Desperate Measures (9 page)

C
arter wished he was ahead of Mima. But at least he was ahead of Vanessa and Buzz. If one of the three of them was going to risk facing Chizo first, it was going to be him.

Chizo held a spear out to keep Mima from leaving the ladder or standing up on the hut's platform. She stayed low, clinging to the trunk the same way Carter was doing. A hundred feet of air beneath him looked like twice as much as it had from the ground. His heart thudded right into the wood with a fast, steady rhythm.

Mima stayed where she was. The pointed end of
Chizo's weapon was nearly between her eyes. She said something in Nukula, but Chizo didn't move or speak in return.

Carter stole another look straight down. Jane and the canoe were almost directly under them now, and still drifting. She was about to pass them by.

“There's no time!” he said between clenched teeth. And there wasn't. But there also wasn't anything he could do to make this go faster. He could only watch and wait to see what happened.

Mima slowly let go of the ladder to reach up toward Chizo with one hand. “Mima, NO!” Carter screamed. All it would take from Chizo now was one push, and she'd be gone. What was she thinking?

Chizo reached out, but his spear was down. His hand closed around Mima's wrist, and he bent closer to look at something on her hand. That's what it seemed like, anyway. None of it was making any sense.

“It's the blood ring!” Vanessa yelled from behind. “She's showing it to him! But Mima! Please hurry! Jane's drifting away!”

“Mima!” Carter called out again.

“Ah-ka-ah!”
she answered. Already she was moving onto the platform as Chizo made way.

Carter pressed his hands onto either side of the trunk and dragged himself the last several feet as fast as he could. Chizo did nothing to stop him as he stood up on the platform, but he moved in close. His face practically pressed into Carter's, as close as his spear had been to Mima a moment ago.

Carter held his breath. What was this?

When Chizo reached up to touch his shoulder, Carter braced himself. It seemed as though Chizo was about to throw him off the platform. If he did, it would at least be enough warning for Buzz and Vanessa to turn back.

Instead, Chizo only moved him aside. He reached out and helped Vanessa take the last step onto the platform. Then Vanessa did the same for Buzz.

It seemed as though maybe a debt had been paid. Carter's thoughts went back to their fight that morning, and the way he'd stepped away from Chizo instead of finishing him like he could have. Or maybe this had something to do with the blood ring. Maybe
Mima had promised Chizo something—or even threatened him with her new authority. Whatever had happened, there was no time to figure it out.

“Where is she?” Vanessa asked, crossing to the far side of the platform. Mima was already there, looking straight down and calling Jane's name.

Carter and Buzz came right behind. The whole platform was no more than fifteen feet across, with a roof on one side and a natural covering of fronds on the other. It was also open to the water below.

“There!” Vanessa said.

Carter saw Jane, waiting in the canoe and looking up at them. The fires on the shore provided just enough light to see by. But the drop was impossible.

The idea of making this jump seemed crazy, Carter thought. It was beyond anything they'd ever done, or even imagined having to do. But meanwhile, Jane was drifting farther and farther from the island. Literally every second counted right now.

Which is what told Carter he needed to do this.

He
would
do it.

They all would.

Vanessa tensed as Chizo pushed past her on the platform. He said something to Mima in a tone that sounded urgent but not angry. A moment later, he was gone, letting himself off the platform to climb back down.

Several of the other Nukula had reached the base of
Trehila
by now. Maybe Chizo was going to meet them. Or even block them from climbing. There was no knowing, but she was grateful for whatever he could do.

Now it was time to go. She turned to Mima and looked into her eyes. In the dark, it was hard to see if there was any emotion there, but probably not. Mima was never one to show what she was feeling.

“Mima . . .” Vanessa said. She wished she had the Nukula words to communicate even a small amount of what she wanted to say. Still, she kept going. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted you. Thank you so much!”

“Stop talking and keep moving!” Buzz said. He took her by the arm and steered her toward the edge of the platform.

Vanessa refocused on the water below. Jane was still there. She was close enough to reach, but she wouldn't be for long. The current continued to carry her away.

“We can do this,” Vanessa told Buzz. She was telling herself, too, she realized. There was no time. Not even for courage.

This was it. The jump was a complete unknown. A bad bet here wasn't just going to hurt them. It could end everything. But all Vanessa had to do was look down once more and see Jane alone in that canoe. Then it didn't feel like a decision at all.

“I'll go first,” Carter said.

“No,” Vanessa told him.

She caught a glimpse of the resistance in his eyes, just before she turned, took a step off the platform, and pushed away with the other foot, into a free fall.

Buzz followed Vanessa like there was a rope between them, pulling him right off the platform.

He fell.

And fell.

