The boys smiled at each other. Their smiles turned to laughter, and for a few moments they let themselves go in a wild laughing bout.
“I should have known,” Biff said, simmering down at last. “I should have known that Likake Mahenili, champion swimmer of the Islands, could take care of himself.”
“It was close, though, Biff.”
“I’ll say it was.”
Biff put the Easy Action on a course for the spot where the dinghy had been beached. They sailed through the morning and well into the afternoon before they spotted their landmarks. Biff anchored the yawl. Both had felt sure their parents would be waiting for them on the beach. There was no sign of either man.
“What do we do now, Biff?”
Biff shrugged his shoulders helplessly.
“I don’t know, Li. All we can do is wait. It’ll be dark, soon. We can’t search for them at night.”
“Biff, you don’t think that maybe Perez Soto—” Li couldn’t finish his sentence.
Biff knew the worried thoughts which must be running through his friend’s mind. The same thoughts were racing through his own. Had his father and Mr. Mahenili been trapped by the enemy?