Shipwreck Island (9 page)

John looked at her and scratched his chin. “How much drinking water do we have?”

Yvonna came over then, and pointed to the jugs. “Those two, and then a couple of cases of bottled water.”

“So not a lot,” said John. He circled around and looked into the trees. “It looks like a pretty big island. There could definitely be some fresh water somewhere.” He wiped his hands together. “First I'd better make a fire. Did I see a bag with emergency supplies?”

Yvonna pulled a red canvas bag out of the pile and handed it to him. He reached in and pulled out the flint. “I'm not entirely sure how to do this, but I do have a degree in engineering. It can't be that hard.”

Marco said, “Wow, too bad we don't have any matches.” He glared at Nacho.

Nacho ignored him and said, “I can help! I've been studying for my Eco-Scout camping badge.”

Marco mumbled, “Your hands might get dirty.”

Nacho scowled. “At least
I
know how to do it, Marco! Do you?”

Marco shrugged. “Fine. Go for it.”

John hesitated for a moment, but then handed the flint to Nacho. “Tell me what you need.”

Nacho stared at the flint. “Um … first we need rocks.” Sarah and John helped find rocks. Nacho said, “We need to arrange them in a circle.” He pointed to a spot about ten feet away from their makeshift camp under the trees. Marco and John got the rocks and set them up. Nacho said, “Now we need some tinder. Like some small sticks?”

They went off searching, and Sarah came back with a bunch of small sticks, which she set in the center of the rocks. A few minutes later, her dad brought husk from a coconut.

“Where'd you find the coconut?” asked Marco.

“It's just the husk,” said John. “Someone must have opened it up.”

Sarah frowned. “Who would have opened it up?”

Marco said, “Maybe the last people who were shipwrecked here?”

Sarah glared at him, then focused her attention back to Nacho. “What do we do now?”

“You need to…” He trailed off. He bit his lip and reached out. He pinched small pieces of the husk between two fingers and gingerly piled them on top of the small stack of kindling. “Is there a knife?”

John knelt down beside him, holding up a long blade.

Nacho handed him the flint. “Okay, now you need to take—”

“Nacho,” said Marco. “Why don't you just do it?” He didn't think his brother would, but he was tired of it taking so long.

“Okay.” But Nacho just stood there, not saying anything. “I'll be right back.” He ran over to a jug of water and poured some into his hands, rubbed them together, and wiped them on his shorts. He looked up to see everyone watching him. “I wanted to wash off the hand sanitizer.”

“That's a first,” mumbled Marco.

“It could be flammable,” said Nacho. He grabbed a thick bunch of the coconut husk, cradling the scratchy fluff in his hand. He took a deep breath and blew it out. “Okay. Just strike the blade on the flint, like really quick, so the spark will go onto the husk.”

“Careful!” called Yvonna.

John carefully struck the flint and a spark fell into the husk. Nothing happened.

Nacho said, “I wasn't ready. Try it again.”

“Seriously?” said Marco. “I don't think you know what you're doing.”

Nacho ignored him. He took a wider stance, squared his shoulders, and told his stepfather, “Try again. I'm ready.”

Once again, John struck the flint and a spark hopped into the husk. Nacho immediately held the husk up to his face and blew gently.

Bits of the husk glowed red and a wisp of smoke drifted up.

Nacho blew again, and a flame burst up. He quickly crouched down and set the husk on top of the kindling, then added more husk and small sticks, feeding the flame until it was snapping.

“You did it.” Marco sounded surprised. “Way to go.”

Nacho grinned and looked up at his brother.

John said, “Good job!” and Yvonna clapped.

Sarah sat down beside the fire, watching the flames grow as Nacho gradually added more and more wood to the flame. Finally, she said, “That's a great fire, Nacho.”

He looked up at her. “Thanks. I've been studying and I knew what to do.” He lifted and lowered a shoulder. “I just wasn't sure that I could do it.” He looked very pleased with himself.

John said, “Since we have a fire master here, it might be time to do some exploring.” He looked toward the trees.

