To and fro he swayed, arcing farther each time, in imitation of a clumsy trapeze artist, one arm and hand extended as far as he could reach toward his intended goal. “One more swing,” he thought apprehensively, scared spitless and trying not to imagine his broken body if he failed in his attempt. He’d probably shatter into more pieces than Humpty Dumpty! “One foot closer, and I’ll go for it.”
He was on the advance swing, headed back toward his chosen target, when the vine suddenly snapped, breaking his forward momentum. Arms flailing, Zach lunged for the branch, praying he’d reach it. Praying it would hold him. His nails scraped at rough bark, his fingers clawing frenziedly. His second shoe flew off, sailing through green-leafed space. Frantic, he twisted, shifted, and somehow gained enough of a hold with his bare toes and fingers to haul himself up and wrap his quivering body around the branch. There he clung, arms and legs firmly grasping the rapidly vibrating bough, his teeth clenched yet still chattering.
Far below, anxious screams died away, replaced by pregnant silence. “Zach?” Gavin called tentatively. “You okay?”
“Y—” Zach had to swallow twice, past petrified vocal chords, to reply shakily, “Yeah. I think so. Just have to get my wind back.”
“Can you climb down from where you’re at now?” Frazer asked worriedly.
At this point, Zach wasn’t sure he could move at all, let alone climb down. His treetop perch was precarious at best. He risked a look around, and promptly wished he hadn’t. So far up was he, that between wavering fronds he could see all the way past the eastern shoreline, and when he turned his head to the right, he had a dizzying view of the waves rolling onto the southern coast. And between them, acres of tangled jungle growth, interspersed with massive clumps of rock and tiny clearings.
“I’m facing away from the tree. I think,” Zach told them. “I can’t see what’s behind me, and that’s the only direction I can go.”
“You’ll just have to crawl backward, then,” Roberts instructed, speaking up at last. “Feel your way along.”
“Like an inchworm, Zach,” Kelly contributed in a bid to help. “A bit at a time, and very carefully.”
“Think like a galito, a kitten,” Alita added nervously.
“Make that a panther,” Blair revised in a strained voice. “I’ve never heard of one of them getting stuck up a tree.”
The branch supporting him groaned, and Zach knew his short reprieve wouldn’t last. He had to move. Now. Whether he wanted to or not. Cautiously, he edged backward. Fortunately, the farther he scooted, the thicker and sturdier the branch became, until he eventually butted up to what he presumed was the main trunk. Only then did he allow himself a gusty sigh of relief.
From there he picked his way slowly downward, until his bare, scraped feet finally touched solid, never-more-welcome earth. Weak-kneed Zach slumped to the ground, his back braced against the base of the tree, sucking in deep grateful breaths while the others rallied around him, exclaiming excitedly.
“Thank God, you made it down from there in one piece!”
“I thought you were a goner for sure!”
“You are one lucky son-of-a-gun!”
“What the blazes happened anyway? How did your foot get tangled up so tightly in that vine?”
“It was a snare,” Zach explained, shaking his head in amazement. “I stepped into it, and wham! Next thing I know I’m swinging from the treetops, and Sydney is falling like a stone. I’m just grateful to God that Gavin managed to catch her before she hit the ground.” He looked wonderingly at the girl, who had long since recovered from her fright and was grinning at him from Kelly’s arms.
Satisfied that the toddler was perfectly fine, Zach’s gaze swung toward Gavin. “That must have taken some fancy footwork on your part.”
Gavin nodded. “For a minute there, I thought I was back on the gridiron, stretching out for a pass. Luckily, that old sliding football dive I perfected in high school panned out. But Syd’s by far the prettiest little pigskin I ever caught.”
Roberts was frowning, deep in thought. “A snare?” he repeated. “One deliberately set?”
