Saving Bay Haven: A Charming Town with a Dirty Secret

By Karyn W Tunks

Twelve-year-old Daniel MacRae is spending the summer in the coastal town of Bay Haven with a father he barely knows. The threat of an approaching hurricane on the day of his arrival is the first sign his help is needed at Hi-Tide Cabins, the quaint waterfront property owned by his family for generations. While his father spends much of his time

• Language: English
• Publisher: Professor Storytime Books
• Release date: Aug 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781737340324

Karyn W Tunks

Karyn W. Tunks is the author of four picture books for children and four resource books for teachers. She is a retired educator with over 25 years of experience teaching learners from preschool to graduate school. She received her Ph.D. from Florida State University, and M.Ed. and B.S. from the University of South Alabama. Karyn lives along Alabama's Gulf Coast with her retired Coast Guard husband, Jeff.

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Saving Bay Haven

Karyn W. Tunks

2021-07-08

Saving Bay Haven

Copyright © 2021 by Karyn W. Tunks

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.

To request permissions, contact the publisher through www.karyntunks.com

ISBN 978-1-7373403-0-0 (hardback)

ISBN 978-1-7373403-1-7 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-7373403-2-4 (Ebook)

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

First edition 2021

Cover design and interior art by Julie D. Buckner

Edited by Rocky Porch Moore

Proofread by Dr. Rebecca Giles

Beta reading by Ben Buckner

Publisher logo by Rose Garcia

Printed in the United States of America.

Professor Storytime Books

Fairhope, Alabama

Karyntunks.com

Dedication

Dedicated to the faithful stewards of land and sea.

1 Rough Landing

  During the last hour of the flight, a hard rain pelted the small, oval window of the plane. I stuck my face right up to the glass but could see only dark clouds stretched out for miles. The flight attendant made the announcement, Ladies and gentlemen, the captain has turned on the fasten seat belt sign due to turbulence. Please return to your seats and keep your seat belts fastened for the remainder of our flight. Thank you.

  The turbulence she described felt more like a roller coaster. Only this was not fun. As promised, the fasten seat belt sign stayed lit and the flight attendants never left their seats. No pretzels. No ginger ale. My stomach rumbled, not so much from hunger and not even because of the roller coaster of a flight, but because of not knowing what to expect after landing.

  When Flight 480 from Philadelphia touched down, the passengers all cheered with a mixture of gratitude and relief. From the little oval window, I saw luggage handlers and fuel trucks rush toward the plane. Once my feet reached land, I got caught up in a herd of passengers speeding through the terminal to baggage claim. Along the way we saw people stranded due to flight cancellations. They camped out in every available spot in the airport.

  At baggage claim, I quickly spotted the huge, Hulk-green, indestructible suitcase Mom had bought as it bumped along the conveyor belt, but there was no sign of anyone there to meet me. Pushing past the other travelers watching for their luggage, I reached for the handle but at the last second was distracted by a voice yelling, Daniel! Hey, Daniel! Over here! I looked toward the voice and a split-second later my suitcase started on another round trip around the conveyor belt.

  The man calling to me made his way over, Hey, son! How was your flight? Bumpy I’ll bet! Grab your bag. We’ve got to get going. Angel is on her way and we’ve got to get home.

  My father’s greeting was as casual as if I had just returned from a week of summer camp. There was no indication from him of the awkwardness I felt about coming face to face with him after so many years. He didn’t even acknowledge that I now stood several inches taller than him and am built like a varsity linebacker even though I just turned twelve. Maybe Mom warned him how awkward I felt about my size. Or maybe he just didn’t have time to notice.

  Dad tossed my suitcase into the back of an old pick-up truck and we jumped inside just as a gust of hot wind blew across the covered airport parking deck. He turned the key in the ignition and tore out of there shifting gears and maneuvering the pick-up onto a main road with the expertise of a stock car driver. The windshield wipers pounded at full speed but did little to knock away the heavy rain. Signals at the largest intersections blinked yellow to keep traffic moving. The oncoming vehicles inched along at a bumper-to-bumper pace. Cars and trucks were stuffed full of belongings with worried faces peering from windshields. It looked like a mass exodus.

  In the direction we were heading, though, there were no other vehicles. It was just us, and Dad kept his foot heavy on the gas pedal taking full advantage of the open road.

  What’s going on? I asked, peering through the front windshield.

  Dad shot a glance and a grin at me, Hurricane Angel, the first big storm of the season. She’s been bouncing around in the Gulf of Mexico for the last week. Those folks from the Weather Channel have been hanging around like a pack of dogs drooling over a meaty bone. He shifted into a higher gear and we merged onto the interstate. It is way too early in hurricane season for this to do much damage. Anyway, I’ve seen more storms than any of their so-called experts and can guarantee this one will do nothing more than spit some rain.

  Oh, I answered, feeling uneasy and unconvinced my dad would know more about storms than hurricane experts. He seemed to sense this along with a need to reassure me, so he explained about hurricanes and I tried my best to understand.

  "When cool air mixes with the warm air over the water, storm clouds build and begin to rotate. A hurricane forms when