The next morning, the stranger was all that Astrid could think about, at least until she and her friends arrived at Rachel Carson High School on the monorail.  The school was abuzz, but not about any strange man arrested by police.  Instead, everyone was talking about the lake monster.  Boys drew pictures of various marine reptiles on the backs of their notebooks.  Girls recounted how strange Pearl Lake had seemed last summer when they went swimming.  And every conversation seemed to revolve around Austin Tretower.  Some of the teachers even got into the act.  Dr. Ikeda decorated the science hallway with a gigantic Elasmosaurus mural, and Mr. Hall assigned essays on the Loch Ness Monster in English Composition.

“I want an alternate assignment,” said Astrid, raising her hand.

“What?” said a startled Mr. Hall.

“I don’t want to write about something as silly as the Loch Ness Monster.”

Astrid could feel Denise and Christopher, on either side of her, staring.

“You’re not limited in the way that you approach the assignment, Astrid,” said Mr. Hall.  “You have written more than enough persuasive essays.  Perhaps you’d like to do something more creative—a fictional story, perhaps?”

“No, Mr. Hall, I don’t think I would like that at all.”

“What’s going on?” whispered Christopher.

Denise shrugged, and then made a crazy circle with her finger next to her head.

“Then Astrid,” continued the teacher, “if you insist on sticking to your routine, why don’t you write a paper explaining why you believe the Loch Ness Monster does not exist?  Might I recommend the book by Steuart Campbell…?”

“I read it when I was five,” said Astrid.  “Right after I figured out that there was no Santa Claus.”

“Wait a second,” said Madison Laurel from the far side of the room.  “You mean Santa Claus isn’t real?”

“Oh no,” said Denise.  “Santa Claus is totally real.”

The class erupted into laughter, and Mr. Hall, with difficulty, brought them back on task.

“Your parents may expect a call this evening,” he told Astrid.

Astrid didn’t enjoy her next three classes as much as usual, but at least the talk of monsters was limited to the students.  As they left US History on their way to lunch, Christopher pulled her aside.

“What’s going on with you, Astrid?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re awfully testy today,” he said.  “Everybody has an off day now and then… I mean everybody but you.  I’ve never seen you have an off day, and I’ve never seen you short with a teacher before.”

“There’s a lot going on, I guess,” said Astrid.  “And this lake monster talk is really annoying.  You know there’s no such thing as a lake monster.  We’ve gone swimming in Pearl Lake a hundred times.”

“I know,” said Christopher.

“Plesiosaurs like Elasmosaurus died out 65 million years ago.”

“Sixty five point two million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous,” confirmed Christopher.

“Loch Ness is less than 10,000 years old, and Pearl Lake is only about a thousand years old.  There’s no way there could be a prehistoric monster in either of them.”

“Of course not,” said Christopher.  “Kids just like monsters, Astrid.  It’s like all those zombie movies or that vampire that the girl’s like.  I don’t know why you’re letting it get under your skin.”

Astrid Maxxim and her Undersea Dome is now available for the nook and nook apps.  You can get it now at Barnes and Noble for 99 cents by following the link.

Girl inventor Astrid Maxxim and her friends are back. This time Astrid is building an observation dome beneath the sea. Will she complete her amazing construction project, or will she be sidetracked by underwater monsters, the evil organization known as the Black Hand, or her snotty cousin Gloria?

Before she could make any further protests, Astrid was pulled quickly onto the bus by Christopher and Denise.  The vehicle made a single stop at a gate guarded by military police and then it was out onto the Queen Liliuokalani Freeway.  From there it was a remarkably short trip across the island to Kailua.  Less than an hour after arriving in Hawaii, Astrid and the others stepped off the bus in front of the palatial beachfront property owned by Maxxim Industries.

The estate had been created years before when Mrs. Maxxim had purchased seven properties and combined them.  The original houses, which had been in bad repair, had been removed and five lovely multi-level modern homes had been built, interspersed with gardens and common areas.

“Where’s the swimming pool?” asked Denise as soon as she stepped out of the bus.

“We’re a hundred yards away from the most beautiful beach in the world,” said her brother, “and you want a swimming pool?”

“I don’t swim in the ocean with Astrid anymore.”

“There are three swimming pools,” said Astrid.  “You can swim in all three of them.”

“After we get settled,” interjected Mr. Brown.  “Do you know where we’re staying, Astrid?”

“Hold on,” replied the girl inventor, pulling out her tablet and flipping her fingers across the screen.  “My mom gave me the arrangements.  You and Denise are staying at Orchid House, and Dennis too of course.  The Harrises are at Plumeria House.  The Diazes are at Antherium House.  And Toby and Mr. Bundersmith are at Chrysanthemum House.”

“What about me?” asked Austin.

“Oh, um… you’re with Toby and his dad.  And I’ll be at Gardenia House.”

Carrying their luggage with them, the travelers from Maxxim City split up and headed in small groups toward each of the assigned houses.  Astrid all alone, walked down the sidewalk and up the steps to the front door of Gardenia House, pulling her suitcase along on its wheels.  It was a medium-sized home, far smaller than the Maxxim Mansion, but quite striking.  A central portion rose up into two stories plus a loft, while wings on either side were a single level.  The gently sloping roof and the coral façade fit perfectly with the tropical plants that filled carefully arranged flowerbeds all around the perimeter.  The front door accepted Astrid’s thumbprint and she stepped inside.