“From what I could see, yes,” Zach answered, his frown now matching Roberts’s. “The noose appeared to be skillfully fashioned, and the other end was tied in several knots to the upper branch, though how the hell anyone ever got that limb bent to the ground in the first place is beyond me. And I’d be willing to bet my last dollar if we look around, we’ll find the stake it was anchored to. Which reminds me, we’re all going to have to be more careful in the future. God only knows what other sorts of traps we might inadvertently stumble across.”
“I don’t understand,” Alita said. “Why would there be such things about, when no one lives here and according to Blair there are no animals to catch?”
“They’re probably remnants from World War II,” Blair guessed. “This entire area of the Pacific was a real hot spot back then, and the Japanese had soldiers stationed on many of these islands.”
“She’s right. That vine was brittle with age, definitely not a freshly set snare,” Zach agreed.
Roberts grunted. “In that case, we need to be on the lookout for other booby traps, like camouflaged pits with bamboo stakes, maybe. We seen plenty of that kind of dirty trick in Nam.”
“Whoa! Does that mean there could be things like live hand grenades lying around somewhere?” Kelly exclaimed, her eyes wide with renewed alarm and dread.
Zach’s response was somber. “It’s possible. We’ll simply have to be extremely cautious from here on out, especially on any treks into the interior of the island.”
Then, on a face still pale from his recent fright, he offered an unexpected grin. “Fortunately, there is a brighter side to all this. You’ll all be glad to know that we can stop beating the bushes for a while. As I was clinging to that limb like a limpet, I spotted a small pool. It’s about two hundreds yards due south of us.”
He paused for effect, and to savor their surprised and elated expressions. “People, we now have water.”
The group followed Zach’s lead, treading very carefully as they headed toward a big shelf of lava rock. Zach directed them around it, to the eastern side.
“There.” He pointed proudly to a small pool, almost hidden by the growth of weeds surrounding it.
“That’s it?” Alita declared with obvious disappointment. I’ve seen wash basins larger than that. And a lot cleaner, too.”
She wasn’t exaggerating by much. The pool was about the size of a large jacuzzi, and the liquid contained in it more resembled ink than water.
Kelly groaned. “How are we supposed to drink that? It’s as black as tar!”
“No, it’s not,” Zach refuted. “It just looks black. Actually, it’s as clear as crystal.” He bent down and put his hand beneath the surface. “Look. It’s the lava rock on the bottom and sides that’s dark, making the water seem black, the way a swimming pool liner might make it appear blue.”
“It’s also reflecting the dark green of the weeds and trees,” Gavin said.
“Look, the pool is being fed from a crack near the top of the ledge,” Frazer pointed out.
“That accounts for the trickling sound,” Blair concluded.
“It also accounts for the purity of the water,” Zach added, and went on to explain. “It’s being filtered through the lava rock, probably better than any purification system in any city back home. And see there?” He gestured toward the opposite edge of the pool. “The water is seeping out on the other side, which serves to keep it moving so it doesn’t become stagnant.”
“Then it’s safe to drink?” Kelly asked.
“Probably more so than the water you get from your tap,” Zach assured her.
That’s all Kelly and the others needed to hear. Like a herd of deer, they converged on the pool, kneeling and cupping the water to their mouths.
“I’ve never tasted water so good!”
“It’s wonderful!”
“Deliciou
s!”
“A fair dinkum little billabong!”
They were laughing and splashing like carefree youngsters.
“It feels so good, I could jump right in, clothes and all!”
“If we took turns, men and women separately, we could undress and really get clean.” Kelly suggested further.
“Or we could all get naked and go in together,” Roberts proposed slyly, wagging his thick blond eyebrows. “Really get to know each other.” His gaze swept over the three women, his expression that of a fox eyeing a hen house.
“Hah!” Alita spat. “Fat chance. Look where it got your wife.”
“Get real, Roberts,” Kelly added. “Don’t make me regret talking Zach into letting you loose.”
“The same goes for me,” Blair said, making it unanimous on the female count. “If you want to get better acquainted, start with something a lot less significant. Like , telling us your full name.”
“It’s Earl Roberts,” he tendered. “And in case you’re wonderin’, I’m fifty-two years old and I’ve never had any sexually-transmitted diseases. No thanks to my darlin’ wife.”
