Delta-Victor (3 page)

Willow people
.

One of the men spoke. He seemed angry and gesticulated wildly.

Jim shook his head and spread his hands. “I don't understand.” He repeated it in Spanish.

The man spoke again. This time his tone was louder and angrier.

Jim shook his head. “What I would give for a universal translator right now. It sounds similar to Spanish, but not quite.”

Footsteps came from behind them. Three more men stood, blocking them in.

Jim immediately raised his hands in surrender. “OK, I think this might be a good idea now.”

Lou nodded. “'Cept I can't raise mine.”

Staci raised hers, only to have them pulled behind her and tied.

Jim's hands were tugged roughly behind his back and tied them together. “Hey, there is no need for this. Let us go.”

The leader spoke angrily again. He pointed at the temple. Another began to remove the spears.

“I think we upset them, somehow,” Lou said. “Not a good start. Maybe the temple wasn't such a good place to camp.”

One of the men picked up their bags.

Another took hold of Lou.

She lost her balance and accidentally knocked him with her crutches.

He yelped in pain.

“I'm sorry. It was an accident,” Lou said.

Another man snatched her crutches away and Lou immediately fell to the ground.

Jim tried to go to her defense, but was held firmly. “She can't walk without them,” he said. He repeated it in Spanish.

The leader glared at him and spoke again. He pointed at Lou.

One of the others swung her into his arms and set off down the path at a great pace.

The men behind Jim and Staci pushed them and made them follow.

The natives walked quickly.

Staci tripped and fell, unable to put her hands out to save herself. She cried out.

Without seeming to pause, a native scooped her up and carried her.

When they arrived at the village, Jim barely had time to look around before he and Staci were bundled unceremoniously into a hut. The door shut with a bang and was barred from the outside.

“Hello,” Lou said. “What kept you?”

“Well, that went well,” Jim said, not answering her question. “Maybe I should have packed the W
hat to Do When Shipwrecked for Dummies
after all.”

“Actually the
What to Do When Kidnapped by Unfriendly Natives for Dummies
might have been more useful. Or the
Where Not to Camp for Dummies
.” Lou paused. “Are you both OK?”

“My knee hurts,” Staci said. “It's bleeding.”

~*~

Jim led her into the single patch of light coming through the barred window. “It's not too bad, kiddo, just grazed.” He looked out of the window. From what he could see, the village was built around a central raised dais. Rather like a cartwheel, all the buildings were in lines radiating from a central point. He looked at Lou. “The village is built like...”

“The picture on the amulet,” Lou finished. “Yes. I just wish I could remember what the bird signifies or who the Jim statue really is.”

Jim looked back out of the window. “There's some kind of meeting going on. All the men of the village seem to be there. No women, though.”

Lou laughed. “That's our crime, then. We're women and you've been consorting with us.”

“It's no laughing matter,” Jim told her. “They look furious.”

“Well, there is nothing we can do about it. Maybe they'll let us phone the embassy or something.”

“I don't see any phone lines, do you? Or phone masts.”

The morning passed slowly and the temperature rose inside the hut.

No one approached or brought them any food or water.

Jim tried shouting through the window, but that resulted in the window being shut for an hour. When it was re-opened, a welcome breeze flowed into the hut.

“Don't antagonize them again,” Lou told Jim. “Hopefully one of them speaks English and all this can be worked out.”

“Where are your crutches, Lou?” Staci asked.

“Same place as our bags, I imagine,” Lou replied. “Just wish I knew where Deefer was. I hope he's OK.”

It was midafternoon before the bar was removed from the door.

Two men came in. One carried a tray and the other stood guard at the door. He put the tray down and left without a word, barring the door behind them.

Staci picked up the tray and carried it back across to them. She pulled off the cloth covering it. “Fruit and water.”

Lou took the cup she held out gratefully and sipped it. “It's not water, but it's cold. And I'm so thirsty I'd drink it anyway.”

Staci looked at the fruit. “Not much choice is there?”

