Sea (A Stranded Novel)

by Shaver, Theresa

  The shock of the cold water cleared the last of the pain from her head and after dunking repeatedly she felt her hair was puke-free. Once she got used to the temperature, she enjoyed treading water. It had been weeks since she was in a pool and she hadn’t realized how much she had missed it. Even so, she knew she couldn’t stay in the water very long or she would risk hypothermia. Scrubbing her clothes as best she could she stripped off under water and handed them up to Lisa who wrung them out and spread them out to dry in the sun. When she was down to her bra and underwear, she asked the boys to turn around so she could get back in. Lisa was ready with the other towel they had and she had gotten Emily’s spare clothing out also.

  Emily heaved up onto the side of the boat and rolled over the edge. When Lisa wrapped the towel around her she saw that Emily’s teeth were chattering and her lips had a slight blue hue to them.

  “Get that wet stuff off and pull on some dry clothes. I’ll hold the blanket up for you. You’re freezing!” Lisa said with concern.

  Emily nodded and quickly wrung out her hair over the side before rubbing her chilled skin with the towel and diving into her clean clothes. She hadn’t thought she would get cold after such a quick dip. She and Alex and their other friends had plenty of experience swimming in cold Alberta lakes but she had never done it before the end of May. After dressing, she wrapped the towel around her wet hair and tried to rub out as much water as possible. Lisa draped the blanket she had been holding up around her shoulders and settled down beside her.

  “I was going to jump in after you were done but after seeing your blue lips, I think I’ll pass.” Lisa said.

  Emily nodded. “Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be doing that again! Holy cow! That was brutal cold but at least the puke is gone. Now I just have a layer of salt on me.”

  She dived into her backpack again and came out with some toilet paper. She moistened it with a little bottled water and ran it over her face and hands. Taking out the baggie of sunscreen, she was thankful it hadn’t broken open during the storm and coated everything in the bag. She worked the cream into her face and hands before handing it to Lisa so she could do the same.

  The boys had finished washing out their stuff on the other side and Lisa carefully passed the floppy bag of cream over to David so he and Mason could coat their unprotected skin. Once they had repacked the supplies that had needed to be cleaned off and draped their clothes out to dry they settled down for food and water. There was no chance of making anything close to a real meal but the water and granola bars were enough to sooth their aching bellies. The almost continuous dry heaving they had done in the storm had taken its toll.

  There was no way of knowing where they were after the storm had tossed them around, but the sun was still rising and they could use that and the compass for direction. Emily was adamant that they all coat themselves with sunscreen and wear the hats she had packed. The ocean breeze kept them cool but the sun baked down on them.

  Lisa once again started off paddling, impressing Emily and the others. With all the aches and pains from being tossed around the night before Emily felt the soreness in her arms the most and didn’t mind a little more rest.

  Mason and David tried use the canopy as a type of sail but didn’t have much luck. They could tell that they were moving east but there was no way to tell how fast they were going or the exact direction. It was frustrating not having more control but Mason was quick to point out that it was better than sitting dead in the water. Emily tried to see it that way but she kept getting images in her head of them floating all the way back to California. She tried to stay calm and focused but after twenty-four hours at the mercy of the sea she was anxious and restless, constantly scanning in all directions for dark clouds. She tried to distract herself by thinking about what was happening at home but that just filled her with sadness and longing. The same feelings hit her when she tried to guess where Alex and the others would be by now. After being away from land for so long, it was easy to dream about what was happening there. She imagined that there would be refugee camps and military people helping to put things in order. Her fondest wish was that they would get to shore and find out that only California had been affected. Finally shaking her head, she focused on the people with her.

  Lisa had really surprised her. She had changed from a selfish, spoiled diva to a friend and helper. If anything, she was doing better than Emily was. David’s calmness never cracked. He just kept on going and took every hit in stride.

  She looked at him now and smiled at his sun-kissed hair. The muscles on his arms flexed as he rowed and when he turned his head and met her eyes, the concentrating seriousness on his face changed to a smile. When she smiled back, she felt a flutter in her belly and she looked away in confusion. David had always been one of her best friends but as the days passed she found herself looking at him differently. Had she been so blinded by Mason that she had overlooked what was right in front of her? When she felt a feeling of regret, she shoved it aside. This wasn’t the time or place to even think about these things. Even so, when she glanced back at him she couldn’t help but wonder if she was that clueless. Turning away again, her gaze fell on Mason. She was still on the fence about him. She had seen all his sides and hoped they could trust him but she just wasn’t sure. He had strongly objected to stopping to help the people they had lost the Lawless to and in hindsight he had been right but he hadn’t said one word about it.

  “Mason, I’m sorry we didn’t listen to you. You were right.” she said abruptly.

  He looked at her in confusion. “About what?” he asked.

  “You didn’t want us to stop and help those people and you were right. We lost our boat because of it so I’m sorry.”

  Mason started to shake his head. “No, no way. I was wrong, Emily. I was being selfish and scared. Even though we lost the boat, it was still the right thing to do. I’ve made a lot of bad choices in the past but I don’t want to be that person anymore. We tried to help and do the right thing. There was no way we could have known it would turn out that way.”

