by Ron Vitale
Ishmael strode out of the clearing with an armful of bananas and his canteen slung over his shoulder. He waved over to us and said, “Good morning. I’ve brought some food and water.”
We came out to greet him and to take some of the bananas from him. Before we could ask him any questions, he said, “I could not make it back to the beach, but I did search the surrounding area and found no trace of the islanders or of any survivors from either ship.”
I peeled off the skin of a banana and took a bite. I was hungrier than I had thought and ate the whole fruit in a few seconds. When I finished, Ishmael handed me his canteen. I took a deep draught of the cool water and hoped we would soon be off the island. Beautiful as it was, I did not want to stay here longer than I needed to.
Clarence ate his fruit more slowly and kept watch, scanning the other side of the clearing while he ate. “I would like to head back to the beach and pick a direction to search for the ship.”
Ishmael listened but then disagreed with him. “There is a small hill not too far from this spot. I climbed a tree earlier and could almost see to the beach. If we get to the top of the hill, we should be able to see for miles in all directions. If the boat is anywhere on this side of the island, we’ll know.”
“How do we stay clear of the islanders? I don’t want to have a run in with them again. If we stumble upon them, we won’t be able to fight them off with so few weapons.” I took a second banana, peeled it, and took a big bite.
“You know, I think you’re right. Going up the hill makes the most sense.” Clarence pulled a gun from his belt that he had hidden under his shirt. “I kept it out of the mud, and it should still work, but I only have a few bullets left. If we’re careful, we can head to the hill, scout the area to see if anyone is there, and, if not, head up and hopefully find the ship.”
“Then we should go soon. The islanders might be coming out to hunt us down, and I don’t want to be stuck here any longer.” I handed the canteen back to Ishmael. “Ready?”
“Okay, let’s go.” Ishmael straightened his pack and then headed toward the hill. I followed with Clarence by my side.
We kept at a brisk pace and did not look back. Determined, we forged our way through the jungle with one purpose in mind—get to the top of the hill. For a brief moment, I thought of Nathan, hoped he was safe, and then a deep disappointment settled over my heart. I knew that I could never change his mind but that I somehow needed to find my own way. I needed to make my own path in life, but before I could do that, I needed to get off the island alive. Though the sun shone brightly overhead, the somber realization that surviving and getting off the island might be harder than I had originally thought settled on me like a dense fog that hung heavy on my heart.
***
Nathan awoke with a start. Josep crouched in front of him offering him some water. “Here, take some water.”
Still caught between sleep and the waking world, Nathan recoiled and held his hands up in front of him.
“It’s okay. You’re safe.” He flopped his right arm, pretending it was a flipper. “I’m not going to change and eat you for breakfast.”
Pahukumaa stood naked by a tree, dressing into his clothes. Up above the tree cover, the sun would rise soon. The jungle, heavy with humidity and an oppressive heat, closed in on Nathan like a smothering blanket.
“Where are we?” The words came out of Nathan’s mouth, but he still had trouble connecting his thoughts.
“We’re still on the island. Just closer to the hill.” Josep did not say more and walked over to the rest of his clothes. His friend used the shirt to wipe off any remaining sand from his chest and then dressed.
“Thank you for the water.” Nathan put down the canteen and stood up, wary of the two of them. He could not see Zeke anywhere. “How long have you been able to change like that?” He did not know the right words to use and stayed clear of the two of them.
“It’s been near a year for me now. Pahukumaa, what about you?” Josep pulled down his shirt and brushed some sand from his shoulder.
“Just a few weeks. Nathan saw me get bit.” He kept his voice low, and with his thick accent, Nathan had difficulty understanding him. “But enough of all that, we should be quieter. If more of those wolf-loving islanders come back, we’ll have another fight on our hands.”
“I would prefer a fight.” Josep flexed his muscles. “Last night felt good. I haven’t had a good brawl like that in a long time. Keeps me young!”
