by S G Read
'But we were at it for almost a week!' Tabby cried.
'They might have to get an expedition together, or something.' Natasha declared. 'You know, find someone rich to pay for them to come out here and study the new volcano.'
'And now it has stopped flaming they might not pay!' Tammy replied. 'You know how tight some people are.'
'The richer they are the worse they are!' Alex added.
'We were rich,' George cried, 'and we weren’t tight.' She thought for a moment. 'Well not that tight!' She thought again. 'Well alright we were tight! I think I’ll shut up now!'
'I wasn’t getting at you George.' Alex exclaimed. 'My dad has pots of money but he still argues about every bill! I think money brings out the worst in people!'
'My mum always waits until we are threatened with court action before she pays most bills.' Tammy added. 'She always pays her hairdresser immediately though!'
'Your parents are your parents, you can’t get new ones but you can change them by your actions when you get back.' I said as I picked up an orange.
'Will we get back then?' Charley asked, she had been quiet up until now.
'If I have my way you will be going home. I happen to know your dad, the king, is out there looking for you two.' I swept my arm in a circle to mean everywhere and anywhere.
'He is?' She asked.
'Yes I heard it on the radio; they were also looking for the boat that we pulled from the sea bed. He was a rich man and look what happened to him!'
'But that boat was little, it wasn’t a rich man’s boat!' Natasha retorted.
'Maybe he stole it and went for help even though he had been shot in the head!' Charley cried. 'I know I’d do anything to save my family from people like that!'
'So he was a really brave man then!' Alex concluded.
'Yes but he is still dead and his family are- well we don’t know, do we! They could be anywhere with anyone doing anything.' Sarah cried.
'Or being forced to do anything.' I added.
'That’s horrible!' Sarah declared. 'If we meet the pirates we have to do something about them!'
'Yes we do!' George exclaimed.
'I agree.' Charley said and held her hand forward face down, something I found out they did at school.
They all put their hands on top one at a time; I stepped forward and put mine on top.
'If we meet them we sort them,' Charley declared, 'even if some of us get killed!'
Day 105 on the island.
We were up early and after putting the meat on to cook we separated and went out to look for boats or planes. With the sun up as high as it would go we saw a large plane a long way away and jumped up and down, waving to get it's attention. It carried on to where it was going and made no sign that it saw us. We watched it disappear into the distance until we could no longer see it then returned to looking for boats. We walked back to the house later with the news about the plane.
'Do you think they saw you?' Natasha asked.
'They didn’t turn our way.' Tammy answered.
'If it was a proper plane they can’t can they,' Charley replied, 'but if someone saw you and reported it, help might come!'
Suddenly they were all cheerful again, help might be on the way appeared to be good enough, although it was probably the same plane we had seen some time ago and they had done nothing then. To them we were probably just like ants on the ground, not castaways stranded on this island!
I said nothing, I preferred them happy rather than sad. They would go out in the morning with more hope of a rescue now; I just hoped there would be some sign to keep their spirits up.
Day 106 on the island.
We spent the day out looking, eating fruit to keep us going and returned for the cooked food in the evening. We had seen no sign of anything all day and spirits were low again.
'Tomorrow is Monday and we will have our competition on time for once!' I announced.
'We won’t be going out?' Tammy asked.
'We can go out after the competition if you want and we do need to get more food in, so I propose a hunting trip with lookouts as well a fruit trip with lookouts. We will be in a group of four and a group of five, one at one end of the island and one at the other end!' I answered. 'We need food and we need to keep an eye out for visitors, wanted or unwanted!'
'What if they come while we are having our competition?' She argued.
'Then bad or good they will probably not go away again until they have done what they came here for.' I answered.
'Which would be?' Charley asked.
'The boffins or the good guys as you would like to know them would want to go up and take readings on our monolith-' I started.
'Why do you call it that and not a mountain?' George asked.
'Because I think it is too small for a mountain and too big for a hill.' I answered. 'They would want to gain information on it from the smoke it is releasing-'
'Which it isn’t now!' Natasha added.
'As you say which it isn’t now. But they don’t just arrive and climb up, they will make a camp and we will find them!' I explained.
'But how do we know they aren’t bad guys?' George asked. 'If they are in their camp that is?'
'The pirates will probably have lots of guns and they might even have the owner of the last boat with them.' I explained.
'What, to kill him?' Natasha asked.
'Yes and they are a lazy lot. They will probably make him dig his own grave before they shoot him or cut his throat to save a bullet.'
'That’s horrible!' Sarah cried. 'Digging a hole you know you are going to be killed and put in!'
'Better than not killed and put in!' I answered.
'That’s even worse!' Charley exclaimed. 'Do you think that is what they would do to you?'
'Well I certainly would not be of any value to them but I might be lucky and get shot when they tried to take you lot from me. At least I wouldn’t have to dig my own grave.'
Two of the girls started crying and it seemed infectious.
