The Island

by Agnes Alexander

  There were some mumbles of condolences then Ray nodded to the next woman.

  “I’m Phyllis Michaels. This is my husband Curtis. We’re from Seattle, Washington. We have one son who’s sixteen. Thank God he wasn’t with us. We took this trip to celebrate our twentieth wedding anniversary. I’m forty-one. I’m not sure what kind of talent I can lend to the group. I’m rather athletic. I run, bicycle, swim and we do some mountain climbing together. As a profession, I’m an accountant.”

  “I’m Curtis. I’m forty-three. I’m a mechanical engineer and I take part in a lot of sports. We left our son with my parents and I second my wife’s words—thank God he didn’t come on this trip.”

  Everyone’s eyes turned to the grumbling man beside Amanda. He looked back at them and muttered, “Just call me Mr. X and don’t worry about my age or where I’m from or who my family is. Ain’t nobody’s business who I am or what I do ’cause I’m not going to do a damn thing but sit here and wait for the rescue plane.” He dropped his head and muttered to himself, “Of course, I doubt one will ever find us in this God-forsaken place.” With that he got up, walked a distance from them, plopped down on the beach and stared at the water.

  Ray shrugged and nodded to Amanda.

  “My name’s Amanda Winston. I’m fifty-four years old and I’m a retired paralegal from Charlotte, North Carolina. I have a romance novel half-finished and I recently began writing a column for a retirement magazine. I was on this trip because I promised myself I’d see the world before I get too old to travel. I’m not married. I have one daughter and two grandchildren. Other than my writing, I paint with oils and do basket-weaving as a hobby. I’m not sure how my skills will help here, but I’m willing to learn from all of you.” She glanced at Steve.

  “I’m Steve Brookshire. I’m fifty-seven. I own a cattle farm in Northern Georgia near the little town of Wendover. This was a business trip for me and I was traveling alone. I have a wife, a son, a daughter-in-law and three grandchildren back in Georgia. I’m a hunter and I know how to dress the meat I kill. I also fish. Maybe these skills will help out.”

  Everyone nodded.

  “I’m Wilma Fox. I’m forty-eight. I was a nurse until three years ago, but now my husband and I have a private detective firm in Chicago where we’re from. We were searching for a felon and thought we had a lead. It didn’t pan out and we were heading home. We have a son and a daughter. They’re both married and we have four grandchildren.” She choked up and added. “My husband and I had a talk on the swim to the island. He told me he wasn’t going to make it and I was to be brave and to help the others any way I could.” She paused again. Nobody said anything and she finally whispered, “My husband, Joey was the one who died on the way to the island.”

  When she made herself give everyone a faint smile, Ray mumbled condolences and nodded at the next woman.

  “I’m Joanna Godfrey. I’m twenty-eight. I was on this trip with my boyfriend and we had a big fight. I jumped on this plane and left him behind.” She shook her head. “I have a reputation of making dumb mistakes. He was probably my biggest one.” She sighed and added, “As for what I can do to help here, I’m a military brat so I’m from all over the world. I was born at a military hospital in Germany. I’ve even lived on some islands with my folks and I’m pretty good at identifying eatable plants and the like. My day job probably won’t be much help. I’m a bank teller.” She sat back and looked at the man beside her.

  “I’m Anthony Vaughn and I’m from Fort Worth, Texas. You can call me Tony. As you can see, with this broken leg, I won’t be much help, but maybe it’ll heal soon. I’m a pretty good carpenter. I do woodworking for a hobby. Being a computer programmer is my profession and I do some preaching on the side. Oh, yeah. I’m forty-nine and recently divorced because my wife ran away with the choir director at a little church I was preaching at. I have two children. They’re both grown. My son is a senior in college and the girl got married last summer.”

