Lost (3 page)

Marco asked, “What was his cargo?”

“I don't know,” said Cash. “But he told Miss Blackstone it would make her a millionaire ten times over.”

“Wow,” said Nacho.

Cash yawned.

Yvonna said, “Cash, you don't have to finish telling us this now. You've had a long day and need to rest.”

Sarah, Nacho, and Marco all howled in protest at the same time. Yvonna held up a hand. “Five more minutes, that's it. I mean it.”

Sarah leaned in. “Just tell us, quick. What happened after that? How did you end up on the island by yourself?”

Cash said, “I told Sarge what I overheard. He told them we were heading back to port, but then—” Her eyes filled with tears.

Yvonna set a hand on her leg. “Oh, sweetie, this is too much for you.”

Cash shook her head. “No. I want to tell y'all what happened.” She swallowed. “But when Sarge told them that, Fox pulled out a gun.”

No one said anything. Marco wondered how Cash could be so calm, even while telling them what happened. He said, “You don't have to tell us anymore.”

“But you can if you want to,” piped up Nacho.

“Nacho, hush,” said his mom.

Cash said, “I'll finish.” She paused a moment to take another swig of water, then she took a deep breath. “He needed Sarge to sail the boat and take them to another island. But they didn't need me. Except for insurance.”

Sarah set a hand over her mouth.

Yvonna asked, “What did they do, sweetie?”

“Sarge packed me a bag of canned goods and water while Fox held the gun on him.” She frowned. “Sarge was so worried. He told me to make a fire, first thing. And he promised he'd come back for me.” She sighed. “So Fox and I got in the dinghy and he started rowing me to shore. I looked back at the boat, and Miss Blackstone was holding the gun on Sarge. I knew I had to try to get away.”

Marco asked, “What did you do?”

“Maybe be quiet and let her tell us,” said Sarah.

He glared at her, then turned back to Cash.

“About twenty yards from shore, I tried to tip the boat.” She paused. “But Fox grabbed me and shoved me over.”

Yvonna gasped. “Oh no.”

Cash glanced at her. “It's okay. I treaded water. But then he laughed at me. He threw the bag of food in the water and it sank before I could get it. Then he rowed back to the boat.”

As Cash finished telling the family her story, tears welled up again.

Marco asked, “Do you know what the cargo was that Fox hid on the island?”

She hesitated half of a second before shaking her head. But it was enough of a pause to make Marco wonder what—if anything—she might be keeping from them about Fox's supposed stash.

John said, “I think that's more than enough for tonight. Cash has had a long day.”

Sarah blurted, “But she hasn't told us about the—”

“That's enough,” said John. “There will be time in the morning.”

Marco knew what Sarah was going to say:
But she hasn't told us about the message in the sand.

And he wished John hadn't interrupted Sarah, because he wanted to know about it as much as she did.

Cash swiped a hand across her eyes and nodded. “If it's okay with you, I'd rather just tell you all now. The rest of it, I mean.” She glanced around the cave. “I think I'll sleep better.”

The hair rose on the back of Marco's neck, making him wonder if he really wanted to hear the rest after all.

 

3

Sarah handed Cash another bottle of water. Cash took a drink, cleared her throat, and told them more about her past few days.

“I crawled up on the beach. Fox got back to the sailboat. Sarge lifted anchor and began to sail out of the lagoon.” Cash wiped away some tears. Her voice broke as she added, “It was so hard to watch him sail away without me.”

Yvonna patted her arm.

Sarah wondered what she would do if she'd been left all alone on that island. This place creeped her out enough and she had her dad with her the whole time.

Nacho asked, “What did you do then?”

“I remembered the last thing Sarge told me. And that he'd put something in my pocket,” Cash said.

“What was it?” asked Nacho.

“His magnesium fire starter. He'd taught me how to make a fire in his backyard in Louisiana. And so I made a fire. A big one to get me through the night.” She sucked in her lower lip.

Marco asked, “What? Did something happen in the night?”

She nodded. “Well, in the late afternoon there was this awful howl. I can't even explain it.” Goose bumps rose on her arms. “It freaks me out to even think about it.”

