A ways up the trail Lex sat down and took a drink from the water bottle he carried. Without a word spoken, the others copied him and sat and rested after the slog through the soft sand and up the slope. The air temperature was warm but not oppressive and the smells and sounds pleasant. Gray leaned his back against a tree trunk and Anna scooted close and leaned against him. He wrapped both his arms around her and she dropped her head back and smiled up at him. She closed her eyes and Gray did the same. For a few minutes he forgot his aching body, their terrible situation and the grievously wounded men at the shelter.
When Gray opened his eyes, Melanie was grinning at him from across the trail. She pointed a finger at Anna, made a heart shape of her two hands with the palms and finger tips pressed together and then pointed at him. The gestures made him smile and he gave a small shrug that brought Anna’s eyes open.
“What?” she said.
Gray chuckled. “Melanie is pantomiming.”
“Huh?” Anna asked in confusion.
He gave her an affectionate squeeze and pushed himself to his feet. “We’ve got three people whose lives may depend upon what we find on the other side of this island.”
Lex threw his empty water bottle into the jungle and Melanie barked at him about littering such a pristine place. He rolled his eyes but stepped off the trail and retrieved it.
Gray said, “Besides littering, we should save those bottles in case we find a fresh water supply or have to catch rain water to drink.”
Lex nodded like he agreed Gray’s was a better reason for retrieving the bottle. With some loud sighing the others rose to their feet and they headed up hill.
Gray had overheard the conversation between Paolo and Anna and understood much of it but was still unclear about who he was. “What’s with Paolo?” he asked her.
Anna laughed. “Do you think he is a prima donna?”
“I was thinking of another term but that one does apply.”
“He is a formula one champion and is very famous in Holland and most of Europe and Brazil too I think. And he does have the reputation of being that term you did not name.”
“He is a famous asshole?”
Anna laughed loudly.
In a little over ten minutes at a moderate walk they reached the top of the saddle which was bare of trees. The break in the forest canopy gave them a view that filled them with hope. Below, maybe a thousand yards distant, lay a narrow and uneven dock that stretched far out into the incredibly light blue water of a small palm lined bay.
Chapter IV The Hut
To the east the forest canopy closed in over the trail below the saddle. Lex and Melanie hurried down the long gentle slope ahead of Gray, Dayah and Anna. The trail made a few turns on the way down and came out into a clearing about 100 yards short of the dock. About 75 yards to the right of the trail lay a large, mostly open bamboo hut about forty feet long by twenty five deep not counting a shaded porch on the side facing the bay. The hut was built on stilts two feet high. The clearing, which sloped gently from the hut down to the bay, ended fifty yards to the south of the hut at a placid pool of water. On the south side of the dock was a bamboo construction with a thatched roof and a waist high shelf or work bench but no walls. In the center of the clearing was a thick post, like a cut off telephone pole, about eight feet high with a thatched awning in disrepair atop it.
When Gray, Dayah and Anna reached the hut, Lex was coming out brandishing a long knife that he waved about like a sword. “Some food in there and a locked cabinet,” he said.
“Does the hut look recently lived in?” Gray asked.
Lex shrugged. “Hard to say. We did see a couple of chickens, at least I think they were chickens, run into the jungle when we came into the clearing.”
“Good to know. They might be laying eggs out there somewhere.”
Lex headed toward the bay saying he was going to check out the dock. Gray walked toward the pool, Anna and Dayah following. A very small water fall, appearing to come from a spring, tumbled into the west end of the pool. From that end of the pool, the jungle sloped steeply up to the southern peak. The pool was about forty feet across, crystal clear and looked six to eight feet deep.
“Our fresh water problem may be solved,” Gray said. He, Dayah and Anna walked back to the hut. The steeply pitched thatch roof hung so low Gray had to stoop to step onto the porch. There was no door into the hut, only a break in the three foot high wall. Just inside the break a small shovel leaned against the wall by a plastic bucket with rolls of toilette paper in it.