  Emily’s respect for Mason went up a notch at his admission and David and Lisa nodded as well. If they made it to shore there would be other situations that they would face when it came to helping others. Emily knew that they would be more cautious in the future but they would still try and help others if they could. Despite their current situation, she knew that they had been lucky so far. They’d had very little physical hardship and they had been eating well. She knew that millions of people couldn’t say the same.

  The day dragged on and they were all lost in silence for most of it. Lisa and Emily tried to play cards but the rocking boat made it difficult and after one game of go fish, they gave up. The hardest part was not knowing how far they had come or where they were. The storm could have sent them north towards Vancouver Island or it could have sent them south back towards southern Washington or California. The worst case scenario was that the storm had sent them west and further from land.

  It was late afternoon and after another boring meal of beef jerky and water everyone except Lisa, who was rowing again, had laid down to sleep. She was the only one who had slept the night before and they needed to rest. Emily was dozing. She was in that place between awake and full sleep when Lisa yelled out. Emily’s gritty eyes popped open and she pushed herself up and frantically looked around. David and Mason had sat up as well and they were looking around in confusion. Lisa was paddling hard and her face was a mask of determination.

  “What’s wrong, Lisa? Why did you yell?” Emily asked her in bewilderment.

  Lisa didn’t even look at her. She just grunted out, “Boat!” in between heaving breaths.

  Emily and the others scrambled up onto their knees and scanned the way ahead. It was Mason that spotted it.

  “There! It’s right there!” He pointed towards a dark shape ahead of them. David slid over to the emergency kit that had come with the boat and searched through it until he found the small pair
of binoculars. Turning back, he scanned ahead again and cautioned,

  “It could just be another dead boat guys. But even if it is we might be able to scavenge stuff from it.”

  Everyone waited impatiently while he looked through the glasses. It seemed to take forever before he lowered them and smiled. “There are people on deck! It looks like they are fishing.”

  He handed the glasses to Emily who was closest and she quickly brought them up to her eyes. When she had found the boat she squinted to make out two people who looked like they were hauling a net over the side. A sense of panic over took her and she almost threw the glasses at Mason as she dived for the other paddle. She shoved it at David.

  “Quick! We need to get closer before they leave. It’s late afternoon and it looked like they were hauling in nets. They might be done for the day. You’re stronger than me so paddle, please!” David’s eyes widened in understanding and he quickly moved to the side and got into position. Emily sat on her knees in the middle of the boat with her eyes locked on the fishing boat in the distance. She chanted a mantra in her head over and over, “Please stay, please stay...”

  Mason went to try and take over for Lisa but she just shook her head and kept paddling. He watched her in admiration for a minute before turning to the emergency kit that David had left open. From the corner of her eye, Emily saw him remove something and her whole body jolted away from him. Mason was holding a gun. She slapped at her pockets and remembered in a flash that she had put Mark’s gun in the bottom of her backpack. A whimper of fear escaped her.

  Mason looked at her terror filled face with shock and quickly looked down at the gun in his hand. “Emily! Emily, it’s a flare gun! We can signal them!” He tried to explain.

  When her frozen brain finally understood what he was saying, she fell back onto her butt and dropped her head in to her hands. When she felt Mason put a hand on her shoulder, she looked up into his sad eyes.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Mason. I just flashed to Mark when I saw the gun in your hands,” she whispered.

  He shook his head in disbelief. “I would never hurt you or the others. I know you don’t trust me but please know that.”

  The hurt in his eyes sent shame flooding through Emily. As he turned away she grabbed his wrist.

  “I know you wouldn’t, Mason. I really do! It’s just that in the past three days, I’ve had two people point a gun at me and I panicked. Honestly, it wasn’t you. It was the gun!” she pleaded with him to understand.

  He searched her face for a moment before nodding and squeezing her hand in understanding. Then his face went fierce. “I will protect you. No one will hurt us again!”

  He turned away before she could respond and all she could think was, “Wow”. She glanced towards David and he gave her a quick nod before focusing back on his paddling.

  Emily grabbed the binoculars and looked at the boat ahead of them. She could see that they were on the other side of the boat now, pulling up a different net. It wouldn’t take long before they were done and if she guessed right they would leave. She wanted to scream in frustration at how long it was taking to get closer. They had to signal them but they had to do it when the people were looking so it wouldn’t be missed.

  “Get ready, Mason. When I see one of them turn this way you need to shoot the flare,” she told him.

  “Just say the word. I’m ready!”

  Through the glasses, Emily watched as the people pulled the fishing net on board. The sun shone off the silver fish that spilled over the edge of the boat and disappeared onto the deck. She barely let herself breathe while waiting for one of them to turn. When it finally happened, Emily almost fell backwards. It seemed from a distance that the man who turned around was looking straight at her. She yelled, “NOW!” and jumped when Mason fired the flare. Her eyes followed the flare as it zoomed up over their heads and then she quickly brought the glasses up and looked to the boat to see if they had seen it. After finding the focus again, she found herself looking at two people that were waving their arms above their heads. Emily couldn’t quite make out their features but she thought it was a man and a woman. The person she thought was a man lowered his arms and moved away from the woman and disappeared.

