They took the bottle to the gap between the boat shed and the rocks, where the breeze always came hurrying through.

Sophie made a funnel from a broad leaf. Wind tied a ribbon around the bottle’s neck.

“So we can see it going in,” he explained.

They pointed the funnel toward the water.

The ribbon fluttered.

The leaf rattled.

Nothing else happened.

Sophie glanced at the clock, then looked at the water.

“You have to wait for the right wind.”

“How do you know?”

“You’ll see it.”

She looked at the water again.

They waited.

And waited. Sophie kept looking at the waves.

Across the beach, the kites flew high.

Sophie gripped the cork.

“Ready?”

Wind held the bottle steady.