The air rushed out of his lungs. His heartbeat overwhelmed everything else as his vision grayed and blurred. It seemed to go on forever, but was also somehow over in a blink. His brain registered the need to get his feet beneath him—his toes pointed—as he slammed into the ocean with a violent crash that gave way to a cocoon of water in nearly the same moment.

Buzz felt the water but saw nothing, heard nothing. He barely even sensed anything. Did he black out? He didn't know. But suddenly, his head was out of the water again. He was blinking, wondering where he was. And then just as fast, he remembered.

“Buzz!” Vanessa yelled. “This way!”

The canoe was there. He saw it before he saw Vanessa. But then she came into view, too. She was in the water, holding on to the side of the boat and waving him over.

Jane was sitting up high in the canoe with a coil of vine rope on her arm. She had it held out over the water, ready to throw his way like a lifeline.

“Buzz! Catch!” she said. “I'll pull you
in!”

C
arter's emotions were overwhelming. He'd never felt so many things at the same time in his life. And the whole idea of saying good-bye to Mima had just been compressed into a matter of seconds. It was going to be over as fast as that—as if it had never happened.

“Thank you!” he said. There were tears in his eyes, and he threw his arms around Mima. It was something he'd never done before. “You saved our lives. We love you, Mima,” he said in her ear. He knew she couldn't understand. But maybe she felt it.

“And I always will,” he choked out. “I'll never forget you. Ever.”

Mima didn't pull away. Her body was stiff, but she reached up to touch him gently on the arm. Carter hated to let go. Still, the need to leave was everything right now. Even more important than Mima.

“Good-bye,” he said, choking out the word as he stepped back.

“Goot-bye,”
she answered. There was no knowing what would happen to her after this. But now that she had the blood ring, she was probably going to run the tribe one day.

“And thank you,” Carter said. “
Ratta,
Mima
. Ratta
.”

“Carter!” a voice came from below. It was Vanessa. Her shout cut through everything else. He looked all the way down to the water, where the outrigger had moved far out from shore. Maybe too far. He'd have to swim for it.

“Ratta, Car-tare,”
Mima said, and pointed the way he had to go.
“Ekka-ka! Betzo, Buzz, Jane, Ba-nessa!”

He looked at her one more time. He took three big strides back from the edge and lowered his center of gravity like pressing into a starting block. Then Carter pushed off into a sprint that took him across
the platform and straight out into the night air.

It was terrifying for Jane, watching each of them jump, and then fall, from the top of
Trehila
. Carter plummeted, then hit the water at a scary angle—and nowhere near close enough to the canoe.

Buzz and Vanessa were already back paddling hard. Jane leaned over the edge and used her hands in the water, for whatever good it did. Finally, the canoe moved closer to Carter. When they came near enough, she threw the rope out and they pulled him in the last several yards.

“Is everyone okay?” he gasped out, even as Jane hugged him tight.

“We will be,” she said. She pressed herself against Carter, and they both sank deeper into the boat, without enough energy to move any more than that. Buzz and Vanessa took up the paddles, but the current still had them, too. For the moment, it did most of the work.

Slowly, Jane turned and looked back. On the shore,
she could see nearly all of the Nukula watching from various places. Some were right there at the mouth of the channel. Others stood along the edge of the woods. But nobody was coming closer. Nobody even shouted out. And there was no sign of Laki or Chizo, either.

Then, on the easternmost tip, beyond
Trehila
and the channel itself, Jane spotted Ani. He stood alone as he held up a hand to wave good-bye. And even though all of the big fires were nearly out now, she could just make out his face. She wondered if it was the first time she'd ever seen Ani smile.

Jane, Carter, Vanessa, and Buzz all watched him silently. They'd never be able to thank Ani for everything he'd done. But they'd never forget him, either. And they'd never betray his trust, Jane knew. They'd never tell the secrets of the Nukula to the outside world. It was the least they could do.

Slowly, Jane came onto her knees and held up both hands. Then she curved her knuckles in and knocked them together twice, before Ani returned the gesture.

Be strong.

You, too.

It was all the good-bye they would ever have. She watched him on the shore for as long as she could. Shadow Island was quickly slipping away behind them.

“What's this?” Buzz asked from the other end of the boat.

Finally, Jane tore her eyes away. She turned and sat back next to Carter again, as Buzz held up the tied bundle from before.

“I don't know what it is,” Jane answered. “Mima gave it to me.”

Buzz yanked the vine off and unrolled the leaf. Something spilled out and fell with a soft clunk onto the floor of the canoe. When he held it up, Jane realized that the package may have been delivered by Mima, but what was inside had come from Ani.

It was the three
seccu
she thought they'd left
behind.