Stranded (15 page)

Eve stepped out of the pool. Gathering fruit was filthy business. The sweat and the scratches didn’t bother her so much as the bugs. There were hundreds, thousands of them. They bit and stung, crawled into her long hair, attacked the soft mucous of her eyes. Her ears, nose, and mouth—all were targets of investigation. Where were the birds and reptiles that were supposed to create a balanced ecology? No matter—she was determined to help Jake out by gathering fruit.

She harvested more aloe leaves for Betty and herself and stuffed them into her pockets. The fruit she’d collected earlier was soaking in the shallows of the pool. She gathered them into her shirt and slogged downstream to camp.

How had Jake done in the tunnel? Shame prickled over her conscience. The man saved her life, and what did she do? Punish him for what, being male? She snorted. Her boss said she let the courtroom color her opinions too much. And now, instead of helping Jake, she had deserted him. All right, she’d do better from here on. No matter how much he irritated her, she’d be nice.

From a distance, she saw the glow of their campfire. Why a fire when it was only midmorning? The aroma of roasted meat drifted into sniffing range. Her mouth watered, and she slogged faster.

When she entered camp, Jake rose, beaming. “Today, we feast!” He held up a seashell piled high with steaming lumps. “Today, we eat meat!”

“What is it?” She set down the fruit and aloe leaves and reached for a morsel.

“Protein!” His smile spread across the red stubble of his beard and crinkled the corners of his eyes.

She dropped her hand. What was this? Why the evasion?

“Careful, they’re hot, all right.” He set the platter down to remove several more pieces from a stick. After heaping them onto a second seashell, he did a ta-da wave over the two platters. “Eat hearty, everyone!”

Betty and Crystal shrank back.

“And why is the identity of the meat being kept a mystery?” Eve hitched her hands on her hips.

“I like to know what I’m eating,” Betty grumped.

Crystal wrinkled her nose and turned her head away.

“I can’t believe all this wonderful meat is for me.” Widening his eyes, shaking his head, Jake bit a piece of the cooler meat in two and chewed it, rolling his eyes to the sky. “Ahhh, this has to be the
crème de la crème
of delicacies!” He popped the other half into his mouth and moaned.

His humor was pitiful, but she’d promised to be nice, right? She eyed the diminishing pile as Jake helped himself again, smacking his lips. “All right, Jake, I’ll eat some just to shut you up.” She took a piece and chewed it.

Oh, how excruciatingly delicious! She licked her lips and offered a piece to Betty. “You know, it is pretty good. I don’t think I’ll go into convulsions or pass out in ecstasy like Jake, but it is tasty.”

Betty hesitated but finally took it and bit into it. “Tastes like turtle. What do you think, Crystal?”

“I don’t like turtle.”

“It’s not turtle.” Jake all but giggled.

What was with this guy? He seemed awful pleased with himself. Eve shot her hand to her mouth. “It’s not monkey! Tell me you didn’t kill a monkey!”

“Nope. Not monkey.”

The guessing became a game. Crystal ventured a piece, then several more, and joined the bantering. Was this the first time since the explosions that anyone had laughed? Eve savored the pleasantry. Meat and laughter—they had needed both.

When the last piece was gone and they still didn’t know the answer, Eve put it to Jake. “All right, confess. What was it?”

Jake hunched away from them. “Oh, please, ladies, you aren’t going to gang up on me, are you?” He grabbed Crystal’s hand. “Crystal, you’re my only hope—stand by me in my time of need!”

“But I want to know too!” Crystal bit back a grin.

“Now, this is pressure!” Jake stroked his scraggly beard. “What do I get for telling?”

“I don’t have anything.” Crystal displayed her hands, palms up.

“Sure you do. How about a kiss every morning to start the day? That would brighten things considerably for me.”

She giggled and immediately planted a kiss on his cheek. “What about Aunty?”

“I’d say a hug from her every day would mean a lot too.”

Betty smiled. “It’s a deal.”

Eve folded her arms and glared at him as he sized her up.

“And you, Eve, how about if you and I take a hike up that volcano today?”

Well, she certainly wasn’t going to argue with that. “Okay, then, Mr. Gourmet Chef, let’s have the answer to this big mystery. What was the meat you’re so giddy about?”

His chest swelled with obvious pride. “Snake.”

“Snake?” Impossible. “Those were big chunks of meat. Too big for a snake.”

“Not for a python.”

