Sea (A Stranded Novel) (16 page)

“Here they come. Please let them
be nice people!” she begged.

Emily closed her eyes at the thought of more misfortune finding them. She looked at her backpack and decided she would be ready for anything. Snagging it with her foot, she pulled it closer and dug deep into it until she felt the cool metal of the gun. She pulled it out and stuffed it into the pocket of her jacket. When she looked up, Mason was looking at her with a frown on his face. Emily nodded at the flare gun he was still holding.

“Are there more flares for that? It’s not ideal but it could be used as a weapon.”

He opened his mouth to say something before closing it and slowly nodded. He turned to the emergency kit and pulled out two more flares.

David looked at Lisa and told her “Keep that paddle with you. You’ve got a great swing. Don’t hesitate if things go wrong.”

Lisa gripped her paddle close to her chest and gave a sharp nod. The sound of the fishing boat’s engine was getting louder and they all turned to watch it approach. Everyone in the lifeboat was struggling with their emotions. They were excited at the possibility of being rescued and wary of what kind of people might be on the fishing boat. Emily prayed that they would be decent and willing to help them get to shore. She hated that there was an automatic suspicion after what happened on the Lawless.

When the two boats were about fifty feet apart, the sounds of the engine changed as it reversed and slowed to come alongside the lifeboat. This close, Emily could clearly make out the features of the woman that was staring down at them from the deck. She was an older woman and Emily guessed her age to be in the sixties or early seventies. She had a kind but weathered face, like she had spent many years outdoors. The woman had a concerned expression on her face but as the distance closed it changed to one of astonishment. She turned away and Emily could clearly hear her yelling at the man.

“Luke! Luke
, they’re kids! There are four teenagers in that boat. Hurry up and help me get them on board.” She turned back and yelled over the side at them. “Just hold on! We’ll get you out of there in a jiffy!” and she disappeared from view.

Emily looked to the others to gauge their reactions. They all seemed to relax slightly, but David looked a little apprehensive still.

“I think they are okay but just stay sharp.” He reached over and started to gather up things that were loose and stuffed them into the closest backpack.

Mason nodded and emptied the emergency kit supplies into another pack. There were still a few clothes draped out to dry so Emily and Lisa folded them up and packed them away. It didn’t take long before the fishing boat was alongside them and David used his paddle to manoeuvre the lifeboat down its side and under the ladder. He tied them off on it and shouldered his pack. Looking up he could see the woman staring down at him with concern. The man who must be Luke stuck his head over and waved David up the ladder. His face was weather
-creased and brown with sun like the woman's and his eyes were also concerned.

David scrambled up the ladder and felt strong steady hands grip him as he came over the rail. He almost panicked and struck out at them until the grip changed to a pat on his back.

“There you go, young fella. You’re safe on board now. Don’t you worry; we’ll get all you kids up here safe and sound,” the man said in a gravelly voice. He turned away and peered over the side for a moment before reaching out and helping Lisa over the rail. Emily and Mason quickly followed and the kids grouped together on deck, watching the two strangers warily.

The woman scanned them each in turn and nodded to herself.

“Well, you all look healthy enough. You must not have been out there for too long. My names Joanna and that’s my husband Luke. We were just headed back in when we saw your flare. Good thing too as the weather will be turning in a few hours and you kids would have been battered right hard in that little dinghy. Well, come on then, let’s go get settled and you can tell us your story on the way.” She waved them towards the cabin but none of them moved.

David stepped forward. “Ma’am, we just want to say thank you for picking us up but could you tell us where we are and where you are taking us? We haven’t had the best experiences with people out here and we are a little nervous right now
,” he said seriously.

The woman’s face made a comical “oh” expression before it turned thunderous. She looked at the two girls and then swung back to David.