  Ray nodded and surveyed the group. “Well, it looks like we have some good talent here. If we’re not rescued right away, we’ll be able to survive with the skills we have.” He took a deep breath. “I took the liberty of mentally setting you up in partners as you talked. We should never leave this area alone until we know what exists on this island. Everyone needs someone to watch their back. I may sound chauvinistic, but I think it’s best if the women have a man with them most of the time. I also think we should use first names.” Everyone nodded and he went on, “Wilma, since you’re a nurse, I’ve paired you with Tony. You might be able to help in his recovery. If you would, please move beside him. As I call your names, each of you please move next to the person I pair you with. When I’m finished, if you don’t like the way I’ve put you together, we can do some changing.” Again they nodded.

  “Of course, Phyllis, you and Curtis will be together. Gene, since Debbie will need your services soon, I’ve put you with her. Steve, you and Amanda seem to have a rapport so I’m putting you two together.” He looked around. “I guess that means you’re stuck with me, Joanna.” He looked down the beach and called, “Mr. X, do you want to come join us?”

  Mr. X shook his head and continued to look at the water.

  Ray shrugged and said, “I guess we’ll all have to look after him.” He looked at the group. “Now is everyone satisfied with your partner? Does anyone want to make a change?”

  Nobody said anything for a minute then Steve said, “I’m happy to have Amanda as my partner, but may I make a suggestion?”

  “Of course.”

  “I think having us all get together like this to get to know each other and make decisions is a great idea and I suggest we do it daily—that is if we’re not rescued right away. I also think we need to have different people be in charge of different things such as foraging for food or being on the lookout for dangers. To keep us all on the right track I think we should choose a leader. With his military training, I think Ray’s the ideal person for the job.”

  “I think that’s a great idea, Steve,” Curtis said.

  Gene said, “All in favor of Ray being our leader please raise your hand.”

  Mr. X didn’t vote, but everyone else’s hand went up.

  * * * *

  May 21—8:30 AM

  Charlotte, North Carolina

  Amanda came out of her room and stepped into the hall. The aroma of coffee waffled to her nose. It smelled good. Since she’d had her first cup in New York after the rescue, she realized how much she’d missed this simple pleasure. She followed the aroma to the kitchen.

  Diane was sitting on a stool at the breakfast bar. She whirled it around when she heard her mother come into the room. Her face broke into a large grin. “Boy, you don’t know how fantastic it is to see you standing there.”

  “It feels good to be here.”

  “Coffee?”

  “Yes, please. It smells wonderful.”

  Diane jumped from the stool and filled a waiting mug for Amanda. “Do you still take milk in yours?”

  “Let’s try it and see.”

  Diane looked at her strangely and then smiled again. “Of course, you didn’t have coffee on the island.”

  “No. We drank a lot of coconut milk though.”

  “You look healthy, Mom even thought you’ve lost some weight. What did you eat while you were there?”

  “We were checked out well at the hospital and they said we were all in good shape. I was a little underweight, but that was my only problem. They said I was in the physical condition of a healthy thirty-five or forty-year old.” She returned her daughter’s smile. “As for what we ate, we had a variety of fruits and nuts. We had fish and occasionally we’d trap a bird or other animal.”

  “It’s remarkable you survived, and it’s still hard for me to believe. When I got the call telling me you were one of the survivors...well, I was so elated I thought I’d have a heart attack.” Diane walked around the bar and hugged her mother. “I’m so thankful.”
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  “I’m thankful too, dear, but like you, when they actually found us, I was dumfounded. We’d given up hope of ever being rescued.”

  “Do you want to tell me about it, Mom?”

  Amanda shook her head. “I don’t think I can talk about it yet. I’m still pretty numb.”

  “Since the names of the survivors were given out, we’ve been inundated with calls from the press. Newspapers, radio stations and television stations have all called. We even had a man from NBC want to interview us.”

  “My goodness. What have you been telling them?”

  “That we weren’t ready to give out interviews. Noah had the phone number changed to an unlisted number. It’s helped some, but we haven’t been able to stop all of it. They’ve even hounded the kids.”

  “Oh, my. I don’t want my grandchildren bothered.”

  Diane laughed. “Don’t worry about them, Mom. They’re eating it up. They love it because their grandmother’s famous. They even hope you’ll come and speak at their school before too long.”

  Amanda lifted her eyebrow. “The way the young think still baffles me and I thought at one time you had the corner on the market.”