“You're not thinking of going in there, are you?” asked Yvonna. She frowned. “It might not be safe.”

He shrugged. “Better to find water before we really need it.”

Yvonna said, “I don't think you should go off on your own.”

Ahab sat next to Sarah and she put her face in his neck. She didn't want to have to worry about water or how long they would have to be there. She just wanted to be at home. Instead, there she was, on a stupid island, listening as her dad and stepmother argued about him going into the trees alone.

“Okay,” John said. “You're right. I won't go alone.”

Yvonna said, “Thank you.”

“Ready to go?” John asked.

Sarah nodded and stood up, then froze. Her dad's eyes were trained on Marco. He wasn't even talking to her. She watched as her dad and Marco disappeared into the trees.

Yvonna asked Sarah, “Why don't you help me set up camp?”

Sarah shook her head. “I'm going down to the beach.”

“I really think you should stay here.” Yvonna frowned.

Nacho said, “Yeah, you can help me arrange the medical and cleaning supplies.”

“No, thanks.” Sarah grabbed Ahab's collar and walked down toward the water.

Yvonna called after her, “Stay where I can see you!”

Sarah rolled her eyes. She wasn't about to let her stepmother tell her what to do. “Come on, boy.” But Ahab seemed more than content to go wherever she did. She let go and he stayed right by her side, wagging his wet, sandy tail. She sighed. “You are totally going to need a bath, aren't you?”

As if he heard her, he charged right into the waves, let them pummel him a bit, then ran back out. “No!” Sarah held up her hands just as Ahab started to shake his fur, drenching her with seawater.

“Ugh.” She wiped off her face with the bottom of her shirt, then gave Ahab a stern look.

He simply wagged his tail, staring at her with an open mouth as he panted.

“Maybe we should go exploring too, huh, boy?” Sarah glanced back up at the beach at Yvonna and Nacho, who were busy setting up camp under the monkey pod trees. “They won't miss us.” She started to walk away from the area, toward the edge of the trees. Ahab didn't follow.

Sarah stopped and waited for him. “Come on.” She slapped her hand on her leg a few times. “Let's go.”

Ahab took one long look back at Yvonna and Nacho and whined a little bit before trotting over to Sarah. She headed around the curve of beach, and soon she was out of sight of the camp.

Just being alone made her feel a little better. She felt like she'd gone for days without one shred of privacy, and she was amazed at how simply getting out of sight of everyone else made her relax. Ahab stayed at her heels as she walked along the beach, which seemed to stretch for close to a mile, always lined with palm trees.

“This place is bigger than I thought,” Sarah said. She picked up a piece of driftwood and threw it out into the water. Ahab stayed by her side. “Not much of a fetcher, huh?” She sat down on the sand and Ahab plopped beside her, his snout on his paws. “I'm sorry about your master.” Ahab didn't move, but his eyes turned up to gaze at her. “Maybe I'm your new master, huh?” Ahab lifted his head and panted, his long pink tongue lolling about.

Sarah smiled. “I'll take care of you, boy. I promise.” She stroked his head. “You'll like California.” She sighed. Unfortunately, California, and home, felt a world away.

Suddenly, Ahab did an about-face, staring at the line of trees about ten yards from where they stood. He growled.

Sarah froze. “What?”

Vines filled the dark space between the trees, and she couldn't see anything. Then, there was a rustling. She quickly knelt by Ahab and hugged his neck, her heart pounding. The dog growled again, his throat vibrating against her skin, but he made no move to run.

With a rush, a kangaroo bounded out onto the beach, paused to look at them, then bounced off down the beach, vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.

Ahab whined as Sarah felt her mouth drop open. She looked up at the hot sun and wiped some sweat off her forehead. She needed some water. And some food. Most definitely a nap. The sun was obviously making her see things that weren't there.

Because she'd seen marsupials before, many times.

But never one with claws the size of a lion's.

Sarah was eye level with Ahab. “Let's keep this to ourselves, okay, boy?”

Ahab looked at her with puzzled eyes, then, with one large swath of tongue, licked her face in agreement.

