by S G Read
This time the next sentries woke and took their place and the new knives to protect them. I stood my turn and was still watching for intruders when dawn broke. I watched it. First came a false dawn, with light but no sun, then the sun crept up and the dawn started in earnest. Soon it was starting to warm up.
Day 20 on the island.
'See anything?' A voice asked.
I jumped and turned to find George there.
'You could have snapped a twig or something.' I answered irritably.
'Sorry, I am just quiet when I walk.'
I smiled.
'Not a bad thing, you’re forgiven and no I did not see anything except this beautiful dawn.'
'It is nice isn’t it?'
'Better than the dark when you are doing this job.'
'Shall I wake Tasha?'
'Tasha isn’t asleep.' Tasha replied and stood up.
'I bet you were.' George declared.
'You’d lose,' Tasha replied she gave George her spear and the knife, 'back in a minute, duty calls.'
'How could you prove she was asleep?' I asked.
George shrugged her shoulders. 'Just guessing I guess. I know I would have been asleep by now.'
'But you did your shift, did you fall asleep?'
'No, not with that boar about but it has something to do with the early morning, I always feel tireder then.'
Charley walked up, snapping twigs as she came.
'Very funny,' I said and looked at the sea, 'looks like the tide is on the way out.'
Charley and George walked down to the rocks while I watched and waited for Natasha to return, just in case she came in a hurry with the boar in pursuit. She finally walked back leisurely and looked round for the other two.
I pointed to where they were standing.
'The tides nearly out!' She cried.
'Yes so I reckon we can make ready to board her again.' I replied.
'I’ll wake the others.' Natasha exclaimed excitedly.
While she went to do that, I walked down to where Charley and George were standing.
'Why are you always the first ones’ up?'
'We have to get up at dawn to study.' Charley answered. 'We have- no- had a lot of work to get though in a day! I have certainly enjoyed it here since you made us work and didn’t wait on us hand and foot. Thanks.'
I knew she meant it but I did not answer, one day they would be going home!
A group built up by the edge of the rocks, waiting for the go ahead.
'I reckon it is as safe as it is going to get, so let us get salvaging!' I said when the water coming out of the boat was down to just a trickle.
I managed to remove the radio and Tasha carried it with reverence to a safe place. I had no idea if it was useable but I would have a go. I would have liked to take the battery and the generator as well but the water in the engine compartment did not drain out and that meant it was not possible at the moment. I said as much to the others.
'Will it work without the battery?' Alex asked.
'No, and the battery is no good if I can’t charge it up.' I answered honestly. 'And the sea might have washed out all the acid in it!'
'So what do we do?' She asked.
'I think the only way to get what we need is to get the boat floating and beach it somewhere!' I replied.
'What fix it?' Alex squealed. 'So we can sail away?'
'That’s probably the only way it will go, the diesel will have been rendered useless if it is still in there I expect.' I answered.
'But you don’t know!' She cried.
'No, I don’t know.'
'So let’s leave it like that, at least we can think the engine might still go!' She pleaded.
I smiled at the simplicity of pleasing her.
'It might still run.' I conceded.
They all cheered.
In with the tools was a wooden folding ruler, with Natasha’s help and with George making notes on bark with charcoal, as we still no pens, pencils or paper, I took the measurements of the hole to make some sort of patch. As the sea started to take back our prize we retreated to the safety of dry land and watched.
'Life has to go on.' I chided. 'Who is hunting today?'
Three hands rose.
'Well get on with it then.' I declared. 'The camp needs tidying and I want to check out something I saw yesterday.'
The hunters took their weapons including the larger of the carving knives and walked out in single file. I set about soaking an old rag in something I took to be oil, ready to explore the cold cave. The oil was thick and no use to run the engine, not even in the gear box! I left it soaking and carried the old tin with me as far as the edge of the camp.
'George and Sarah, you are with me.' They were both still looking through the things we had looted.
They followed immediately and we made good time to the cave. I stopped in a sunny area to light a fire using kindling from my pocket.
'We could use the lighter.' Sarah suggested.
'Only after dark, or if we haven’t any other means.' I answered.
They watched as I lit the dead leaves under the kindling, then there were young lungs to drive it into flame. I held the makeshift torch into the flame and watched as the flames took hold. As soon as it was alight we walked to the cave entrance.
'Weapons ready, just in case.' I said and walked inside.
The girls followed me inside. It was still just as cold and grew colder as we went deeper. The tunnel turned to the left then ten paces later turned right. All the time it was going down into the ground. A noise took our attention but we still walked forwards.
'What is that noise?' George asked.
'Sounds like a waterfall.' I answered.
'The stream,' She declared, 'the waterfall must feed the stream that comes out cold! But where is it?'
The cave stopped with no sign of the stream or the waterfall.
Sarah felt each wall in turn.
'It must be behind this wall, it’s the coldest.'
'That’s why the cave is so cold.' George declared.
'I reckon so.' I replied. 'Now we have work to do.'