“Did somebody hurt you kids?” she asked in outrage. Before David could respond she barrelled on. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that on my boat! No sir, Luke and I will take care of you and see that you get to shore. Oh, you poor babies! Imagine that! In a disaster like this people should be coming together to help each other. Unbelievable!” She seemed to run out of steam then and when she took in the wide-eyed stares, she smiled reassuringly and said softly. “It really is okay. You’re safe with us.”

Emily felt tears come to her eyes. This woman was so much like her
granny who would also go off on tirades. In an instant, she felt like a little kid again. After all they had been through; here was an adult that wanted to take care of them. She found herself pushing past David as the tears broke free and wasn’t surprised at all that Joanna opened her arms and wrapped them around her in a comforting hug.

After Lisa had gotten a motherly hug and the boys received back pats, they entered the cabin and settled in. Joanna quickly presented them with hot coffee and ham sandwiches. While the kids ate
, she filled them in on what had been happening on land.

“We were lucky. We live on an island named Samish and it only has a narrow
landbridge to the mainland. There are only about five hundred houses on the island and half of those aren’t full time residents. Most of us are already self-sufficient with generators and gardens. There isn’t a big commercial presence on the island so we are used to fending for ourselves. The mainland wasn’t so lucky. We could see the fires and smoke for days. Our youngest son made it home to us on day four and he told us of horrible things. So many people died on the first day from accidents and crashes. He told us that by day three people were rioting at stores and there was chaos everywhere. We barricaded the landbridge and posted guards but we couldn’t just turn away families who were trying to find a safe place for their kids. We set up the community camp ground as a refugee center and we’ve just started to move people into empty homes. There’s plenty of food to be had as long as you like seafood. Almost all the locals have knowledge of fishing, crabbing and clamming so no one will starve. Luke used to fish for a living on this old beast and he only retired from it a few years ago. This warhorse was old enough not to be affected by the pulse so we’ve been hauling in fish for the past ten days. It helps that we have an ice plant onboard so we can store the fish and pack it to transport it. We have about twelve working vehicles on the island and we have set up a delivery system to help some of the refugee camps on the mainland. I’m sorry to say that we have to send armed guards with them after they were attacked by starving people.” When she paused to shake her head sadly, David jumped in.

“Where are we? We were caught in a storm last night and blown all over the place.”

Joanna stood and peered out of the window and then waved them over. She pointed out to the north east.

“You can just see it now. That’s Vancouver Island. We are headed into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Samish Island is just
northwest of Burlington and Mount Vernon.”

David’s expression was hopeful when he asked, “How far is that to the Canadian border?”

Joanna was surprised by the question. “Well, it’s probably about sixty miles or so up the interstate. Why do you ask? Are you kids from B.C.?”

Wide grins had spread out on all the kids face’s at her answer. They had made it so close to their home country that hope swelled in them all. Emily answered Joanna.

“No, we are from central Alberta.”

“Alberta! Then how and the heck did you kids end up in the Pacific Ocean?”

Emily explained about the class trip to Disneyland and how they had found their way to the coast and onto the Lawless. Joanna was shocked at how far they had come.

“Well
, that’s just incredible! What are the odds of that! You know, you kids are so lucky. Luke and I have no reason to even be out here. There’s plenty of fish closer to the Island. The only reason we came out into open water was to look for friends of ours. They had gone out the day before the pulse for a family getaway in their new cruiser. We were hoping to spot them adrift out here. We are so worried about them. Their two kids are like grandchildren to us.”

The silence from the kids and the looks they sent each other confused Joanna.

“What? What’s wrong?”

No one wanted to say what they were thinking but Lisa spoke up.

“The kids, they wouldn’t be named Sarah and Ben would they?”

The shock on Joanna’s face said it all. Lisa shook her head and let out a bitter laugh. “You don’t have to worry about them. They are probably home by now!” she said sarcastically.

“What, you met them? How…what?” Joanna stuttered out in confusion.

Lisa just shook her head and looked away. Joanna was looking from face to face in bafflement. Emily sighed and explained.