Josep flashed a smile, and Nathan could not erase the memory of seeing his friends change into werewhales.
“When you first change, you’ll see what I mean!” Josep said.
Before Nathan could follow up with a question, Zeke burst out of the jungle. He appeared out of breath and sweaty. Fully dressed, he turned to them and said, “We have to go. They’re on the move. Last night’s skirmish has angered them, and we don’t have much time.”
Pahukumaa and Josep covered up where they slept as best they could with loose leaves and vines to help hide their tracks. A good hunter would be able to trace them with ease, but with any luck, they would get a head start before their sleeping spots were found.
“Pahukumaa, take the lead. We’re heading up the hill,” Zeke said.
Looking worried, Josep came up to Zeke. “Aren’t we going to try and find the ship?”
“The plan has changed.” Zeke went to turn away, but Josep took his arm.
“Wait a minute. You told us that we’ll head off this island and move on. Why have you changed the plan?” Josep asked.
“Because I did.” Zeke turned to look at Pahukumaa and Nathan. Both appeared puzzled and unsure of what to do. Relaxing a bit, Zeke put his hand on Josep’s shoulder. “I don’t know if we’re going to find the ship, and it’s more important to get to the hill. We need to get Nathan—”
“I don’t want to go there. You told me that we don’t have to go back there.” Josep spoke in a whisper.
“Things have changed. Now we have to go.” Zeke kept his voice firm. “I need you to trust me on this.”
Nathan broke into the conversation. “I want to go back to the ship. It would be the safest place to be.”
Zeke spun around. “We can’t do that. I think the ship has been sunk.”
“How do you know that?” Nathan asked. “The ship may have just been moved.”
“Trust me, I know.” Zeke gave no more of an answer and said, “The longer we wait here, the less time we have of getting away.”
“But why are we going to the hill if it’s a place that Josep doesn’t want to go?” Nathan asked. He found a tiny bit of courage that rose up in him and said, “Look, I’m being dragged all over this island. Last night I saw my friends turn into things that I cannot explain, and now I’m learning that our only way off the island may have sunk. I need more before I can follow blindly into the jungle that’s filled with islanders who want to kill us.”
“You mean islanders who can shapeshift and turn into wolves,” Josep piped up with a witty comment, and while smiling, he chewed on a piece of straw that he had in his mouth.
Zeke sighed. “It used to be a lot easier when I was just on my own.” He lowered his head and put up his hands. “Look, I’m sorry to all of you. I’ve been to this island before, and if we want to be safe, then we need to go to the hill. It’s the one place the islanders won’t come looking for us.”
“And for good reason!” Josep said. “You told me stories about that place when we first met, and I still have nightmares about it. If the hill were the last place on Earth for us to go during Judgment Day, I’d still not want to go there.”
“Well, it is the last place.” Zeke’s voice rose in anger. “Don’t all of you see? We’re surrounded by dozens of islanders who only want us dead. They took over the island since I was last here, and they’ll not compromise or negotiate with us. They simply want to kill us.”
“None of this is making any sense.” Nathan spat the words at Zeke and turned
away. “I should have gone with my sister.”
Zeke rushed over and grabbed Nathan by the collar. “Listen to me!” He spun Nathan around, and his face was flushed red. “If we don’t head over to the hill, none of us will be alive tonight. Now I’m headed over there, and I’d like the rest of you to come with me.”
Pahukumaa came by Zeke’s side. “I will go with you.”
Josep held off with his arms crossed over his chest and said, “Why don’t we just leave the island? We can all swim over to the next one and never come back. There’s treasure to be found in other parts of the world. We can find another ship, go see the Indian Ocean, and forget about this place…”
Zeke shook his head. “You two can leave the island if you like, but Pahukumaa and I are staying. It’s the safest place to be, and the islanders won’t come to the hill.” The morning sun cut through the jungle canopy and fell on his face. The warmth of the sun felt promising and good. “I can’t make either of you stay, but I’m not lying to you. If you leave now, I don’t think you’ll be alive by tomorrow.”