Marco's gaze met Sarah's. She said, “I think we've heard it too.”

Cash said, “It was so scary.”

Marco and Sarah both nodded.

“I couldn't sleep, I was so scared.” Cash shrugged. “So I sat there all night. I only moved when I had to put more wood on the fire. Finally, the sun came up and I fell asleep. It was hot when I woke up. So I walked down to the water.” She smiled. “This place is so beautiful. Like a picture from a postcard.”

John said, “That it is.”

“But then my stomach started growling and I realized I didn't have any food. I knew there was a bag of food out there and I just had to swim out to get it.” She lifted and lowered a shoulder. “But I'm not that great at diving. I was trying to talk myself into it when I heard something in the trees.”

“Something scary?” asked Nacho.

Cash smiled. “No, for once it wasn't. It sounded like a
meow
. I thought it can't be. I didn't really want to go barefoot into the trees, but then I heard the sound again. And if there was a cat, I wanted to find it, so I wouldn't be alone.”

Sarah understood that. She glanced down at Ahab and rubbed his head.

“But I never had a chance to find out. I got two steps into the trees and I heard this
WHOOSSSSSHHHH!
and a white net fell on me.” Cash shivered.

Sarah looked at her dad. He raised his eyebrows a little, like he didn't exactly believe the girl's story. Sarah asked, “What kind of a net?”

“A weird one. I tried to stop it.” Cash held her hands out, fingers spread. “But as soon as it touched my fingers, it shocked me. And then the rest of it drifted down. Wherever it touched my bare skin, it stuck right to me.”

“What did you do?” asked Nacho. He was absolutely riveted by her story. But Sarah noticed that both her dad and Marco looked skeptical, like they had stopped believing what Cash was telling them. Sarah began to wonder whether this girl just liked to make up stories. True, she had ended up on the island somehow, and was stuck there like they were. But the net part of her story seemed sort of … farfetched.

Cash became more animated, like this was her favorite part of the story. “I tried getting loose.” She thrashed her arms. “But doing that and kicking my legs only made things worse. The net began to shrink. The more I fought, the tighter it got. I tried to move my legs, but they were so close together, that I fell over. My face smashed in the ground and I got dirt in my mouth. I couldn't do anything but lie there.”

She paused a moment. “The net kept getting tighter, until I couldn't breathe. And everything went black.”

John clapped his hands together. “Okay, I think that's enough for today. Let's get some rest everyone.”

Nacho said, “But she needs to tell us what happened. What if someone comes with nets to get
us
?”

Sarah saw her dad and Yvonna exchange a glance. Yvonna said, “Sweetie, I don't think you have to worry about that.”

Cash frowned at the adults. “You don't believe me.”

John and Yvonna looked at each other. She said, “It's just late and you all need to sleep. You don't need to stay awake and worry about things that won't happen.”

“But they did happen!” said Cash. Her gaze darted from Sarah to Marco. “You believe me, don't you?”

Sarah shifted her eyes to Marco. He looked down at the ground.

Cash stood up. “I swear, it's true. Please, let me finish.”

Nacho said, “I believe you.” He asked his mom, “Can't she tell us the rest?”

Yvonna widened her eyes at John. He said, “Okay. Five more minutes. And this time we mean it.”

Cash sat back down. “When I came to, the net was gone. I could move my arms and legs again.”

Marco mumbled, “How convenient.”

Sarah shot him a glance, but Cash must not have heard him, because she was still talking. “I was on a bed in a room like the size of my bathroom back home. The lights were really bright and the walls were white. There was one tiny window up high, and I climbed on the bed but I couldn't reach it. So I went to inspect the door.”

Cash held out two fingers, about six inches apart. “There was a silver strip in the door about this high.” She held her arms about a foot apart. “And this wide. I pushed at it, but it didn't even budge. And one really weird thing.”

“What?” asked Nacho, who seemed to be the only one still buying her story.

“The door had no doorknob.”

A chill ran up Sarah's back. She didn't believe what Cash was telling them, but that detail was creepy.