“They took our boat or rather their father did. We stopped to help them and he had a shotgun and he ordered us off the boat and took it,” she said quietly.

“Now that’s a load of
bull! There is no way Jacob would do that! Besides, I thought you said you were in a storm.” Her face held disbelief and anger.

David intervened. “We were in the lifeboat when we were caught in the storm.
Before that, when we had the boat, we stopped when we saw the children on deck. We offered to help them but the father was scared. He told us that another boat had stopped and stolen all their food and water…they took his wife. He was desperate and scared. He said he couldn’t take the chance with us. He just wanted to protect his kids. He wanted us to go onto his boat but we convinced him to let us take the life boat so we would have a better chance of making it to shore.” David paused as Joanna deflated and slumped down into a chair. “I think he was crazy with grief and desperation to protect his kids. I got the feeling he wasn’t happy with what he did.” David tried to console her.

Joanna just sat there shaking her head in disbelief. After a while she looked up at them. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what he did but you are all safe now and in a few hours we will be back on land and I will do whatever I can to help you kids make it home.” She gave them all a sad smile and left the cabin.

The next two hours were mostly spent in silence. They were all exhausted and they dozed off one by one. Emily found herself nodding off only to jerk away with thoughts of home. It had been more than two weeks since they had last stood on land, the day the whole world had changed. On one hand, she wanted desperately to get to shore so they could continue their way home. But on the other, she was scared of leaving the ocean. Even after all the terrible things that had happened, they were somewhat sheltered from the reality that awaited them on land. She gave up trying to sleep and quietly left the cabin so as to not wake her friends.

She went to the bow and took a long look around. The
sight that greeted her made her gasp. They were surrounded by land. She could see many small and large islands and mountains in the distance. They were almost to shore. Emily closed her eyes and tried to picture the area they were heading to on the map that they had studied. From what she remembered, they would come ashore south of Bellingham. She knew that was a small city a lot of Canadians crossed the border to shop at so it couldn’t be too far from Canada. She opened her eyes with a sigh. With only their feet to travel on, everywhere would be far.

Joanna came up to the rail beside her. The older woman didn’t speak at first just stared out at the view. When she finally spoke
, it was with great sadness.

“So much death and destruction, the world will never recover to what it once was.” She turned to Emily with such sorrow in her eyes that the girl couldn’t help but reach out and take her hand.

“Jacob and Claire are good people. They are like family to us. I just can’t believe she is gone and that he did the things you said he did.” Joanna wiped a tear from her face.

Emily squeezed her hand. “I think that a lot of people are making bad choices for good reasons. We are all going to have to find a balance in this new world. The rules have changed and we will have to do what it takes to survive. We just have to be careful that we don’t lose our humanity along the way. I honestly don’t know what I would have done in Jacob’s place. He had watched his wife being kidnapped and his kids starve. If I was him
, I might have done the same thing. I just don’t know. What I do know is that he didn’t physically hurt us and he could have. What I also know is that he was a good enough man that you risked yourselves to try and find him and that led to you rescuing us. That is too much of a coincidence for me. There is something or someone watching over us and whatever it was, it just steered things.”

Joanna smiled down at Emily and pulled her into a loose hug. “You’re awfully young to be so wise.” They stood watching the small islands go by until Joanna pointed a head of them. “There it is, home! You should go get your friends.”

Once everyone was on deck, Joanna pointed out features of her island home as they passed. She explained what was going to happen.

“We are going to drop you kids off at the campground. They have it set up for refugees. There are cabins and a first aid and food station. They will get you guys settled and you can relax for tonight. Luke and I need to unload this beast and then I will find out when there will be another shipment sent out. You
kids can catch a ride with them to get you closer to the border. I’ll come around in the morning to check on you and we’ll make some plans.” She gave them a reassuring smile before pointing at the shore. “That’s our house!”

