Eden (10 page)

“Nihilo sanctum estne?” she says, exasperated, her eyes big and circular.

Noah shoots her a puzzled look. “Really? How odd.”

“That’s what I said!” Evelyn tries to contain her excitement. “There is something about her, Noah. I can’t put my finger on it just yet, but I am certain of it.”

Noah allows the moment to settle, and a large sheepish grin starts to take form. “Well, I do have a theory about that.”

“Of course you do,” Evelyn responds sarcastically. “Well, let me have it, captain.”

“I think Mia may be a clairvoyant,” he says matter-of-factly, his grin has now twisted into a wicked smile.

“Oh bollocks,” Evelyn dismisses, rolling her eyes.

“How else would you explain it?” Noah pleads.

This elicits no immediate response from Evelyn, as she ponders. “I’m not sure, but I am going to get to the bottom of this, I assure you.” She crawls past him to exit the tent.

“Where are you going?” he asks.

“I need to get some air… it’s far too hot in here,” she declares, leaving Noah to chuckle to himself.

Chapter 8

The cool chill of night has given way to an abundance of heat radiating from the early morning sun. As a new day rises on the crescent shaped beach, the plight of the survivors remains unchanged. In their haste to find land, they couldn’t have chosen a more unfortunate location. The narrow stretch of beach spans roughly three kilometers across, bookended by sheer walls of jagged rock. To complicate matters further, the shallow but dense forest behind them offers no source of fresh water and comes to a dead end at the base of a massive grey peak.

Noah has kept himself busy, working through the night to create numerous freshwater traps. He has collected two full canteens of water, in addition to a few plastic bottles he has found, but he knows it’s not nearly enough for everyone. His only option will be to ascend the steep mountain that walls off their beach to find a source of fresh water. In the meantime, he has taken to gathering what’s left of the life rafts and chopping down long stalks of bamboo. During the wee hours of the morning, Hiroshi had offered his assistance, and together they made plans to construct a shelter large enough for the entire group.

The others have grown restless. No longer needing to huddle for warmth, they have wandered about, some searching for food, others staring out to sea like zombies in hopes of sighting their rescue. The highlight of the morning comes when Alice stumbles across a stow of luggage washed up on the shore. While the unexpected bounty is appreciated by most, one person in particular finds it devastating. One of the found suitcases had belonged to Margaret Fulmer, Patrick’s wife. Their excitement is short lived, as Patrick’s reaction to his wife’s red leather suitcase reminds them that the rightful owners of the luggage have most likely died. Evelyn tactfully takes the heartbroken man aside and orders those within earshot to take the luggage to the campsite. She assures him that his wife’s belongings will not be ransacked and that she personally will go through the remaining bags to salvage only what can be helpful for the others. Patrick, while saddened, is rational and easily amenable to Evelyn’s suggestion and even offers to volunteer with the scavenging duties, which she is happy to indulge.

Luna Saito has also been keeping busy by collecting a substantial amount of flax leaves and other medicinal plants found during a brief survey of her surroundings. She intends to use the sap from the flax as an antiseptic to treat Jeremy’s leg, as well as several other wounds sustained during the crash. Upon entering the campsite, she is relieved to see Hiroshi working with Noah. She knows her husband needs to occupy himself, and it appears he is doing whatever he can to make that happen. When Noah sees her, he calls out, “Is that flax you’re carrying?”

“Yes, it is,” Luna responds, lowering to the ground a makeshift gunnysack that she improvised from a piece of the raft.

“Outstanding! Will you need all of it?”

She wipes the sweat from her forehead with the top of her right thumb. “No, I just need a few leaves. I figured I would grab as much as I could hold since we can use it for so many purposes.”

He kneels down to inspect the long sword-like leaves. “You just saved me a trip. Thank you.”

Luna bows her head in acknowledgment, but her eyes are set on her husband splitting a long rod of bamboo in half. She gestures toward Hiroshi. “My husband, how is he?” Her voice brims with concern.

