"This shouldn't be too hard," he said. Like Uncle Hector, he ran a hand along the front of the boat. "At least not to get it off the rocks."
"Maybe if we can get David and some of the others-"
"We don't need them. All we need is a lever."
"A lever?"
"A long stick. We move one of these rocks over a little and then we put the stick on it and wedge it beneath the boat-"
"And the we pry it off the rocks," Samantha finished. "What happens when it gets loose? It might float away and sink."
"We'll have to tie a rope to the front and then tie it around another rock or something to anchor it. It might be tricky to reel it in."
"So you think we could use David's help?"
"We can do it ourselves."
"Wendell, please. This is important. We won't get another chance at it."
"Actually, I think the kid is on to something," Uncle Hector said. "If I can get the motor to fire up, then I can use that to get it back on shore."
"What about the holes? What do we do with them?"
"We can patch them with boards from the village," Wendell said.
"We'll need some pitch or something to seal it," Uncle Hector said.
Wendell considered this for a moment. "We should be able to use tree sap."
"You want to seal my boat with maple syrup? We ain't making pancakes, kid."
"It might take some experimentation, but I think if we take sap from a few different trees we can make something thick enough."
Uncle Hector shook his head. "You're a real Einstein, kid."
"Who?"
"Never mind. You get started on the sap. I'll work on the engine. Lucy, that leaves you with the lever."
"Sure. How long do you need it to be?"
Wendell gave Samantha his rough estimates for length and width. Rebecca volunteered to accompany her into the forest to look for a downed limb that might work. If they didn't find anything, they would have to go back to town and try to salvage something.
They wandered through the forest for a while without finding anything or saying anything. Rebecca finally asked Samantha for a break. They sat down on a rock to catch their breath. Rebecca looked down at her feet and said, "Samantha, can I ask you something?"
"Of course you can. What is it?"
"Can we trust this Mr. Delgado? If he fixes his boat, will he really bring supplies back for us?"
"He will. I know it." Samantha kicked a rock and then took a deep breath. "He won't be going alone. I'll be going with him. Maybe Prudence too. I'll bet he'd let you come with us. Would you like to see the mainland?"