Horizons (22 page)

“Where is it?” Kelly wailed, upon failing to sight it.

Blair shaded her watering eyes against the glare of the sun and railed, “Curse these contact lenses anyway! Whenever I need to see something, they blur or make me tear up. I can’t see a bloody thing!”

“There!” Zach pointed at a tiny si
lver speck nearly out
of range. “There!”

Kelly thumped him on the b
ack. “Quick! Light the signal
fire, Zach!”

Contrarily, now that the wood was dry, the lighter wanted to malfunction, much in the way a car tends to flood when the driver is in a rush. Afte
r several false starts, during
which Zach wondered if they’d depleted the butane at precisely the wrong moment, the flame flared. The dry
coconut husks that formed the base of the stack caught like tinder, and within mere seconds, the entire underside of the large pile was ablaze,
licking hungrily at the larger
pieces of driftwood atop it. Even as a fledgling fire, long before the flame would be visible from afar, smoke bellowed upward, beckoning in the breeze like a flowing gray
banner.

“Oh, please let them see it!” Kelly prayed aloud. “Please I let them find us!”

Blair was hopping up and down excitedly, resembling a rotund rabbit. “They’re coming closer!” she shrieked. “It looks like they’re heading straight for us!”

Indeed, the minuscule spe
ck in the distance had become
noticeably larger, the noise of the rotor louder. Kelly and Blair began waving their arms at it. Sydney, thinking it a game of some sort, did likewise.

“Save your energy,” Zach advised. “They’re too far away yet to see or hear us, though they can probably see the smoke.”

Kelly dashed toward the path to camp, calling as she went, “They’d see a blanket, wouldn’t they?” It only took a few minutes to collect the blankets and scoop their most important possessions, including her tote bag, into them. She arrived back on the beach, dragging
it all behind her, as Santa might have hauled an overstuffed toy sack, Zach spotted her and ran to help.

“Good grief, woman! What all have you got there?”

“Everything we might want to take back with us,” she huffe
d, “including your precious turl
e shell.”

Zach laughed. “Afraid you might miss your ride out of here?”

Kelly gave a vigorous nod. “I’m not leaving anything to chance.”

Zach grabbed one of the blankets, and began waving it over his head like a flag. The helicopter had advanced toward them considerably in the short time Kelly had been gone. She estimated it was halfway to them now, from where it had been when they’d first seen it. With Sydney tugging at a flapping corner and trying to help, Blair and Kelly hoisted a second bl
anket and began awkwardly fling
ing it up and down.

The chopper kept coming, getting larger with each anxious minute. Then, much like a plane might tip its wings in acknowledgment, it sort of wagged its tail section from side to side in a single, deliberate motion.

“They’ve spotted us!” Zach yelled exuberantly. “This is it! This is really it! We’re being rescued!”

While Zach continued to wave and shout, Blair and Kelly dropped their blanket, joined hands with Sydney and each other, and launched into a joyous impromptu jig. “We’re saved! We’re saved!” they chanted giddily, while Sydney piped repeatedl
y, “Ring-a rosie, ring-a-rosie.
”

Then, emotionally overwhelmed, they collapsed onto the sand and sat there, tears of gladness and relief streaking their faces. “Oh, God!” Blair sobbed happily. “We’re going home! I’ll see my babies again!”

Kelly hugged her, rocking with her. “I know. I know. Isn’t it wonderful?”

Their celebration was interrupted as Zach bellowed,
loudly and angrily, “What the hell?”

They glanced first at him. He was shaking his fist and
c
ursing now. Their gazes followed his, and to their vast bewilderment and disappointment, saw that the chopper was now retreating just as speedily as it had advanced. Kelly leapt to her feet, jumping and waving at it in wild,
jerky actions. “Wait! Come back! Don’t leave us! You can’t!”

Chapter 22

B
lair was inconsolable. Kelly was in a near-numb state of disbelief. Zach was beside himself with fury. Poor Sydney was simply confused and upset, unable to understand what had put the adults into such a dither.

“
I
don’t understand it!” Zach ranted, thrusting his fingers through his thick hair in frustration. “They saw us! I could swear they saw us and signaled to us!”

“Then why would they just fly off like that?” Kelly muttered, emotionally drained.

“I don’t
know, damn it!” he snarled. “I
just don’t know! Maybe they’re waiting for an engraved invitation to tea!”

Kelly glared at him. “You don’t have to be so sarcastic! And don’t yell at me. It’s not my fault!”

