Fatal 5

by Karin Kaufman

  “Clever.” He ambled over to them. “You can’t see these windows from the beach because they’re on the seaside of the cliff. From the ocean, they look like nesting birds dug them.”

  “Hooey—so that’s what I smell. Birds.”

  The odor was overpowering, even at the windows with an ocean of fresh air outside. He shoved the empty nests overboard. “Best do this before Crystal wants to make pets of them.”

  In front of the windows lay a stone hearth, open on all sides so that one could walk around it. “No need for torches. Between the windows and the hole for the pulley, there’s enough light to see during the day, and they’d have the hearth fire at night.”

  “Look, furniture.” Eve strode to the other side of the chamber, where a long table of bamboo slats was surrounded by ten handcrafted chairs. A large tripod stood against the wall, a cauldron placed upside down on the floor next to it. “I bet they used that for cooking on the hearth.”

  “And look here.” Jake set a basket on the table. “A whetstone, cooking utensils, chopsticks, hooks and lines for fishing.”

  Eve reached in. “Needles and thread!”

  They investigated the room and brought more treasures to the table. A broom and two buckets, a small cast-iron pot, an axe and shovel, a dismantled radio.

  Jake tried out the radio to no effect. “Batteries are dead.”

  “What’s this?” Eve thumped a large book onto the table and opened it. The yellowed pages were filled with tidy columns of Japanese characters.

  “Probably journal entries logging war data.” He unfolded a map inside the cover and spread it on the table. “It’s in Japanese, but it’s clearly the Philippines.” An arrow pointed to a miniscule dot positioned at the extreme eastern edge of the Philippines. It lay on the southeast border of a sea-lane that threaded west through the larger islands and then north to the capital.

  “This is where we are.” He placed his finger on the island. “I suspect the soldiers’ mission was to report on traffic in this sea-lane leading to and from Manila. If so, that means we should be able to spot ships too. It also explains why the windows are on the north wall. This room was an observation post.”

  Eve carried the map to the windows and peered out. “Would the sea-lane be the same today as back then?”

  “No question about it.” As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, he spotted a darkened corridor in the wall farthest from the windows. The narrow hallway contained five ledges carved into each side. “I found the sleeping quarters,” he called over his shoulder. The beds were empty except for disheveled sleeping mats. No skeletons. With the exception of the Lone Soldier, the platoon lay at rest in the burial cave. No snakes, either—he double-checked the ledges to make sure.

  He reentered the chamber. Everything they needed to survive was here. His heart raced with excitement at the unexpected provision.

  “Look at this place.” Eve swiped her hand at the room. “It’s covered with bird poop. Everything—floor, table, chairs. No wonder it stinks.”

  He surveyed the room with new eyes. Indeed, what must be decades of bird droppings plastered everything forming a horizontal surface, with splatters on the walls, to boot. He cleared his throat. “It’s nothing a good scrubbing can’t handle. I mean, look around you—this room is fantastic! It’s like a miniature banquet hall in a medieval castle.”

  Eve’s mouth dropped. “You can’t mean you still want to—” She stopped, pressed her lips together, and glanced around the room. “You’re talking about taking a day to clean this, aren’t you?”

  “Yes.” He clenched his teeth. Here we go again.

  Her nostrils flared as she sucked in a long breath through her nose and slowly released it. When she spoke, her voice, though tight, was an obvious attempt to be amiable. “How about if I work on the signal fire to speed things along while the three of you work in here?”

  She wasn’t going to argue with him? Tension ebbed from his shoulders. “Sure. Good idea.”

  “Where?” She slipped the map back into the book. “Up where you found the pulley?”

  He crawled outside after her and gazed up the steep incline to the plateau. “It’s a bit of a climb, but, yes. It’s handy to the cave, and the fire would be visible to the north.”

  “I’m on it.” She took off at a trot across the trench.

  He returned to the cave to grab the two buckets. Outside again, he paused and rubbed his head. Now, how was it he’d ended up with the job of scrubbing while she did the hauling?

