Girl Overboard!

  Copyright © 2014 by Sheri Tan and Fernando Hierro

  Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Fernando Hierro

  Published in Singapore by Epigram Books.

  www.epigrambooks.sg

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

  Edited by Aditi Shivaramakrishnan

  Layout and cover design by Lydia Wong

  Published with the support of

  National Library Board, Singapore

  Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

  Tan, Sheri.

  A rose grows in the jungle / written by Sheri Tan;

  illustrated by Fernando Hierro.

  – Singapore: Epigram Books, 2014.

  pages cm.

  – (Girl overboard!)

  ISBN: 978-981-4615-27-3 (paperback)

  ISBN : 978-981-46-1526-6 (ebook)

  1. Girls – Fiction.

  2. Families – Singapore – Fiction.

  3. Schools – Fiction.

  I. Hierro, Fernando. II. Title. III. Series: Girl overboard!

  PZ7

  S823 -- dc23 OCN891127077

  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

  For Jari, Andrew, Adam and Laurie

  Contents

  1. Ready for Adventure

  2. Face-off

  3. Welcome to Ubin

  4. To Panic or Not to Panic?

  5. Run!

  6. Rise and Shine

  7. Lesson Learned

  8. A Screeching Halt

  9. Full House

  10. We’re Going to Make it After All

  1

  Ready for Adventure

  Dear Diary,

  Well, it’s been three and a half months since we moved to Singapore. I feel…okay. No, actually, I still feel lost. I still feel like I have to ask so many questions just to get one simple thing done. Back home in New York, I didn’t have to ask any questions. I knew where to go, who to ask, what I needed to do to get things done. Not here. But it’s like I am slowly learning how things work and I do feel like…a new person! Yeah, the new and improved Rosie C. Smith! Hahaha! Now if I can just get Will from school to notice me. He’s so cute! Even Pink thinks he’s dreamy (her word, not mine!). LOL!

  Anyway, our class is going on an overnight trip to Pulau Ubin today. Why??! Ugh! I really don’t want to go, but I couldn’t come up with a good excuse not to. And par ticipation counts towards our Science grade. That’s what Mrs Irons said anyway. Whatever!

  At least Pink is coming along. It’s really cool that my school let me bring my BFF with me on this weekend trip. Everyone could invite friends from other schools to join us on this trip. So of course I had to choose Pink. Yeah, my BFF has got my back! I bet she knows everything about the outdoors, so it’s going to be fun. I hope. What spoils the whole trip is that Sharon, aka “the witch”, will be there. Well, unless she’s sick and has to stay home. But that’s probably not going to happen. She even signed up to be the teacher’s assistant! LOL!! Can you believe it? Yeah, I can’t believe it either… Psycho!!!

  Alex had been bugging me to take him on this trip, but a day without my darling little brother is a day without terror. I’m glad I don’t have to take him with me. It’s bad enough Sharon will be there. It’s going to be some weekend!

  “Rosie…”

  Hearing her brother’s voice, Rosie quickly closes the diary that Grandma gave her and puts it into her backpack. She slings her bag over her shoulder and heads towards the kitchen.

  “Wahhh!” Rosie screams as Alex suddenly jumps out from the kitchen doorway. Her brother is dressed up in camouflage gear and has drawn two thick dark streaks on each side of his face.

  “What are you doing, Alex? Why are you dressed like that?” Rosie snaps, annoyed.

  “I’m ready, Rosie, let’s go,” Alex says.

  “Uh…go where?”

  With a big grin on his face, Alex says, “You know, to the jungle island. Mom said you’re taking me with you on your field trip.”

  Rosie stares at Alex for a second before yelling, “Mom! Will you please tell Alex that he is not going on the field trip with me?”

  “Oh come on, Rosie, you need me to protect you from all the wild animals,” Alex says, “and it’ll be fun.”

  Rosie runs to her parents’ bedroom. “Mom!” she calls, knocking on their door.

  “Okay, okay, Rose,” Mom answers sleepily as she opens the door. “No need for all this yelling.”