“Well, beggars can't be choosers.” Jim picked up one of them and bit into it. “It tastes like a peach,” he said.

Lou took a piece. “My favorite.”

Darkness fell. Inside the hut, they could barely see. Stars shone through the small window and outside they could hear singing and drums beating. There was a fire too, as they could hear crackling and smell smoke. Soon they could smell meat roasting.

An hour later the door opened again. Another tray was brought in and the first one taken away.

Staci took the tray across to the others. “Meat, this time, and more of that drink.”

Again they ate and drank in silence.

Lou wondered briefly if the food was drugged, but she was too hungry to care. A wave of tiredness swept over her. She closed her eyes.
Just a few minutes
. Her leg hurt and she was incredibly sleepy.

She came to with a jolt. There was a faint light inside the room as the full moon shone straight through the window. She moved awkwardly. “Owww.”

“Hi,” Jim said. “You OK?”

“Yeah. How long did I sleep?”

“Two and a half hours. It's almost midnight.”

The door rattled as the bar was removed.

“What do they want now?” Lou asked.

“I take it that's a rhetorical question. Or do you really expect an answer?” Jim leapt to his feet as the door opened.

A lighted torch was carried in, blowing their night vision.

“It's all right,” a voice said in English. “I'm a friend.” The light revealed a girl in her mid to late teens, with a pair of sparkling brown eyes. Her off-the-shoulder dress reached the floor. Around her neck was a gold chain, which glinted in the torchlight and an amulet on her arm. Her hair was covered by a veil, as was her face—with the exception of her eyes.

“Who are you?” Jim asked, staring at the girl.

Lou raised an eyebrow. That wouldn't have been her first question, but she didn't think Jim was thinking straight right now. Not if the look on his face was anything to go by. Personally, she didn't trust any of these natives.

The stranger unclipped the veil that covered her face. “My name is Ailsa. I don't have time to explain. You're in great danger if you stay here. You need to leave. Now.”

Lou waited for Jim to take the initiative, but it looked as if she'd have to. If only he'd look at her like that. “OK, Ailsa. How do we know that we can trust you?”

“You don't, but we don't have time to stand here and debate the issue. I promise I don't mean you any harm. If you stay here you won't see the sun rise.”

“What about my dog? Is he safe?” Lou said.

“Your dog is fine. Please, you have to go now.”

Jim shook Staci awake. “Come on, kiddo. Time to get out of here.”

Staci stirred and gradually sat up. “OK.”

Ailsa handed Jim a torn piece of paper, which was faded with age. “Here's a rough map. If you go to this place you will be safe—until morning, at least. I'll bring the dog tomorrow. Here are your things. Now please, go. Hurry, before they come to check on you.”

Lou pulled herself up and took her crutches.

Staci got up and put on her rucksack.

Jim took the other bags.

Ailsa put the veil back over her face and opened the door. Having checked that the area was clear, she led them to the edge of the village, by the light of the torch. Once in the trees she looked at Jim. “Keep going. Don't stop until you reach the clearing. I'll come and find you at first light.” Then she melted into the darkness and vanished.

4

Jim shone the torch on their map. “We just follow the path, I think. Over the river, down another path, take the left fork and into a clearing.”

“In the dark?” Staci asked skeptically. “It's hard enough in the daylight. I'm tired.”

“We all are, Stace, but the sooner we get there, the sooner you can sleep,” Lou said. “And it beats being locked up in a hut that is as hot as an oven.”

The three of them set off.

Ailsa's map led them down paths that were straighter than the one they'd followed the previous morning. The river was easy to cross as it wasn't too deep. After twenty minutes, they arrived at the clearing. They settled down.

Jim and Stacy were soon asleep.

Lou missed having Deefer by her side, now accustomed to him sleeping on her bed—he wasn't allowed on the beds at home. Lou dozed fitfully, her dreams full of birds and Jim statues.

Staci woke her at first light.

Jim made a fire and started breakfast.