Nathan pushed past Josep and asked, “But how do you know? What is it that you want us to do? I’m trying to understand, but all of this is so sudden. I don’t know why you all kept that secret from me.”
A bird flew by him overhead and landed on a branch. The life surrounding him became fuller and more complete with each waking moment. Insects buzzed in the air and birds flew, trying to chase them. The green luscious world that surrounded them all hung heavy with humidity and the growing heat of the day.
Zeke took two steps forward and came toward Nathan first, but he held his hand out to Josep as well. “I know what has happened has shaken you to the core. That the challenges we go through are strange and fearful. I won’t lie and tell you that the road ahead won’t be difficult, but if we don’t go to the hill, we might never leave this island alive. Nathan, I started to tell you the truth of what I am when you had the vision by the ocean, but then the wolves attacked us. I wanted to show you what we experience and not frighten you by changing into a werewhale on the Truelove where you would be stuck with us. I know you have reason to mistrust me, all of you do, but we need to get to safety, and the only secure place I know is on top of the hill.” He turned back and looked at the path ahead to the hill covered in lush vegetation. “Please, we don’t have much time. We have to go.”
Nathan closed his eyes and listened, and the noise of the jungle blocked out any other sound. A monkey played with another off to his right, and everywhere he looked teemed with life. The way forward or backward was unclear, and that frightened him. “I’m afraid.”
The words fell off his tongue, and Josep laughed. “I once felt the same way as you. You’re more like us than you think. You just haven’t found your way yet. But trust me, we would not have found you and brought you in if you weren’t like one of us.”
“How am I like all of you?” Nathan did not hide the disdain and disgust at what he had seen last night.
Pahukumaa laughed and flexed his fists at his side. “Be careful, little man, or I will forget that you are one of my brothers.” The threat hung heavy between them.
Zeke pushed Pahukumaa away and said to Nathan, “If you leave this island, there are things here that will hunt you down and eat you. I’ve talked enough, and now we’re going. If you and Josep decide to stay, I cannot save either of you. You’ll be on your own in the dark.” He turned away and motioned to Pahukumaa, and the two of them headed off, following the path ahead toward the hill.
Nathan and Josep watched them go and both stood still. The sounds of their footsteps could still be heard off in the distance. Nathan faced Josep and asked, “Now what?”
A look of doubt crossed Josep’s face. He turned back toward the beach and stood there indecisive. “If we follow them, we may die.”
And Nathan added, “And if we stay, we may die as well. And the longer we stay here, the greater the chance that the islanders will find and kill us.”
Josep shook his head to correct Nathan. “Not just kill us, but eat us as they’re killing us.”
Nathan rolled his eyes skyward. “Great.”
“Maybe we should go after them. They might need our help.” Josep shrugged his shoulders and pointed the way Zeke had gone.
Nathan scratched his head, warming to the idea. “I guess I’d rather try to be a hero than run and hide.”
“Me, too.” Josep smiled and then took off at a fast run, heading after their friends. “I’ll get there first.”
Nathan ran after Josep with a smile on his face. “Wait for me!”
Chapter 12
I climbed the last few steps up the hill and wiped the sweat from my brow. The air, heavy with an oppressive humidity, hung desolate and calm with the midday sun that beat down on us. Clarence offered his hand to me, but I shook him off and finished the last bit of the climb on my own.
“We made it.” Clarence put his hands on his knees and bent over, gasping for air.
Ishmael walked the large perimeter of the flattened hilltop, staring out at the sea in all directions. He spun around as he walked and said, “It is beautiful.”
