Me and Them

by S G Read

  'So it’s safer up the end we first landed?' George asked.

  'So it seems.' I answered.

  'Good most game is up that end! So we can hunt alright.' She declared.

  'Whatever happens we must hunt, the fruit is harder to reach now and if that runs out we are in serious trouble.' I warned.

  'Let’s hope Mr. Pig doesn’t lose his get up and go then.' Sarah declared. 'I like pork!'

  We all laughed. From then on we went out in patrols but only one patrol at a time to lessen the chance of walking into a pirate.

  The fruit high up proved to be more prolific than I thought and while we ate the fruit from the top the lower fruit was growing. I pounded the sunflower seeds in a homemade mortar, with a homemade pestle. It was my surprise and while I was busy with that the girls patrolled and hunted. When I took time off to fish, we had fish, there was always fish but no one wanted an all fish diet. I was hoping to get the oil out of the seeds and as I did I stored it in one of the spare glass jars we had. We threw nothing away. With two jars full with oil I decided it was time for my surprise.

  Day 150 on the island.

  We had seen no sign of the pirates and our trips along to the cave yielded nothing, I was hoping to find a radio one day to call for help but it was not to be. I took Tammy and Tabby on my trip to get potatoes from the wild potatoes. The ones we had planted were growing well and I proposed to plant more when we harvested them but for today it was surprise day. It had been hard work to make the oil and I was going to cook chips today, I was fond of a chip! I set the chip pan with it’s' wire inner into the ashes to heat up and cut up the chips while none of the others were watching. I had let my two helpers into the secret and sworn them to secrecy. I dropped the first chips into the pan to cook but the sizzling and the smell soon drew a crowd.

  'Do I smell chips?' Natasha asked.

  'You do!' I answered with a smile.

  Girls squealed and jumped in the air and danced round as though I had spotted the ship that was going to take us to safety! They had hunted earlier and seen no one, so I let them squeal for a while. I cooked chips and served the fish which went with it and we all had fish and chips for our meal. I dried some salt water in a flat tray to get salt and we did have some vinegar from the first boat. We never did find any salt, just a salt cellar which now had sea salt in it.

  Afterwards I strained the oil through a sock to get all the bits out of it and left it to cool before I returned it to its bottle. I could use it again that way; as it took a long time to make enough for all nine of us.

  That night the only complaint was not enough chips, although they were all full up! You can never have enough chips it seems!

  Day 151 on the island.

  Today started like any other day. I woke and walked down to see George, Andréa and Alex of hunting. They chose the front entrance and walked off. I was told the story of what happened next by Andrea later.

  They walked to the gate opened it and closed it when they were through and walked on. At the end of the track they turned left to go past the graves and along to the other end of the island. They chose that way to go to sneak up on some big bird which saw them coming the other way. George turned the corner with the other two behind her and in front of her were two men with big guns. The girls turned and fled back the way they had come. Andrea was first to the gate, she opened it and ran though, Alex slid to a halt behind the wall to close the gate but George was still not a fast runner! As she approached the gate the first man rounded the corner.

  'Stop I only want to say hello!' The man called.

  She kept on running. She heard his gun go click.

  'Now it is getting more than a joke!' He called. 'Stop or I will put a hole in your leg little girl!'

  She slowed to a walk and walked through the gate. Alex was there to close it but George signalled no by the slight movement of her head. Alex left the gate but stayed where she was, with her crossbow ready. Andrea took up a position behind a tree where she could see what happened.

  'I said stop!' The man called and fired into the ground.

  George turned to face him, still moving but now backwards.

  'What do you want?' She asked. 'I am a little busy.'

  'I want to meet you and that lovely necklace you are wearing.' The man answered. 'Now stop!'

  George was ten metres through the gate now with her crossbow pointing at the ground between her and the man. By now the second man had caught up and was walking next to him. When they reached the gate they hesitated.

  'Come here.' The first man called.

  'I am fine here and if you come any closer I will make you sorry.' George warned.

  'Sorry to meet such a nice girl with two delightful friends, I want to show you my etchings.' He replied.

  His friend laughed.

  To walk though the gap they could only do it in single file; as soon as they moved and the second man was behind the first man George whipped up her crossbow and fired. The first man started to lift up his gun but stopped. A look of dismay appeared on his face and he fell forward. George was hurriedly trying to reload in case she needed to fire again but when the first man fell forward he pulled the second man with him. The bolt had passed through the first man and into the second. The second man was not dead and held onto the wall as the first man slid off the bolt and fell to the floor. Before the second man could raise his weapon an arrow landed next to the bolt in his chest and he sank to the ground.

  George looked down, her short were dripping. She walked up and kicked the dead man in the head, the other man died as Alex and Andrea reached her.

  'I’d have wet myself.' Alex said trying to console her.

  'I didn’t wet myself because of them, I wet myself because I was wearing my necklace outside the compound, Walter will go apeshit!'

  'Now what do we do?' Andrea asked.

  'Pull them inside, rub out any sign and close the gate. We’ll take it all back with us.' George answered.

