by Elle Casey
Kevin nodded his head appreciatively. “That might work; I’m willing to give it a shot.”
“You guys can skip the fishing lessons until I’ve figured it all out. I’ll get started in the morning after our exercising is done.”
“What kind of spear do you want?” asked Kevin.
“I was thinking I’d like to try two types – one that’s just straight and sharpened at the tip, the other one with three forks at the end, like a trident. Can you guys help me make ‘em?”
Kevin looked over at Jonathan for confirmation. “Sure, we could probably give it a shot.”
Candi gave him a winning smile. “Excellent. Maybe we’ll have fish for dinner one of these days.”
***
They spent the next few hours setting up their temporary household. The tarp was used as a floor for the girl’s bedroom area, and the boys used the now very dirty sheet. Candi and Sarah got to work gathering fallen palm fronds from the beachfront and jungle areas and dragging them to the big tree. They worked on layering them across the tops of the large roots, trying to create a waterproof roof.
“I think if we have enough of these things on top of each other, maybe even tied together somehow, we’ll be able to keep out any water.”
Candi looked out through the treetops to the darkening sky above. “I think we’re going to find out tonight whether your theory is true or not. It looks like a storm is coming in.”
“Oh, great. I’m not sure if we have enough here; maybe we should hook up the tarp instead.”
“I’ll do whatever you say,” said Candi. This was Sarah’s territory, and she wasn’t going to step on her toes.
Sarah stood eyeing the structure that was slowly going up. “Let’s just keep putting these palm fronds together. Angle them all the same way so when the water hits them it will follow the path of the leaves and drip down in the same direction.”
Candi did as she was told. When they were finally finished and stood back to admire their handiwork, they were impressed with what they saw.
“There. If any rain gets through this, then I’m just going to have to Google how to do this roof stuff.”
Candi laughed. Oh, how she missed Google. What she wouldn’t give right now to Google ‘spear fishing’. It’s funny how something that meant nothing to her before, like stabbing a poor fish with a stick, had now become one of the most important things in her life. She shook her head, thinking about how much her priorities had changed in just four days.
Jonathan and Kevin came back from the bamboo grove to see what the girls had done.
“Nice work!” said Jonathan enthusiastically. “It actually looks like some kind of island hut.”
“Thanks,” said Sarah, trying not to sound too proud of herself. The true test of her skills wouldn’t come until later when the rain fell.
“Kevin and I rigged up some temporary rain catchers. Looks like we’re going to get a storm later.”
They all cast their eyes to the sky, noticing that the dark clouds had gotten thicker and were moving faster in their direction.
“Maybe we’d better eat early in case it’s a real downpour,” said Candi, nervously.
“Good idea. And I have a treat.” Jonathan pulled out a few cracked-open coconuts from the backpack he had over his shoulder.
“Hey! How did you get those damn things open?” asked Sarah, moving forward to claim a half.
“I tried to use the hatchet but it wasn’t working so well, so I slammed the husk over and over again against the rock and eventually it started giving way; then I just tore it off ... ”
“Ahem ... ”
“Okay, so Kevin tore it off, and then we slammed the nut against the rock and presto – it opened right up. We lost the water inside, but the coconut is really tasty and very moist.”
Candi was having a hard time getting the coconut meat out to taste it. “How do you get the white stuff out?”
“Ah, well, since we don’t really have a knife we can afford to use and possibly break, we’ve been just breaking off pieces of the nut and then biting the white stuff off with our teeth.”
Candi shrugged her shoulders. “That works, I guess.” She thought for another second. “This is giving me ideas for dinner – if I ever catch a fish, that is.”
“Oh, yeah?” asked Kevin, “like what kind of ideas?”
“Well, we can take fish and cook it in the coconut over a fire. Maybe the flavor of the coconut will go up into the fish and make it taste more interesting.”
“That sounds awesome, Candi, I can’t wait to try it.” Sarah was in such a good mood from her success at hut building, she couldn’t help but be enthusiastic about Candi’s ideas.
Everyone looked at her funny. She didn’t sound like Sarah.
“What? ... What’d I say?”
No one answered. They just looked at each other. The island was working some strange voodoo magic on Sarah, making her actually act nice, even considerate.
Jonathan and Kevin starting walking over to the stand of bamboo.
“Hey, wait up!” said Candi.
Candi and Sarah joined them, walking through the bamboo until they reached the waterspout.
“Sarah, you mentioned you wanted to show everyone the view from the rock. Still interested?” asked Jonathan.
Sarah jumped at the chance to see the view again, her earlier confusion forgotten. “You guys are going to love this; but be careful. Failure to properly calculate your exponents and shit could cause you to fall on your ass.”
“It’s not exponents, Sarah, it’s friction coefficients, and I didn’t just fall on my ass; I nearly fell to my death.”
“Whatever. Don’t slip and fall, Jonathan, otherwise I’ll have to rescue you again.”
They all scrambled up, being careful to stay away from the sloped edge.
