over his shoulder to Luna still sitting in the Zodiac. “That is so tiring. How far did I go?”
Luna called up. “Um, about a half mile?”
