Clive Cussler by The Adventures of Hotsy Totsy Page A

be bullied, but they were coming closer and closer, squeezing the little mahogany boat between them. Hotsy Totsy sensed exactly what to do. Without Casey pulling back on the throttle, she slowed and let the other boats slip in front of her. Then her big Wright engine bellowed out with full power.
    Hotsy Totsy darted to the outside of the pack and made a sharp turn fast and tight, coming out ahead once she rounded the buoy. It was a daring and brilliant tactic and it worked. The twins and their boat had moved up three more places. Not only had the magical little powerboat come out in front of the group, she was pulling away. The gap between them was widening, and now Casey set his sights on the crowd of powerboats still in front of their bow.
    Word of the boy and girl and their basset hound running in the race with an old wooden boat swept up and down the thousands of spectators in pleasure yachts and those lining the shore. Nothing fires excitement more in a sporting event than the hope that an underdog just might win.
    As they swept out of San Pablo Bay and under the bridge between Crockett and Vallejo, the twins could see crowds of onlookers waving wildly and cheering them on.
    "Look, Casey," cried Lacey. "Everyone is rooting for us."
    Floopy sensed the inspiration coming from the shore by the barking and yapping of the spectators' dogs. He barked back and jumped up and down with his long ears waving back at the dogs and their owners. Lacey had to clutch Floopy or he would have jumped out of the boat. He reacted wildly when a helicopter swooped low over Hotsy Totsy with TV cameras focused on the occupants of the powerboat.
    It was almost as if he knew he was on camera and began acting like a human, sitting up on the seat and waving his paws.
    "I hope we're not recognized," said Lacey. "Mom and Dad won't be happy if they find out what we've done."
    "Don't worry," Casey replied, pulling his baseball cap low on his forehead as his fingers tightened on the steering wheel despite the fact that Hotsy Totsy seemed in complete control. "They'll never know where we could get a boat this fast. If they happen to watch the race on TV, they'll think it's some other kids with a funny dog. Just don't look up at the cameras and wave."
    From then on whenever a news helicopter flew over or they passed boats hired by TV stations, they ducked down in the cockpit so their faces couldn't be seen on camera, not realizing that by hiding their faces, they created more interest. A mystery began building
    around the entire country as millions of people watching the race on television sets at home couldn't help but be fascinated by the odd-looking boat and its mysterious little occupants.
    "Here comes another official race boat," Lacey alerted Casey.
    "Ignore them. They can't stop us now."
    This time, as they passed an obviously stressed race official fiercely waving a black flag at them, Lacey stuck out her tongue at him. Angered that his attempt to stop the powerboat was ignored, he got even angrier at seeing Lacey make faces at him and threw the flag down on the deck of the boat and stomped on it. As Hotsy Totsy whipped past the official boat, Casey and Lacey, normally courteous and thoughtful, couldn't help laughing.
    "He didn't look happy," said Casey.
    "They just don't understand that we're not going to quit," Lacey said seriously.
    "We're in the race from start to finish. Nicefolks never quit."
    On board the official boat the race director, who had tried to black-flag the twins, was madder than a crab in a trap. "How are we going to stop those crazy kids?" he asked another race official.
    A man wearing a captain's cap with a braid and a blue blazer pointed up at the news helicopter. "Because of those kids and their old boat, we're generating more interest in the race than if the president of the United States was here."
    The race director stared at Hotsy Totsy as it roared up the river. He looked at the television cameras mounted atop tracks