Me and Them

by S G Read

  'That’s a bit severe isn’t it?' Natasha asked.

  'No, lenient. There is no in-between bit, where you actually wish you were dead, just the final bit!' I explained.

  'Put like that it makes sense but you have to be gone for sometime.' George replied.

  'You have an hour by my watch. You can use that alarm clock we found to let you know when I am coming and to let me know when to come in.' I declared. 'Come on handmaidens.'

  We walked down to the beach and threw a few stones from the pans before we walked on. I timed an hour and we were waiting outside the gate when the alarm went off. Our signal to come in.

  We walked up and turned off the alarm. We could see no one. We walked slowly and looked everywhere, listening as we went but reached the next gate without seeing anyone. We had checked inside the house for cheats and found no one. When we walked back they were sitting round the fire talking and laughing.

  'Well I have to say that was good.' I declared.

  'So would we!' Natasha replied and they all laughed.

  'What is so funny?' I asked.

  'We’ll tell you one day but who ever goes out with you this time as handmaidens is not allowed to take part in the search!' She answered.

  'Sounds fair to me.'

  'I’ll go!' Tabby cried. 'But only as a bodyguard!'

  'Come on then bodyguard are you coming as my body guard this time Tammy?'

  'Yes, I’ll come.'

  We repeated the wait and walk only to return to an empty area.

  'Are they here?' I asked as we walked through.

  'Oh yes, we were here and you walked past us!’ Tabby answered.

  'So what was funny?'

  'I can’t tell you that, it would give it all away!' She answered.

  I saw no one and walked back from the second gate. Still there was no one there.

  'If you tread on my hand this time Walter I’ll scream!' Natasha said from right under my feet.

  She appeared with a cloth over her face and a straw sticking out of her mouth. Others appeared nearby.

  I applauded. 'No problems there then.' I added. 'All that in an hour? Impressive!'

  'We aim to please.' Charley said from behind me.

  We ended the day sitting round the smouldering fire, discussing the afternoon’s events.

  Day 121 on the island.

  We did not go to the beaches to look for a rescue, it was obvious they had totally ignored the fire, no one was watching or the area was in fact, a no go area. We had no idea which and chose to go over every inch of the island, to see if there was anything else as interesting on it but there was no time today.

  We settled down and I heard how they were able to hide as well as they did in the open. A blanket thrown over the person hiding and covered with whatever she was laying on either stones, grass or dirt. She had a small bamboo stick to breathe through and apart from when I trod on Natasha’s hand and she bit through her bamboo tube everything went fine.

  'Hang about.' I interceded. 'How could the last one cover herself with anything?'

  'That was easy, Sarah did the covering and we had a little hidey hole made under some twigs held up with another twig. She just had to wiggle under it and take the twig away to be covered.' Natasha answered. 'We did quite well really.' She added massaging her hand.

  'How did you work that out?' I asked.

  'It was in the film we watched on the plane we were on! Remember?' She answered.

  'I wasn’t watching it,' I admitted, 'but I have seen it before.'

  The talking went on until it was dark then, as soon as one went inside, the rest decided to follow.

  Day 123 on the island.

  We worked out how best to camouflage ourselves if we saw a boat we weren't sure of and started along the fallen forest which despite its name it had enough trees left or fresh ones growing for a semblance of cover. We walked in single file, stopping regularly to look all around with the binoculars we had salvaged from the first boat. When we were sure no one was watching, we moved on and as we grew closer to the other end with the hill to our left, we adopted a stealthier approach. We did so on our bellies and from our position we could see there was something ahead. We approached the hill but did not know what was there and would not until we arrived.

  When we saw the water, we could see there were no boats there but not if there was anyone hiding there. We moved closer and closer getting slower and slower until I signalled the rest to stop and I went on with George and Andrea. We stepped down onto the flat area in front of the hill to find another cave with the sea going inside it, as the other cave had.

  Now we had to make a decision, swim in while it was hot enough to dry us out on the way back or go and get the dinghy and risk being caught all together. We walked back to the others.

  'There is a cave with water in it but there might be stuff inside like the other one.' I said as I knelt on one knee in front of them. 'We either swim in or get the dinghy.'

  'How deep is the water?' Charley asked.

  'I don’t know.' I answered.

  'If we can stand on the bottom we can shoot quite straight if we meet anyone!' She explained.

  I turned to the other two who had gone with me but they were already gone, Natasha had gone with them. There were three in the party so we waited.

  When Andrea came back she was dripping wet.

  'When you get inside you can stand up and shoot but there is no one there. We did find piles of stuff in there though, under sheets.' She reported.

  We all went inside the cave.

  Natasha and Charley were waiting in there for us; they had turned on a battery powered lantern for more light.

  'Look at this lot.' Natasha exclaimed as I crawled out on to the floor of the cave.

  She removed a sheets to reveal various valuable items, mainly from the modern day.

  'Well we know the pirates do frequent our island.' I warned. 'My best guess for the second boat is that he tried to escape, made it so far but was shot. After that the boat must have rammed the rocks and been of no value. They just let it sink with him on board.'