  Diane shook her head and changed the subject. “What would you like for breakfast? I have eggs, ham, bacon, and a host of other things. Your wish is my command as the saying goes.”

  “If you have some kind fruit that’ll be fine. I don’t want to give my stomach too much of a jolt and fruit’s what I’m used to.” Amanda smiled at her daughter. “You might slip in a slice of wheat toast if you have it. Bread was one thing I really missed. We didn’t have any on the island.”

  “Coming right up.”

  Amanda was eating strawberries and nibbling on her toast when the phone rang.

  “Hello...yes...no...I’m sorry, she doesn’t want to speak to anyone yet...Please, don’t. My mother needs to get her rest...I mean it. I won’t come to the door... Yes, I promise she’ll give you an interview later... Good-bye.” Diane hung up the phone and turned. “See what I mean? They’re relentless.”

  “When they call again, tell them I’ll speak with them day after tomorrow.”

  “Are you sure, Mom?”

  “Yes.” She smiled at her daughter. “The group voted me to be the one to give the interviews to the press. I told them I’d do the first one sometime this week. Thursday sounds like a good day.” She stood. “Now let’s spend the day getting to know each other again.”

  “Oh, Mom. We know each other.”

  “We do, but there have been some changes. My grandchildren have grown for over two years and I know a lot’s happened in their lives. And yours too. I suppose things are still okay with you and Noah?” It came out as a question.

  Diane sighed. “Things are fine, Mom. I just wish—”

  “I know, honey. And believe me it’ll be different. If you love Noah, then I love him too. I learned on the island, not to hold grudges and support everyone around you. I’m going to try to live by that here, too.” Amanda finished her food, took one last swallow of coffee and pushed back her cup. “As a matter of fact, I’m going to take a shower and get dressed in that little outfit you put out for me.”

  “It belongs to Kristy, but you’re so small now, I know it’ll fit.”

  Amanda nodded. “Maybe we can get a few things more appropriate for my age before long.” She smiled. “While I’m bathing I want you to call Noah and tell him to come home early today. Tell him, his mother-in-law wants to have a meeting.”

  “Mom, you’re not—”

  Amanda held up her hand. “I promise you, you’ll be pleased with the meeting. Now make the call to Noah and I’ll be out shortly. I need to make a couple of calls myself.”

  Chapter 6

  Twenty-Six Months and Three Weeks Earlier...

  “That’s the way, Phyllis,” Joanna said. “Put your hands close together on the back of the trunk. Now pull on them and stick your rear end out. Now put the pressure on the balls of your feet and your toes. You’ll be pulling away with your body and putting pressure on the back of the tree to hold you. You have strong arms so that’ll help you keep a good grip with your hands. Now walk up. You’ll have to alternate moving your hands and your feet going upward.”

  “Are you sure this is the way the natives on that military island did it?” Phyllis demanded. She was only about eight feet from the ground.

  “I’m sure. They tried to teach me, but I’m not very athletic.” Joanna smiled at her. “They said it was easy once you get the hang of it. I’m going to make myself learn after you get it.”

  “Give it another shot, honey,” Curtis called from the tree next to her. “I think I’m beginning to catch on. It’s a little like the mountain climbing we do.” He was about twelve feet up.

  Phyllis took a deep breath and tried again. This time she made some progress, but it was slow going.

  “Waste of time, if you asked me,” Mr. X mumbled. “Why not just eat the ones on the ground? That’s what we did this morning. Climbing the tree is a waste of time.”

  “Joanna said the young coconuts at the top had more nutrients,” Wilma patiently explained to him. “She said their milk can be substituted for water if we don’t find some.”

  He ignored her and stomped off.

  Amanda was sitting on the beach, weaving a basket from some reeds and grass she’d gathered. It was a tougher job than the materials she used in her basket weaving class back in Charlotte. She shook her head when a sliver of grass slipped from her hand and began to unwind. She felt the need to take a break, but she knew the baskets were needed for gathering fruit in the jungle. For an instant her gaze left her work and she watched Phyllis continue to try to climb the palm tree.