“Oral Roberts?” Gavin echoed on a hoot of laughter. “You’ve got to be kidding!”
“Earl, not Oral, you spear-chuckin’ idiot!” Roberts snarled. “And you can quit laughin’ fit to give yourself a hernia. It ain’t that funny.”
“It will be if you tell us you’re a preacher, previously from Tulsa,” Zach informed him with a chuckle.
Kelly giggled. Blair was almost choking trying to hold back her laughter.
“Aw, shit!” Roberts cursed, his expression one of acute embarrassment. “I knew I shouldn’t have told y’all.”
“Hush!” Kelly hissed suddenly. She stood, tilting her head, waving for the rest of them to be quiet. “Listen! Do you hear that?”
Silence fell, as they all strained their ears.
“It’s a plane!” Frazer cried out. “It’s a plane! What did I tell you? They’re searching for us!”
Bedlam ensued, as they stumbled over one another trying to thrash through the jungle and still watch their every step, at first heading several directions at once.
“This way!” Zach yelled. “It’s to the east side of the island!”
The others rallied behind him, following his lead, shouting and waving, though still in the cover of the trees where it was doubtful they could be seen as yet.
By the time they’d plowed their way nearly two miles through thick undergrowth to the eastern beach, the plane was already gone. Out of sight and hearing.
Scratched, scraped, and out of breath, the disheartened band collapsed on the sand. Blair started to sob. So did Alita. Kelly laid her head on her upraised knees and joined them.
“Damn! I knew I should have stayed near the signal fire!” Gavin swore, berating himself.
“It’s not your fault,” Zach said wearily. “We were all so intent on finding that water. It was our main priority, and none of us were giving much thought to anything else.”
“Maybe they spotted the wreckage,” Frazer submitted in an effort toward optimism. “Could be they’re on the radio right now, contacting a rescue cruiser.”
“We should be so lucky,” Blair sniffed.
“Whether they saw anything or not, we should relocate our camp closer to the water hole,” Zach interjected thoughtfully. “Perhaps on the eastern or southern side of the island, where the ocean breeze will help keep the mosquitos at bay.”
Kelly gazed up at him, her dark, damp lashes framing liquid green eyes. “You don’t think they’re coming back, do you?”
Zach shrugged. “They’ll be back. Trouble is, we don’t know how soon. Meanwhile, we need to be nearer the pool.”
After another quick stop at the water hole, they returned to their camp to collect their meager belongings.
“Oh, no!” Blair wailed, upon nearing the spot. She gestured toward the message they’d laid out in the sand. “I was holding out hope that they might have seen our SOS from the plane, but look!”
Her companions shared her dismay. In their absence, the tide had washed half the coconuts away, strewing them along the shore. The remainder spelled nothing at all, resembling just scattered dark blobs in the sand.
“Well, at least we have water,” Kelly pointed out in a subdued voice. “And as long as the fruit holds out, we won’t starve.”
“So who are you? Little Miss Sunnyanna?” Alita griped.
“That’s Pollyanna, and I’m just trying to look at the good side,” Kelly rebutted. “Which is more than I can say for you.”
Within a few minutes they’d gathered their small store of gear and were trudging en masse toward the southern end of the island. Kelly, sensitive now to Blair’s pregnant condition, offered to carry Sydney. When she tired, Zach perched the little girl atop his shoulders once more. Apparently none the worse for her previous experience there, Sydney squealed with delight.
As the toddler clutched Zach’s dark hair and pounded his head with her tiny fists, urging on her makeshift pony, Kelly had to chuckle. “You’re taking that beating very well,” she commented.
He grinned back at her, and replied simply. “I like kids.”
“How old is your daughter?”
“Becky’s twelve.” His face sobered, as he added, “Going on thirty, most of the time. It was hard on her when her mother died. She seemed to grow up faster after that, quicker than I wanted her to.”
“How did your wife die?”
