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Text © 2007 Chris Tait

Questions for Discussion © 2007 Union Square & Co., LLC

Illustrations © 2022 Karl James Mountford

Classic Starts® is a registered trademark of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

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ISBN 978-1-4027-7695-3

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022934944

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Interior design by Gavin Motnyk

CHAPTER 1

Shipwreck!

For many days, our ship was tossed in terrible storms. We were thrown about the sea and were terribly off course. Our mast was split, there were leaks all around, and water rushed in, rising quickly. Our crew gave up all hope and feared the worst. All seemed lost.

I gathered my family on the deck, and we prayed on our knees in the pelting rain. Suddenly, we heard a crew member shout out, “Land! Land!”

Our prayers had been answered. But just then, the ship wedged between two huge rocks and began to crack to pieces as water poured in from all sides.

“Lower the boats! We are lost!” yelled the captain. Our ship began to come apart. I ran to my boys and my wife and cried, “We are still above water and land is near! We can still make it!”

But as I turned, I saw that the crew had jumped into all the lifeboats. It broke my heart. How could I tell the family we had been left by our shipmates?

“Children, ” I shouted over the rain, “if we stay on board, after the storm we can make it to shore!” My boys were relieved, but my wife saw that I was still worried as the broken ship swayed and rolled in the waves.

“We need to find food, ” I yelled. “We have to stay strong for what is ahead.”

As the night wore on, the waves and rain kept taking more of our ship, but we managed to stay in our cabin, above water.

We searched what was left of the ship in a panic, finding food and putting together a meal for the family.

Just then, Fritz, my oldest son, said, “Father, why don’t we find something to make life jackets or float belts, and then we can all swim to the shore?”

It was a great idea. We found empty flasks and cans that we connected together to make life jackets of sorts and put them on so that we might survive if we were washed overboard. The life jackets wouldn’t last for a long swim, but they might give us a moment or two more. We also found matches, knives, rope, and other useful things to carry, just in case. Fritz, Ernest, Jack, and Franz could now sleep on the broken ship, while my wife and I waited up all night, watching the storm.

Finally, when day came, we saw that the sky had begun to clear, and we woke the boys. They were surprised that the other shipmates had deserted in the lifeboats but we told them not to fear.

“But Papa!” they cried. “What has become of everyone? Are all the sailors gone? Why did they leave us?”

“We should swim to shore now, ” Fritz interrupted.

“I think we should build a raft and use that to get there safely, ” said Ernest. “These float belts may not do the trick.”

“First let’s search the rest of the ship to see what we can find, ” I answered. “Let’s all meet back here with whatever we think will be useful.”

My youngest son, Franz, who was only seven, went to look for fishing hooks, and my wife went to feed and comfort the animals on the ship, which were all full of fear. The rest of us set out to find what we could. Fritz went to find weapons, I looked for fresh water, and Jack went to the captain’s quarters.

Jack opened the door only to be knocked over by two leaping dogs that were thrilled to be rescued. They licked him all over, and Jack climbed up on the biggest dog and proudly rode him to where I was. We joined the others and went through all we had found.

Fritz had found guns, gunpowder, and bullets. Ernest had nails, a saw, an axe, a hammer, and other tools in all of his pockets. Little Franz proudly showed us a box of fishing hooks, which I told him were the most important. My wife told us that there was a donkey, two cows, two goats, six sheep, a ram, a flock of chickens, a rooster, and two pigs on board.

Jack hit upon the idea of finding some barrels to float to shore in. They could be used to build a raft for all of us. I sawed the barrels each in half until there were eight. I joined the half-barrels together with large boards until we had built a sort of a boat of tubs. We placed rollers made from cut up poles under our boat and managed to create a lever to launch it into the water. We tied it to our broken ship and then loaded it with all of our tools, food, water, and everything else we found that might be useful. Then, we found some oars that we could row for shore with. After a busy day of preparing the raft, it was nightfall once again, and we waited tensely in the dark in hopes that another storm would not come. In the morning, we prepared to row to shore.

“Before we go, ” I told the boys, “make sure to leave lots of feed for the animals and make them as comfortable as you can. We may be able to come back for them in a few days.” Just as we were about to leave, we heard the rooster’s crow, which made us decide to gather all of the chickens to take with us.

My two eldest boys, Ernest and Fritz, took the oars. With that, it was time to head for shore. We all bravely put our lives into the little boat.