Walking through the foyer and into the kitchen, Astrid opened the refrigerator to find an apple, which she washed in the sink before taking a bite.  The interior of the house was beautifully furnished and spotlessly kept; not surprising since it was used only a few weeks a year.  Opening the patio door, the fourteen year-old breathed in the floral scent that floated on the gentle breeze.  She could hear the ocean waves crashing against the nearby beach with an irregular rhythm.

Astrid sat down in one of the heavy wooden patio chairs as the breeze whipped up slightly around her.  It was pleasantly warm and neither the small cloud that moved over her head, nor the scattered drops that fell from it detracted the feeling that the entire island was giving her one big hug.  She finished her apple and walked back inside, dropping the core in the recycle bin before taking her suitcase to the bedroom she had used when she had stayed in the house the previous summer.  She had just started unpacking when she received a text.

“ß already at the pool,” said Denise’s text, pointing at her name.

“How’s the water?” typed Astrid.

“Not in water.  Laying out… duh.”

Astrid texted back.  “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

She had barely finished typing when another text arrived, this one from Valerie.

“We’re here!  See you in an hour.”

“Wonderful.”

Astrid sat her phone, her tablet, and her MX-360 on the nightstand and then quickly unpacked her suitcase, placing her clothes in the dresser drawers.  The exception was her pink and yellow swimsuit.  It wasn’t so much that she wanted to lay out by the pool, she told herself, so much as she needed to keep an eye on Denise to see that she properly protected her skin.  Decked out in her bikini and her matching flip-flops, she skipped out the bedroom door and into the hallway to come face to face with two strange men.

Ten minutes later, the group arrived at Main Street and climbed aboard the monorail train that took them to school.  Rachel Carson High School was a beautiful high-tech, three-story structure with its own internal monorail station on the top floor.  The six young people stepped out of the train and started off toward their respective team rooms, where they could visit their lockers before class.

“Hello, Nerd,” said as voice behind Astrid, as she put her backpack on the top shelf in her locker.

She turned around to come face to face with her cousin Gloria.  She looked just as stunningly beautiful as she did on the hoverbike poster, but now she was wearing a Rachel Carson High blazer.

“What are you doing here?” asked Astrid.

“I’m going to school.  Gee, aren’t you supposed to be some kind of genius?  I would have thought that you could figure that out.”

“But you live in Socketburg and you can’t start school now anyway.  It’s April, for crying out loud.”

“I’m on an extended study program.  We have those at Tallulah Bankhead High.  Don’t feel bad, but I probably won’t see much of you because I’m a sophomore and you’re just a freshman.  Anyway, bye.”

Gloria walked off into the crowd of students, leaving Astrid standing open-mouthed in her wake.

Shark!

Denise Brown tapped frantically on her friend Astrid’s shoulder to get her attention.  Astrid Maxxim’s focus, like the focus of her underwater camera, was fixed on the bright orange starfish, which rested on the top of the coral outcropping as if waiting for its picture to be taken.  Astrid snapped a photo before turning to see what was agitating her dive partner.  Denise pointed at the shark, and then to make sure that she was getting the message across, made a fin with her hand and put it on top of her head.  Astrid held up her fingers about an inch apart in the universal symbol for small.  Denise shook her head violently and shot up toward the surface.

In exasperation, Astrid blew out bubbles around her regulator, and then kicked her way back up to the surface of the Mediterranean.  She spat out her mouthpiece and pulled the dive mask up onto her forehead.

“We’ve got fifteen minutes left before we’re done,” she said.

“Shark!” shouted Denise, scrambling up the ladder that hung from the side of the small boat.

“Shark?” said Toby Bundersmith, who was waiting topside.  He threw aside his Batman comic and helped Denise up the ladder.  “That’s lucky.  I was hoping to see a shark when I was in the water, but I didn’t.”

“Come on, Denise,” called Astrid.  “I still haven’t got a picture of a lobster yet.”

“There is a shark!”

“It’s only a little one,” said Astrid.  “It is more afraid of you than you are of it.”

“That’s not possible,” said Denise.  “And it wasn’t little.  It was big—large, hefty, colossal, enormous, gigantic, mammoth, massive, oversized, tremendous, vast.”

Astrid tossed the camera up to Toby.  “It was little—tiny, inconsequential, miniscule, petite, teeny, undersized, microscopic, miniature, did I say miniature already, no? runty, bitty, wee.”

“Come on,” said Toby, holding his hand down for Astrid.  “I’m getting bored up here anyway.  Let’s go in and have lunch.”

“Hurry up and get in the boat before that shark gets you,” said Denise, helping Astrid up.

“Honestly,” said Astrid.  “It was the size of a dachshund.”

“I got bit by a wiener dog once and had to have five stitches,” replied Denise.  “He didn’t have shark’s teeth either, just regular dog teeth.”

Toby helped as the girls, one after the other, removed their scuba tanks and stowed them in the aft rack.  Then he went forward and took a seat behind the wheel.  As Astrid and Denise sat down, the big inboard engine roared to life.  Pulling back the throttle, Toby steered toward the dock in Cartagena as the two girls wrapped up in large, fluffy towels.

Astrid Maxxim was startlingly cute, with shoulder length strawberry blond hair and very large blue eyes.  Already a world famous inventor, she was enjoying the relative anonymity that Cartagena, Spain offered.  Denise had long blond hair and green eyes, and was a little on the skinny side.  At five foot five, the two girls were exactly the same height, and had been best friends since they were in diapers.  Toby Bundersmith was tall and muscular, with brown hair that hung down in bangs just above his hazel eyes.  He turned and gave Astrid a broad smile.