Secrets in the Islands: A Sami Series Adventure

By Lauren de Leeuw

Having world famous archaeologists for parents isn't easy. Sure, the stories about their discoveries used to be exciting, but recently twelve-year-old Sami Johnson just feels like she's missing out.That is, until now.After being left behind one too many times, she finally gets to tag along with her parents to their next dig site. Keeping it local and seemingly simple for Sami's first glimpse into the family business, the Johnson's head to Haida Gwaii - a group of islands off the west coast of Canada where an old fishing weir and some ancient spearheads were recently discovered. But things start going downhill as soon as they arrive.After meeting a new friend, Sami realizes that the whole island is awash in secrets. Missing artifacts, late night stakeouts and stalkers in the forest were not what Sami was expecting on this trip and she begins to wonder if this was why her parents had left her at home for so many years. Can Sami find the grit, determination, and most importantly the confidence, to make it through and solve this mystery before it's too late?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Dec 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9781998190294

Lauren de Leeuw

Lauren de Leeuw graduated with a degree in journalism; however, she was always far more interested in the adventure novel that was in her book bag as well as her next travel destination than she ever was with her current local news assignments. She has published many articles across a variety of platforms. Secrets in the Islands is her first book. Lauren lives on Vancouver Island with her husband and two wonderfully energetic children.

Book preview

Secrets in the Islands

Lauren de Leeuw

Secrets in the Islands

Copyright © 2023 by Lauren de Leeuw

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-1-998190-28-7 (Hardcover)

978-1-998190-27-0 (Paperback)

978-1-998190-29-4 (eBook)

To Dash and Daisy. May you grow to love and appreciate a good adventure.

And to Jared. Thank you for believing.

Table of Contents

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

EPILOGUE

HAIDA GWAII FACTS

PROLOGUE

The faint sound of snickering carried up to Sami as she hung in her harness a couple of feet away from the wall. It had been a whole week of practicing, and she was the only one who couldn’t seem to get the dyno.

When are we going to move on… I can’t believe she can’t get it.

Sami tried to shake off the comment, though she could feel her cheeks flush with embarrassment.

She rappelled down to the ground and began the climb again, the wall becoming steeper and more angled the further up she got. She reached the section where she would need to perform the dyno—a leap from one section of the wall to another. Everyone else in the group had figured it out so quickly. She didn’t know what was wrong with her.

Sami let go of the wall, pushing with her feet. She could feel her eyes close in anticipation. She knew she hadn’t pushed hard enough when her fingers only grazed the handhold, and she slammed into the wall, her harness the only thing keeping her upright.

Loud laughter from below rang throughout the gym. She returned her attention to the wall, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes and a sense of defeat settling in the pit of her stomach.

You know her parents are hardly around. They are too busy for her. That’s probably why she’s so weird.

Her defeat about the dyno was suddenly overshadowed because it was that remark that pierced the deepest.

The truth always hurt the most.

CHAPTER ONE

The late afternoon sun streamed through Sami Johnson’s window in the upstairs bedroom of her home on Della Lane. Today was humid. Hot and humid. Unbearably hot and humid. The salty sea air lingered on the breeze, and Sami yearned to be outside to enjoy it. The wind off the Pacific lifted the curtains like a ghost, but even with the breeze and her wavy brown hair slicked back into a ponytail, the sweat still beaded heavily on her forehead.

Don’t you guys miss me? yelled Jenna, her high-pitched voice echoing through the small computer speakers.

Sami turned her attention back to the laptop and watched as Jenna flicked her auburn hair behind her ears. Her bright-green eyes stared out from the little box on the screen, and she made a sad face at the camera. On the next screen over, her friend Tom adjusted his thin-framed glasses and shook his head while smirking. It was the end of the school year, and Sami and her friends had decided to have a wrap-up party after their final online exam. It was a math exam which meant that Sami’s brain felt like mush. She hated math.

Is it possible to miss someone I’ve actually never met in person? Tom asked, running his hands through his scraggly blond hair.

Jenna laughed. You two are ruining the party! Tom, with your negative comments and, Sami, you’ve been staring out your window pretty much the whole time!

Now Sami laughed. I know. I know. It’s just that it’s crazy hot out, and I want to get in a quick dip in the ocean before our flight.

Sami glanced at the hurriedly packed bags by her door. Her parents had received a call from the Archaeology Society on the island of Haida Gwaii just a few days ago. Seems a construction company had found something interesting in one of the estuaries on their site.

Sami’s parents—Chris and Christy—were one of the best-known teams in the world for dealing with artifacts and historical sites. Christy, Sami’s mom, was a biological archaeologist, so she dealt with things like carbon dating and more of the plant and animal side of things. Her dad, Chris, was also an archaeologist—his obsession was ancient tools and weapons. They had met in Egypt on a dig site when they were just out of university. Together, the two of them were a well-sought-after team and had travelled all over the world to help companies and organizations with their discoveries. Her whole life, Sami had only heard about their stories and adventures while she had been stuck at home.

Will there be any good waves out there? asked Tom.

Not sure, said Sami. I doubt the waves are as good here as you say they are in New Zealand.

It’s been all right. Nothing tropical, that’s for sure. The water is probably just as cold as where you are. Tom laughed. He was originally from the Netherlands but had spent the past year in New Zealand while his dad was on an extended work trip.

Sami loved to surf. Her parents had made swimming a priority when she was younger, and her mom had taken her out for her first surf when she was six. The Johnson family had made their home close to a little town named Sooke on Vancouver Island, just off the western coast of Canada. It was a quick scramble across the island highway to get to her favourite beach. She had received a new board and wetsuit for her twelfth birthday just last week, but she hadn’t had the opportunity to try it out yet. Both items were packed and ready for the trip.

However, her biggest passion right now was climbing. She had joined the local rock-climbing club a few years ago and had progressed quite nicely into an amateur rock climber. Sami thought back to a couple of weeks ago when she had continually messed up the dyno that her coach had instructed the group on. Her face felt hot just thinking about it. She was the only one in the group who couldn’t seem to get it. A dyno was a move in climbing that required you to jump, pushing with both hands and feet at the same time, to get to an entirely different section of that wall that wouldn’t have been within reach. The shame of hanging in the air over and over while the others snickered below washed over her, but it was the comment about her parents that echoed the loudest. Sami had tried to drown it out these past few weeks with books. Lots and lots of books. Her last few reads included titles such as A Collection of Poisonous Animals Across North America, a spy novel set in the 1930s called The English Emissary, and, of course, A History of the Haida Tribes.

They had always had a library room in the house, and it was filled floor to ceiling with hundreds of books. She spent many long blanket-wrapped winter days and hot summer afternoons lounging on the shaggy carpet, her stormy grey eyes scouring the pages, trying to soak up facts, adventures, or mysteries. Before every trip, her parents would give her book assignments. It was a way they stayed connected while they were apart. Sami had always been so excited to tell them everything she had learned while they were away. The first night her parents returned after a long trip used to be her favourite. The Johnson family would sit around the dinner