Eve stretched out, too—eyes closed, fingers fluttering water onto her swollen, red face.
“Fine by me.” Jake sat hunched over in the middle of the stream. He’d hardly said anything since they’d looked down on the empty cove.
Was he still mad at her for climbing the wall? The rubber bands tightened again around her stomach.
He stood and ran his hands over his wet hair and face. “We’ve got a few hours of daylight left. I’m going to check out the source of this stream. Anyone else interested?”
Betty shook her head.
“Eve?”
“Not until I have immersion foot from head to toe.”
“What about you, Crystal?”
She shrank back. “I don’t like jungles.”
“We’ll turn back the first time you get scared. How about that?”
She was scared now. But would he get mad at her again if she said no? Reluctantly, she nodded her head, hoping he’d see she really didn’t want to go and let her stay.
He pointed to a spot where three green-leaved trees grew next to the stream. “We’ll make camp up there, under those trees.”
Betty lifted her head high enough to glance upstream. “Please, be careful.”
Crystal slogged behind Jake in the stream, past the three trees, up to where the vegetation grew thick and tall along the banks and enclosed them. She looked back. Aunt Betty and Eve were no longer in sight.
Jake stopped. “What do you think a jungle is like?”
She swallowed the landslide cramming her throat. “Scary.”
“Let’s see if you’re right.” He stepped out of the stream into the foliage. “It’s okay to be scared, but it helps you be brave if you know exactly what it is you’re scared of.”
But, she didn’t want to be brave.
“To make sure we know how to get back, we’re going to mark our path.” He snapped a pencil-sized branch and left it hanging. “Come on, you can help.”
She followed him, reaching out and snapping something with every step. They didn’t go far before he stopped again. “What do you think? Could you find your way back to the stream?”
She looked back at the waist-high trail of dangling wood and brightened. “Uh-huh.”
“As you get better at it, you won’t have to mark it so often. And when you’re really good at it, I’ll show you how to hide it so no one sees it but you.”
Happiness marshmallowed in her chest. She followed Jake several steps before snapping a branch, waited a few more steps before snapping another. A map, that’s what she was creating. A map with invisible roads only she could see. She and Jake. Her heart thrummed. Maybe her daddy was like Jake after all.
Then, as if she’d walked through a door, the world changed. The air seeped damp and muggy into her lungs. Shadows merged into a spooky wall of darkness as layer upon layer of leaves far above her shut out the sun. Hoots and screeches rained down from the dark clouds of leaves. “Jake!”
He halted. “When your eyes have adjusted, tell me what you see.”
Her heart thumped so hard she could barely breathe. “Trees,” she squeaked. She wasn’t going to cry. She wasn’t.
“Some of them look like big, wooden tepees, don’t they? They’re called triangular buttress roots.” He stepped next to her and pointed at the treetops. “Up there is what’s called the canopy layer.”
She craned her neck to peer at the trees looming tall as skyscrapers above them.
“The crowns of the trees crowd against each other and form a big awning that pretty much keeps the weather out. Makes it like a big hothouse down here.”
“You mean zoo!” She put her fingers in her ears, and Jake laughed.
“That’s mainly the monkeys and birds that live up there. They’ve got their own little world in the canopy.”
Dead leaves polka-dotted with tiny, green plants lay in a thin carpet on the forest floor. Walking between the trees was easy. “Where are all the jungle plants? It’s not like this in the movies.” She grabbed a huge vine hanging from the canopy and swung on it.
“Surprised, huh? They can’t grow inside the rain forest. Only at the edge, where they get sunlight.” He stood, hands on his hips, smiling at her. “So what do you think, not so scary after all?”
He’d done this for her? Happiness jammed her heart so hard against her lungs she could hardly breathe. Nobody but Aunt Betty did nice things for her. It was always hush up, be still, find something to do from everybody else. Especially Grandma and Grandpa.
She let go of the vine and dropped to her feet. “I like it.” Maybe not the jungle so much, but definitely Jake.
“Let’s see how you do finding your way back to the stream.”