“Rachel was killed in a car accident. The only good thing was, she died instantly. Or so the doctors told me. I hope they’re right. I hate to think that she might have suffered.”
“Was… was Becky with her?”
“No. She was in school. Rachel was out alone, shopping for a birthday present for Becky.”
“You loved your wife very much, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” He didn’t elaborate. He didn’t have to. The lost look on his face said it all.
“How I envy you,” she murmured.
He frowned at her in mute disbelief.
“Not that you lost her,” Kelly hastened to say. “But that you loved her that deeply. That you had a child together. That you shared something so precious between you.”
“You and your husband didn’t have any children?” he asked.
“No. I miscarried a couple of years ago. Brad was relieved, I think. I was devastated.”
Zach’s brows drew together. “Your ex sounds like a real bastard.”
Kelly smirked. “He’s a hot-shot lawyer with political aspirations. Does that tell you anything?”
“How long were you married to him?”
“Five years too long. I married him the week after I graduated college.”
“Which makes you what, around twenty-seven or so?” “Twenty-eight next September. A dried-up old prune,” she tacked on with a wry grin, only half joking.
“Yeah,” he said in a teasing tone, his topaz eyes twinkling. “A real hag. Which explains why Alita acts so jealous of you. Now, if you think you’re past your prime, I’ve got eight years on you, green eyes. What does that make me?”
Kelly pretended to eye him critically. “Oh, I think you’ve still got a couple of good years left in you. I don’t see any gray hair yet.”
He slanted her a grin and winked. “Only my hairdresser knows for sure. And maybe Sydney.”
Chapter 9
After choosing their new campsite and resting a bit, Zach started organizing a work, schedule. “It will be dark in another couple of hours, so we’d better make hay while the sun shines. All right, who gets latrine details?”
“As in digging, or using?” Frazer asked archly.
“Very funny, Fraze,” Kelly told him.
As one, the others turned toward Gavin.
“What?” he complained. “You think just because I’m in the army I should get the shit job?”
“I thought that was part of your basic training,” Blair said. “You
know, digging fox holes and latrines. At least you know how to go about it.”
“So the rest of you just automatically volunteer me, huh?”
Earl smirked. “That’s about the size of it, soldier boy.”
Gavin scowled. “What about you?”
“He’s going to set up another signal fire, and lay out another SOS signal, this time beyond the tide line,” Zach specified. “Staying within sight at all times.”
“The fire, okay. But it probably won’t do a diddly damn bit o’ good to make another sign,” Earl groused. “In order to keep it far enough up from the water, it’ll be too close to the trees and too small for anyone to read from a plane.”
Zach nodded. “You’re probably right, but it’s still worth a shot.” He turned to the women. “You ladies are in charge of collecting food and water. Coconuts, bananas, and anything else you can find that you know for sure is safe to eat. Stay together, so there’s no chance of your getting lost, and keep a sharp eye peeled for any more traps. Frazer, since you’re the most incapacitated, you can help set up camp and watch over Sydney.”
“What does that leave for you to do, Senor General?”Alita inquired testily.
Zach offered a saccharine smile and swept a hand toward the ocean. “Why, I get to go snorkeling, of course. Actually, I thought I’d try to catch a fish or two if I can, and add to our limited menu.”
“Good,” Blair approved. “We need protein. Meat, to keep up our strength.”
“How do you propose to catch a fish without a rod or reel and no bait?” Kelly wanted to know.
Zach snatched up a blanket, and promptly began to tie the opposite ends together. “Using this as a net, I hope. I figure it’s better than trying to spear one with a stick, at least until I’ve had some time to practice. But don’t get your hopes up. This is still going to be iffy.”
“Don’t go out too far,” Frazer cautioned. “The currents can be tricky. And don’t cut yourself on any coral.”
“What about sharks?” Kelly asked worriedly. “Or barracuda?”
Zach grinned at her and jested, “I was thinking more along the lines of something smaller, like a perch or mackerel, that would fit in the blanket and wouldn’t put up as much of a fight. Probably better eating, too.”
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