Only the back wall of the hut, made of a woven plant material, was of full height, and the only decorations on it were tattered posters of scantily clad or nude young women. The other three walls were about three feet high up to a railing and made of the same woven material. The hut was open from the railings up to the overhanging roof. From the roof hung rolled up screens made of split bamboo that looked like they could be dropped down to break the wind. Ten unmade cots, most with plastic boxes or chests at one end, took up the sides. In the center a propane stove, a sink without a faucet and a table formed a kitchen. Against the back wall stood a rusty beige colored, six foot high metal cabinet with two doors. Beside the cabinet were shelves that held bags of staples like rice and beans and jars with sugar, salt and meal of some kind. The stink and squalor of the place gave Gray an uneasy feeling. There was no sign of a woman’s or child’s presence.
The cabinet was flimsy and Gray guessed he could break into it with little trouble using one of the heavy knives from the kitchen. Something made him reluctant to do so.
“Here’s some shampoo,” Anna said, holding up a scummy bottle. “Maybe we could wash off the jet fuel and salt in the pool.”
Gray nodded absently.
Using two fingers only, Anna held up a towel that was in dire need of laundering and grimaced. “They live like pigs here,” she said,
“I’m thinking of breaking into the cabinet,” he said to her.”
“The situation warrants it,” she replied. “It may contain something we need.”
Lex and Melanie came back into the hut. The young man was excited. “Gray, you should check out the dock. It leads out into this bay that is so clear you can see the bottom and the fish and crabs.”
“Mmmm, crab would make a nice lunch. Any traps out there?”
Lex raised a finger grinning. “I’ll look! There are also coconuts just laying around,” he said and turned to leave.
“Hang on a minute, guys. I have some thoughts about this place and they are not good. I’m going to open the cabinet.”
“Sure. What are you thinking?” Lex asked.
Gray did not answer. He grabbed a meat cleaver from a box of filthy knives and eating utensils and stepped to the cabinet. Before prying at the door he grabbed the handle and gave it a jerk upward and the door opened.
“Oh, that’s how it works! Like a school locker. Duh!” Lex said, sounding embarrassed.
Gray pulled both doors open. A couple of rusty AK-47s leaned against the back. A dozen canvas bandoliers were stacked to the side. He lifted one up and exposed the end of an olive drab device that looked like a large flattened plastic brick curved into a slight crescent. Boxes of ammunition and an old revolver lay on a shelf toward the top. A few odd canned goods took up the rest of the shelving.
“Huh,” Lex said, shaking his head. “Why would anybody leave guns in an unlocked cabinet?”
“Probably because no one in this part of the world would steal from these guys. I think they are pirates.”
Melanie laughed. “Pirates! You aren’t serious?”
“Is that a Claymore mine?” Lex asked, pointing to the device Gray held in his hand.
“Good call, my man. I hope they don’t have some of these set up on trip wires around here. We had better watch where we walk.”
“Pirates!” Melanie again exclaimed in a skeptical tone.
“Pirates!” Gray repeated, mocking her tone. “Only these are Asian but
they still board ships and rape and plunder.”
Melanie shook her head. Lex looked a little less skeptical. A fearful expression came to Dayah’s face.
Gray said, “They probably have an old rusty trawler that can launch speed boats for hauling boarding parties.”
“What would they use mines for?” Lex asked.
Gray shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe these are just booty they saved for some reason. Maybe they use them as some anti-boarding weapon once they have taken over a ship. This area is legend for ships taken for ransom or simply looted. The difference between these guys and the Somalis is these guys aren’t bluffing when they say they will kill hostages. The Somalis rarely kill the crews; it’s rare when these guys don’t.”
Melanie raised a hand and headed for the door. “Enough of this! I want to find some fishing gear.”
“I’ll make some rice,” Anna hollered after her.
“Let’s test fire one of the rifles,” Lex said to Gray.