 

16

Marco was content to follow John through the trees. Roots and vines curled everywhere, making the footing rather tricky. The undergrowth was thicker in some places than others, so he found himself having to walk with his eyes on the ground. They had walked about half a mile when Marco ran right into John's back, not realizing he had stopped. “
Ooomph.
”

“Sorry,” said John. “It's just…”

Marco looked up. “What is it?”

John was staring ahead. “What does that look like to you?” His gaze was trained up high, above the treetops. What had looked like a simple green mountain from the beach had taken on a different shape now that they were closer.

Marco gulped. “Is that a volcano?”

“That was my first thought,” said John. “It's probably extinct, otherwise it wouldn't be so green.” He smiled at Marco. “Nothing to worry about.” He shrugged. “It's not every day you see a volcano.”

Marco nodded. “I guess not.”

John started walking again.

Marco continued following, but this time he stole glances up at the volcano now and then. The green peak seemed quite far away from where they were, which made him wonder exactly how big the island was. Marco's heart pounded a little faster, and not just from the walking. If the island had a volcano that seemed so far away, then there was a huge part of the island left to explore. There could be anything on the island: hopefully water, maybe food of some sort, but there could also be other things that weren't so pleasant. Other—possibly dangerous—things.

They came to a clearing, edged by trees whose vines dripped down to the ground. John pointed to the far end of the clearing, which was bordered by a hillside. “Look at that.”

“A cave?” asked Marco.

“I think so,” said John. He looked around, and then headed over there, Marco close on his heels. John stepped inside and immediately came back out. “Too dark. I didn't even think to bring a flashlight.”

Marco let out the breath that he didn't even know he'd been holding. Although he wouldn't refer to himself as claustrophobic, he was not exactly a fan of enclosed spaces, so he was hardly disappointed that they wouldn't be exploring the cave.

John pointed. “Well, look at that.”

Nearly hidden under an especially thick section of vines was a wooden structure. “Is that a …
house
?” Marco asked. Who would live on a deserted island? “Let's go see!” He headed that way.

“Hold on now!” John followed close behind.

The structure wasn't especially large, maybe fifteen feet wide by twenty feet long, and the wooden roof came to a peak not more than ten feet in the air. But to Marco, it certainly looked like a house.

A small porch popped off the front of it, and Marco put a foot on the boards, testing them before he put his full weight on.

John said, “Careful.” He put a foot on the porch himself. “Seems sturdy.”

Marco stepped closer up and bounced a few times. “Coming?”

“Better let me go first.” John covered the few feet to the front door and knocked.

“You think someone lives here?” Marco looked around. The place seemed rather run-down, with moss on the roof and a bird's nest in one corner of the porch roof.

John shook his head. “Just being polite.” There was no knob on the door, so he pulled on a string sticking out of a hole, and pushed the door open, then stepped inside.

Marco pushed his way in behind until he was standing on the solid wooden floor. A roughly hewn wooden table with two chairs lay to his right. Two wooden plates, two glasses, and silverware sat at each place, dried bread and moldy meat on each plate.

Marco wrinkled his nose. “Looks like someone got interrupted during dinner.”

“I think we should leave,” said John. But then he looked down, and stared at his feet. Their footsteps had left marks in the layer of dust.

“What?” asked Marco.

His stepfather scratched his head. “This floor. It's … oak.”

“So?” Marco wondered what that had to do with anything.

“Oak isn't tropical.” John shook his head. “It wouldn't grow here. So someone … whoever built this place … brought this wood from somewhere else.”

That didn't matter much to Marco, who stepped over to the window and pulled aside a ratty curtain. While the trees outside shaded the place, a bit of extra light came in so they could see the small room. A ramshackle wooden structure, about seven feet long, took up the better part of the far wall.

Marco asked, “Is that a bed?”

John scratched his head. “It kinda looks like it, but it's far too long. Unless an NBA player used to live here.”

Marco checked out the rest of the room.

The back wall had a rustic fireplace made from rough black stone, and ashes still lay inside. John knelt and touched them with his hand. He looked a bit sheepish as he shrugged. “I was only checking. Ice cold.”