  “Pink is coming with me on the trip, remember?” Rosie says.

  “I know, honey,” Mom replies, patting Rosie’s shoulder. “Calm down, okay?”

  “Thank goodness it’s Saturday,” Dad says with a groan as he rolls out of bed. “I’ll get the coffee brewing.”

  “Rose, Pink’s mom just sent me a text,” Mom says. “Pink will be up here in a few minutes, so go wait for her in the living room.”

  Rosie turns and happily skips down the hallway, just as Dad calls out, “Uh… Tracey dear, I think you need to come see Alex...”

  Mom looks up and takes a deep breath. “What now?” she mutters before running to the kitchen. With a gasp she cries out, “Alex, what have you done to your face? Is that…is that shoe polish all over your face?”

  “Yeah, Mom, I’m a commando and I’m going to protect Rosie,” Alex says with a serious expression.

  Rosie rolls her eyes. “Right, Alex. Protect me from who? You?”

  Dad shoots a look at Rosie, then turns to Alex. “Alex, Rosie will be fine. Now go wash your face before you scare the neighbours. And when you’re done, you can help me make my world-famous pancakes.”

  “All right! Pancakes!” Alex yells as he runs off. “Okay, Dad.”

  Just then, there is a knock at the front door. Rosie gives her mom and dad a hug before heading out. “Be sure to put on the mosquito patch,” Mom reminds her.

  “Hi, Ro—” Pink starts to say when the door opens.

  “Not now, Pink,” Rosie replies. “Let’s get out of here before Alex the commando catches up to us.”

  2

  Face-off

  “You know, Pink, this is my first-ever camping trip,” Rosie says as the girls go downstairs to wait for the bus.

  “Really? I thought all New Yorkers camp out in Central Park,” Pink says.

  “What? Oh no, no one camps out there,” Rosie says. “At least I don’t think anyone is that crazy… Hey, look, the bus is here.”

  Rosie and Pink hop on to the big green coach—and come face to face with Sharon, who is standing at the front of the bus. “Well, well, well, look everyone, it’s the fashionista,” Sharon says with a smirk. “Thank you so much for gracing us with your presence.” She looks up and down at Pink. “And who’s this?”

  Pink stares at Sharon. “Who are you? You looking for a fight?” she demands.

  Rosie gets in between Pink and Sharon. “Stop, Pink, she’s not worth it.”

  Sharon gasps. “Oh how cute, Rosie and Pink! Isn’t that cute, girls?” Sharon looks at her best friends Nikki and Daniela, and they laugh along with her. “I can’t wait to meet your other friends. Let me guess what their names are—Red, Fuchsia and Magenta?”

  Sharon doubles over with laughter. It’s obvious she’s being overly dramatic for the benefit of the others on the bus. Sharon and her friends keep on laughing—until Will walks up and t
aps Rosie on the shoulder.

  “Hey, Rosie, you guys can sit over here,” he says as Sharon stares open-mouthed at him.

  “Whatever,” she mutters.

  Rosie looks up at Will in surprise and her heart starts to beat faster, but she coolly answers, “Thanks, Will.” Turning to Pink, she says, “Let’s get away from the riffraff,” and they walk towards the row of seats Will points to.

  “Okay…” Pink says, still annoyed with Sharon. As they settle into their seats, Pink whispers to Rosie, “What’s a riffraff?”

  “A junkyard cat nobody wants,” Rosie replies, then the two of them look at Sharon and burst out laughing.

  “Okay, everyone, settle down,” Mrs Irons says. “Now that all of you are on board, let me remind you why you’re here. This is a trip to Pulau Ubin, an island that is home to the last kampongs or villages in Singapore. There is no shopping mall or McDonald’s on the island. There are about 100 people who live there, some monitor lizards, wild boars and lots of mosquitoes. I hope you all remembered to bring along mosquito repellent or patches. If not, see me, okay?”

  “Did she say monitor lizards?” Rosie asks. Pink nods her head.

  Rosie sticks her tongue out. “Well, I think I can deal with them…just not spiders.”

