The Islanders

by Wesley Stein

  We went to the pool at the base of the falls. The water seemed toxic. More debris was floating on the surface and a metallic film reflected the sun with an iridescent glimmer. We surveyed the falls and the wall of rock over which they flowed.

  “We can’t climb up that,” Jacey said.

  “We’ll have to go around,” Joanna answered.

  I couldn’t see a way around. I only saw a dead end. If we followed the cliffside around the mountain it would mean bushwhacking through the dense jungle. None of us liked the prospect of getting trapped under the tree canopy at night.

  “Maybe we should make a camp,” I offered. Jacey scoffed at first. But Joanna reassured her that it was the best next step.

  “I’ll try to start a fire,” Joanna said. “Let’s spread out and gather some wood.”

  “How are you going to start a fire?” Jacey asked.

  “Just go look for some small pieces of wood,” Joanna replied. “And stay within sight of each other.”

  We agreed and headed in different directions. I went to the right, Joanna stayed near the pool at the base of the falls, while Jacey went to the left.

  Ahead of me the jungle was dense. I spotted a rise in the terrain, a small bluff made from a long-displaced boulder of onyx. Above it, the palms were more scattered. I made my way through the trees, and skirted up the side of the hill. I glanced over my shoulder as I went, to ensure my sisters were still there. They were.

  At the top of the bluff there was no more firewood than below. I scanned the area for dead limbs. Nothing.

  I was too far from the edge of the outcropping to make my way up the falls but I was high enough to see the features around the headwaters. Maybe we could find a place to climb up? Could we scale the wall?

  I went back to the task at hand. After another check on my sisters, I noticed the bark on one of the palms was peeling away in a dead patch. The fibers were like dry and stringy. I went to the tree and began ripping off large chunks of the bark.

  As I worked, I saw something from the corner of my eye, a blur of movement at the top of the stone outcropping. I ripped a piece of bark away and narrowed my focus. There it was again, this time a white flash. It was not another boar, too bright for that. What was it?

  By now the movement had stopped, but I could still see white shapes in the distance above. I sharpened my eyes with a blink and another squint.

  Now I could make out two people wearing white robes, standing side-by-side at the edge of the cliff. I froze in fear. They were watching me.

  I should have called out to them for help. But I didn’t. The truth is something didn’t feel right about them, standing there like that. I pretended I hadn’t noticed them, and resumed pulling the bark from the palm as goosebumps formed on my neck. My heart was racing as I sneaked peeks at them during my work.

  When I had gathered an armful of tinder, I took one last look and this time I focused on their faces. It was a man and a woman. One was tall and the other short. They were too far away for me to see any details in their faces, both were a black wash of nothingness.

  I kept up my charade, playing ignorant that I’d seen them as I turned and backed away down the hill. Once I was out of their sight, I ran.

  When I returned to the falls, I dropped my kindling and jerked my head around to spot Joanna. She was on the other side of the pool. Jacey was just beyond her, not far into the trees, arms full of firewood. She heard me, saw me, and came over.

  “What’s the matter?” She asked. She could tell I was shaken. Joanna rounded the pool, concerned by my terrified expression.

  “There are people over there,” I said through my panicked breaths. “People in white robes.”

  “What?” Jacey asked.

  “They were standing up there,” I answered. “At the top of the hill, watching us.”

  “How many of them?” Joanna inquired. She had heard me over the splashing water.

  “Just two,” I answered. “A man and a woman, I think.”

  “And they were wearing white robes, you said?”

  “I know. It sounds strange.”

  Joanna was already looking up the hill, devising a way to see for herself.

  “Could be some locals,” she said. “They might be able to help us.”

  Jacey perked up at this.

  “Do you think so?” She looked at me, as if for confirmation. I shook my head.

  “It doesn’t feel right,” I said. “Let’s go back to the beach.”

  “No,” Jacey said. “If there are people on this island, they could help us.”

  “Maybe,” I said. “But these people were weird. They just stood there like statues.”