  “They see us, guys! I think they see us!” she told the others.

  Lisa slumped back against the side of the boat and tried to catch her breath. David leaned back also and rested his paddle on his knees. He wiped the sweat and salt spray from his face with his sleeve before speaking.

  “Do you think they will come and get us?” he panted.

  Before Emily could answer, they saw the boat turn towards them.

  “Here they come. Please let them be nice people!” she begged.

  Emily closed her eyes at the thought of more misfortune finding them. She looked at her backpack and decided she would be ready for anything. Snagging it with her foot, she pulled it closer and dug deep into it until she felt the cool metal of the gun. She pulled it out and stuffed it into the pocket of her jacket. When she looked up, Mason was looking at her with a frown on his face. Emily nodded at the flare gun he was still holding.

  “Are there more flares for that? It’s not ideal but it could be used as a weapon.”

  He opened his mouth to say something before closing it and slowly nodded. He turned to the emergency kit and pulled out two more flares.

  David looked at Lisa and told her “Keep that paddle with you. You’ve got a great swing. Don’t hesitate if things go wrong.”

  Lisa gripped her paddle close to her chest and gave a sharp nod. The sound of the fishing boat’s engine was getting louder and they all turned to watch it approach. Everyone in the lifeboat was struggling with their emotions. They were excited at the possibility of being rescued and wary of what kind of people might be on the fishing boat. Emily prayed that they would be decent and willing to help them get to shore. She hated that there was an automatic suspicion after what happened on the Lawless.

  When the two boats were about fifty feet apart, the sounds of the engine changed as it reversed and slowed to come alongside the lifeboat. This close, Emily could clearly make out the features of the woman that was staring down at them from the deck. She was an older woman and Emily guessed her age to be in the sixties or early seventies. She had a kind but weathered face, like she had spent many years outdoors. The woman had a concerned expression on her face but as the distance closed it changed to one of astonishment. She turned away and Emily could clearly hear her yelling at the man.

  “Luke! Luke, they’re kids! There are four teenagers in that boat. Hurry up and help me get them on board.” She turned back and yelled over the side at them. “Just hold on! We’ll get you out of there in a jiffy!” and she disappeared from view.

  Emily looked to the others to gauge their reactions. They all seemed to relax slightly, but David looked a little apprehensive still.

  “I think they are okay but just stay sharp.” He reached over and started to gather up things that were loose and stuffed them into the closest backpack.

  Mason nodded and emptied the emergency kit supplies into another pack. There were still a few clothes draped out to dry so Emily and Lisa folded them up and packed them away. It didn’t take long before the fishing boat was alongside them and David used his paddle to manoeuvre the lifeboat down its side and under the ladder. He tied them off on it and shouldered his pack. Looking up he could see the woman staring down at him with concern. The man who must be Luke stuck his head over and waved David up the ladder. His face was weather-creased and brown with sun like the woman's and his eyes were also concerned.

  David scrambled up the ladder and felt strong steady hands grip him as he came over the rail. He almost panicked and struck out at them until the grip changed to a pat on his back.

  “There you go, young fella. You’re safe on board now. Don’t you worry; we’ll get all you kids up here safe and sound,” the man said in a gravelly voice. He turned away and peered over the sid
e for a moment before reaching out and helping Lisa over the rail. Emily and Mason quickly followed and the kids grouped together on deck, watching the two strangers warily.

  The woman scanned them each in turn and nodded to herself.

  “Well, you all look healthy enough. You must not have been out there for too long. My names Joanna and that’s my husband Luke. We were just headed back in when we saw your flare. Good thing too as the weather will be turning in a few hours and you kids would have been battered right hard in that little dinghy. Well, come on then, let’s go get settled and you can tell us your story on the way.” She waved them towards the cabin but none of them moved.

  David stepped forward. “Ma’am, we just want to say thank you for picking us up but could you tell us where we are and where you are taking us? We haven’t had the best experiences with people out here and we are a little nervous right now,” he said seriously.

  The woman’s face made a comical “oh” expression before it turned thunderous. She looked at the two girls and then swung back to David.

  “Did somebody hurt you kids?” she asked in outrage. Before David could respond she barrelled on. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that on my boat! No sir, Luke and I will take care of you and see that you get to shore. Oh, you poor babies! Imagine that! In a disaster like this people should be coming together to help each other. Unbelievable!” She seemed to run out of steam then and when she took in the wide-eyed stares, she smiled reassuringly and said softly. “It really is okay. You’re safe with us.”

  Emily felt tears come to her eyes. This woman was so much like her granny who would also go off on tirades. In an instant, she felt like a little kid again. After all they had been through; here was an adult that wanted to take care of them. She found herself pushing past David as the tears broke free and wasn’t surprised at all that Joanna opened her arms and wrapped them around her in a comforting hug.