  * * *

  Betty groaned as Jake lifted her into his arms. Honestly, she’d have been better off if the land mine had blown her foot clear off. Then she’d have only a stump to heal instead of the shredded flesh aching on the bottom of her foot. At the look of concern on his face, she bit into her lower lip. “It’s okay, Jake. I’m dying to see this cave, and I’m glad to have something helpful to do for a change.”

  “You’re awful light. We need to fatten you up somehow.”

  She snorted. “We’re all skeletons.” She looked back at Crystal. “You coming, child? Are those buckets too heavy?”

  Crystal grunted a response that must have meant she could handle it. The two buckets were half full. The water sloshed against the sides like miniature tsunamis as she held them out from her body in an awkward balance act.

  “We’ll take the shortcut,” Jake whispered in Betty’s ear. “The going is rougher, but this way I think we’ll get more water to its destination.”

  The shortcut meant climbing the rocky incline east of the stream, all but sliding down its other side into the trench, and then wading through waist-high grass to the rocky bank at the other end. Betty clutched Jake’s neck. How in the world would Crystal manage this?

  “Don’t look back,” he warned. “Our Gymnast of the Ocean Cliff will figure it out.”

  Across the trench—good grief, almost two stories high—stood Eve. “We have to climb that?”

  “No. The cave opens into the trench. Eve is setting up our signal fire. You may want to join her after you see the task we face.”

  “Nonsense. We’ll have the place clean before sundown.”

  They waited at the entry for Crystal to catch up with them. Her mouth was set in a tight downward curve that dammed welling tears from spilling onto her cheeks. She kept her gaze on Jake, her stare reproachful but desperate with trust as she put one foot in front of the other. When Crystal’s steps faltered, Betty spied the Lone Soldier half-hidden nearby in the grassy bank. Oh my, he was a heart-stopper.

  Jake captured the buckets before Crystal dropped them. “Good job. Doesn’t look like you spilled a drop. Do you two want to say hello to the Lone Soldier before we go in?”

  Betty was surprised when Crystal didn’t slink to her side. Instead, the child stood her ground and turned her head toward the tattered sentry. “Hello.”

  Poor child. Betty extended her hand to Crystal. “Another time, Jake. I’m ready to see this cave.”

  They crawled inside, Jake first, then her, then Crystal. This time, Crystal sidled up to her while their eyes adjusted to the semidarkness. The odor of bird poop overwhelmed her nasal cavity. “Whoo-ee!” Cuddled against her, Crystal giggled. That was good. The stench was not. Had she said they’d have this place clean by sundown?

  “Rather than have you crawl over these bird deposits, let me carry you to show you around. Do you mind?”

  She stifled a groan as Jake lifted her. She’d never get well in a place smelling like this.

  With obvious pride, as if he’d carved out the place himself, he introduced Crystal and her to the cave’s features. He was right; after the cramped tent, it was like walking into a luxury hotel. Except for the mess left by the birds.

  “They chopped the whole room out of this rock?” Awe echoed in Crystal’s voice. “It must have taken forever.”

  “Not that long.” Jake edged a chair out from the table. “The rock is magma, part of the lava flow. It’s easy to dig ou
t, although there are a lot of sharp little rocks in it that are like pieces of glass.”

  He set Betty on the chair, pulled out a second, and lifted her injured foot to rest on it. Did the man not see the white plaster of bird droppings he’d set her on?

  He hauled in the two buckets of water and plunked one onto the table. “You start with the tabletop while I work on the chairs. Then I’ll bring the cauldron over and you can work on it. It was turned upside down, so it shouldn’t be much trouble. I’ll bring you more when you’re ready.”

  The man’s work ethic certainly wasn’t hurting. “What do I scrub with?”

  “Here you go.” He dug deep into his pockets and retrieved four clumps of tightly twisted grass. “Two for you and two for me. Crystal, you’ll bring more water as we need it, and in the meantime, keep us supplied with grass.” He reached into a basket on the floor. “Here’s a knife—cut the grass so it’s long enough to twist into scrubbers.”

  Knife? Betty gulped. She would never give Crystal a sharp knife like that. But to defy Jake in his buzz-saw work mode was too daunting to consider.