  “Let me check it out,” Joanna offered.

  “I’ve got a bad feeling,” I said. Joanna waved me off.

  “Come on,” she chirped as she began toward the onyx bluff. We followed her to the bottom of the rise and stopped. She turned and waited. “Am I on my own here?”

  “Yes, you are,” I answered. “You’ll see them once you’re at the top.”

  “No, I’ll go with you,” Jacey added. I was surprised she was so eager. But she hadn’t experienced the chill that I had.

  “Be careful,” I said as I watched Jacey and Joanna climb up. When they reached the top, I stepped away from the boulder to better see them. Joanna was gazing up and ahead. Then shook her head.

  “Nope. Nothing,” she called down. “I think you were just seeing things. Do you see anything?” She asked Jacey.

  “Nothing,” Jacey said in a disappointed tone. “No one’s here.”

  “Whatever,” I replied.

  “Seriously,” Joanna said after she scanned the top of the falls again. “Dehydration can lead to hallucinations.”

  “Yeah,” Jacey agreed as they made their way back down. “You were probably just seeing things, Jenn.”

  “Whatever,” I said again.

  I had seen two people. I know I had. But the longer we spoke about it, the more I doubted myself. I figured if I was right, the two people might turn up again. I hoped they wouldn't. For once I hoped my sisters were right and I was wrong.

  “I think we should go back to the beach,” I said. “Let’s follow the stream back and make camp at the edge of the trees.”

  My sisters disappeared into thought. I saw them exchange a glance. I tried to sway them.

  “We can keep an eye on the horizon, for a rescue. We’ll take our wood, gather some more on the way. Maybe we can find some big leaves to make a shelter. Doesn’t that sound good?”

  They appreciated my plan and agreed on it. I wanted to get away from the weirdos, Jacey wanted to get out of the jungle, and Joanna wanted to find another route to freshwater. We gathered our armfuls of kindling and started back downstream.

  We never saw any snakes or water creatures along the tainted waterway but did catch sight of another wild boar as it fled the sound of us splashing toward it.

  The boar had been wounded, a wide black gash ran the length of its body. But the gash didn’t bleed and the boar seemed fine.

  The sun was arching overhead, shining through the palm leaves above. It had been several hours since we’d made landfall. We were parched.

  The closer we came to the shoreline, the less dense the trees became and soon we could see the infinite blue waters of the ocean. Joanna stopped and staked our claim.

  “We’ll make camp here,” she said. “We can use this fallen tree as a base.”

  The site was perfect. To the south, we could see the ocean horizon through the trees, and to the north the rotten stream flowed from the jungle. There was a patch of grass in the sand here and there, and a few dead palms to burn. Joanna was already trying to start a fire.

  “I saw this TV show,” she was saying as she roamed the clearing in search of a stick. “I think I can use my shoelace to make a bow and drill.”

  “A what?” I asked. She bent down to grab the long tine of a dead palm leaf and broke it free.

 
“A bow,” she said, holding up the spear. “You use it to spin a drill into another piece of wood and it makes a little ember.”

  “Great,” I said. “What should we do?”

  Jacey and I were set to the task of gathering palm fronds. We'd need them to complete our shelter around the fallen log.

  We dug out the sand in front of the log, a deep hole wide enough for the three of us to lie in. Then we placed two long skinny logs on top of the fallen tree, angled over our burrow. We covered the logs with the fronds and soon had a surprisingly cozy shelter. Jacey brought more foliage, to better weatherproof the top, should the lingering storm finally roll in.

  Joanna had tied one of her shoelaces to the spear, making a small bow. She then took the straightest stick she could find and wrapped the shoelace around it. And after splitting a flat piece of dry wood, she began drilling into the crack.

  She moved the bow backward and forward, and the drill spun as if it were linked to cog-works. It only took a few minutes for the flat wood to begin smoking. I screamed in delight.

  “Wow!”

