But she had made it through, somehow. They had made it through. Not all of them, of course. Not Jacob, not poor Bolo, but she had saved Kai. Her brother was alive and would be okay. She knew there was heartache in the losses, but there was also hope for a future. Maybe she would never be whole again, and maybe the island would always follow her like thunder follows lightning, but she would be strong. She would heal. She would go on.
She squeezed her brother tight and stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the undamaged side of his face. He squeezed back.
“I’m okay, Sophie. Weak, and the side of my head feels like it’s been through a wood chipper, but I’ll be fine.” He looked down at her with his one eye that was still uncovered. “What about you? Are you going to be okay?”
“It was Jacob.” She stared back at him, at his blazing blue eye that was so full of worry and concern for her. “Thomas, it was Jacob. He saved us.”
“Jacob.” The voice came so unexpected it was like having a bucket of icy water dumped over her head.
She looked over at Noni, who stood next to the dying fire, back bent and visibly ancient once again. But her voice was strong.
“Jacob,” she said again. One arm stretched out, a delicate, wrinkled finger extending off toward the jungle. Then, as if the effort had been more than she could handle, the arm collapsed back down to her side and she sat on the ground, withdrawn and still.
Sophie looked off toward the direction Noni had indicated and knew right away what she had meant.
“The cave. The cave of bones. Jacob is there?” The old woman gave no reply. Jacob’s gone, she told herself. It’s not him anymore. She can’t mean that. His bones, maybe. That’s all that remains of him now.
She looked back up at her brother, whose lone blue eye was gazing back at her.
“Go on,” he said. “I’ll be fine, Sophie. I can stand. Can probably walk even. Go say your goodbyes.”
44
Sophie moved through the small grove of trees and foliage that separated the beach and lake from the mountain’s edge where the Cave of Bones waited. She walked slowly, soaking in the warmth and the calls of birds that represented life in a place that had, only a short time ago, reeked of death.
As she went she plucked away at the random hibiscus blooms she passed, until she had a small but beautiful bouquet cradled in her arms. Jacob had liked those.
The walk was surreal in a way, like traveling back through time. With each step she took, the specter of Jacob seemed to grow beside her, taking on substance, until she could almost feel him standing there in the flesh. She knew it wasn’t real, that it was just her memories strengthening with the proximity of that cave where they had spent precious few nights together, but she held on to it. All she would have was that living memory, and maybe it wasn’t healthy, maybe she should let it go, but not right now. Right now, she let her mind have this time with a ghost.
The trees, palm and papaya and a few other species she didn’t know, grew thin, then ended. Before her was a little trail, and at its end, the mouth of the cave. For a moment she remained there, looking on it, fighting back a sudden rush of emotion that bubbled up from the pit of her stomach and stuck in her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to be sad now. This was a goodbye, but she wanted it to be a happy one. A grateful one. She wanted to cherish the spirit of the man she had loved, who had ultimately saved her in the end.
Slowly, she made her way up to the gaping black mouth of the cave and stopped a step short of entering. It wasn’t fear that halted her progress. The island held only sadness now. The evil of the place was now floating on the wind, being carried a long way off, she hoped. No, it was something more macabre than that. She was afraid that if Jacob’s actual body had made it to this cave somehow, that entering would mean a direct confrontation with the remains. That certainly wasn’t how she wanted to remember him. But would she even know? She had nothing to light her way, and after nine months his remains would be nothing more than bones, mingled among the remnants of one hundred others.
She brought the small pile of sweet smelling Hibiscus up to her nose and took in a large breath. Thoughts of Jacob, tall and handsome and kind, filled her head. Placing one hand on the rough stone lip of the cave, she paused, then moved forward into the shadow.
She walked slowly, dragging her fingers along the rock wall, appreciating the jagged surface that kept her from thinking she was walking into another vision. Only six or eight feet in was a pile of fronds and leaves that Jacob had placed there months before, where they had first slept beside each other. It was sad, seeing those yellow and wilted remains, but it brought a smile to her face all the same.
She continued, coming to the back of the tunnel where it bent off to the left. The light was nearly gone at that point, but she moved forward, slowly being enveloped by the darkening shadows. As she walked, she no longer picked up her feet, instead choosing to slide them along the floor to avoid stepping on anything that might upset her balance. The dragging sound stirred up old dust and created whispering sounds in the room that opened before her. It was like the spirits of the dead were trying to tell her something, but she knew it was just her imagination. She was the only thing here able to speak.
As she lost herself in darkness, she pictured her surroundings as another world. A world where the dead rested and the darkness wasn’t sad or threatening, but calm and peaceful. It created a place of final sleep, where the dead no longer suffered, but only slumbered.
She stopped when her feet encountered a rattle of objects she knew to be bones. It crossed her mind that those bones might belong to those of her Jacob, but she really didn’t think so. These were the loose bones of native people long dead. She couldn’t know that for sure, but she felt it in her heart. If she could, she would find Jacob’s bones and give them a proper burial, but that was likely just something that comforted her. To Jacob she doubted it would make a difference.