“Knock yourself out. I’ll be interested too as to whether they function.”
Lex rummaged through the cabinet then straightened and said, “I guess not. No clip.”
“They can be fired single shot.” Gray picked up one of the rifles to show Lex how it could be loaded single shot but the action was frozen, presumably with rust. The action on the other rifle worked. He stuck a finger into the breach to reflect light and sighted down the bore to assure it was open. He dropped a round into the chamber, put the selector on safety and handed the rifle to Lex saying, “Don’t shoot something we don’t want shot.”
Lex rolled his eyes and went outside with the rifle. Gray followed. Lex stepped off the porch and aimed the rifle out toward the dock.
Gray hollered, “Lex, hold it! Where’s Melanie?”
The young man brought the rifle off his shoulder and swiveled his head looking for Melanie. Movement near the bamboo construction by the dock drew his attention. Melanie came out from behind it holding up some fishing poles.
“Oh, shit man!” Lex said, glancing back at Gray. “Thanks for saving my ass. She would have never gotten off my case if a bullet had gone whizzing by her.” He pointed the rifle in the air and pulled the trigger.
Grey heard the click but the gun did not fire. “Lex! Keep the gun pointed in a safe direction! It may be a hang fire.” He stepped down to the young man and took the rifle from him. Turning his face away from the rifle, he worked the action. The cartridge flew out and landed in the dirt. He bent to get a closer look at the primer. It was not dented. He picked up the cartridge and showed Lex the primer. “The firing pin is either broken or missing. Let’s check the pistol.”
As they went up the porch steps, Anna and Dayah were coming out. They were carrying a load of pots, pans, plates and cups to the pool to wash them. Gray called after them, “Do your washing at the east end where it runs out to the ocean.”
Anna waggled her hand without turning. “Yes, yes.”
Inside, Gray examined the revolver, a very old Smith and Wesson in 38 special. He checked the cylinder and it was unloaded. When he cocked the hammer, the cylinder locked up aligned okay although a bit sloppy. The action was gritty when he pulled the trigger double action but again it appeared to function properly. He pawed through the boxes of ammunition on the shelf and found one with a handful of 38 special cartridges in it.
Outside, he loaded and fired the revolver twice at a bare spot of slope on the west side of the clearing. The bullets kicked up dirt surprisingly near where he aimed.
“Okay, enough playing,” he said to Lex. “I’m going to look for two long bamboo poles we can use to make a stretcher. We can’t carry Lleyton or Malik any distance without one.”
Melanie had come up and said she had found something that looked like crab traps and some fishing gear. She and Lex headed toward the dock. Gray went back inside the hut. As he pawed through the shelves and around the cots looking for useful items he tried to decide whether they should move to this side of the island for its convenience and ready made shelter or stay on the other side. He did not want to be here if the owners returned, although he and the others should have ample warning because the bay was too shallow for an ocean going ship and one could not moor to the flimsy dock. A ship would have to moor outside the bay and lower a smaller boat to come to shore, giving Gray and the others time to leave, hopefully without anyone shipboard seeing them do so. He was not worried about the obvious signs they would leave from being here. Someone returning would have to assume whoever had come here had come by boat. If there was no boat here they could only assume the trespassers had already left. They would never guess an airliner had crashed on the other side of the island.
The jungle was so thick across the island Gray thought they could hide indefinitely as long as they had water, food and shelter. He would check out the hole in the rock when they went back to the other side. It might offer shelter. Otherwise they would have to build it. Gray found a small, working LED flashlight which he pocketed, a machete, a hack saw, although he would have preferred a wood saw, a couple of heavy knives, some wire, clippers, heavy twine, light rope, a jar of wooden matches, a Bic lighter and some cloth sacks for hauling those items and whatever else they might collect.
Anna and Dayah returned with the pots and pans and Anna was wearing a pair of wet camo shorts that fit her lean frame quite well. She and Dayah both smelled and looked clean.