  “Oh, yes! Thank god!” Jacey called out. But Joanna shook her head to temper our excitement.

  The ember wasn’t forming. She had already prepared a small nest of dried palm fiber, a perfect starter for the first flame. But without an ember to ignite it, we’d have no fire. Darkness was only an hour or two away.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “This wood is too soft, I think,” Joanna answered. “Find me something else, something harder.”

  It took a while of searching for the right materials, and it took Joanna a while of drilling to make an ember. It was so small that by the time she’d dropped it into the nest, it had burned up. No amount of her blowing would help.

  It would be dark in no time.

  Jacey and I went to the water, hoping to snatch a crab as they fed. We needed something to eat. But the crabs were too fast and too frightening for us to catch with our bare hands. Their pinchers were out and those little eyes seemed sinister.

  We waded into the surf and watched the fish swim around us. There was no way to snag one of those either. Eventually, we gave up and headed back.

  As we approached the campsite, we noticed smoke. When we arrived at the fallen log, now covered in large leaves, we saw Joanna sitting next to a fire that was encircled by small black stones.

  The smile on her face said it all. She was extremely proud of herself.

  “Welcome,” she offered through her grin. “Care to join me?”

  We smiled and crashed down beside her in the sand. The fire was amazing. It lifted our spirits and gave us something to watch besides the waves. The flames were wildly entertaining.

  But we were still thirsty and hungry too.

  Joanna made sure we stayed on the hunt for wood while she went to the shore to find a crab. She came back with two, one hanging limply from each hand.

  “Dinner is served,” she said.

  We ate fire-roasted crab and listened to the waves. If we would have had drinking water as we watched the stars circle above us and if this wasn’t a life or death situation, it could have been paradise.

  Joanna perked up and looked into the dark jungle with curiosity.

  “What was that?” She asked. “Did you hear that?”

  I had heard a crackle, the sound of stomped undergrowth. Someone or something was out there. I secretly hoped it was another boar. The alternative was too frightening to consider. A telling chill ran down my arm. I knew it was the people in white robes.

  My sisters were more optimistic.

  “Who’s there?” Joanna called.

  We listened, and the crackling stopped. I peered into the darkness and let my eyes adjust. At first, I couldn’t see anything. But then I blocked the firelight with my palm and was able to make out a flash of white cloth in the thicket.

  “There,” I whispered. “See?”

  I pointed and positioned my body to block the firelight for them. Joanna raised next to me and gazed out of the shelter. Jacey followed suit.

  “Holy shit,” she said. “You were right.”

  “What are they doing? Who are they?” I wanted to know.

  “Just stay calm,” Joanna said. “Maybe they can help us.”

  “I have a bad feeling.”

  “Just stay here,” Jacey said then. “It looks like one of them is a petite woman. I don’t think they’re dangerous. I’m going to try and talk to them, see if they can help us.”

  Before I could stop her, Jacey had stood and slipped past the fire. She was walking in the clearing, toward the white figures.

  Joanna stood up beside me and paused her breathing. I stood too, and waited.

  Jacey continued ahead and soon blocked our view of the strangers as she approached them. When she was within a few paces of them, Jacey let out a blood-curdling scream.

  We saw her turn and come running toward us, like she’d been shot from a cannon. She shouted at us, her eyes as wide as hubcaps, a simple yet spine-tingling command.

  “Run!”

  CHAPTER 2

  THREE-HOOK ISLAND

  Fifteen Years Earlier

  “Girls, my name is Tuahine. I’m a friend of Consular Agent Robbins. He asked me to talk to you. Is that okay?”

  The sisters made no motion, gave no indication they’d heard her.

  The office of the Consular Agent was not as luxurious as the Ambassador’s office in Fiji. Agent Robbin’s office could be found in a modest shopping plaza, between a Jordache outlet store and a take-and-bake pizza shop.

  Tuahine sat on one side of the desk that Robbins had loaned her to debrief the children. The young girls sat across from her with their heads bowed. The two waiting room chairs had been brought in for the three of them to share.