She led the way, spotting the broken branches way too easily. Next time she’d space them farther apart. Her heart skipped a beat. Next time? Hoots and howls and screeches from the canopy prickled her skin into a thousand goose bumps. “What about gorillas and . . . animals like that?”
“You thinking of Tarzan?”
Her cheeks burned. “Yes.”
“That was in Africa. No gorillas here in the Philippines. No lions or tigers. Probably nothing bigger than a monkey on this island.”
“What about the swamp? You said—”
“I was thinking of snakes and crocs. Reptiles you wouldn’t want to snuggle up to.”
She giggled at his silliness. A question she’d wanted to ask ever since she’d seen him with his shirt off popped into her mind. “You were in a jungle . . .”
“In Viet Nam. During the war.”
“Is that where you got those three scars? The round ones?”
“Bullet holes, yep.”
“What happened?”
“We were defending a bridge the enemy wanted to destroy. They wanted to stop us from getting supplies to our troops. Fortunately the bullets hit me on the right instead of on the left where my heart is.”
“What did you do?”
“A buddy bandaged me up to stop the bleeding. The bullets went right through me, so I didn’t need anyone to dig them out.”
“So you just had to lie there and wait till they could get you to a hospital?”
“No lying around, kiddo. I was in charge of the men. My duty was to see that they were okay and doing what they were supposed to be doing. We needed to protect that bridge, and that’s what we did.”
She sucked in her bottom lip and chewed on it. He’d been brave in a scary situation. Could she be brave on a scary island? Maybe . . . with Jake next to her.
Sunlight seeped through and the vegetation became a tangle again. They arrived at the stream and doused their sweat and bug bites. Before they started out again, she broke off one of the dangling branches and set it afloat down the stream. Would Aunt Betty know it was from her?
The water moved faster the farther upstream they waded. When the stream entered the rain forest, even though her heart pounded in her ears, she found comfort in its familiarity. The rain forest was a hothouse with skyscraper trees and a canopy zoo. Nothing bigger than a monkey. Not like the swamp with snakes and crocs.
Was that a log halfway in the stream? She swallowed. “Jake, would there be crocs here?”
“Too shallow. They need to submerge to eat their prey.”
Had her dad been in a jungle? Maybe gone to Viet Nam and been a hero like Jake? Her mom had been a hippy, Granny said. Hippies had protested the war. But maybe she’d met a soldier and admired his bravery.
The dark cloud that hid in her heart rolled out from cover. Why hadn’t her mom left at least some kind of clue as to who her baby’s daddy was? Just because her mom didn’t like her own dad didn’t mean Crystal and her father wouldn’t love each other.
“What do we have here?” Jake stopped, and Crystal bumped into him.
She shoved away her black cloud and peered around him. A triangle of light lay ahead. Out of it echoed a faint, steady roar.
Chapter 20
The faster Crystal ran, th
e harder the current pushed against her shins. Jake was getting farther and farther ahead of her. “Wait!” she almost screamed, but then remembered, no, she was going to be brave. She shoved harder against the water. Ahead of her, Jake ran silhouetted in the triangle of light, elbows bent, arms pumping. She imitated him.
He stopped abruptly and turned toward her. Had he found people in the light? The grin on his face said whatever it was, it was good.
A stitch in her side pinched hard. She stumbled the last few steps, clutching her waistline. “What is it?”
He stepped aside, and she rasped in a breath. An oblong pool ten times the size of her best friend’s swimming pool stretched out in front of her. From a ledge even higher than the soaring tree line, a waterfall tumbled into the pool, spattering noise and a fine mist that sparkled in the sunlight.
“It’s beautiful.” Picture postcard perfect. Other than where the waterfall churned the water, the pool was clear all the way to the bottom. Small, round pebbles glinted like thousands of pennies. The bottom rose in a gentle slope until the pebbles merged with larger rocks, and then larger, until there was no more water but only the rain forest on one side and a steep hill on the other.
