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differently, wallowing from side to side. And the sun should not be able to reach into their sheltered spot under the counter-stern of the ship. Unless . . .
    Alex sat up sharply, shading his eyes to see through the sun-glare. Amber, Li, Paulo and Hex were all sprawled around him in the little boat, fast asleep – and the Phoenix was gone.
    'Wake up!' yelled Alex, a wave of shock and horror flooding through his body. He turned in a full circle, scanning the horizon. The Phoenix was nowhere in sight.
    The others were waking up, stretching and yawning.
    'What's all the shouting for . . . ?' grumbled Amber.
    'We're adrift,' said Alex, curtly. He watched as the same wave of shock hit the other four and they all looked wildly about them for any sign of the Phoenix.
    'That's impossible,' said Li, faintly.
    Alex clambered past Hex into the bows of the little boat and began to haul in the rope that should have still been attached to the aft-deck of the schooner.
    'Who secured the painter?' demanded Amber, looking for someone to blame.
    'I did,' said Hex.
    'Oh, that's just great. What did you do? Tie it in a pretty bow?'
    'It was secure,' said Hex. 'I'm sure of it. There's no way that rope could've come loose.'
    'Well it did!' yelled Amber.
    'No it didn't,' said Alex quietly as he hauled the last length of rope out of the water. He held it up for the others to see. The end of the rope was frayed.
    'It is because we pulled it around to the side of the ship,' said Paulo, examining the rope. 'It must have been rubbing against something and, with the weight of all of us, plus the boat—' He shrugged. 'The rope frayed in two . . .'
    'Thank you, Einstein,' muttered Hex. 'Question is, what do we do now?'
    The boat rocked as Amber jumped to her feet and started to yell at the top of her voice. 'Help! Help! Phoenix ahoy! Anybody! Help—'
    Paulo stood up too and slapped Amber across the face. She came to an abrupt halt and stared at him with a mixture of shock and anger.
    'Ow!'
    'Sorry,' said Paulo. 'You were panicking.'
    'I was not panicking, you idiot!' yelled Amber, and she slapped Paulo back.
    'You were doing the mad shouting,' said Paulo, rubbing his cheek.
    'Sound travels well across water, you total loser!'
    'But, there is no-one to hear,' said Paulo, sweeping an arm to indicate the empty sea all around them.
    Amber sighed. 'We're low in the water, which means we can't see very far – and the Phoenix could be just over the horizon—'
    'No, she couldn't,' said Alex, tapping his watch. 'We've been asleep for a good two hours. And – there's something else.'
    Silently, Amber and Paulo returned to their places and everyone looked at Alex.
    'The Phoenix was travelling east,' he explained. 'But, judging by the position of the sun, we're moving north.'
    'He's right,' conceded Amber, squinting up at the sun. 'And we're doing more than just drifting. The boat's moving quite fast. I think we must be caught up in a warm-water current.' She and Alex shared a worried look.
    'And that's bad because . . . ?' asked Li.
    'Our boat and the Phoenix have been travelling in two different directions,' said Hex.
    'And that means,' added Paulo, reluctantly, 'we are going to be much harder to find. Even if the Phoenix turned back and retraced her course exactly, we are not going to be there.'
    'What do you mean, "if"?' said Li. 'Of course they'll come back for us!' She looked from face to face, waiting for a reassuring nod. 'Won't they?'
    'Yeah, well. The thing is . . .' Amber swallowed, then tried again. 'The thing is, Heather told us to stay out of her sight until morning. And everyone else will know about us being banned from the mess or watching the film with them. So . . .' Amber stopped and looked down at her hands.
    'So we won't be missed,' finished Hex, flatly. 'We're on our own.'
    They sat in silence as the full gravity of the situation finally sank in. Suddenly, the boat felt like a very small speck in a very big sea. Alex remembered his father