Soon afterwards Ailsa appeared with Deefer.

He flung himself on Lou, barking madly, as if he hadn't seen her for years.

“Get down, you silly animal. I'm pleased to see you, too.” Lou made a fuss over him. “OK. I heard you. Now shut up.”

Ailsa sat down beside Jim and unwound her veil. “There's trouble in the village,” she began. “They went to get you at dawn.”

“Annoyed to find us gone, were they?” Lou asked.

“Annoyed is the understatement of the year. They know I helped you.”

“But what had we done?” Staci asked.

Ailsa took a deep breath. “The temple you slept in is sacred. They take their religion very seriously. Not only did you trespass on sacred ground, there were things missing.”

“We may have moved things around a little bit, but I certainly didn't take anything.”

“The punishment for violating the sanctuary is death. I tried to tell them that you were strangers so you didn't know, but they said ignorance of the law was no defense.”

“How do they know you helped us escape?”

“It's a long story. The short version is I had to run away to save my life. I have nowhere to go.”

“So stay with us,” Jim said.

“I can't do that.”

“Sure you can. Not that I exactly know where we're going, but I don't see why not.” He turned to the others. “Can't she?”

Staci and Lou exchanged a long look.

“Sure, you can,” Staci said

Ailsa smiled. “I don't even know your names. I'm Ailsa Cudby.”

“I'm James Kirk, or Jim. This is my sister, Staci, and my friend, Lou Benson. The hairy one is Deefer. Now you know who we are, and you're probably safer with us than on your own.”

“Then, yes, I'd like to stay with you. Thank you.”

“Mind you,” Lou grinned. “You may live to regret it. We're kind of stranded here. We got shipwrecked a couple of nights ago.”

“Oh, I'm sorry. Were there no other survivors?”

“Only the three of us were on the boat. Four, including Deefer. We were trying to find Jim and Staci's parents who got lost after an earthquake and tsunami, only we ended up getting lost ourselves.”

“Are you from England?”

Jim grinned. “England via the Canaries, Grand Turk, and the Panama Canal, yeah.”

“On your own?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow, I'm impressed.”

“What about you? What are you doing in a place like this?”

Ailsa's face fell. “My parents were killed in a plane crash six years ago. I was the only survivor. I was picked up by the tribe and have been here ever since.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Surely someone would have looked for you when you failed to arrive at wherever you were going?”

Ailsa shook her head. “I don't know if they looked for us, but no one found me. It was a small plane. Just Mum, Dad, and me. Dad was flying, the engines failed and there wasn't time to get an SOS out. He and Mum were missionaries. They'd been working on some of the other remote islands and were enroute to Pagan. We crashed here.”

“Our parents are missionaries, too,” Staci said. “They're in the Philippines. We're meant to be rescuing them, but we got shipwrecked here on the way there.”

“Let's just hope we're not here for six years,” Jim said. “We've wasted enough time getting this far.”

Lou ignored the sideways glance he gave her. He could have said no and not agreed to her course changes. But she wouldn't dredge the past up now. Right this moment they had a more pressing issue. There had to be another village somewhere, hopefully one that was friendlier than the last.

“We should go,” Ailsa said. “They'll be here soon. They'll search the area systematically looking for me.”

The others nodded and began to pack up their few belongings. They broke camp and got to their feet.

Ailsa put dirt and leaves over the fire to disguise it. “So they won't know we were here,” she said.

“I don't know about that,” Lou said quietly. “Look at Deefer.”

Deefer stood stiff, with hackles raised. He looked at a fixed point in the undergrowth and was growling.

Jim followed the direction of his gaze and grabbed Staci's arm, pulling her close to him. “It's too late. They're here.”

Four natives leapt from the bushes.

Lou grabbed Deefer's collar and needed all her strength to stop him from attacking.

One of the men looked at Ailsa. “So Ailsa, why you here?” he said in halting English. “These bad, broke law. You good. You like daughter. Why you help them?”