'It is only what might happen!' I said loudly. 'It is up to us as a team to make sure none of us falls into their hands, that’s if they do come here and they do exist. It is hard to imagine pirates in this day and age but I am sure there are some but they no longer make you walk the plank as your body might be found and it might lead the authorities back to them!' There were eight sets of red eyes scattered round me and I knew I had at least managed to get the importance of not being seen, unless you want to be seen, over to them.
George was the first to walk away. She started practicing for tomorrow. As Sarah would be the judge George could shoot again and she aimed to win. She was joined by the rest and they shot in order of their arrival, there was no pushing or shoving, just good natured rivalry. It was like tomorrows competition today but with no conch on offer. I joined in. I did want to win at least once although I knew it would have to be a day when George was not shooting or when she had an off day!
'Why don’t the authorities do something about the pirates?' Tabby asked while we were waiting for our shot.
'They would if they could find them!' I answered. 'If we do see them we should make note of what the name of their boat is and where they go, if we can find out without jeopardising our freedom! We still have to find a way of letting the authorities know after that!'
'Not a lot of chance then?' Tabby replied.
'Not a lot,' I admitted, 'but we might have a stroke of luck one day if we keep our heads down.'
Someone thrust a crossbow into my hands and the conversation ended. We kept on firing until it became too dark to see. From what I saw the competition could go on for a long time tomorrow and I thought of adding an inner gold to make it possible to finish quickly but I left it as an idea. If it was a stalemate then I could do something which they would all accept. I was sure it would not involve me!
Day 107 on the island.
Today was competition day and we were all getting better at hitting the tar
get; but what would happen if they had a pirate in their sights remained to be seen.
It started as expected and when we had all had our first five shots we were all equal and it became sudden death. It made each time you fired a little tenser, you expected the weaker shots to fall by the wayside but there were no longer any weaker shots and all you could hope for was a lapse in concentration. If George slipped up at this stage it would leave it wide open for the rest of us. It went on for over two hours with the gold being plastered; in the end I called a halt.
'We have a choice,' I announced with everyone hanging on my every word, 'we can add another smaller gold or move the target back a bit!'
'How can we move the target back when it is up against the side of the house?' Charley asked.
'I should have said move us back then but you get the idea.' I replied.
'Which do you want?' Natasha asked.
'It is certainly easier to add a smaller gold but I would rather we practice shooting from further away, it might come in useful.' I answered.
'How about us shooting from further away one week and adding a second, smaller gold, the next week to make it even harder.' Charley added. 'We all need to be as good as George, after all it might not be George who runs into the first bad guy.'
'Knowing my luck it might be!' George declared. 'How many here have had to have their appendix out?'
'You knew about that when you got on the plane.' Charley retorted. 'I know it wasn’t your fault that any of this happened but it was giving you a lot of pain before we left school.'
'I used to wear glasses.' Tammy added. 'I think my eyesight is getting better while I am here!'
'Where do you want the target Tammy?' I asked.
'I don’t really care! The best shot on the day will win and one day it just might be me!' She answered.
We moved the shooting position back ten metres and started shooting again. No golds this time, we were lucky to hit the target the first time so we restarted the competition with five shots each. After fives shots there were five equal first and Tammy was one of them, she was the only one to hit a gold and did it with her last shot. I was an also ran yet again but I had shot well up until then. We watched the five go into sudden death. Their aim was getting better all the time. Where some had hit outers now they scored bulls. George stepped up and fired the second gold. She removed her bolt and hugged Tammy.
'I saw how you did it and copied you!' She admitted.
'I hope it works again.' Tammy answered slyly. 'Then I’ll win!'
She walked back with the rest of us and stood there ready to fire.
'I know if I hit the gold I win,' she said quietly, 'and now I am nervous as a kitten.'
'But you won’t lose if you hit the bull, will you.' George replied. 'We will have a shoot off and you can still win. Do what I do, imagine the gold is a pirates taters and I want to get his attention!'
I laughed.
'That would certainly get his attention.' I agreed.
'Is that how you do it?' Natasha asked.
'Some times it is the French master Mr. Scarnwind, he’s a pig!' George answered.
'He may be a pig but I wouldn’t want to eat him!' Sarah declared from her umpire’s chair. 'Now are we shooting or talking?'
Tammy turned to the target aimed and fired just as she had seen George do many times. Sarah ran up to the target followed by us all.
'A bull,' she declared and pointed to the point where it touched the line, 'it is a shoot out between George and Tammy, the rest are out.'
Now nerves were taught. George walked up to the line turned and fired. Again we all ran up there as it was too dangerous to wait there in case a bolt flew off something hard and hit someone.
'A bull.' She said quietly as if she could not believe it.
Tammy walked back and we walked back only as far as we had to under the rules and waited. Tammy stood looking at the target, aimed slowly and fired. Again we all ran forward.
'A bull,' Sarah cried, 'fire again but this time under the rules there will be a measure for the middle if they are equal! Nearest the middle will win!'