'Like what?' George asked.
'We need things in here to hang our food on, or stand our baskets on.' I replied. 'Food in here will last longer than outside! And we need to make a door to stop anything coming in and nicking our food!'
We walked out and I put out the torch, crudely but I put it out. Then we walked down to where Natasha, Charley and Tammy were cleaning the camp and getting the fire ready to cook anything the hunters brought back. I had no need to explain what we had found and what we were going to make as the two girls were soon telling them.
'It’s a long way from our hut to here isn’t it?' Charley asked.
'We are going to build another one here and hopefully sleep in it safely.' I answered.
'What are we going to make it out of then?' She asked.
I pointed to the pile of fallen stone.
'That, held together with clay and straw mixed together.'
She looked at the pile of stones, then at the campsite.
'We could put bamboo on the ground as runners to roll the rocks over on!' she suggested.
'I intend to make sledges, or make wheels out of the lignum vitae.' I explained.
'But we’ll need smaller rocks to fill the gaps with, won’t we?' She asked.
I nodded.
'Good we’ll start getting them as it is inside the camp and we are fed up with cleaning!' She declared.
'I’ll make the thing to hang the food on, there are enough shrubs round here to do it with but I won’t cut them all down as we will want them as cover, just in case we ever do have a visit from pirates.' I announced.
As the girls moved rocks, I started cutting but I had no root to tie them together with so it would end up in kit form until I could get some. There was rope from the boat but I was saving that for when we might need it. We had a fishing rod and line as well and I was looking forward
to catching some big fish on the rod. I liked fishing.
I worked out what I wanted the food supports to be like, a square with places to hang things on and top bars for more hanging or for baskets of fruit to sit on. I laid it out ready, then started to fiddle with the rod and line.
'What about the trolleys with the wheels?' Charley called across when she struggled back with a stone.
I looked up.
'This is worse than being married!' I complained and put the rod in a safe place.
'George and Sarah you are with me.' I called and collected what I wanted and put them in a canvass tool bag.
We walked of toward the lignum vitae and met the hunters returning.
'Where are you off to?' Andrea asked.
'To the lignum vitae, to get some wheels for the trolley.' Sarah replied.
'What trolley?' Andrea asked.
'Charley will explain.' She answered and we walked on, leaving them none the wiser.
The broken branch looked a good bet and I sawed part of it free. It was not easy and I had to rest several times but at least I was cutting it! It finally groaned and dropped free and I sat down to rest, I still had to cut the other end free! I rested in between cutting the other end but in the end, it fell on the floor. We carried it back triumphantly.
'Just remember, this is not firewood!' I said sternly.
'As if we would do that to you!' Natasha exclaimed.
I looked at the piece of wood; I still had to cut it into wheels and the thinner the better here on this hard ground. I picked up the fishing rod again and dared Charley to say anything! She looked in my direction but said nothing.
I readied the fishing rod for action, then put it back in the same place. By then the others were eating or had eaten. I ate and followed it down with fruit and fresh spring water. It occurred to me that the monolith might actually be taller than we thought as the stream seemed constant and it had not rained for days now. Dusk was falling and we now had a pile of rocks round the perimeter of the camp. Not enough to keep anything out but the idea that this was our domain.
I slept where I had eaten, huddled in a blanket and feeling every bump in the ground!
Day 21 on the island
I woke and felt the groan leave my lips.
'Are you alright Walter?' Charley asked while she swept with a leafy branch.
'As well as can be expected.' I answered. 'I will be making an announcement after breakfast.'
'What about?' She asked.
'You will find out after breakfast.' I answered.
'Find out what?' George asked, dragging herself to her feet. 'The ground is harder here isn’t it?'
'Yes it is and everyone will find out what I am to announce after breakfast!' I declared, probably louder than I should have, and walked off toward the stream.
I felt the girl’s eyes boring into my back but I did not stop, nature was calling. We had worked out a routine and a place for such happenings and I was glad of that. When I walked back they were still staring at me.
I sat down and motioned them to gather round.
'Do you know what today is?' I asked.
There was no reply, just puzzled looks. George took the trouble to count up the notches on our calendar.
'Well I know it is Sunday.' She replied.
I smiled.
'Today we have a party,' I continued, 'for today is the day when I say the girls have served their sentence and are free to carry on their normal duties!'
There were squeals of delight from everyone, not just the three girls.
'I want fruit crushed for drink, I am going to try to catch a big fish and with six of us out and about we might even kill a pig!' The girls cheered loudly. 'I want the hunters go out and hunt. I will take two girls to get fruit and the girls in the camp can get things ready. If we have any spare time we can bring up more rocks to help build the new home!'