Her breath caught in her lungs as her mind matched the snake’s size to the pieces of meat.

“Was it in the trench?” Crystal’s voice rose to a high pitch. “Where I was sitting?”

Jake’s grin disappeared. “It’s okay, Pumpkin—here, let me tell you the story.” He put his arm around her. She was shaking.

Eve’s mouth went dry as he told the story. The dark cave, the rotted skeletons, his torch going out . . . And snakes. Giant snakes. She shivered. She hadn’t thought about pythons being on the island. And Jake had been left to face them alone.

“I don’t ever want to go in any cave!” Crystal wailed.

Jake turned the child’s tear-streaked face to him. “We might have to, Crystal. If we don’t get out of here before the monsoon, we’ll need shelter. But believe me, I won’t give any snakes a chance to get in.”

“What about other places?” Crystal shrank into a tight wad of compressed arms and legs. “I don’t want to get eaten by a snake!”

Eve opened her mouth but caught herself. Surely one of them would always be there to protect her—but would they? She didn’t want to make a promise she couldn’t guarantee.

“You know what helps when I get worried?” Jake pulled a small book out of his pocket and opened it. “Read this, Pumpkin. Psalm Twenty-three.”

Crystal’s voice trembled as she started.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside quiet waters.

He restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”

By the end, the quiver was gone from her voice. She lowered the book. “I like that.”

Eve grimaced. Bible thumping.

Jake gave Crystal’s shoulders a squeeze. “I have it memorized. That way it’s always there for me. How about if Aunt Betty helps you memorize it while Eve and I are gone?” He held out the book.

Betty took it, then leaned toward Crystal and whispered in her ear. The girl’s face brightened. “Okay, Jake.” She could barely contain her grin. Obviously they were planning something.

Eve scowled, her back and shoulders rigid as she and Jake left for the volcano.

All the way up the stream to where the jungle enclosed them, Eve clamped her teeth against the words hammering at her throat. She’d promised herself no matter how much Jake irritated her, she’d be nice. Ahead of he
r―
katana scabbard strapped to his back, sword in han
d―
Jake sliced away plants as he walked alongside the stream. Left, right, left, right, slash, slash. The rhythm pounded on her brain—yet one more irritation to contend with. And for what? The path he was cutting was a waste of time. They’d find out at the top of the volcano which way to sail, and they’d leave the island in a matter of days.

She pressed her lips tighter against her teeth. Okay, what was bothering her was not the path. Not the rhythmic slashing. It was Jake’s high-handedness with Crystal.

The words erupted through her lips like churning water from a broken dam. “Crystal has a fine mind. How dare you pollute it with your superstitious and obsolete dogma!”

Jake’s head jerked. He turned to face her, his brow furrowed. “You mean the Bible?”

“Yes.”

“That’s quite a description.” He resumed walking. “I take it you have an issue with it.”

With the dam burst, the words no longer strangling her, she took up her good intention again to be nice. “Okay, let’s be sensible. Give me one good reason why you put any stock in the Bible.”

He chopped methodically at the vegetation, not breaking stride. “I can give you many good reasons. But if you want the central one, it’s because God chooses to reveal Himself to us through the Bible.”

“Come on, Jake! Every religion claims that in one way or another.”

“Okay, you tell me, then. How else would He do it?”

“Through goodness in the world . . . and justice. And I see precious little of either.”

“So, you see people treating each other badly and, for the most part, getting away with it?”

“I do.”

He stopped again and turned, his eyes penetrating, his mouth tugged down in compassion. “Because that’s what happened to you?”

“Of course.” Indignation flared hot at his taking the argument to a personal level. “As it has to you. Didn’t you lose Ginny under just those circumstances?”

The blood drained from his face. For a second, his body sagged. His hand holding the katana sword dropped to his side.

Her stomach wrenched. “Jake, I’m sorry! That was cruel of me.”

Color returned to his face. He straightened and whacked the sword at a green sapling. Its crown of leaves toppled into the stream bed. “You made your point.”

“My point was that God didn’t stop Captain Emilio from killing Ginn
y―
and all the other passengers.”

“Captain Emilio killed them, Eve, not God.” He turned on his heel and strode ahead, hacking with wider swathes at the foliage.

Hot lava rose to her throat. “And God couldn’t stop him? Wouldn’t stop him? Creates but doesn’t control?” She rose on her toes and screamed at his back. “How does God reveal Himself on that score, Jake?”