They waded to the edge of the hill and climbed its slippery, grass-covered side until they reached the level of the rain forest’s canopy. Soaked to the skin by the mist, they perched on the side of the hill like two giant birds and gawked at the sea of green leaves swaying around them. Everywhere she looked were birds and monkeys, fruits and insects, and huge, spectacular flowers.
How often had she dreamed of going to the Detroit Zoo with her mom and dad? And now, here she was, right smack in the middle of the real thing.
“Keep your eyes on the monkeys,” Jake whispered. “What they eat is what we can eat.”
“Oh!” She jumped when, only yards away from them, a snake darted out to catch a tiny bird in its fangs. She hadn’t even seen the snake, camouflaged as it was by its snappy green hues among the leaves. She made a sad face at Jake.
He shrugged his shoulders. “You just have to go with the flow, Pumpkin.”
“Why’d you call me that?”
“Pumpkin? That’s what I called my daughter when she was your age. Is that okay?”
Crystal’s heart skyrocketed. Jake had told her yesterday on the beach that God adopted believers to be His children. God could become her heavenly Father, too, if she wanted. But, really, a heavenly Father couldn’t take her for a walk in the jungle. Or show her how to make invisible trails. And, for sure, He wouldn’t call her Pumpkin. No, what she needed was a real father. She smiled up at Jake. “It’s okay if you call me Pumpkin. I like it.”
Warmth overflowed her heart and radiated into the cold cavity that had stood empty, aching for someone to love her, all her life. No more being a scaredy-cat. No more Crybaby Crystal. From now on, she’d be brave. She’d think of something to prove it, and Jake would be real proud of her.
* * *
The sea gulls’ raucous cries woke Jake to a rising sun. For the first time since the four castaways arrived on the island, they’d slept in the open instead of under trees. Eve had volunteered for the first watch, but had she wakened Betty for the next one? Both of them lay asleep near the stream, mouths slack, heads cushioned on their life vests.
So much for that plan. Did it matter, anyway? With no one else on the island, what could possibly threaten them?
The fiber filling for his moccasins was dry from last night’s washing at the stream. He reassembled the footwear and tested it for comfort. If he didn’t get the filling cushioned just right, the rubberized material rubbed his toes raw. Today he needed his feet to stay in good shape. It would take him most of the day to make the round trip to the top of the volcano.
Remembering his promise to not leave without telling anyone, he shook Betty awake. “I’m going to poke around the cove and then head out for the volcano,” he whispered.
Crystal popped up like warm toast. “I want to go with you.”
Eve raised her head. “Why aren’t all of us going? Is this another unilateral decision?”
He sighed. “I figured Crystal could take you to see the jungle pool. You know, a day at the spa? The trip to the volcano will be grueling—uphill all the way.” Not to mention he could go faster by himself.
Betty got to her feet and brushed off the sand clinging to her clothes and arms and legs. “How about if we explore the cove together? We can decide about the volcano after that.”
Before he could protest, Crystal, Betty, and Eve were on their feet and headed for the cove, decision presumed by a majority vote.
The flat expanse of beach and grassland made it easy to see each other. They scattered. Eve sauntered along the shoreline, and Betty waded into the waist-high grass at the back of the beach. Jake opted for exploring the cove. Crystal followed him, scouting for seashells.
“I’m going to check out how deep the cove is.” He slipped off his moccasins. Tiny, black clamshells lay half-buried in the shallow water. Protein. Larger ones had to be nearby. His mouth watered as he stooped to scoop up a handful.
“Jake, there’s a barbed-wire fence here,” Betty yelled.
A fence? He dropped the clamshells and spun around to face her. The terrain snapped like a photograph into his mind—the cove, the sloping mount to the volcano, the cover of long grass. “Stop!” he screamed. “Don’t—”
An explosion cracked pistol-sharp through the air. Betty dropped out of sight. Overhead, the sea gulls shrieked and veered toward the ocean.
He sped across the beach. “Crystal, Eve, stay where you are! Betty, don’t move!” He halted at the grass. With painstaking care, he stepped exactly where Betty’s footsteps had crushed the grass. If he was right, one wrong step, a slight miscalculation, and he was a dead man.