Once they reached the top of the rock, no one said a word. Sarah had not been exaggerating; the view was really incredible. They could look out over the island in all directions and see where it met the ocean on the south end. Even under the darkened sky, the water was a beautiful blue-green, fading to turquoise and then light brown as it met the beach. Turning northward, they were able to see over the treetops to the far end of the island. The tree cover was too dense to see through. They could see what Sarah meant when she said the island was shaped like a peanut – not a shelled peanut but a whole one with a couple of nuts inside.
“Wow ... imagine all the stuff that’s out there under the trees that we haven’t seen yet,” said Kevin.
“Maybe we’ll get lucky and get rescued before we have a chance,” added Candi.
“Well, I for one think this is a good spot to light a signal fire,” said Jonathan.
“You’re right. Tomorrow I’ll lug some wood and stuff up here and get it ready. No point in doing it now since it’s probably going to get soaked.”
“Speaking of which,” Jonathan continued, “I think there’s some sort of rainy season here, and if it’s like the other areas in the tropics, it comes up in the next couple of weeks or so and lasts all summer. I think we’d better make it a priority to try and find a sheltered area, or maybe we could make one, where we can store firewood and stuff. I know it’s hot here, and we really don’t use the fire much, but later in the year it will probably get cold, at least at night.”
Candi was too engrossed in the view to respond. She was straining her eyes as hard as she could, trying to see an island, a boat – anything at all other than Peanut Island. There was nothing.
“I agree,” said Kevin. “I guess we have our work cut out for us. Tomorrow, workout on the beach, signal fire building, firewood storage, and then we start on the treehouse. Did I forget anything?”
“Karate practice in the late afternoon,” added Sarah.
“Yeah, a little kung fu action, too, that’s right.” Kevin practiced some slow motion martial arts moves.
“It’s not kung fu, that’s another discipline. We’ll be doing karate,” cor
rected Jonathan.
“Whatever, dude. All I know is, I’m gonna judo chop some of those bamboo trees down.”
Jonathan climbed down the rock, sighing. “It’s not judo either, it’s karate.”
Kevin smiled. He clearly loved messing with Jonathan. “Yeah, okay, are we gonna do some tai chi moves then?”
Jonathan looked up at Kevin. “Are you kidding me?”
Kevin feigned innocence. “What?”
“Never mind, you’re messing with me.”
“Ah, I can’t put anything past you anymore, Jonathan, you’re onto me.” Kevin joined him back on the ground next to the waterspout, putting his hand on Jonathan’s shoulder. They both watched the water coming out over the rock.
“Man, could I ever use a shower.”
“No kidding. You go ahead, you smell worse than me. I’ll go after.” Jonathan walked away, leaving Kevin standing there.
“Wait a minute ... Did he just mess with me?”
“Yep,” said Candi as she walked by.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” he said, a smile in his voice.
“Hey, what are you doing?” asked Sarah as she came down from the rock.
Candi turned to see what the fuss was all about.
“Taking a shower, what does it look like?”
“Well, before you strip down to your birthday suit, maybe you want to wait until we’ve gotten outta here.”
“Doesn’t bother me if you guys see me naked.”
Sarah looked at him like he was crazy. “Well it bothers me. Ew.”
Candi stood there panic stricken, speechless. Kevin was standing there without a shirt on, about to be totally naked.
“Ah ... um ... yeah ... I’m ... I’m gonna go now,” was all Candi could say before the heat in her face made her feel like her head was going to explode. She turned and walked away as quickly as she could, back to the base of the tree and out of sight of the Peterson twins.
***
“I think it bothers her too,” said Sarah, as she turned and walked away, smiling.
Kevin chuckled to himself. The pained look on Candi’s face was priceless. She was a virgin, he was nearly sure of it. The thought made him excited and worried at the same time. Here they were on this deserted island. He was the only guy in sight; she was the only girl. It was probably inevitable that they would eventually get together if help didn’t come for a while. Normally he wouldn’t give having sex with a girl a second thought – he’d just do it, so long as she was willing. But he knew for some reason that he couldn’t and shouldn’t be that nonchalant about it with Candi. She was different. Not to mention the fact that there was no birth control out here in the middle of nowhere.
Candi was already different from how she’d acted on the cruise ship. These few days away from the world in a place where they had to fend for themselves had already made its mark on her. Somehow she had gone from mildly cute to kinda sexy. Maybe being stuck on this island with the little sand beast won’t be so bad after all.
He wondered if this experience had done the same for him – changed him at all. He felt the same, but he was starting to notice things he’d never noticed before, and he was feeling really relaxed for some reason, which really didn’t make any sense.
As he rinsed the grime from his body as best he could, he thought about how he should be really freaked out and worried right now. Worried about surviving, worried about his team back home, worried about his parents – his life. But he wasn’t. It’s as if all that stuff had ceased to matter for now. Oh well. He shrugged it off. Might as well enjoy it while it lasts.
***
The next few weeks were spent using the lifeboat hatchet to cut down bamboo poles of varying lengths and widths. They used the widest ones to create support poles and joists for the floor of the treehouse which they wedged against various parts of the tree trunk and its root system.