  'What happened to his family, if he had one?' Charley asked.

  'I can only guess at that. Girls might end up in a brothel somewhere, younger boys the same.' I answered. 'Anyone not wanted would be buried.'

  'On our island,' Tabby cried, 'but we haven’t seen any graves!'

  'We haven’t really looked for graves, have we?' George replied. 'I suppose if we look for them we will know where they bury them.'

  'That’s horrible.' Tammy cried.

  'Not as horrible as stumbling on them while they are burying whoever it is and ending up in a brothel!' Natasha retorted.

  'What are we going to do?' Charley asked.

  'Try not to disturb too much, we want to put things back as we found them but we will search all of this for some sort of radio so that we can get some help!' I answered.

  We did search. We lifted each sheet and looked at everything under it until we had searched every pile. We found no trace of a radio. We put the sheets back just as they were, turned off the lantern and swam out again. Charley was the best swimmer so I sent her forward to make sure no one was there waiting for us. She returned to signal the all clear and we followed. Outside she hid by the mouth of the cave, still in the water with her crossbow ready.

  'Seen anyone?' I whispered.

  'No. Not a soul. I haven’t heard anything either!'

  We melted into the trees and made our way back to the main part of the island. When we were safely inside the compound I breathed a sigh of relief.

  'Well they are about and they are either pirates or smugglers.' I announced. 'We do not want to meet them except on our terms, so be vigilant when you are travelling on the island, we do not know when they will be about.'

  'If we see them, do we nick their boat?' Natasha asked.

  'If the boat will take nine and we are confident of winning it is a sound idea but whatever they turn up i
n might be one they have just stolen-'

  'Surely its high jacked?' Sarah asked.

  'No it has to be pirated!' Alex argued.

  'High jacked, pirated or stolen I don’t care, they might have a much bigger one somewhere with big guns on it and we do not want to meet that one!' I exclaimed.

  'So how do we know?' George asked.

  'We watch and wait,' I answered, 'but now we know where to watch!'

  'What are we waiting for?' Natasha asked.

  'To see how big their main boat is!’ I answered. 'So that we know just what we are tangling with!'

  We settled down to eat and as it was only Tuesday we decided to walk over the rest of the island while three watched the cave we had just found. Three more took over watching the cave later. I was going to be there over night in case that was when they visited the island.

  We walked back to the house leaving the three on watch and talked until it was time for me and the last two girls to take up our watch, for the rest of the night. We took blankets, fruit and cold meat with us as well as enough water. We relieved the girls before it was too dark for them to find their way back and took up our position. Although George wanted to be with me I had chosen Charley and Natasha, they had a little more meat on them although down on the ground it did not get that cold. We sat and watched all night, talking quietly between us to keep from falling asleep. I found out even more about their upbringing and life at home, as they did mine.

  Morning came with no movement by the cave; suddenly our replacements were next to us.

  'It’s a good job we aren’t the pirates!' George whispered.

  'True.' I replied as I did so a thought struck me. 'What if the mast sticking out of the water is a landmark, when it is gone they will want to know why.'

  'What can we do?' She asked.

  'Put it back.' I answered.

  'How?'

  'I have no idea!' I admitted. 'Go get the others.'

  We thought about it and made a temporary patch on the side of the boat. Then retied any bamboo of the remaining bamboo and tried to refloat it. In the end after a lot of struggling we put bamboo under it long ways and then bamboo side ways, then with levers which dug deep into the sand we inched it back into the water. The further we moved it into the water the easier it became until it floated free. The patch was very temporary and started letting in water straight away but we managed to get it back out to the rocks before it foundered. We cut off the bamboo and let it sink. We also removed the patch after several attempts, just for good measure.

  'That was easy.' George said as she flopped onto the sand.

  I gave her a smile and then we were on our way to a well earned sleep. The watch went on ofr a week without any sign of anyone but we kept to it!

  Day 124 on the island.

  I woke in the afternoon and we walked to the beach to relieve the others, they had seen nothing. We settled down to wait and darkness surrounded us once more but this time it was broken by a light which approached from the sea. It stopped at the cave and seemed to spawn other lights. We saw shadowy figures moving about as we watched. The boat had a light at the back as well as a light at the front and it was big!

  'We don’t want to take that on.' Charley whispered.

  'No we don’t,' I agreed at the same level, 'but it was worth finding out; tomorrow we will go and look over there to see what they left this time.'

  We watched and after two hours, the boat turned and faded into the darkness.

  'What now?' Charley asked.

  'You get some sleep, I’ll keep watch. We have seen what we wanted to see and we will not let them see us if it is possible!'

  They settled down to sleep and I settled back to watch.

  Day 125 on the island.

  A hand shook me awake, it was George.

  'Did you see anything?' She asked.

  'Yes, a big boat came and men were doing things over there, we are going to have a look so get the others.'