“Betty?” Sweat trickled into his eyes. The explosion had been minimal. Silly to hope, but she might have survived. The grass rustled. “Betty?”
“Here.”
The air whooshed out of his lungs. “Don’t move. Not even a finger.”
His heart hammered with each step forward. How far had she penetrated the field? The trampled stalks cut into his bare feet. Unbelievable she’d gotten this far.
He found her. Sitting on the ground. Speckled with dirt. Grasping her left ankle.
“My foot!” she groaned. “What happened?”
“I think you walked into a minefield.”
She caught her breath. Her face froze in horror.
“You’ll be okay. We’ll get you out of here the same way we got in.”
“Where are you?” Crystal shouted. “What happened?” Dry stalks crashed against each other.
Fear jammed his heart into his throat. “Crystal, stop! This is a minefield! Stop!”
“Jake, she ran in,” Eve yelled.
“I stopped.” Crystal’s voice, pitched high, teetered on the edge of tears.
“Don’t move. Do you hear me, Crystal?”
“Yes.” Then, words squeaking, “Eve’s here too.”
What? “Stay where you are, both of you. Don’t move and you’ll be okay.” He held his breath. Please. This time comply.
Silence. Blessed silence. The acrid stench of his sweat swept into his nostrils. “I’m bringing Betty out. Stay still, no matter what, until I get to you.”
The indistinct murmur of their voices filtered through the rustling grass. He took a deep breath to focus his mind. “Betty, give me your hands. I’ll help you stand up.”
“I can’t.” She raised her foot. Her leather sandal was gone. Blood seeped through black dirt caked on her sole and toes. He could only hope the sandal had protected her foot from metal fragments.
“Must have been the detonator that went off and not the explosive charge.” No guarantee that would hold true for the other mines, though. “I need to carry you out of here. If you can stand up on your other foot, I can get ahold of you.”
“I’ll try.” She gripped his hands a
nd let him pull her to a shaky stand on her good foot. Her breath came in rapid, shallow jerks. She crumpled just as he grabbed her.
He folded her into his arms, cradling her like a baby. Her body was completely limp, her eyes open but unseeing. He should lay her down, but not here. Not where they could be blown to smithereens.
He retraced his steps. Forced himself to go slowly, to study the path of crushed grass. Listened at each step to the flutter of air in and out of Betty’s lungs. Cupped the faint race of her pulse against his palm.
“You’re almost there, Jake.”
At Eve’s voice, he lifted his gaze to where she and Crystal stood waist-high in the grass a few yards away.
“Just a few more steps.” The tight lines around Eve’s mouth belied the calm of her words. “Do you think there’d be mines this far out?”
“Not taking any chances. Stay put and I’ll come get you after I put her down.”
“Her foot is dripping blood. We’ve got to stop the bleeding.” Eve spoke sharply.
“I’ll deal with it after I get you and Crystal out of here. Just don’t move. Promise me.”
“I can see where we stepped.”
“No! Risk your life and you risk Crystal’s too.”
She glared at him. He knew what she was thinking—if he could walk out, so could she.
“You’ll never forgive yourself,” he pleaded.
Her lips tightened. “All right. We’ll wait.”
The footprints of his bare feet replaced flattened grass. He stepped onto the beach and carried Betty to the pile of seashells Crystal had stacked near the cove. Betty was still out. Bright red drops dribbled off her foot onto the sand, marking their trail over the beach. He laid her on her back and made sure her eyelids were closed to the sun.
“Crystal, stop!”
Eve’s shout hurled him to his feet. Across the beach, Crystal’s head and shoulders bobbed through the grass toward him. Behind her ran Eve.
Chapter 21
White-hot horror flashed through Jake’s body. Muscles and mind locked up. Lungs and heart slammed shut. Only his vision worked, beach and sky disappearing as he pinpointed Crystal and Eve. The head and shoulders of each rose and sank, rose and sank, as they ran. Any second, any footfall, and a land mine could wrap them in a geyser of sand, metal, and blood.
Fatal 5 Page 87