  “So, long story short, we are going to be studying nature,” Mrs Irons continues. “All of you know this trip counts towards your grade in your Science elective. The more you observe, the better your report will be and the better your grade will be.

  “Let me also remind you to stay close to your camp buddy and use the map that Sharon will hand you when we get to Pulau Ubin. Follow the map and you will be fine. If, for some reason, you get lost, please use the walkie-talkie that Sharon will also be handing out.”

  “Wow, I didn’t know Sharon was such an important person,” Pink whispers.

  “She’s not,” Rosie replies. “She just tries to act like she’s important.”

  As if she heard Rosie and Pink, Sharon stands up to announce, “Okay, listen up people, besides Mrs Irons, I am the most important person on this trip. So pay attention to me. I have your maps, I have your walkie-talkies and I have your flashlights...”

  Rosie exchanges a look with Pink. “Oh boy, this is going to be a fun trip…” she says.

  3

  Welcome to Ubin

  “Okay, everybody, get your buddy and your stuff, we’re getting off the bus!” Mrs Irons announces as the bus pulls in at Changi Point. “And please, if you haven’t already put on mosquito repellent or a mosquito patch, do so now. There are a lot of mosquitoes out there. And they can be vicious!”

  “Not as vicious as Sharon,” Rosie whispers to Pink, which makes Pink laugh.

  There’s a lot of rustling and excited chatter as everyone gathers their backpacks and starts shuffling towards the front of the bus.

  Suddenly, Mrs Irons calls for everyone’s attention again. “I hope all of you have turned in your mobile phones to me, as instructed. If you haven’t, please ’fess up and bring them to me now. We want you to talk to each other on this trip, not text or post selfies to Facebook. You will have walkie-talkies and if you need a picture of something, you will have to draw it.”

  This announcement prompts a few groans, some eye rolls and shoulder shrugs. Then someone’s phone rings and Mrs Irons immediately waves her hand, gesturing for the student to turn in her mobile phone.

  Waiting to join the line of students getting off the bus, Rosie musters up her courage to ask Will, “Who’s your field trip buddy?”

  “Sharon,” Will replies. Rosie gasps, then quickly tries to cover up her shock with a smile. “Oh, cool,” she replies before slumping back down in her seat.

  “What’s wrong, Rosie?” Pink asks. Rosie doesn’t reply but just shakes her head.

  Pink has no clue what just happened, but says reassuringly, “Don’t worry, Rosie, BFFs always stick together, yah?” and squeezes Rosie’s hand.

  When the two girls get off the bus, they see Sharon directing everyone towards the waiting area. Rosie quickly walks past her but Pink catches Sharon’s eye and stares back at her.

  Mrs Irons is at the jetty. “Twelve to a bumboat, kids. So we’ll take two bumboats,” she says.

  Every time Mrs Irons says “bumboat”, everyone laughs, but she doesn’t tell them to stop. Rosie and Pink are the last two allowed in the first bum-boat. “Oh great,” Rosie whispers to Pink, “we’re leaving Sharon far, far behind…even if it’s just for 10 minutes.”

  “So what happened on the bus?” Pink asks.

  “Will’s field trip buddy is Sharon!” Rosie says. “I can’t believe it! I feel like she’s out to get me—everything I do, everywhere I go! For some reason, she doesn’t like me.”

  “Ah, we can handle her, Rosie. Remember how you put her in her place with that awesome Career Day outfit? And don’t forget you’re not alone. She has to deal with me too on this trip, so no worries, okay? Look, we’re almost there.”

  Pink points out the jetty at Pulau Ubin and both girls stare out at the water and the island in silence.

  “Is it me or does the air feel fresher?” Pink asks as the bumboat slows down.

  Rosie sniffs the air. “Yeah, it feels…different,” she replies. “I don’t know about fresher but it smells different.”

  The girls pick up their backpacks and climb out of the boat and onto the boardwalk at Pulau Ubin.

  “Welcome to Pulau Ubin, girls and boys,” Mrs Irons announces.

  “Yeah, it’s been great without Sharon,” Rosie whispers to Pink. “Let’s enjoy these final moments of bliss.”

