Page 55 of The Sailor

“Yeah, and we all crashed and burned as a result. It wasn’t until we learned to have fun, to take it in stride, that we actually did well.”

“He’ll be fine,” Marit said sternly. “Just watch. He’ll get past those nerves. I know it.”

Zach loved her optimism . . . but secretly, he agreed with his brothers.

Everyone in the crowd gasped when the little girl finally fell. She hit her head on one of the crates on her way down, and there was an immediate hush in the crowd. But a member of the Coast Guard was right there with his boat, helping her into the vessel. After about thirty seconds, she sat up in the boat and smiled. She waved, letting everyone know she was all right. The crowd cheered and yelled in relief.

She’d crossed five hundred and thirty-nine crates. It was an incredible run. Of course, the record was sixty-five hundred, but over five hundred wasn’t anything to sneeze at.

Now it was Kash’s turn.

“Please, please, please,” Britt whispered.

“He’s got this,” Marit said, as she shifted her weight from foot to foot, much as Kash had done earlier. She looked extremely excited and nervous as they all waited for their neighbor to take his turn.

“Next up is Kash Bates. He’s twelve years old and just squeaking into the featherweight limit, one of our most competitive categories. It’s his first time at Lobster Fest, and his first time facing the crates. Let’s give him a big ol’ Lobster Fest greeting!” The announcer was hamming it up for each contestant, and the crowd loved it, giving him what he asked for by cheering and clapping loudly.

Kash looked back at Linc once he was standing on the platform. He really was a scrawny kid. All bones and angles. He leaned over and pulled up the white socks with lobsters on them that every contestant was given to wear to make the field more even, as far as footwear went.

After Linc gave him a thumbs-up, Kash turned back to face the line of crates bobbing on the water in front of him.

“You’ve got this, Kash! Kill it!” Marit yelled at the top of her lungs.

Kash heard her, and his head turned in their direction, causing everyone in their little group to cheer loudly, encouraging him as much as they could.

To Zach’s amazement, Kash’s shoulders went back as he straightened. He could almost see the confidence spreading through his body. Seeing for himself how many people were there to support him, even if his mom and grandfather couldn’t be there, obviously made him feel good.

Then his brows furrowed, and he took a deep breath.

“All right, Kash, show us what you’ve got,” the announcer said. “Go ahead whenever you’re ready.”

Before the last word was out of his mouth, Kash was off. He took a few running steps—and then he was crossing the crates.

Zach watched in awe as it seemed as if the boy flew over the water. He could barely see his feet touching the crates, and they hardly seemed to even bobble under him.

Before he knew it, Kash had made it across the first fifty crates and was safe on the platform on the other side.

When the boy turned around, Zach saw a look of surprise on his face, as if he couldn’t believe he’d actually done it. The surprise quickly morphed into determination. It was as if all it took was making it across that first time, to prove that he could do it, and Kash’s entire attitude shifted.

As the kid ran back across, Zach could see that he was really going to do it. He might not win, but he was going to give whoever else went after him a serious run for their money.

Their little group lost their collective minds as Kash continued to run back and forth over the crates. Two hundred. Five hundred. A thousand.

And he just kept going.

He was like the Energizer Bunny. There were a few times when he stopped on one of the platforms, hamming it up for the crowd, just as Linc had suggested back at Lobster Cove. Giving himself a break without making it seem like he was stalling.

Britt was filming it all, screaming along with the rest of the crowd, who were now clueing into the fact that they were watching an extraordinary performance. As much as everyone laughed and liked seeing people wipe out, they loved it even more when someone crossed the crates thousands of times.

Of course, every time Kash wobbled or almost slipped, a huge gasp would go up from the spectators, and then they’d cheer even louder when he regained his balance and continued onward.

“He’s doing awesome!” Marit gushed, turning toward Zach, tugging on his shirtsleeve as if that would make her words more impactful. Then she immediately spun back around so she wouldn’t miss a second of Kash’s performance, not waiting for him to respond.

He was doing awesome. But the kid was getting tired. His steps weren’t quite as nimble. He wasn’t running as fast as he did in the beginning. He looked a little more wobbly as he ran. It was only a matter of time before he took a misstep and lost his balance. But Zach was more than impressed with how many crates he’d been able to cross already.

It was on his thirty-eighth time crossing the crates when he slipped. Kash went down hard, face-first. He was halfway across when he fell, his face hitting a wooden crate, and he literally bounced into the water.

Everyone around them gasped.