o zero, he yelled
to Scotty. Scotty lowered the anchor and made it fast, then hurried back
to join Rick, who backed off until he felt the anchor dig in.

It was silent in the cove with the motors off. "I'll start," Rick
offered, and at Scotty's nod he picked up his Scuba and slipped into the
harness. His weight belt was next, then his fins. Finally he slipped the
mask strap over his head, and put the mouthpiece in place. He took a
couple of breaths to make sure he was getting air, then walked to the
edge of the cockpit and fell backward into the water, letting his tank
take the shock of landing. He slipped the mask off, took the mouthpiece
out, and spat into the mask to prevent fogging, then he rinsed it, put
it on, and replaced the mouthpiece.

Scotty had taken the sapling from the cabin top. He handed it to Rick,
who dove with it, thrusting the sharpened end into the mud far enough so
that the sapling stayed in place.

Rick surfaced again and swam to the boat, which had drifted a few feet.
Catching the leg of one motor, he pulled the boat back to where the
sapling projected above the surface. He held the boat in position while
Scotty took the sledge and drove the sapling down until its top was only
a few inches above the water. Rick tested the pole. It was firm.

He removed the mouthpiece, treading water. "Looks okay. I'm going to
start."

"Good luck," Scotty called.

Rick submerged and swam down, using the pole as a guide. The rope,
attached to the pole, was perhaps two feet above the bottom. He freed
the end of the rope, unwound a few feet, slipped the end through his
belt, and secured it with a slip knot. Then, hands extended, he began
the slow work of covering the cove bottom inch by inch, searching for
the thing that had splashed.

The boy swam in an ever-widening circle, the rope unwinding from the
sapling as he moved. The unwinding of the line, which he kept taut,
ensured that he would cover new ground each time he rounded the pole,
but without missing any. He couldn't see, because his hands stirred up
mud as he traveled. Only his sense of touch told him what was on the
bottom. He wasn't afraid of grabbing a crab or an eel. All underwater
creatures with any mobility at all get out of the way as fast as
possible. He knew the compression wave caused by his movement would warn
all living creatures.

His groping hands identified various pieces of wood, all natural, and
assorted other objects including an