Cash said, “Then the silver strip vanished. There was just an open empty slot, and a black tray slid through with two glasses of water and a silver dome with a handle. I grabbed the tray and tried to look through the slot.” She sighed. “But just like that”—she snapped her fingers—“it closed right up. Was just a silver strip again.”

Marco looked at Sarah and rolled his eyes.

Cash cleared her throat.

Nacho asked, “What was on the tray?”

“A bologna sandwich and carrot sticks. With ranch.” Her forehead wrinkled. “I was worried at first, that maybe there was something in it, they were trying to poison me or something. But I was so hungry that I ate the whole thing.”

Sarah tried not to laugh. Really? Captured by someone, held prisoner, and she gets served ranch with her carrots? Sarah yawned. “I think I need to go to bed.”

“But I'm not done,” said Cash.

“Yeah,” said Nacho. “She's not done.”

Yvonna said, “That's enough for tonight. Cash can finish her story tomorrow.”

“Y'all
don't
believe me.” Cash sniffled, like she was about to cry.

Sarah and Marco shared a look. He lifted and lowered a shoulder and snuggled down in his bedding. Yvonna knelt beside Cash. “It's been a really long day and I think the kids have been scared enough. They don't need to hear more strange things right before bed.”

“But you believe me, right?” asked Cash. Her gaze darted to Sarah and then John. “I'm telling the truth. He kept me prisoner.”

“Who?” asked Sarah. “Did you see him?”

“Not exactly.” Cash swallowed. “But he spoke to me. And his voice was … weird. I couldn't exactly tell if it was male or female, but it seemed more male.”

Marco sat back up. “What did he say?”

Cash frowned. “He said, ‘I am a … collector. I am the curator of this place, you might say.'”

Goose bumps rose on Sarah's arms. What
exactly
did the Curator collect? Even if Cash was making it all up, it was downright spooky.

Cash continued, “I began to wonder what that place was. And if I was there to be part of his collection.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “Or if I already was.”

John dropped a water bottle and Sarah shrieked. He rolled his eyes. “Okay, this is enough. Everyone is going to sleep, now!”

Yvonna said, “John, they'll never sleep. We'd better let Cash finish.”

“Thank you.” Cash smiled at Yvonna. “I told myself I wouldn't eat anything else. Maybe not eating would force him to let me go. But I got hungry. And the next time I ate, I felt all woozy. And I passed out.”

“They drugged you?” asked Nacho.

Marco let out a huge sigh. “Like we didn't see that coming.”

Nacho kicked at him. “Stop it. I believe her.” He nodded at Cash. “Go on.”

Cash hesitated, then went on. “When I woke up, I couldn't think straight. My head hurt. I reached up, but my hands were tied.”

Cash reached down to rub one of her wrists. The light was too dim for Sarah to see if there were actually any marks. Her gaze flicked up to Cash's face. Maybe she was making it up. Maybe she was a great actress. But the look on her face was definitely one of fear.

Cash said, “The ceiling above me was made of rock. Like I was in a cave. I tried to kick, but my legs were tied too. I lifted my head enough to see someone in a blue jumpsuit dragging me by my feet.”

“Dragging you where?” asked Nacho.

Cash shook her head. “I don't know. But I managed to get my hands loosened. And when he stopped to rest, he let go of my feet. I untied them and began to run. But then…” She stopped talking.

Sarah had begun to half believe Cash. She knew it was farfetched and weird, but she'd seen things too, things nobody would believe. Softly, Sarah asked, “What happened?”

Cash met her gaze. “There was this huge
boom
. Rocks started falling down. So I just started running. The rough ground hurt my bare feet, but I just wanted to get out of there. So I saw a light and ran toward it.”

“What was the light?” asked Sarah. “Where did you end up?”

Cash smiled. “The beach. I was so thankful to have soft sand under my feet.” The smile left her face as quickly as it came. “But then I looked farther down the shoreline and there was this—” She made a circle with her hands. “I know you won't believe me, but there was this thing. This big round red ball in the sky, like a meteor or something. It came right for me, so I ran into the trees.”

No one said anything.