was a total stranger! And yet the feeling was so vivid Will could almost see the words imprinted in the fancy metal.
Impossible. And yet it wouldn’t be the weirdest thing that had happened to him in the last few days.
Was he losing his mind?
And then he heard a word that had been very much in his thoughts lately: Lyssa.
“Yeah, she was already in the water when I found her,” the blonde was saying. “I’m not sure how she got there. We’ll ask her.”
Ask herlWill stiffened like a pointer. They knew where she was!
He struggled to force his sluggish mind to reason it out. He couldn’t let them get away. He had to attack! There were two of them, but he had his bow and arrow. He wogld squeeze his sister’s whereabouts out of them if it was the last thing he did. If they wouldn’t talk, he’d
What? Shoot them? He’d never have the guts.
He thrummed the bowstring with his free hand. Yes, / would.This is life and death. I shot that boar and I’ll shoot them .
The two boys were no more than twenty feet away. Will prepared himself to spring. They would never get any closer than this
The moment passed. Will squinted at their receding backs. He took no action.
There was a better way.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Day4,9:45 p.m.
Luke shone the beam of the flashlight at the survival pack.
Just that simple act seemed like a miracle. Only yesterday, the setting of the sun had signified the end of all activity on the island. Darkness was final, total. Now they had artificial light, courtesy of the inflatable raft.
While JJ. and Ian had searched for Will, Luke and the girls had moved the covered lifeboat from the small cove where it was beached to a spot just inside the trees at the castaways’ camp. It wasn’t easy to maneuver such a bulky object through heavy jungle it had to be rolled, carried, squeezed, and sometimes tossed. But it was all worth it when Luke took the cover off the survival pack.
“We’re rich,” he breathed.
No, this was much better than money.
Conveniences.
Small aluminum pots, pans, plates. Plastic cups and cutlery. Compass. Knife. Lighter and waterproof matches. First aid kit. Fishing line and hooks
There it was. Macaroni and cheese. A hole opened up in his stomach. Fruit could keep them from starving, but this wasreal food. Big too. The label read: SERVES TEN.
He had an insane desire to bite into the package straight through the shrink-wrap. Ha! The others would kill him, and they’d be right. He set it back in the survival kit. This was their last meal, their safety net. They had to preserve it for when they were really desperate.
He hefted the raft’s water keg. It was almost empty, but it would still come in handy. In the coconut shells, the rainwater was always mostly evaporated by the time they got around to drinking it. Now they had a reservoir they could close. That was a big help.
Tokeep us alive so we candie here , he thought suddenly.Or bemurdered .
That was an ongoing battle Luke’s brain versus his morale. He got through the days by setting realistic goals for himself: Find food. Find water. Keep looking for Will.
Twoshipmates you’d written off as dead showed up today , he reminded himself,If that won’t keep your spirits up, nothing will .
He sighed. These days, survival included winning these arguments with himself.
With the keg under his arm, he ducked out of the raft’s sun canopy that loosely covered the lifeboat like a tent. The other four sat around the fire. The dancing light of the flames played across their faces. It felt unreal, like a movie scene. Luke guessed that he had interrupted a conversation.
He picked up a coconut shell, careful not to spill a drop. “From now on, let’s use this keg to store our water.”
“Good idea,” said Lyssa. “Hey, Luke, what do you think happened to Radford?”
Luke clenched the shell harder. Out of six crew members who hadn’t been too fond of thePhoenix’s mate, Luke had the strongest feelings.
Impossible. And yet it wouldn’t be the weirdest thing that had happened to him in the last few days.
Was he losing his mind?
And then he heard a word that had been very much in his thoughts lately: Lyssa.
“Yeah, she was already in the water when I found her,” the blonde was saying. “I’m not sure how she got there. We’ll ask her.”
Ask herlWill stiffened like a pointer. They knew where she was!
He struggled to force his sluggish mind to reason it out. He couldn’t let them get away. He had to attack! There were two of them, but he had his bow and arrow. He wogld squeeze his sister’s whereabouts out of them if it was the last thing he did. If they wouldn’t talk, he’d
What? Shoot them? He’d never have the guts.
He thrummed the bowstring with his free hand. Yes, / would.This is life and death. I shot that boar and I’ll shoot them .
The two boys were no more than twenty feet away. Will prepared himself to spring. They would never get any closer than this
The moment passed. Will squinted at their receding backs. He took no action.
There was a better way.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Day4,9:45 p.m.
Luke shone the beam of the flashlight at the survival pack.
Just that simple act seemed like a miracle. Only yesterday, the setting of the sun had signified the end of all activity on the island. Darkness was final, total. Now they had artificial light, courtesy of the inflatable raft.
While JJ. and Ian had searched for Will, Luke and the girls had moved the covered lifeboat from the small cove where it was beached to a spot just inside the trees at the castaways’ camp. It wasn’t easy to maneuver such a bulky object through heavy jungle it had to be rolled, carried, squeezed, and sometimes tossed. But it was all worth it when Luke took the cover off the survival pack.
“We’re rich,” he breathed.
No, this was much better than money.
Conveniences.
Small aluminum pots, pans, plates. Plastic cups and cutlery. Compass. Knife. Lighter and waterproof matches. First aid kit. Fishing line and hooks
There it was. Macaroni and cheese. A hole opened up in his stomach. Fruit could keep them from starving, but this wasreal food. Big too. The label read: SERVES TEN.
He had an insane desire to bite into the package straight through the shrink-wrap. Ha! The others would kill him, and they’d be right. He set it back in the survival kit. This was their last meal, their safety net. They had to preserve it for when they were really desperate.
He hefted the raft’s water keg. It was almost empty, but it would still come in handy. In the coconut shells, the rainwater was always mostly evaporated by the time they got around to drinking it. Now they had a reservoir they could close. That was a big help.
Tokeep us alive so we candie here , he thought suddenly.Or bemurdered .
That was an ongoing battle Luke’s brain versus his morale. He got through the days by setting realistic goals for himself: Find food. Find water. Keep looking for Will.
Twoshipmates you’d written off as dead showed up today , he reminded himself,If that won’t keep your spirits up, nothing will .
He sighed. These days, survival included winning these arguments with himself.
With the keg under his arm, he ducked out of the raft’s sun canopy that loosely covered the lifeboat like a tent. The other four sat around the fire. The dancing light of the flames played across their faces. It felt unreal, like a movie scene. Luke guessed that he had interrupted a conversation.
He picked up a coconut shell, careful not to spill a drop. “From now on, let’s use this keg to store our water.”
“Good idea,” said Lyssa. “Hey, Luke, what do you think happened to Radford?”
Luke clenched the shell harder. Out of six crew members who hadn’t been too fond of thePhoenix’s mate, Luke had the strongest feelings.
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