I half expected an argument as to who went out hunting, who came with me and who stayed in the camp but it was all done amicably. Some wanted to stay in the camp and one stayed to 'protect' the other two. Everyone was happy. I took my girls and we collected lots of fruit, much more than normal as we had room to store what we did not need. When the fruit was in the camp I found a spot to fish from and the two girls stayed as protection. Usually lying in the sun in not much at all with their eyes closed, or a leaf over their eyes. I used mussels and anything else I found on or around the rocks as bait to catch little fish, which I cut up as bait for bigger fish. On the television they get a bite quite quickly, or so it seemed. In reality it is usually slower. I waited an hour without success but when I reeled in to cast again something big took my bait. The girls were oblivious at first but when it leapt out of the water they sat up.
'What was that?' George asked.
'Dinner, if I can get it ashore!' I exclaimed as I fought it.
Ten minutes later it was on shore and clubbed to death. I cast again and caught another one, this went on for an hour then it all stopped.
I looked down at the five fish.
'Loaves and fishes,' I said with a smile, 'I think the rest have gone, so we will take these back after we have cleaned them.'
They looked at me with those 'what us' eyes but I was having none of it. They cleaned a fish each to know just what to do but the five fish were heavy.
'Do we take one each and come back for the others?' George asked trying the weight of one fish.
'No we can’t do that.' I answered. 'I’ll cut a pole so we can carry them all.'
I cut a pole and tied the five fish on with string we found on the boat. I did not cut the string just loop tied each one. I lifted my end and the girls did the same to theirs, my end was heavy enough so I did not expect to get far but the girls gritted their teeth and struggled on. Near the camp we stopped and George blew her whistle. The hunters came running and with that many hands the fish were triumphantly carried into the camp. A small pig lay there looking very dead.
'It will be a feast!' I declared. 'We will cook half the pig and two of the fish, the rest can go up into the cold cave.'
The fish and the pig were prepared for cooking and then we carried the rest up to the cave while it was light. I lit the fire, then the torch and the girls followed me into the cave. We jammed the pole into a crevice and laid it on a ledge to keep the food off the ground, then we hurried out to warm up. I had the same trouble putting the torch out; in the end we smothered it with soil.
We walked back down and spent the rest of the day waiting for the food to cook and making juice out of fruit. The juice was strained through a dress and tipped into our punch bowl. It was actually a ceramic bowl but it did the job.
We ate until our stomachs hurt again, we did not learn from last time. We washed the food down with fruit juice and then we just flopped back where we were. The ground was just as uncomfortable and I noticed the camp girls had leaves under their roll up beds. I would mention that in the morning!
Day 22 on the island.
It felt like a Monday morning but we had things to do! I started on the wheels and as we had enough food available the rest were bringing bigger rocks down, two girls to a rock! We would need clay of some sort although I was quite prepared to do it with mud and straw if it was necessary. The making of the wheels was a chore. I had the log set up in a hastily made saw horse and slowly cut through it to make the first wheel. I was glad we found an auger on the boat and a set of bits but none of them was big enough for the axle I was going to use, one of the two pieces of lignum vitae I had collected earlier. I had to drill several holes in a circle and then ream it out until the axle went through. I was cheating a little as I could trim the end of the axle down to fit the hole I ended up with. I ended up with a tight fitting wheel but the liberal use of grease from the boat made it move. I repeated the operation to make the second, third and fourth wheels. I had the wheels on the axles; all I had to do now was to make the trolley.
Rather than cut planks I thought I might ta
ke wood from the boat, if there was any which would be strong enough. I threw a glance out toward the boat and saw the water just trickling out of it. Two girls were watching it, they had the folding ruler in their hands ready to go and measure again. On the floor next to them was a scratched outline of their patch. I joined them
'Ready?' I asked.
They nodded and we made our way on board, me to look for wood and them to measure the hole. I was disappointed; there was nothing strong enough to carry rocks on. I looked at the watery mess which covered the engine. The hand pump was there so I started pumping, not to go down there but to see how fast it worked. I was impressed and just before we had to go I had the top of the engine in sight. I stopped pumping and rubbed my aching hand, at least we could get rid of the water when the hole was patched.
We walked ashore and saw an empty camp. I soon saw the reason, the boar was there rampaging through anything he could. He saw us and trotted over menacingly but we were on rocks, and wet rocks at that. Not the place for trotters. I picked up a stone and threw it at him; one of the girls did the same with a smaller stone. My third throw hit him and he did not like it one bit. The next one landed close by and he flinched, he knew what it felt like to be hit. I threw again; as I did a saw Natasha throw from cover. Soon hails of missiles were raining down on him and he fled. We waited and watched for a few minutes but when the crashing waves grew close enough we came ashore. We walked warily to the ring of stones and I picked up one of the smaller ones as a weapon but he did not come back.
'I think we need to fence of this area with a gate but to do it we need bamboo. As I need bamboo to finish my trolley we will have to back to the other shelter and bring some back.' I announced to no one visible other than the two girls with me. 'I can finish the trolley while we are there and bring it all back together.'
Girls appeared stones still visible in their hands. I looked about. The tool box had been knocked over and its contents spilled out, some being loose screws in the bottom. Just right for repairing the boat.