Noah shrugs his shoulders. “As well as can be expected. He seems to want to be busy and I certainly could use his help.”

“Good. That’s good.” She places her hand on Noah’s arm and pulls herself closer to him. “He is terribly distraught, not only because of the loss of our daughter, but also by what happened afterward, when we were in the lifeboat,” she quietly confesses. We feel shame that our grief may have caused others to lose their lives.” She stops and wipes a few tears that have begun to fall.

“Luna,” Noah says, shaking his head. “Luna, please, no shame is warranted. I can’t imagine what you and Hiroshi must have been going through at that moment. No one, and I mean
no one,
holds you responsible for what happened out there. All that matters now is doing what we can to get through this. And we can only do that by working together.”

“You are very kind Noah, thank you.” She lets go of his arm. “Do you and Evelyn have any children?”

“No, not yet, but now that I am retired from the army, that might be in order.”

“You should; you are a good man, Noah. I think you would be doing the world a great service, if you ever do.”

The statement strikes Noah as strange, but he thanks Luna graciously. He grabs an armful of the flax leaves and walks them over to Hiroshi, who will split their husks and weave them into a rope to fasten the bamboo stalks. In what seems like a short time, Noah and Hiroshi have erected the base of what will be a functional shelter. They design the roof to have a forty-five degree arch and line it with a large section of the rubber raft. By constructing a simple gutter using bamboo, the shelter will collect water from rain or dew. Their efforts are bolstered when Jacob and Sarah offer to help, and soon, several others join in as well.

In some respects, the combined efforts are an exercise in futility, but the activity provides a much needed diversion; there are even moments of laughter when Max whistles the tune made famous by the movie
The Bridge on the River Kwai.

The good mood is cut short when Josette returns from a long and aimless walk. She is a petite French woman in her mid-forties dressed in a loose-fitting grey chiffon pantsuit. Her blouse is sleeveless with a scoop neckline that reveals a chest full of freckles and she drags her jacket listlessly across the sand. Her face is beet red, and she has obviously been crying for hours on end. She stops to take in the scene before erupting: “How dare you all act like this is some fucking summer camp! What is wrong with you people?”

Evelyn tries to diffuse the situation. “No one is being insensitive; we are all just trying to get through this together.”

“Together? That’s a load of bullshit coming from you! I have lost everything! What have you lost?”

Patrick, helping to sort through the luggage, is quick to come to Evelyn’s defense. “Josette, that’s not fair. Noah and Evelyn are doing everything they can to help.”

“Oh really, Patrick? And what has the brave captain done to help us, huh? Other than give us a false sense of hope. The last time I checked, we’re still on this miserable fucking island!” she hisses, turning to Noah with eyes full of venom. “So where are they, captain? Where’s the fucking rescue you promised?”

Her outburst has brought the entire group together, but all eyes are on Noah as they wait for him to respond. As he slowly draws near Josette, he catches the eyes of some of the others; he can see that most of them share her frustration. He looks squarely at Josette and in a calm and even voice, addresses the entire group.

“You have every right to express how you are feeling. I too feel it’s odd that we have not seen any sign of rescue, and I could stand here and come up with a multitude of reasons as to why that is, but that would be conjecture. We can only control what we can control, and right now we must prepare ourselves for the possibility that we may be here for an extended period of time. As I told you last evening, I am not completely sure where we landed but I did have a look around and from the amount of Southern rata trees I found, it would be safe to assume that we are on the South Island of New Zealand.” He turns to face Mrs. Saito. “Luna, what do you think?”

Luna steps forward. “I agree. I found several native plants that are indigenous to the South Island.”