He whirled around. “Don’t sell Him short with your paltry knowledge, Eve. He executes justice. He holds every person accountable. Whether it’s immediate or takes awhile, there is a day of reckoning.”

“And while we’re waiting, we suffer the consequences? What good is there in that?”

He took a deep breath. “We have the love of Christ to get us through it.”

“A man who died two thousand years ago?” She belted out a laugh. “Get real, Jake. That’s not what Crystal needs.”

His lips tightened. It was the same dour expression he’d used when she had refused to talk anymore about Ginny’s death. And now what had she done? She’d mocked his beliefs—beliefs that didn’t even matter to her. She blew out her breath in exasperation. Was it that hard to be nice to him? They’d be here only a few more days, and then none of this would matter.

Jake said nothing until they reached the waterfall. Surprisingly, his voice was calm, devoid of even a smidgeon of anger. “If Jesus were just a flesh-and-blood man, Eve, you’d be right. There’d be no comfort because there’d be no hope—just victims making more victims.”

“I didn’t say there was no hope.”

“Where is it, then?”

“I’m looking, Jake. I’m looking, but I know I won’t find it in dry bones.”

“Jesus is in Heaven, Eve. No bones were left behind.”

She rolled her eyes and waded into the pool.
Sure, Jake.
She lowered herself into the water, closed her eyes, and relaxed. As she sank below the surface, sadness rolled onto her like a huge rock.
Be real yourself, Eve
. Was hope in justice from a courtroom any less ridiculous? Was hope in any flesh-and-blood man?

She sat up, sputtering water. Yes, there was hope. Not in one big hereafter Heaven, but incrementally, one moment at a time.

And right now, that moment was waiting at the top of the volcano.

Jake caught broad glimpses of the island as he and Eve climbed the towering cone of the volcano, but the full panorama awaited his final step onto the stony rim. Here at last, spread below him and across the ocean to the horizon in every direction, was the answer he had expected. If Eve hadn’t been beside him, he would have crowed at being right. Already she had the binoculars with its one preserved lens pressed to her eyes. Once she discovered the answer for herself, would she be willing to go along with his plans?

Her focus was on the horizon, first in a fast, wide sweep, then slowly. If he was right, the distant edge of the ocean, no matter how many times she circled around, would yield nothing. No ridge of an island or two or three darkling the sky. Nothing—because there were no islands. A platoon of dead Japanese soldiers had as good as whispered that information to him.

While he waited for a turn at the binoculars, he studied the island. Clearly, the volcano was extinct, or at least inactive. Its cradle was a bed of crumbled and jagged chunks of lava emitting the acrid smell of sun-broiled rock. The southern half of the cone had given way to a major lava flow that formed the elongated body of the island. A dense rain forest covered the land, with beaches here and there dotting the perimeter. From some hidden point lower in the cone, a stream flowed down the length of the island, ending in the swamp at the southern tip. A branch of the stream flowed east and cascaded down to the pool he and Crystal had discovered three days ago. Also to the east was a smaller lava flow that ended in the field guarded by the Lone Soldier. Nowhere was there any sign of civilization.

“I don’t see any islands.” Eve’s voice was heavy with disappointment. She lowered the binoculars. “How far are these good for?”

“Twenty or thirty miles.”

She thrust the binoculars at him. “Here, you take a look.”

He examined the full circle of the horizon around the island, then the length and breadth of the island itself. “Nothing out there.” He offered the binoculars back to her. “Want another look?”

“No.” Her chin twitched her lower lip downward.

She wasn’t going to cry, was she? “Some of the outer islands are hundreds of miles apart. I hoped that wouldn’t be our case, but once I found the burial cave, I suspected it was.”

“Why? What difference would the cave make?”

“Because the whole platoon died on the island. You’d think they would have tried at some point to contact their country or other troops to get off. Either they knew their location was remote enough that island-hopping was out of the question, or they sent someone off who didn’t make it.”

She flicked her hand in a dismissive gesture. “Or maybe the whole platoon died at once. Maybe leaving the island was never an option.”

Jake raised his eyebrows. “Digging that burial cave took a lot of time and a lot of hands.”

“What I mean is that it might have been their residential cave until they all died at once.” She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. “It makes sense. The Lone Soldier could have put them in there and slept somewhere else.”

Could she ever talk to him without getting mad? “No question about it—he certainly didn’t elect to stay in that death chamber. That’s why we need to hunt for a second cave. We need to get all the facts we can to make a good decision.”