I could not argue with him on that. The blue of the sea, the whiteness of the sand, and the green jungle created layers of color that acted as one giant tapestry. Unfortunately, we were stuck in the middle of it all. Thick blades of green grass came to our shins on the hilltop with no other vegetation visible. Out in the ocean, the whitecaps looked like tiny ripples in the water as though a child had placed her finger in a puddle, creating ripples that shattered a placid puddle. The beauty of it all could not be denied.
“Now what?” Clarence kicked at a small rock, knocking it off the hill. “I don’t see any treasure.” He also spun around looking out at the ocean in all directions. “And I don’t see any ships. It’s ocean as far as I can see.”
“I want to be sure.” Ishmael walked away from us toward the opposite end of the flat hilltop. He shielded his eyes with his hand and scanned the western horizon, searching.
I followed him and turned to the east and looked, but unless the ship had gone far back out to sea, I could not see anything but ocean.
“Since we don’t see any ships, why don’t we focus on finding the treasure, and then we can come up with a plan to get off this island. If our ship has deserted us, or if it’s been sunk, then we’ll just build a raft and leave on that. We have enough fresh water that we can last for—”
“Shut up.” Angry, Ishmael turned on him. “I need to think, and your constant chatter is annoying.”
Clarence looked to me and quieted down, but I shrugged my shoulders. I had never seen Ishmael in such an angered state before. I walked up to him and simply stood by his side, waiting to be seen.
“I’m sorry.” He said the words more to me than Clarence. “I don’t see the ship your brother was on or ours and hoped that we might have some luck on our side today.”
“It’s okay. We’ll need to come up with another plan.”
Clarence left us alone and hung back, walking toward the center of the hill, kicking loose rocks to keep himself busy.
“What do you want to do now?” I asked him but knew he would not have an answer.
“Keep looking, I guess. I want to be sure.” He looked away from me and continued to scan the horizon.
“And what if the islanders come up here for us?” I asked.
“Then we will need to fight them off or we’ll die.” His matter-of-fact tone did not encourage me.
I squinted looking out across the water, willing a ship to materialize, but none did.
“Hey, I think I found something!” Clarence called out from behind.
Ishmael rushed past me and jogged over to Clarence. “What is it?”
“Look.” He bent down and picked up an old sword encrusted with rust. “How do you think this got here?” He held the blade up over his head and felt its weight in his hand.
Ishmael looked at the pommel. “I d
on’t know.”
I joined them. “Is there anything else in the area?”
Clarence used the sword to swipe away some of the surrounding grass and took a few steps to his right. When he took his third step, we all heard a crunching sound. He froze and glanced down. Taking the sword’s point, he moved away some of the thick grass and frowned.
The unmistakable shape of a skull took me by surprise, and I stayed back, unsure of what to do.
Trying to move away, Clarence stepped to the right, and I heard more crunching sounds. He moved away the grass and his face became paler. “I found another one.” He pointed down at the white bones. “This doesn’t look good.”
Ishmael held up his hand. “Everyone just stay still and keep calm.”
Clarence backed away from the second skeleton and stepped on a third. He jumped and spun around in a circle. “They’re all around us in this section of the hill.” He ran in the opposite direction we had come and ignored Ishmael.
“Wait!” Ishmael reached out to him but missed his arm as he ran past jumping over the remains. I caught up to Ishmael and glanced down at one of the skeletons. Most likely picked clean by animals and affected by the weather, only tattered bits of clothing remained on the bones.
Still running across the top of the hill, Clarence broke out into a full run. He turned back to us and said, “Let’s get off of here!” He spun back around, and as if by magic, he fell through the ground and vanished.
We heard his cry of surprise for a second or two and then nothing.
Ishmael ran to the spot where Clarence had fallen, and I rushed to help as well.
“Do you think he’s okay?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Just stay close to me and watch your footing.” He slowed down, careful to avoid the remains that littered this section of the hilltop.
“Anyone up there?” I heard Clarence’s disembodied voice from below.
“We hear you.” I called down as loud as I dared and tread carefully moving forward. “Are you hurt?”