Noah nods. “As you can see, we are stranded on a tough stretch of beach. Our two most pressing concerns at the moment are shelter and fresh water. As you know, our shelter is currently underway, and last night I set up several water traps that should get us through the day. But they won’t sustain us if we’re here beyond that. I have found no source of fresh water thus far and the mountain behind us has cut us off from what I would assume is plenty of it. That is why it is my intention to climb this mountain and find a source of fresh water. While I’m up there, I will light a signal fire in hopes of speeding up our rescue efforts. From that elevation, I should get a better bearing on our location. Beyond that, I know people are hungry, and I will do what I can to forage for food, but I will need your help —
all
of your help. If we are to survive this, we all need to pull together. Does everyone agree?”

There is a telling silence as the castaways come to grips with the possibility of being stranded on this narrow beach for an extended period of time. They look at one another, trying to decipher what this means. Jacob raises his hand and Noah quickly urges him to speak his mind. “It’s obvious to me that you are the most experienced survivalist among us. I will contribute in whatever way you see fit. Just tell me what you want me to do.”

Several others echo Jacob’s sentiment. Whether it was Noah’s words or the reaction of the others, Josette, standing in the middle of the group, droops her head. Her long matted brown locks drape over her face. She lets out a long sad wail and then collapses to the ground as if shot, her knees breaking her fall. She cries indiscernible words as several people, including Noah, come to her aid. He puts his arms around her, and through her sobs, she apologizes over and over again as several others hush her pleas and try their best to soothe her. Others are also brought to tears as they begin to accept their fate.

With the tension released and the castaways focused on staying alive, Noah goes through the ranks and systematically distributes duties among them. Luna will lead the foraging efforts due to her extensive knowledge of herbs and edible plants, and she takes Sarah and Alice with her. Evelyn and Patrick will continue to sort through the found luggage while she tends to the injured man who has shown some improvement and is now stabilized. Hiroshi and Jacob will finish the shelter, with Hank and Tom assisting. Noah asks Craig and Josette to comb the beach and bring back whatever they can find, whether containers for water or any food.

Their roles defined and the objectives clearly stated, Noah begins to prepare his backpack for the climb, when he notices Max swaggering toward him, full of purpose. The brash lad motions to his waist. “That’s a cool belt.”

“Thanks.” Noah’s utility belt holds a long silver baton amongst several other gadgets.

“Is that a Spider?”

“You’re familiar with the Spider?” Noah pulls out the baton and hands it to Max. The Spider is an essential tool in any mountain climber’s arsenal, serving an array of functions while taking a minimum amount of space in a pack. Made entirely from Inconel 625, the strongest steel known to man, it is virtually indestructible.

“I am, actually.” Max holds the baton at eye level and presses the top button on the handle, releasing a mountain axe from its stock in the blink of an eye. “That’s so cool,” he proclaims. “Some guy had one of these when we climbed Carstenzs Pyramid last year.”

Noah is surprised. “Carstenzs Pyramid? That is a technical ascent. You must be an avid mountain climber.”

Max’s face lights up and his lips begin to curl upward, exposing his megawatt smile. “I am,” he admits. “I’ve climbed five of the Seven Summits.”

Noah is impressed, especially given Max’s age. “Which two haven’t you climbed?”

“Vinson and Everest,” he says. “I’m saving Everest for last.”

“That’s no small feat, Max. I’m impressed. I haven’t matched your record.”

“Really?” Max asks, in near disbelief.

“Yeah, really. I’ve only climbed Denali and Everest.”

Max shakes his head, stroking his stubbly chin. “Wow,
only,
” he chuckles. “How many tries did it take you to finish Everest?”

He shrugs nonchalantly. “I did it in one.”

“Whoa, that’s awesome.” After a moment of awkward silence he changes the subject. “Are you going to climb that mountain alone?”

“Well I was planning on it, but....”

“So I can be your copilot?” Max interjects, his big brown eyes full of hope.

Noah smiles at the young man. He can see the fire in him, his eagerness and confidence oozing. It’s a look he recognizes, having seen it in himself when he was that age, so young and utterly fearless. He looks beyond his protégé to the jagged peak that lies in front of them. He knows the perils of climbing solo and that having this kid at his side is a far more sensible option. He has the gear for a second climber, and another body will ensure they can carry more water for the others.