  Rosie lifts her face towards the sun, takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. “Ahhhh…” she says as Pink giggles. Pink lifts her face towards the sun and closes her eyes too. “Bliss,” she agrees, with a sigh.

  Then, as if on cue, they hear Sharon’s voice. “Okay, everyone, I’ve got flashlights, walkie-talkies and maps in these boxes, one set for each pair. So make sure you stay close to your buddy.”

  Rosie and Pink join the line of students and when they get to Sharon, Rosie picks up a torch and a walkie-talkie from the boxes. She is about to pick up a map when Sharon hands her one from her backpack. “Hey, Rosie, take this one,” she says. “It’s got notes on it to help you find your way around better. I know you need it, so study it well.”

  Seeing the smirk on her face, Rosie hesitates to take the map from Sharon. “I don’t need a map,” Rosie says defiantly, “but since you insist…” She snatches the map from Sharon’s hand and shoves it into her backpack.

  Sharon laughs. “Since you’re such a big shot and you know where you’re going and everything, let’s make this interesting, shall we?”

  “What are you talking about?” Rosie says.

  “Whoever gets to the camp site first gets to sit next to Will on the bus ride back,” Sharon replies, looking directly at Rosie. She smirks when she sees the look of surprise on Rosie’s face. “Yeah, I know you have a crush on him.”

  Rosie feels her cheeks burn and she clenches her jaw.

  “The loser gets to be the donkey of the bus,” Sharon adds.

  “What?” Rosie asks, incredulous. “The donkey of the bus?”

  “Yeah, like hee-haw, heehaw, you know?”

  Rosie shakes her head and smiles. “Ha! Sounds like you’re already set on losing. You do sound like a real donkey.” Then she adds firmly, “Okay, you’re on.”

  “Okay, great, here are the instructions for the walkie-talkie and—” Sharon starts to say, but Rosie snatches the piece of paper from her. “Would it hurt that much to be nice for once?” Rosie asks. Then, grabbing Pink’s arm, she stomps off.

  “And here are the batteries for the walkie-talkie,” Sharon says softly. She thinks for a second about running over to give them to Rosie, but in the end hands them to the next pair of students instead.

  4

  To Panic or Not to Panic?

  Looking around, Pink says to Rosie, “Okay, s
o where do we go now?”

  “Hold on a second, let me get the map out,” Rosie says as she pulls out the map and opens it up. “Okay, it says that we are here and McDonald’s is right over there next to the playground…so we must go this way.”

  She lowers the map from her face and looks at Pink with a big grin. “Easy, right?”

  Pink stares at her. “What McDonald’s? What playground? What are you talking about, Rosie?”

  Rosie sighs and opens up the map again. “See here, it says we need to look for West Coast Road, which is here—”

  “West Coast Road?” Pink repeats. “Let me see that map.”

  Pink takes a quick look at it. “Uh oh,” she mutters.

  “What do you mean ‘uh oh’?” Rosie asks, her grin starting to fade.

  “I mean ‘uh oh’ as in this is the wrong map!” Pink shouts. “This is a map for West Coast Park, not Pulau Ubin!”

  Rosie smacks her forehead with the palm of her hand. “No wonder West Coast Road sounded familiar!”

  Then the two girls exchange a look and they both say at the same time, “She gave us the wrong map on purpose!”

  “Nooooo, we’re already lost!” Rosie starts to panic. “Oh, why, why, why? But we’ll be okay right, Pink? You’ve gone camping millions of times and you know your way around Pulau Ubin, right?”

  “No, I don’t, Rosie,” Pink says. “I’ve never gone camping in my life! And I’ve only seen a couple of episodes of Ubin Boy.”

  “What?” Rosie cries. “Oh, we’re doomed! We’re millions of miles away from civilisation and—”

  “Calm down, Rosie, take a deep breath,” Pink says. “We can do this together, okay? How hard can it be? We just have to follow the trail.”

  The girls look around and realise that they are no longer on the trail, but are in a grassy area surrounded by trees.