“Well, what a change!” Gray said.
“Yes, and we feel better,” Anna said
“I guess I should do the same.”
“You might as well. We’re going to put some water on for rice. It won’t be ready for a while.”
“This pot?” Dayah asked, holding up one of the pots they had cleaned.
“That should make enough,” Anna said. Dayah headed back to the pool.
“I think she believes this hut could belong to pirates,” Gray said when Dayah was gone.
“She should know. She is from a town up the coast from Kuala Lumpur.”
“Anna, I want to take some of this stuff to the other side of the island in case these guys come back. Will you help me? I’m not sure Melanie and Lex think it necessary.”
“Of course, I will. They think you are being overly cautious, but they would have scoffed at the possibility of the airplane being hijacked.”
“I’m going to take some of the mines,” he said.
“You are familiar with weapons?”
“Yes.”
“Sehr gut, as my father would say,” she said in a mixture of German and English.
“Very well, wie mein Vater sagen wuerde,” Gray said, finishing the English part of her sentence in German.
“Hast Du mir nicht alles gesagt?”
“Nein, nein, I mean no, no, I’ve not been holding out on you. I don’t’ know why I did that. Urge to show off I guess. I speak German very poorly.”
“No, you speak it well! I wondered after Alyson introduced us. You always pronounced my name correctly. It makes me happy that you know any of my language.”
“You have made me happy at times too, Anna.” He stopped short of admitting she was doing a hell of a job making him care for her. Her face flushed and he felt like his had also. The sound of steps on the porch broke the spell and Gray was not sure whether he was sorry or relieved.
Lex came in hollering with excitement. “Whoo hoo, we got the traps out!”
Gray turned and he and Lex executed a perfect chest bump. It was a toss up as to who was the most surprised by the spontaneity of the act. Both of the men erupted into belly shaking laughter and the two women shook their heads but were soon caught up in the laughter. Dayah came back with a pot of water and looked a bit puzzled by it all.
“That was cool, dude,” Lex said when he had wiped his eyes.
“But costly, dude,” Gray said, grimacing from the renewed pain the bump and the laughter had brought. “Oh, Lex my man, look what I have found!” he said, raising a fist in triumph. He rum
maged in one of the cloth bags and brought out a big bottle of ibuprofen.
“Oh, my god! I love you man!” Lex said, falling into one of his slacker rolls.
After Lex had taken a double dose of the pain reliever, Gray asked him how he had baited the crab traps. Lex said he had caught a small fish on hook and line using an insect captured along the shore as bait. He chopped up the fish for trap bait. Gray told him he had valuable survival skills.
“Thanks, Bro, you didn’t find any beer did you?” Lex asked.
“Now you’re really wishing for miracles.”
Melanie had noted Anna’s shorts and clean, wet hair. “You didn’t happen to find any shorts that would fit me did you?”
“There were some pants you could cut off.” Anna pointed to a box by a cot.
Melanie went over and gingerly hoisted a pair of small waisted but baggy legged pants from a box of soiled clothing. “Eeeew! I guess they can be laundered. Did anyone find a pair of scissors?”
There were no scissors but Gray had found a folding straight razor that easily cut the fabric. Anna asked him to cut the long sleeves from her top. Dayah found a T-shirt and two pair of lightweight pants that fit and asked Gray to cut a pair into shorts. When the garment modifications were complete, he pocketed the razor in lieu of a pocket knife which he would have preferred. He would have also liked some shorts for himself but he did not want to cut off his trousers if he was going to do any exploring in the jungle. On their hike to here he had noted a number of leaves and vines with razor sharp edges and spines that would chew up bare skin. If it appeared they were going to have to stay on the island for a long time he would go through the available clothing and find something cooler he could wear. Lex found a pair of string tied shorts that fit and everyone but Anna went down to the pool to wash themselves and or their clothes. Melanie brought some rags she thought could be cleaned up for bandages for Lleyton.
PULAU MATI Page 6