Now nerves were almost at breaking point. George walked up, turned and fired. This time she left the bolt where it landed and no one moved. Tammy walked up, aimed carefully and fired. Now we ran! We could see both were in the gold, from that distance both good shots!
'It is a measure.' Sarah announced.
She pushed a twig into the middle hole and used another twig to measure from that to the first bolt and marked. The same twig was used to measure the other bolt and the mark would decide who the winner was. The bolts were equal in distance from the centre.
'I declare it as a draw!' Sarah announced.
'Can we have a draw?' Charley asked.
'She is the umpire,' I pointed out, 'and it has been a long drawn out contest and I don’t think either of them deserves to lose. Either one could have won at any time but bottled it so I think a draw is fair!'
The draw was accepted and we all celebrated. No one knew if Tammy would have won but George had to be the favourite if it continued. George did not mind, a draw was not losing and that was all that counted to her, she did not like to lose!
Sarah presented them both with the conch and they worked out who would hold it for the first part of the week and who would have it the second part. We parted and went off in our groups, one lot to hunt game and one to collect fruit. Fish was off the menu for now, we were sick of it. My group collected fruit; we had the trolley with us to use take it back as we managed to get through a lot of fruit. Each time we picked fruit, we took stock of what was left and which trees were nearing being ripe enough to eat. If we ran out of fruit it would be bad, although there was always fish! We unloaded and moved down to the beach, all armed with something just in case, then lay in the sun. The hunters came back from the other side and when they did not find us they came down to the beach.
'Any good?' I asked when Natasha settled next to me.
'One big bird and a few little furry things,' She answered, 'it is getting hard to find things.'
'We must make the food last as long as possible, the fruit is a little hard to find low down.' I declared. 'We’ll go out with the ladder tomorrow and look higher up to see what is about.'
'Didn’t you get enough fruit?' She asked.
'Yes, for the present but next time will be a struggle unless we find some new trees.'
'That’s going to be hard as we know the island inside out.' She said, propped up on one elbow.
'I know.’ I replied. ‘I just hope there is some more up high where we can’t see.'
She flopped back onto her back. 'Did you see any boats?' She knew we had not or we would have come and told them, just as I knew they had seen nothing.
'Nary a thing.' I answered.
We lay on the beach until the boar and his family appeared, this time he took his family away before we could do anything and we had to give chase to get a pig for the cave. The long shooting paid off and a snap shot as they disappeared into the undergrowth yielded a pig. We carried it back in triumph, we had meat and fruit now for this week. The girls thought we could worry about next week when it came. I had other ideas and before dark we went to the place where the potatoes were and harvested enough to plant in a garden we did not have yet!
Day 108 on the island.
We started work on two projects this morning; turn the area behind the house into a garden and to collect more grapes for fermenting. The garden was hard work as there were a lot of stones in it. We dug it over a little at a time until there was enough room to plant the potatoes. We put them in rows as my father used to before he died. The rows were mounded up with soil and then left to do their thing apart from watering, if the rows seemed too dry.
I knew it would take time for them to grow but it was better than just eating all the potatoes and expecting them to keep growing by some miracle. I mashed up the grapes and left them to ferment under a cover in the co
rner of the house. It had worked before but only George could tell what it had been like and she was no connoisseur!
We ate our food in the sunshine and George caught me looking at her for some time.
'Have I grown two heads?' She asked.
'No, I am just glad you are still here.' I answered.
'So am I,' she answered, 'but as you have delved where only a royal can it is a good job you are the king of Horseshoe Island!' She added with a smile.
With the food eaten and the garden done, we went in a group to the ladder. I used it when I picked the grapes and left it there, hidden. We went round a tree at a time to look at the fruit high up and I was relieved to find out there was more available up there, all we had to do was to get near enough to pick it!
We carried the ladder back to the house so that we could go up to bed and with the sun getting low; we sat on the beach to watch it drop out of sight. Tomorrow I decided to collect some sunflower seeds and start on my surprise; it had taken a back seat for a while, now I might be able to use it!
Day 109 on the island.
I walked out into bright sunshine and looked up to make sure no dark clouds were approaching. As the sky was clear I took Alex and Sarah and we walked to where the sunflowers grew. They were very tall and the seeds were ready to fall out. I caught the seeds in a pot, not one used for carrying diesel as they still smelled of diesel. I took all the seeds and left some young plants growing and then broadcast a few seeds to ensure more would grow before we walked back.
'Are we going to eat the seeds?' Sarah asked as we walked back.
'Sort of.' I answered carefully.
'What do you mean, sort of?' Alex asked.
'You will find out when I am ready to tell you and not before!' I replied and ignored all other questions about the seeds, much to their annoyance!
When we reached the house I stored the seeds inside under a cloth next to the fermenting grapes. I knew they would try to guess what I was up to but as it was a wild idea, which probably would not come to anything, I did not think they would guess what I was up to.