“Decision? What decision?” The wind flung Eve’s hair into her eyes. Behind her, dark clouds appeared on the horizon and sped toward the volcano as if it were a bull’s eye in target practice.

He pointed at the clouds. “Rain’s coming.”

She glanced over her shoulder and back at him. “What decision? What is there besides getting off this island? I’ve got things to do, Jak
e―
an important deadline coming up. So, what do we need to do to get off? What’s the battle plan, General?”

“Colonel,” he answered automatically. A deadline? Eve had avoided telling them what she did for a living, just as she’d dodged telling him what she meant by linking Ginny’s death to herself and Captain Emilio. Irritation scuttled like a scorpion over his nerves. The woman had more secrets than the island.

“What about the boat?” The wind whipped her words now, as well as her hair. She shielded her eyes and peered at him. “With the boat, we don’t care how far away the next island is.”

“I need to look at it more closely, see what damages it sustained. Mine split in two before I got to the island. We can’t risk that.”

“We should go back today and start the repairs. Betty said you found a safe path.”

“Safe in daylight. It will be dark by the time we stop to get fruit. And we sure don’t want to camp out in the jungle. A campfire is no guarantee against snakes, you know.” She flinched, and satisfaction swelled his chest. “Besides, I want to find that second cave first.”

“Another nook and cranny search?” She heaved a loud sigh. “What’s with you having to play Soldier Boy all the time?”

A sour taste rose on his tongue. “Those dead soldiers you’re putting down might very well save our lives. Finding that burial cave put a sharp sword by my side and bayonets near yours and Betty’s.”

Eve opened her mouth, but he stepped closer and twisted up the volume knob on his voice. “And what about Betty? Have you thought about her? She’s not doing so well, is she? She’s not up on her feet and walking.” He pointed at the dark clouds. “Are you going to leave her out in the rain with the monsoon season upon us? Or Crystal? Do you think a cave might gain us some comfort, even if it’s for only a few days while we repair the boat?”

Her eyes narrowed as his voice rose. She thrust out her chin and opened her mouth again. He turned the volume knob to full blast. “And, yeah, I am a Soldier Boy, and because of that I know what I’m doing—can you latch onto that? I got us food and water. I got us weapons. And I’m going to get us shelter. And you know what? That’s not the end of my Soldier Boy list. We need to set up a signal fire, and we need to start a ship watch. There are four of us here, not just you, Eve. There’s more to do than just charge blindly ahead on a fool’s mission.”

Eve’s eyes widened. Her mouth clipped shut. She stepped back, neck, shoulders, and arms stiff. His words—his rage—had shut her up. About time! He was tired of having to deal with her sharp tongue and mulishness.

The downpour crossing the ocean hit the mountaintop and pelted them with tiny missiles. Eve stirred, eyes blinking against the assault, and without a glance at Jake, turned and climbed down the steep cone.

He followed. The ferocity of the rain drove them slipping and sliding down the slope of the mountain. At the waterfall, they stopped to collect fruit. Neither said a word.

The sourness in his mouth was gone. In its place was the sweet taste of having said what he wanted, how he wanted. If Eve wanted a confrontation, from now on he’d give her one, nothing spared. No more Mr. Nice Guy trying to win her to his viewpoint. No more sympathy for burgeoning tears. Her head and her heart were as hard as lava. Wielding a hammer was the only way to deal with this stony woman.

The downpour was unrelenting. At first the sheet of water
was only a visual impediment that caused Eve’s feet to slip, her fingers to lose their hold.
Then the numbness gripping her body wore off. Cold penetrated to her bones and pinched the scratches on her skin. But what hurt was not the sting outside, but the sting
inside. Over and over
,
Jake’s words lashed her heart.
A fool’s mission. A fool’s mission.
On the steep precipice of the volcano, his words had stopped her cold. He was right. Horribly right. And she didn’t know what to do about it.

The whip of rain on her skin felt justified. What was wrong with her that she had turned a blind eye to Betty’s and Crystal’s needs? Hadn’t she vowed on the lighter to look out for them until they got back to civilization? And here she was, oblivious to Betty’s injury, willing to have her endure the discomfort of cold and rain, all so that Eve could hurry back to nail Danny Romero.

And Jake—why did she get so irritated with him? She couldn’t make it through one day without chastising him for something. Ungrateful wretch, she was alive because he had saved her life—twice. What was wrong with her that she couldn’t concede to his plans? Would a day or two delay be that hard to live with? Didn’t being alive top winning a trial?