  George nodded and ran off, the other two followed her. When they came back there were six of them. I woke Charley and Natasha and as soon as they were compos mentis, we started through the fallen forest. We took it slow and careful as there might be a look out left behind but we saw no one. There was little evidence outside the cave that anyone had been there so we swam in quietly. Everything that had been there was gone, the cave was empty save for the battery powered torch which still stood there. It alone proved they would be back!

  We left there as quietly as we arrived and melted into the fallen forest once more. We slipped through the trees, making sure no one was watching and were soon back in the compound.

  'The boat I saw was big enough to have at least fifty men on it and that is more than we could handle.' I said when we gathered by the fire.

  There was no food cooking, as the girls who were going to do it had been called away before they had a chance. While I spoke, they were preparing the food and others were building up the fire.

  'We have to be very careful but it looks like they come and go at night. As we sleep at night we should never meet them but just be careful where you go. Look first and go second!'

  'Are we going to be alright?' Sarah asked.

  'Oh yes!' I answered straight away. 'If you do get seen we will back you up and free you if necessary. We have the pirate cave if there is an emergency, no one has found that in a hundred of years, so a few hours will be nothing while they search and give up!'

  'You make it sound easy.' Sarah replied.

  'It won’t be easy, if we are seen and if one of us is seen we are all going to fight, we will have to.'

  'But if we stay out of sight while they are around, we will be safe here, right?' George asked.

  'Here we are invisible, get caught out there especially wearing that diamond necklace and you are in trouble!' I warned.

  'Now what?' Charley asked.

  'The food has to cook, so as we missed a contest I suggest we have it as soon as the food is on cooking.' I offered.

  'Yes!' George cried. She looked longingly at the necklace Natasha was wearing. 'Come to mama.'

  'You beat me and you can have it.' Natasha replied proudly.

  'You have to beat me as well!' Charley warned.

  'And me!' The rest said one by one.

  'You probably will beat me,' I added, 'but you still have to do it!'

  While the food cooked, we set up everything and made sure the line to shoot from was clearly visible. With the new inner gold the contest was shorter. Six of us were knocked out in the first five shots, I say us, as it included me but on the plus side none of us missed the gold this time, it was the inner gold which did its job. The shoot off between Charley, Alex and George was a foregone conclusion until George cut the line of the inner gold and it ended in a battle between Charley and Alex. Charley shot first and scored a gold, Alex fired yet another shot into the inner gold to win. Natasha gave her the necklace, passing it in front of George on the way.

  'I knew we should have kept the conch!' George complained.

  The talk, as we ate was all about the contest and for now the pirates were forgotten. That night we locked the door firmly and lifted the ladder up to keep us safe.

  Day 126 on the island.

  No one hurried in the morning. We prepared the food and put it on to cook,

  then just sat around in the compound.

  Finally Charley walked over to where I was sun bathing.

  'What can we do? I’m bored.'

  'Anything you want.' I answered. 'As long as there are at least three of you for safety.'

  'Can we take more than three then?'

  'Yes as long as there are two about in case I want to go anywhere or I have to come and rescue you.'

  'I don’t think you will have to worry about that somehow.' She answered. 'Quite a lot want to go but Tabby and Tammy said they would look after the food.'

  'What are you lot going to do then?'

  'Look for graves!'

&nb
sp; 'Not a bad idea, at least we would know where they bury them, if they do bury them on the island!' I said and relaxed back onto my sun bed.

  I heard nothing from the girls until later when they came in through the back door. Charley walked straight up to where I was sitting, now in the shade.

  'We found them.' She announced.

  'How many?'

  'Seven!'

  'Seven men could mean seven boats. The other two means it could be nine boats at least, quite a big industry.' I declared. 'I wonder if they sell the boats or just everything which is on board.'

  'Except the men!' Charley added. 'You don’t think it is just a family of seven they buried there?'

  'It could be but it would be very unwise to dig up the graves to find out.' I warned. 'After we have eaten we will all go out and you can show us where the graves are, so that we all know where to be careful when we are out, just in case. I can’t see them burying someone in the dark!'

  She joined the rest while I helped the two cooks serve the food. Afterwards we walk out of the front gate, turned left and after about a hundred yards Charley slipped through two small bushes. I followed and there were seven grave shaped earth works.

  'They were covered by dead branches,' she explained and pointed to them, 'they were just thrown over them!'

  'We’ll put them back so that it looks like no one has been here.' I replied. 'Now listen you lot, when you are near here be careful and quiet. If you see anyone make sure they don’t see you and get back here as fast as you can! That is an order!'

  'We hear and obey mighty rich king Walter of Horseshoe Island.' Natasha answered graciously.

  'Make sure you do or you will be someone’s hand maiden for a long time!' I replied meaningfully.

  I looked about as the girls replaced the branches to leave it as it was when they found it.

  'By what I can see they either parked their boat-'

  'It’s moored their boat!' Alex said interrupting.

  'They either moored their boat in the horseshoe or made the journey from the other cave. Either way they came from our right as we face the graves so when you are hunting that side make sure you are especially careful!'