The guys spent a lot of time on the jungle floor and in the tree, studying it from every angle. They didn’t want to spend too much time or waste materials on something that wasn’t going to be secure or that would have to be re-done. They’d already made that mistake once, and they were still kicking themselves over the wasted effort.
The girls, in their explorations for cloth and other items that could be used to make things for the treehouse, found a group of plants in the jungle that came from what Jonathan thought might be hemp. They were very fibrous and so far were turning out to be very useful. Jonathan had the girls pull the plant fibers off in long strips; they used these strips that were braided together to make a plant rope to wrap around and bind the bamboo poles to one another.
Kevin and Jonathan also did their best to make corresponding notches in the wood so it would join together like puzzle pieces on the ends. It was difficult because the wood was very strong and hard to cut with just the hatchet. Each notched joint was fitted into place, then tied with several lengths of plant rope. Next, it was tested by Kevin bouncing up and down on it. Anything that had too much give or seemed loose was re-done. No one wanted to come crashing down out of the tree to the ground below.
The rock next to their tree was good for sharpening the hatchet, which was a good thing, since the bamboo was so thick and strong and dulled the blade pretty easily. They couldn’t believe their luck at having a whole stand of it right near their water source. Now that they’d cut quite a bit of it down, they were seeing how the poles that remained were going to act as a wall that could close off a section of the bottom of their root system, giving them ground storage areas they could protect from animals. Not that they’d seen any animals on the island yet – but they had heard stirrings in the night, so it was highly likely something was out there somewhere.
Sarah’s roof building and weaving skills had proven themselves over and over. From the first night when they got a downpour until today, they had been able to sleep in relatively dry quarters. Once they were off the jungle floor, it was going to be perfect.
Sarah had been weaving floor mats, roof materials, bed materials and all kinds of things in anticipation of the treehouse finally being finished. She’d convinced the guys that the girls needed cots to sleep on, so they had cut some thinner bamboo poles to her specifications; she put the frames together, tying them at the corners using the fibrous plant rope. Now she was working on woven palm fronds as the slings to put between the bamboo pole frames. She had a feeling once the guys saw what she was doing, they would want sleeping cots of their own, so she made extra.
Candi was gone every day, always down at the water trying to figure out how to spear fish. She had found a spot on the south side where there were some large rocks spread apart in the shallow water. The tides and water currents had created small pools where the fish loved to look for food. She’d stand on the rocks and try to spear the fish from above. She claimed that she got close once, but so far had come back each day empty handed. She was determined, though, and no one had the heart to give her a hard time about it or tell her to give up.
The morning exercises organized by Kevin now included a rugby scrimmage at the end. They used a coconut with the husk still on as their rugby ball. It was about the right size and weight. Kevin was determined not to forget his moves or lose his agility.
Unfortunately for him, his team was pretty lame – although he had to admit, they’d come a long way in three weeks. Now they could all run around and do what he told them without getting side cramps or collapsing on the beach, gasping for air. He’d even felt Jonathan’s strength improving as he tried to tackle Kevin to the ground.
Jonathan’s muscles had really started to noticeably develop with the combined work of morning exercise and treehouse building. The coconuts they were eating had natural fats and protein, which gave their bodies the fuel they needed to put on the muscle. Kevin told them that as soon as they had fish added to their diet, they could really amp up their improvements.
With just the coconuts and bananas, Jonathan wasn’t able to eat enough calories t
o get really big muscles, and Kevin could feel himself losing weight. His torn and ragged shorts were getting looser and looser. He’d already had to make a belt out of the plant rope just to keep them up. This would have bothered him more a month ago when rugby was his life. Now he didn’t care so much. He looked down to admire his six-pack abs from time to time, which before had not been as sharp or defined because he’d had more body fat. And if the surreptitious looks he kept catching from Candi were any indication, she was happy with what she saw, too.
The karate lessons Jonathan had been giving in the evening were helping all of them with their flexibility and balance. Kevin wondered why he hadn’t thought of doing that kind of workout before. When and if he ever got back home, he was going to be unstoppable on the field.
Kevin stopped his musings when he heard a loud whooping coming from the direction of the beach. He could hear Candi crashing through the trees on the path from the beach to the treehouse.
“That’s right, bitches, I caught us a fish! Whoot! Whoot!” Candi came skipping out of the trees, dangling a fish from its gills and grinning from ear to ear.
Sarah came from around the back of the tree where she had her weaving and building workshop.
“Awesome, I can’t believe you did it! You totally rock. How’d you do it?”
Jonathan came down from the treehouse where he had been securing a wall Sarah had designed.
“Is that a fish I see there? Holy crap, Candi, you did it!” He walked up and gave her a big hug. “I’m so proud of you. You stuck with it, and you did it.”
“Yep, I finally did it. Man, I was ready to quit too, you know? But then I just said, no dammit, everyone else is pulling their weight – I have to do this. And then I started working more on my technique. It’s hard because the water kind of warps the position of the fish, so you think you’re stabbing in the right place and then it misses the fish entirely. For the longest time, I thought the fish was moving and that’s why I was missing, but I finally figured out that it was the distortion of the water. Duh.”