  Tuahine leaned forward to better meet their eyes over the acacia wood desktop. The oldest girl finally turned her head upward and saw the beautiful woman sitting across from her.

  Tuahine had long black hair, big brown eyes, and skin that the sisters’ mother would have killed for. Joanna nodded and Tuahine continued.

  “I know this is very hard for you right now,” she began. “I know you’re probably feeling all alone. I’ve got a son named Tua. How old are you, thirteen? And you?"

  She looked at Jacey, who said nothing. Then Tuahine regarded Jennifer.

  "Tua is about your age," she said to the youngest girl. "He's ten. Are you ten?"

  "She's nine," Joanna said. Tuahine nodded.

  "If this were happening to him," she went on. "Trust me, Tua would not be as strong as you three.” Tuahine looked at Jennifer. “He’d be crying like a baby, boo-hoo.”

  She playfully mimed a baby with balled fists in front of her eyes. She hoped some humor might loosen them up. It didn’t.

  “I promise you, we’re gonna get you back home," she assured them. "Even though it doesn’t feel like it right now, everything’s going to be okay.”

  Joanna finally engaged.

  “You have a son?”

  “Sure,” the woman answered. “Would you like to meet him? He’s just waiting outside. Tua?”

  In a moment, a boy appeared in the doorway to the office. He looked very much like his mother. His teeth were bright and his eyes seemed to glow. He smiled shyly. The girls couldn’t help but return the gesture.

  “Can you say hello?” His mother asked.

  “La ora na,” the boy said through his smile.

  “He’s being silly. That’s how we say hello here,” Tuahine explained. “But you might know that already.” The oldest girl nodded.

  The boy went to the doorway and lingered there. He hugged the door jamb and listened. Tuahine went on while she had momentum.

  “I need you to tell me what happened last night.”

  Joanna leaned forward now, ready to talk.

  “Last night?”

  “We need to start from last night so that Agent Robbins can do his best to find them, okay? I need t
he whole story.”

  “Last night, we went to dinner. We went swimming first, then to dinner.”

  “Okay, great. Was it still light outside when you went to dinner?"

  “Sort of,” Joanna answered. “It was sunset.”

  “Good,” Tuahine said, scribbling onto a desktop notepad. “All of you went to dinner?”

  Joanna nodded her head. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her sisters looked up now, their eyes full of recollection. They had just seen their mother and father last night, only twelve hours ago.

  “Where did you last see them,” Tuahine asked, “exactly?”

  “In the hut. We were playing on the floor,” Joanna answered. “They were there. They were right there, watching us.”

  “Did they ever go outside?”

  “They went to argue,” Joanna said.

  “Argue?”

  “They weren’t out there to gaze at the stars,” replied the thirteen-year-old.

  “And when you woke up this morning, they were gone?”

  Again Joanna nodded her head. Her sisters became more teary-eyed. Tuahine offered them a box of tissues. The oldest girl tried to swallow her fear.

  “What happened to them?” She asked.

  Tuahine stood up and came around the desk. She pulled Joanna’s head close to her, and then put an arm around each of her sisters. Young Tua came from the doorway and put his arms around his mother.

  “I’m so sorry this happened to you,” Tuahine said kindly. “I’m sure your Mom and Dad will turn up soon.”

  “Jacey saw them in a dream,” Joanna said suddenly. “They were saying goodbye.”

  Tuahine released them and sat back, leaned against the desktop, and crossed her arms. Tua went around the desk and climbed into the large chair.

  “Is that right, Jacey?” Tuahine bent at the waist, pulling her long hair to the side of her neck.

  The middle sister regarded her for the first time and offered a tiny nod. Tuahine stepped over, reached down, and put a comforting hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Can you tell me about it?”

  “They were,” she whispered. “They were standing there.”

  “Where? Outside?”

  Jacey nodded again. Tuahine crouched in front of her. The girl’s eyes glazed with tears.