A gentle stirring in the air caused her to catch her breath. The soft short hairs on the back of her neck tried to stand and her nerves began to tingle. Something was happening. Movement, whether real or in her mind, she couldn’t be sure, but she remained calm. She felt no fear. A silky sensation passed over her lips and cheeks, then her shoulders and arms, like velvet being dragged teasingly across skin by the hands of a lover. Then it was gone.
Sophie smiled, knelt among the bones, and laid out the pile of Hibiscus flowers. She hoped he would like them.
“Goodbye, Jacob. I love you.”
Her voice was soft and foreign sounding in the dark, dusty tomb and it died away quickly. No further answer came, but she didn’t need one.
She raised herself and returned to the beach.
45
As Sophie emerged from the trees she met with the unexpected sight of a newcomer on the beach. Standing beside the tall and battered form of her big brother was another man, dark skinned and slight in comparison. The two of them were standing over the lifeless body of Bolo and talking. Noni remained in her seated position, head downcast, resting still.
She walked forward, curious as to who would have suddenly appeared on this little out of the way island. Surely it was no coincidence.
It wasn’t. When she was only twenty yards away, the soft sand padding her footfalls, she caught the attention of this stranger. He turned his head toward her and seemed to consider her for a moment before approaching.
“Lomate?”
“Sophie. I am so happy to see you.” Lomate’s eyes were dull and glazed and his shoulders slumped. Her brother trailed along slowly at his rear.
“Lomate, what are you doing here? I thought you would be home by now, trying to forget about us.” The statement wasn’t meant to be hurtful, but she knew that it was received that way by the cloud that passed over the boat Captain’s face.
“I hope you will forgive me for my actions, Sophie. I admit, I wanted nothing to do with coming here, but the further away I got, the more my heart told me
I was doing the wrong thing. So, I came back.” He looked back over the beach, toward Bolo. “Too late to help, I’m truly sorry for that. All I can do is help now. At least a little. The … Noni, she says that we should take Bolo to a cave to rest with his ancestors.”
Thomas nodded in agreement. “It seems fitting. Not what I would say under other circumstances, but in this place, it feels right. I’ll help. Can’t say I’m feeling like a spring chicken right now, but I’m strong enough to do that much, and I want to.”
She watched as the two of them hoisted Bolo’s broken body up between them, one lifeless arm draped over each set of shoulders, and began their walk toward the Cave of Bones. The wind was picking up and she tilted her head to catch it, eyes closed and enjoying the cooling it provided. The sounds of the palm fronds chittering all around her gave her the impression of the island being alive. Talking in its own language. She wondered what it might be trying to say.
Her attention shifted then to the beach, where the old woman seemed to be sleeping next to the dead remains of the fire. Half buried in the sand were the club and the axe that had once wounded a God. Part of her wanted to take up that axe, keep hold of it. Maybe take it home as a souvenir. Something to remind her that this had all truly happened. To reinforce the fact that Daucina was gone. She’d seen Him go. There would be no need for nightmares.
In the end, she did take a souvenir. She felt too compelled not to, but it wasn’t the axe. Having a tool of destruction didn’t much appeal to her. It was the lantern. There was something symbolic about it. Something that would light her way through the dark memories that were surely to come.
She hoisted it by the handle before returning to settle down next to Noni to wait. For the first time since the battle had ended, Noni moved. Just enough to look over at the lantern, then up to Sophie’s face. She held her gaze for a moment, those dark eyes emotionless and tired, then she tucked her chin back down to her chest and was still again.
It was nearly a half an hour later when Lomate and Thomas returned to the beach. Thomas looked tired but still possessed of an inner strength. Sophie admired his iron will. He was a man who always pushed on until it was no longer physically possible to do so. She felt like she would be relying on that willpower in the coming months.
Together, without much spoken between them, they gathered up to make their way slowly back toward the boats. The charred remains of the fire and the discarded axe were all that remained to show that there had been a battle here. Thomas had picked up the club, intending to return it to its owner.
At a slow but steady pace, they began their return. This time, taking the long way around the mountain.
46
It was near dark when they reached the Wave Breaker. The sun was setting on the opposite side of the island and the light it provided was the soft but glorious light of orange and pink reflected off a thin but even layer of clouds. Small waves moved up the beach in steady rhythms, breaking on the sand with a chorus of white-foamed crashes, before sliding back into the darkening blue of the sea.
As she walked the last stretch of beach before reaching the boat, Sophie took in the true and natural beauty of the place. She would always miss Jacob, she knew that, but she was glad he had such a place to rest. There was no darkness shrouding this land anymore. It was all light and beauty now. Perhaps people would even return here, someday in the future. That was a nice thought. Maybe there would be families for Jacob to watch over, children playing and splashing in the water.
Thinking of children …
“Lomate? Where are Sala and the baby?”
“Sala could barely walk when I saw her, and the baby was angry. A very spirited one, that little boy of yours! I helped them down below deck to one of the cots to sleep. I would imagine they are still there.”