  'You could take off your necklace.' Alex said as she helped undress the two bodies.

  'Princesses don’t lie.' George answered.

  Back at the house I heard the shot and I came running; probably not the thing to do. I met the girls coming up with the clothing, two machine pistols and two handguns with holsters.

  Alex took me back and showed me the bodies, where they were and I looked through to make sure there was no sign of anyone outside the gate. By the time I reached the house everyone was armed to the teeth. I gave Tammy the rest of the bullets for her pistol, took a machine pistol and we walked back to the gate.

  'Is it what we think it is?' Charley asked.

  'A burial detail, if we can save the man we might get our hands on the radio.' I answered.

  We walked out and closed the gate, with that closed we had two places to go if there was trouble. We knew just where they would be if they were burying someone and hurried there but kept very quiet as we did so. Before we reached the place we could hear the shovel hitting the ground. I took up a position where I could see. A man in shorts and flashy shirt was digging a hole, he was no pirate and I took him to be a tourist who was being made to dig his own grave by the two men who stood there they both had guns. I made signals and the girls moved to new positions so that they could join the fight. Four were to take out the two men with bolts. George and Charley were going to kill one and Natasha and Alex the other. I waited until they were in position, not opposite each other so no one could get accidentally shot with a bolt. I let my arm drop and four bolts flew straight and true. The two men grunted and fell forward. The man digging stopped.

  'Charley you and Tasha take Alex and see who else is about.' I ordered. 'You.' I turned to the man with the shovel. 'Dig it deeper; there are two to go in there now!'

  We buried the dead pirates in the grave together, naked as the day they were born. We walked back to the compound and waited for the patrol to return.

  We sat by the fire and I saw the man was shiverin
g.

  'George give him some of my wine.' I ordered.

  I had seen the necklace around her neck. This was the first time she had won since she put it up as the trophy.

  'Yes Rich King Walter.' She said and hurried away.

  The wine soon settled the man down.

  'I am Carter Stimpson the third, I am on holiday, well I was on holiday until these pirates took my boat.'

  'Yes I saw you go by here. There was a girl on board?'

  'They have her and my wife and son!'

  'Where are they?'

  'I have no idea, I was taken off blindfolded.'

  'They’re in the horseshoe.' Charley said as she came round the house.

  'Far out?' I asked.

  'There is a dinghy there,' She answered, 'but it is swim able.'

  'Can you shoot one of these?' I asked Carter and held out a machine pistol.

  'If it will save my family.'

  'Take one with you then but leave it all to us, unless we fail, you do nothing but follow me!'

  'Yes King Walter.' He answered.

  'Rich King Walter of Horseshoe Island!' The others chorused.

  'Come on and no talking from now on!' I ordered.

  We hurried to the horseshoe and took stock. We could take the boat out and get on board but if someone came out on to deck we were in trouble. Still at least it was not the big boat but Carter’s own boat.

  'Is it safe to take the boat out there?' Charley asked in a whisper.

  'How many more on board Carter?' I asked.

  'There were seven all together; they drew lots as to who got to do what with whom! Including my son!' Carter said quietly. 'You killed two at my grave side.'

  'There are three left on board.' I whispered. 'Three men and three family members, so I think they might be a little busy, too busy to come up on deck to see what the others are doing!'

  Carter sighed.

  'We’ll stop them.' I said trying to comfort him. 'George, Charley, Natasha and I will go out there with Carter, he knows the layout. Tammy you set up a perimeter and show anyone who wants to know how to load and fire the guns we leave here. If we are in trouble you are our last line of defence.'

  We hurried to the horseshoe and pushed the dinghy out into the water. We paddled quietly to the rear of the boat. It had come in forwards and stopped with the pointy bit pointing to the other side of the bay and anchored. We reached the back without being spotted and climbed on board very slowly and quietly. Again I used signals and Carter whispered where things were. I sent Charley round the front where Carter said the cabin window opened enough for someone to get through or at least to fire through. She moved quietly and passed another window keeping low as she did so. At the front she saw the open window, it was not open wide. She looked in to see a girl of approximately sixteen tied to the bed. She had no clothes on and her hands were tied to the top, the rest of her body seemed free except her legs which were tied to the bottom corners of the bed. The man in the room was caressing her all over. Charley wanted to shoot him dead there and then but the window was not open far enough. She slid her hand through the gap and tried to undo the knurled knob which controlled its movement. It was tight and she could hardly reach it but she kept on trying.

  I walked down to the first cabin, eased open the door and the man inside saw me. He dove for his gun which took him away from the woman he was raping. I pinned him to the floor with a bolt and George did the same. He did not move again! The woman was gagged and I left it on her to keep her quiet and went in search of the next man.

  Charley managed to loosen the knob and had to hold the window where it was to stop in slamming shut. She had to put her crossbow down in order to lift it into place then tightened the knob back up. The girl on the bed saw her but did and said nothing.

  I opened the next door and the man there turned round. Natasha put a bolt in him as he was standing and the boy was laying but we had to grab him before he fell back on the boy as the bolt was sticking out of his back. Natasha knocked over a bottle as she dived and it clattered on the floor.