They all looked at the pretty home overlooking the water. The raised beds around the house were full of blooming spring flowers. As the house slowly slid past, they could see a man come around the side and start waving at them.

“That’s my son, Will.” She beamed and waved back. Will waved both arms over his head and pointed in the direction they were going. They all looked ahead and there was silence at what they saw. The nearest house to Joanna’s also overlooked the water and sitting at the home’s dock was the Lawless. Joanna’s face was filled with relief that her friends had made it home but it quickly turned to determination when she looked at the kids and their blank expressions.

“All right then! I want you kids to know that we are going to make it up to you. What Jacob did was flat out wrong and I’ll see to it that there is payment made. We will do everything in our power to get you guys home. You leave it with me and I’ll take care of it!”

Emily smiled and David shook his head.

“Ma’am, thank you but we made it and I’m happy that those children are safe.”

She just smiled and Emily knew from the look in her eyes she was planning something. It didn’t take much longer before they were pulling in at another dock. Emily could see people gathered further up on shore and there were a few men walking on the beach with shotguns and rifles. She shot a nervous look at Joanna and the older woman waved at the closest one.

“You don’t need to worry about them
, sweetie. There have been a few boats that have come over from the mainland full of people who thought it would be better to take than receive so we patrol the beaches now. Anyone who comes looking for help is welcome but we are ready for anyone who is unfriendly. You kids can sleep soundly tonight.” Joanna shot them a reassuring smile and move to help tie off the boat to the deck.

Luke came out on deck carrying a crate that was full of ice packed fish and stacked it by the ladder. David immediately went over to help and the two quickly stacked three more crates to be offloaded. They handed down the crates to men who had come out to help. Once they were done, Luke looked over at the group of teens that he had rescued and gave a brief nod before returning to the cabin.

Joanna smile at his back and rolled her eyes. “Don’t mind, Mr. Chatty, he’s not much for words but he’s got a big heart. Okay! Let’s get you kids onto solid ground. Grab your stuff and climb down onto the dock. I’ll walk you up to the camp and introduce you to Betty. She’s the one who organized everything and is running the camp.”

Emily slung her pack over her shoulders and took a deep breath. “Here we go
,” she thought, and for the first time in over two weeks, she climbed down onto land. The others were quick to follow and Joanna led them up the gentle slope into the camp.

Emily found herself trying to look everywhere at once. There were groups of people sitting at picnic tables and others who were walking in between the cabins. There were children racing around in a game of tag and the sounds of their laughter calmed Emily’s racing heart. She could see four women hanging clean laundry on clotheslines that were stretched between trees and others that were sorting items from a stack of boxes. As they drew closer to the main building, the trees opened up and there was a huge cleared area that was being worked on by many people. Some people were tilling the land and others were planting seeds. It was a beautiful sight to Emily and she ached for the chance to be home doing the same.

When they finally arrived at the main camp building, there were long tables set up with various foods spread over them. Three men and two women were chopping and slicing vegetables. On a table further away there was a man and woman working on the freshly delivered fish. At the main table a woman in her mid-forties looked up from her chopping and frowned at the group of teenagers heading her way. When she caught sight of Joanna her whole expression changed to relief. She came hurrying around the table and caught Joanna up in a hug.

“You’re back! Thank goodness, I was so worried.” She pulled back and stared closely at Joanna’s face. “Did you find any sign of them?”
the woman asked hopefully.

Joanna looked over at the teens before turning back and answering her. “We think he made it back with the children. It’s…a long story. Betty, this is Emily, David, Lisa and Mason. We found them in a lifeboat out in the open water. Can you set them up in a cabin tonight? I want to head over to Jacob’s place and see them.”

Betty looked confused by Joanna’s answer about their neighbour but quickly nodded and smiled in welcome at the kids. “Of course! Welcome to Samish Island. If you will come with me, I will show you to an empty cabin and fill you in on what’s happening here.”