Angry was right. The closer they got to the boat, the easier they could pick up on the shrill cries that Kai bellowed out. Sophie hoped he hadn’t been crying this whole time. He was probably terrified and hungry.
Thomas helped her up the ladder and on to the boat, where she placed the lantern on the bench seat at the rear, then he followed her. Lomate held out a helping hand to Noni, who took it as she struggled up the ladder. Finally, they were all on board, their feet no longer on the land that once belonged to an angry God.
Sophie’s first action was to go down into the small room below deck where there were a handful of small cots along both walls and another small door toward the rear of the space. On the first cot to the right, Sala lay on her side, facing the wall and looking dead asleep. Kai, his face a deep red and wrinkled, bawled against her back, his little arms and legs flailing away in agitation. Sophie scooped him up and held him tight against her chest where he squirmed and struggled still.
Just then Sala spoke, causing Sophie to jump in surprise.
“I tried to feed him, but he won’t take the breast. He’s angry, but he’s not hungry.”
“Thank you, Sala. Listen …” She wanted to express her deep sympathy for the woman’s lost husband and to offer her some form of comfort. To tell her that Bolo was an incredibly brave man that had saved her brother, but Sala cut her off.
“Just sleep. That’s all I want. Just sleep.” Then she was quiet again.
With a feeble and understanding smile, Sophie made her way back out above deck and joined her brother where he sat at the rear of the boat. Once she was seated, Lomate fired up the motor and maneuvered the vessel to face toward open sea. Then they were off.
Together they watched the island fade into the distance, all quiet but for the still-wailing child. Sophie turned her attention back toward Kai, growing more distressed at his state, worried that perhaps he was in pain somehow. She looked up at Thomas, whose attention was still on the fading island, then over at Noni.
The old lady was watching Kai intently. Sophie gave her an apologetic smile.
“There are more beds to sleep in down below, Noni. You must be exhausted.”
The crinkled eyes never left Kai and Sophie couldn’t be sure she had even heard her over the roar of the boat’s engines and the wake of the water crashing behind them.
Thomas then grabbed the lantern, rose, and made his way unsteadily toward the Captain’s chair. Sophie saw a flare of light, then he returned, the lantern now glowing with a life of its own.
“Let him watch the flame dancing, it’ll sooth him,” he said with a slight shrug of his shoulders.
Instantly the plaintive cries of the baby quieted down and Sophie looked at Kai in surprise. His whole countenance had changed. The splotches of red slowly faded from his face, the skin smoothed out to look much more peaceful, and the tears stopped completely. She watched in amazement as his baby-blue eyes stared transfixed upon the flame of the lantern. Then, he made a happy cooing sound and was quiet again.
“Well, I’ll be damned. I’m a natural.” Thomas was smiling and shaking his head.
“Guess I made the right choice,” Sophie said, smiling down at her precious, and now happy child. “I almost brought the axe instead.”
She looked up at Thomas with a wide and beautiful smile on her face, then over at Noni, expecting to see some look of relief on the old woman’s face. The wizened eyes stared back at her, but she expressed no relief in that look. Her eyes were wide and aware, and stared back at Sophie, unblinking.
The look made Sophie uncomfortable and her own comfort at seeing her baby happy quickly faded.
She gazed at the old woman in concern, waiting for Noni to say something, or to at least look away, but she didn’t. She merely stared back, her eyes emotionless. Reflected in those large brown pools was the flame of the lantern, flickering orange and red. Sophie watched and stared, until she lost herself in the flame’s reflection. The small licks of fire danced and weaved and morphed, holding her rapt attention until she thought she saw something else. A small crown of fire, deep in the depths of the old woman’s eyes.
Noni blinked, breaking the spell, then looked away out
over the open water.
Sophie shook her head to bring herself back to the here and now. Whatever that was that just happened to her had wiped out the joy she had been feeling only moments before. Now, she felt only a small sliver of dread that seemed to be lancing its way deep into her heart.
Oh stop, you’re getting carried away. You have your son, you have your brother, and the island is at your back. There’s nothing to fear but what you create.
She looked back down at Kai, who was still happily watching the warm lantern and waving a little hand back and forth, as if he wanted to take hold of it.
“No, no, baby. Hot. Fire is hot and fire stings little babies.” She would need practice at this mothering thing, she thought. Might as well start now.
Kai never took his attention from the lantern, he merely babbled once, in what Sophie thought must pass for a baby laugh, and settled back down to stare contentedly into the flames.
THE END
I hope you enjoyed this second installment to the Dark Island Series! Be sure to look for book three: Rising Darkly - set to release in November 2017!
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Acknowledgments
Thank you to all my friends and family who offered constant words of support and encouragement during my travels and the whole lengthy process of this work.
I’m enormously grateful to all the fans that took their time to read the opening book - The Torchbearer - and continued on to read its continuation.
Thanks must go out to Wicked Good Book Covers for creating a book cover I could be proud of and to Fading Street Publishing for copy editing and proofreading.
Cave of Bones (Dark Island Series Book 2) Page 24