At the waterfall, she couldn’t bear to look at him.
Soldier Boy
, she’d called him. Why put him down? Why mock the skills that had protected their lives and sustained them with food and water?

She trekked after him downstream, grateful for the rain that hid her tears and drowned the sobs jerking her chest. Jake was right. She’d tied herself so tightly to her mission that she’d lost sight of everyone else. Lost sight of the bigger picture beyond her own little world, her own little concerns, her own little agenda. Her mind swirled. How could she balance the enormity of Danny Romero’s crimes against the worth of three people whose lives she impacted right now?

She didn’t know. It beat against her head like a judge’s gavel. She didn’t know, she didn’t know, she didn’t know.

Ahead of her, Jake stepped out of the stream. They must be near camp. She inhaled deeply to pull herself together. Poor Betty and Crystal—were they huddled under the canvas sail to ward off the rain? A cave would be nice. How she would love the warmth of a campfire to dry her skin and stop her shivers.

“We’re over here,” Crystal shouted.

Eve peered around Jake. In front of them, glowing through the dense rain, was the flicker of a campfire. She sheltered her eyes and stepped forward. “Crystal?”

“Right here.” A figure rose next to the firelight. “We made a tent.”

“A tent?” Eve stooped and entered the shelter. Jake stepped in beside her, water dripping from the end of his nose as he leaned forward.

“I was worried about you,” he said. “And look at you two, all toasty and dry.”

On the other side of the fire, Betty spoke up, her voice cheery for the first time since her foot injury. “I come from a family of campers, so I figured out how to rig this to the three trees. Crystal did an awful lot of work helping me out.” She put an arm around the beaming child snuggled next to her.

The sailcloth was draped as a lean-to, the point of the triangle secured to one tree, high enough to sit under. The other two points were tied to the bottoms of the other two trees and clamped to the ground with an assortment of large stones, shells, and sticks. A small pit in the center protected the fire from the wind, which fluttered the tips of the flames in a fairy dance.

“Well, then, how about a tour of this magnificent mansion?” Jake sat and scooted as far under the shelter as the top allowed. He extended his arms and legs toward the fire. Eve followed suit opposite him.

Crystal crawled closer. “We started before the rain came, so all our kindling and firewood are dry.” She pointed to a pile of leaves, grass, and twigs half-buried in sand at the back of the tent. “I put the big sticks and some stones on top so nothing would blow away.” A gust of wind blew across the floor in timely illustration.

“Good thinking.” Jake moved his limbs to expose more skin to the fire. Eve shifted her legs to accommodate his.

“Aunt Betty tied down the bottom corners of the tent, and I tied the third one up there because she couldn’t stand up.”

Eve peered at the elevated corner jerking a short loop of rope in the wind. Would it hold?

“Then Aunt Betty dug the pit in the center so everyone could sleep close to it, and I brought in the fire. We couldn’t start one inside, you know, away from the sun.”

“Looks like you thought of everything. Good job, both of you.” Jake exhaled a long sigh. “Last thing I expected to find was a fire.”

Eve nodded, her chattering teeth a cover for the fact that she couldn’t speak. Not without crying.

“What did you find out from your trip?” Betty asked.

That somebody is a self-centered fool
. Eve pinched her lips together to keep the edges from tucking down.

Jake cleared his throat. “We could see the entire island. It’s completely covered in jungle except for a few beaches. No signs of civilization anywhere. No islands on the horizon, either.”

“So, now what do we do?” The cheeriness in Betty’s voice deflated.

“Repair the boat.”

Eve inhaled a shuddering breath of gratefulness. Had he said that for her benefit?

“But first we need to find permanent shelter,” he went on. “I’m afraid a typhoon would make short work of this wonderful little tent of yours. Tomorrow morning, I’m going to look for a second cave. A cave I suspect the Lone Soldier might have used.”

Eve glanced at Crystal. The child’s chin was quivering. Could Jake really ensure no snakes would enter? And what if caves were exactly where snakes went during a typhoon?

He must have seen Crystal’s expression too. “How about if you and Aunt Betty take charge of a signal fire and ship watch for me, Crystal? Just because no islands are nearby doesn’t mean there aren’t any ship lanes.”

Eve caught her breath. Ship lanes? If they could spot one, they could sail out to it. That’s what they should do first—find a ship lane.