  “Cut away from you like this”—Jake slashed the knife into the air—“not toward you like this, so you don’t cut yourself. Got it?” He handed the knife to Crystal. “We’ll go through the scrubbers quickly, so keep at it until I need you to fetch water.”

  Crystal glanced at Betty and scurried out the entryway. Jake tipped the bucket onto the table, sloshed water over it, and attacked the surface with a scrubber in each hand. “I’ll catch the far corners for you before I start on the chairs.”

  A stench rose from the wet table, clogging her throat, wrenching her stomach. She leaned over and vomited onto the floor.

  Jake halted. “You okay?”

  “The smell . . .”

  “It won’t be so bad once we get the area near you cleaned up. I’ll move the chairs outside and postpone cleaning them so I can work on the windows. That’s where it’s the worst, from their nesting. Fortunately, the gulls are big enough not many of them got inside.” He tackled the table with even more vigor. “Just let me finish up here first.”

  She sat back, her head woozy. He splashed more water over the tabletop, wiped the gooey moisture onto the floor, and emptied the last of the water onto her vomit. “There.” He threw his shredded scrubbers onto her diluted stomach contents and grabbed a broom leaning against the wall. “I’ll sweep this outside and be right back.”

  She’d barely taken a breath before he returned to drag away the chairs.

  “I gave Crystal the bucket to fetch water from the beach. We’ll pour this other bucket over the table so you can get it done and out of the way.” Before lifting the pail, he held up his hands to display two new scrubbers. “She’s doing a good job with the grass. You can be proud of what a hard worker she is.”

  Betty quirked her mouth at the praise. Would he think her a shirker if she asked to switch jobs with Crystal? Water spattered her face and neck as he poured it onto the unscrubbed portion of the table in front of her. He dumped what was left onto the windows and set the bucket near the entryway.

  “If you can finish up before she comes back, we’ll rinse off the table with her bucketful and send her off for two more.”

  Well, she couldn’t just sit there while he worked on the windows and Crystal toted water. Gripping a scrubber in each hand, she rubbed at the pool of goo in front of her. She gagged, but nothing rose from her stomach. All right then, if she was going to have to eat off this table, it was going to get a good scouring. She held her breath and dug in.

  Two buckets of water and four grass scrubbers later, she sat back, satisfied the table was as sanitary as it was going to get. She moved on to the cauldron and utensils, stretching to lay them side by side across the table.

  “You’re standing!” Jake’s surprise broke her concentration.

  Goodness, she was! Somewhere along the line she had lowered her injured foot, pushed back her chair, and leaned against the table to rest on her good foot. “So I am!” Warmth at the achievement flooded her body. She dared to touch the toes of her injured foot to the floor. “Maybe it’s time for a moccasin and cane.” Jake appeared ready to jump to it. “Tomorrow,” she admonished. “I want nothing more today than to get this place clean.”

  “Anyone ready for lunch?” Eve crawled inside, wiping at her knees as she stood. “Is that what I think it is at the entryway?”

  “The, uh, puddle? I was going to get rid of it when we finished.” Jake gestured at the room. “So, what do you think? Does it smell any better?”

  “I don’t know how you can stand it.” Eve covered her mouth and nose. “All this water has done is magnify the odor.”

  Betty cringed. Had she gotten used to breathing the foul stuff? “I’m ready to eat if you can help me get outside, Jake.” Although he carried her to the cave door, she still had to crawl out, right through the ratty scrubbers and bird muck he’d swept through the entryway. Outdoors, his hands, legs, and clothing revealed he’d crawled through it several times.

  Her own hands, like his, were white with a thin layer of the goo they’d been scrubbing. She shuddered. “Take me to the cove, Jake. You and I aren’t touching anything more until we clean up.”

  After lunch, she made him bring the chairs for her to wash off directly in the cove. The salt-laden air cleared her head and lungs. Across the field with its hidden land mines and fence and trench, Jake and Eve and Crystal labored like determined ants.

  Every time Crystal fetched water, Betty received updates.

  “Jake carved hash marks on the wall to show we’ve been on the island seven days.”