  The man with the young girl stood up and turned to face the door.

  'What is going on?' He called but there was no answer.

  He picked up his automatic rifle.

  'Hey Manuel what is going on?' He called.

  Charley had never shot a man in the back before but when she heard the gun cock she knew she had to! She fired through the open window. It was a good shot and hit him in the middle of the back. He was dead soon after it hit him but his finger tightened on the trigger and bullets spewed out.

  I was on the other side of the door, I heard him call out then fire. I charged the door knocking him onto his back but the gun was still firing. Bullets went everywhere, Charley, looking through the open window had to dive for cover. I knocked the gun from his dead hand.

  I stood there in the doorway and charley reappeared in the window. She slid through the window without her crossbow and landed on the floor with a yelp.

  'I think you are not wanted it here while she is dressed like this.' She said and ushered me out. 'Or not dressed at all.' She added and closed the door.

  She cut the girl free.

  'Thank you, I’m Fleur, is my dad okay?' The girl said as she looked for something to put on.

  'Your dad is fine, he is just outside the door with you mother and brother. I’m Charley by the way.'

  'Thank you Charley. I didn’t think I could stand by and watch someone killed like that but I’m glad you did it!'

  'Normally they don’t shoot the place up, they just sort of die!' Charley added by way of and apology.

  'You’ve done it before?'

  'His friends, they were making your dad dig his own grave before they killed him, so we killed them!'

  'Good for you then.'

  When she was dressed, she opened the door and saw her family in a three way hug, she made it four.

  'I’m sorry about that Rich King Walter of you know where; he died but still kept shooting,' Charley said when she saw me, 'I don't know why.'

  'It happens, no harm done-' as I spoke the boat lurched. 'It’s sinking!'

  Carter flew to the control panel, turned on the pumps and started the engine, he raised the anchor but the boat was still getting lower in the water.

  'Quick run her onto the beach, it’s quite soft there.' I shouted.

  He did that and the boat hit the sand and stopped. It could no longer sink but now it could go anywhere.

  'Some of those bullets must have gone through the hull.' Carter said despairingly.

  'Do you have anything to fix it with?'

  'Yes but it has to be done under the boat.'

  'I’ll do it, it was my fault.' Charley said immediately.

  I smiled at her.

  'Perhaps we should just call for help instead!' I suggested.

  Carter tried the radio but when he called in nothing happened, it seemed dead. A close look revealed a bullet hole in it; I could not believe my luck!

  'Is there any scuba gear on board?' I asked, going to plan B.

  'Yes,' Fleur answered, 'I’ll get it!'

  Charley did not get her way as she had never been scuba diving, instead it was Sarah who went under the boat to inspect the hull.

  'Seven bullet holes!' She declared when she surfaced. 'I will have to dig in the sand to get to one but the others are reachable.'

  Carter walked her through the repair procedure and she went back under. When she surfaced again one was done, she repeated the dive six times until there was just the awkward one to do. By now the pump was gaining on the water level and the boat was starting to lift off the sand. He reversed it a little way and Sarah dived again. She came back up and gave us the thumbs up before heading for the shore.

  We pumped the boat out and reversed it out into the middle of the horseshoe.

  'Now what?' Carter asked.

  'Go out of the bay, turn right and go right round the island.' I ordered.

&n
bsp; He did what I said.

  'Meet us at the old pirate cave!' I called to my little army and they hurried away.

  As we approached the rocks Carter was quite apprehensive.

  'It is just rocks.' He complained.

  'Looks that way I admit but you will soon be surprised.' I assured him.

  We turned to go into the rocks and there was the opening, still barely visible. He took the boat into the opening and the girls were there to help it negotiate the narrow channel. We turned it at the end, into the cave entrance and stopped it before it hit the floor of the cave.

  'This cave has been undisturbed for some years; they won’t find the boat in here.' I said as he stopped the engine.

  'Good, they will be here tomorrow, I heard them talking, they had the night with my family as payment for getting rid of me!' He said bitterly.

  'Come up to the house, we will find you something to eat.'

  The dinghy paddled into sight with Natasha at the helm.

  'Your taxi rich King Walter of Horseshoe Island.' She said proudly.

  'Thank you Natasha, come on all of you, did Sarah get in alright.'

  'Yes rich king, you know what etcetera.' She answered.

  We landed and carried the dinghy all the way back to the house to make sure the pirates did not find it.

  'You were lucky to find this house here.' The woman said; her name was Ashley.

  'We built it.' George said with a laugh.

  'Surely not!' Carter declared.

  'Every brick!' I replied. 'It is amazing what you can do with girl power!'

  I did have one problem; his son was fourteen and quite good looking. I had already seen the girls looking at him with more than a passing interest, we had to get off the island now or war might break out. Sarah conducted a tour of the house as she walked in she switched on the lights. It was only the toggle switch off a dashboard but it made the right impression.

  Carter inspected the house with its lights turned on.

  'Amazing and it has weathered storms you say?'