  Tony was sitting beside Amanda. He was working on a trap for catching birds. His carpentry skills, using only a knife to cut and vines to tie the pieces together, were being challenged a second time. At least this time he had a larger knife. Previously he’d constructed a fire-starting contraption he’d learned to make when he was a boy scout. For it he’d had to use the small knife he had in his pocket. The fire-block, the stick drill and the bow to spin it had taken a whole day to construct, but they were all excited when the tinder they’d gathered caught fire. For their evening meal they were able to cook the fish Steve caught with a spear he’d sharpened. Everyone was pleased to have something hot to eat. Mr. X must’ve been impressed too, because when he finished eating he stood without a word and tossed the large knife he had hidden in his belt to Tony. He then stomped off mumbling, “I sure would like to have a good steak. Never cared much for fish.”

  Amanda smiled to herself as she remembered Mr. X’s gesture with the knife. She couldn’t help wondering if under his rough and complaining nature, he might be a gentle soul. So far he’d done nothing to dispel the fact that he was rude and sarcastic.

  Last night they also used the fire to boil the water they’d found in a stagnant pool in the woods, though nobody had attempted to drink it. It sat in a coconut shell waiting for the first one to sample it, but everyone was waiting to see if fresh water was found.

  Debbie let out a little grunt. Amanda had noticed the grimaces in Debbie’s face as they’d worked on the basket, but she hadn’t mentioned them. She hoped Gene and Steve would soon be back. Gene’s services might be needed at any time.

  The two men had put their partners together to watch out for each other and had set off to look for fresh water. As of yet, nobody had been deep enough into the jungle to find a stream. Knowing water was a necessity, they felt it imperative to their survival to find it if it was available on the island. If not, they’d have to resort to boiling water from the small pool they’d found or use the coconut milk Joanna told them about.

  Debbie smiled at Amanda. “I’m trying to watch what you’re doing so I can help make baskets, but I keep getting these sharp little pains. They’ve been bothering me for the past hour.

  “Do you think they could be labor pains?”
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br />   “I think I’m just tired.” She looked toward the activity at the towering palms on the edge of the forest. “I wonder if Phyllis is going to make it.”

  “Since she climbs mountains, I’m sure she’ll conquer the tree.”

  After several tries, Phyllis decided to come to the ground for a rest. “Let me get my breath and I’ll give it another shot. I won’t let it get the best of me.”

  Joanna nodded and turned her attention to the next tree. “Don’t forget, Curtis. When you get to the top, don’t try to stand on the lower branches. They’re brittle and break away easily. Go to at least the second ones or the third. You’ll be able to stand on them with no problem.”

  “Gotcha.”

  When Curtis had reached the first branches of palms, Phyllis stood. “I’m not going to let my husband outdo me. Here I go. I’m going to get it this time.” And she did. Everyone standing or sitting on the beach clapped and cheered when she reached the top.

  It wasn’t long until Phyllis and Curtis were both twisting coconuts off the tree and dropping them to the ground.

  Ray picked one up and moved to the rock they’d set up to crack the fruit. As he struck it, he was careful not to let the juice spill. Joanna had told them the liquid was rich in potassium and other minerals. He was surprised to see the meat was a gelatin-like substance. He stuck his finger in it and tasted. It was delicious. He smiled, knowing the others would be pleased. At least they’d conquered getting to these green coconuts. If there was no water on the island, according to Joanna, they could survive on the juice of this young fruit.

  * * * *

  May 21—1:00 PM

  Wendover, Georgia

  Steve sat in a white Adirondack chair on the terrace of Dave and Claudia’s house. He looked across the wide expanse of pasture land with the North Georgia Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance. A large herd of cattle was grazing not more than five hundred feet from the back yard. It was one herd of several they owned. To Steve, it was a beautiful sight. One he’d long ago accepted he’d never see again. But here he was, blessed with his home land and his family once more. Well, most of his family. Janet, his wife of many years and who was now married to another man had yet to make her appearance back in his life. He was waiting on her. She’d said she’d be here by four or four-thirty.