  “Eve took our tent down and brought it over.”

  “Jake swept the muck over the cliff. Phew-ee!”

  “Eve wanted to build a fire to dry out the cave, but she said the hearth still smelled, so she’s scrubbing it all over again while Jake and I cut grass for the beds.”

  And with a fit of giggles, “A gull flew in and made new messes!”

  The sun was casting a kaleidoscope of reds and oranges over the ocean by the time Jake retrieved her. “The cave is ready, but how about if we take a look at what Eve’s done with the firewood?”

  Well goodness, he didn’t tell her it meant having to latch onto his back like a turtle shell. To scale the steep slope, he had to use both hands while she clung with all four limbs wrapped around him. He slipped twice, and once had to reposition the stranglehold she had on his neck. How had he and Eve ever made it up the cliffside they’d fallen over?

  Crystal, reigning Gymnast of the Ocean Cliff, scampered easily to the top to join Eve. “Wow, look what Eve’s done!”

  Oh my, it was impressive. Not only had Eve carried every twig, stick, and leaf to the new site, but she had also built a platform of large stones to stack the wood on. With the rope from the lighter, she had battened down the sailcloth over it to prevent the wood from getting wet.

  Obviously pleased with everyone’s praise, Eve untucked a pointed end of the sail and propped it up with a sturdy stick. “And look, we can also put the sail at a forty-five-degree angle, like this, to protect us from sunburn when we’re watching for ships.”

  The job looked just about right for a lame, old lady who couldn’t do much else, but Betty wasn’t sure turtle-backing it up there on Jake was something she wanted to do every day.

  With far less hassle going down than up, they descended to the cave. The muck was gone from the entryway, and a fire crackled inside on the hearth. While the moisture hadn’t entirely dissipated, the improvement in reducing the odor of the former feathered tenants was gratifying. Crystal’s seashell platters lay on the table, stacked with a variety of fresh fruit. A five-star hotel couldn’t have received a higher rating than these accommodations the four of them had worked so hard on.

  Jake carried her to the pristine table, which surely deserved as much praise as Eve’s pile of sticks and stones. No one said anything, but she beamed when Jake brough
t her a cane and a well-padded moccasin for her injured foot. The man was a marvel. Really, if anyone deserved praise, he did.

  “So, Jake, tomorrow we light the signal fire and start work on repairing the boat.” Eve all but said at last!

  “Not quite.” He set his coconut on the table. “Now that I can safely leave you three in the cave, I’m going to walk the perimeter of the island. I don’t feel comfortable working on the boat when there might be things on the island we don’t know about yet.”

  “Like what?” Eve’s response came quick.

  “Well, for one, we have no idea what’s on the other side of the island.”

  Betty’s spine tingled. Surely anything threatening would have showed up by now. And if there was something bad, what if it got Jake?

  Chapter 31

  “I’m going with you.” Eve blocked Jake’s exit from the cave. “And don’t tell me no.”

  “No.” He emptied the morning’s fruit onto the tabletop and readjusted the katana scabbard on his back.

  She huffed. “You shouldn’t go alone.”

  “Should we leave Betty and Crystal here alone?”

  Her mouth twitched down at his logic. There was no way she would abandon Betty and Crystal, if that’s what accompanying him meant.

  “I’ll be back tomorrow by sundown.” He stuffed some of the fruit into his pockets, stepped around her, and crawled outside.

  Then she’d just do her own exploring. The rocky slope above the signal fire would be perfect.

  She grabbed the kitchen knife and hacked furiously at the fruit. Nine weeks left before the Danny Romero trial. Each day she stayed on the island was a prison cell that bound her and freed Romero. She had to get off. One more day—she would give Jake one more day. Tomorrow, if he didn’t start work on the boat, she would. It had survived an explosion—repairing it couldn’t be that hard.

  After breakfast, she helped Betty assemble the moccasin for her injured foot, then lugged the tripod to the hearth and hung the cauldron while Crystal fetched two buckets of water from the stream. Mussel soup to surprise Jake was the target of Betty and Crystal’s day. Fine, because the last thing she wanted was anyone’s company.