“I’m sorry, okay?” he barked. “It’s just so blasted maddening!”

“So close,” Blair sobbed. “So close! It’s not fair!”

“Maybe they’ll be back,” Kelly said. “Maybe they were running low on fuel or something.”

Zach rolled his eyes. “How much more fuel would it have taken to set down here and load us up before heading back to wherever they came from?”

Kelly shot him another irritated look. “How should I know? Do I look like a pilot?” She suggested another reason. “Maybe they didn’t have enough space to land. The beach isn’t very wide.”

“Maybe,” Zach grumbled. “They certainly wouldn’t want to hit the trees with the blades and crash the thing.”

“Yeah, then we’d have been stranded with a new set of greenhorn castaways,” she retorted with a snort. “I don’t think I’m up to training a whole new batch.”

“If you’re right,” Blair sniffled, “perhaps they went for other help. Like a ship, or something.”

Zach considered this. “That would take awhile, I suppose.”

“How long awhile?”

He shrugged. “Depends on how far from us the nearest one is. Maybe a day or more, I’d guess.”

“I don’t care how long it takes, I’m going to sit right here until someone shows up,” Kelly stated stubbornly. “I’m not moving from this beach.”

“Me, either,” Blair concurred. “This is where they’ll look for us, and if we go back to our regular camp, they won’t see us.”

“All right, we can spend the day, and the night, here. We won’t even have to build a new fire,” Zach reasoned. “We’ll just keep feeding the signal fire.”

As the day progressed, they did move into the shade to escape the hot sun, and when necessity demanded they go for water or visit the latrine or gather food, at least one of them always stayed behind, to keep watch. Hours passed. Hope waned, despondency taking root.

It was about an hour from sunset. Blair was napping. Zach was trying to spear a fish for supper. Kelly was sitting
on the damp sand, desultorily helping Sydney build a sand fort, when she heard an odd tooting sound, just loud enough to be heard over the pounding of the surf. Shielding her eyes from the glare of the slanting sun, she peered out to sea. A dark shape bobbed on the waves. She blinked, and when she focused on it again, she could just make out the silhouette of a ship.

It was too soon to tell if it was just passing by, farther out, or if it was actually coming in their direction. Kelly didn’t know if she should alert the others or keep silent until she was more certain. She didn’t want to get their hopes up, only to have them dashed again. She waited anxiously—wishing it nearer, praying, hardly daring to hope. Slowly, at what seemed a snail’s pace compared to her thudding pulse, the ship crawled closer, the bow now pointed toward the island. Again, louder this time, the horn sounded.

Kelly couldn’t stand it a moment longer. She jumped up and dashed into the surf, calling Zach’s name. She halted only long enough to turn and tell Sydney, “Go wake Auntie Blair, Syd. Now!”

Zach was just making his move with the sword-spear, when Kelly yelled at him. Involuntarily, he jerked, missing a good-sized grouper. “Damn!” he cursed, watching the fish swim away. Then Kelly came thrashing through the water, creating waves and stirring up sand like a human Mixmaster. “Crap! With all that racket and fuss, you’ve probably scared away every fish within ten miles!” he snapped.

“I don’t care!” she trilled. “Look, Zach! Look! A ship!” He whirled around so fast, he nearly lost his footing. She caught hold of his arm, and they both teetered for a moment before catching their balance.

“Oh, Lord!” Zach breathed, scarcely believing his eyes.
“I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. If this one goes by, I’m going to sit down and bawl like a baby.”

Behind them, on shore, Blair was dashing around like a headless chicken, screeching, “The fire! Help me build up the fire!”

They scrambled for shore, and hastily tossed the last of their collection of wood onto the fire. In no time, it was roaring like a blast furnace. Zach’s only worry was that the wind might kick up and set the whole island ablaze, but if that’s what it took to get the ship to stop, he was willing to do it.

As it turned out, measures that extreme weren’t necessary. A quarter hour after she’d sighted it, the ship dropped anchor some distance out, but close enough now that they could see the sailors milling about on deck. It followed that the crew could also see them waving and dancing around on shore. As they watched in wired anticipation, a rubber dinghy was lowered over the side. Three men climbed aboard, revved a small outboard motor, and began bouncing their way over the waves, toward the island.

Kelly thought surely her heart was going to explode in her chest from sheer excitement. “Where do you suppose they’re from?” she asked. “I hope they speak English.”

“I don’t care if they speak Swahili,” Zach claimed. “In fact, as long as they get us off this island, I don’t care if they’re Mongolian headhunters or a traveling ballet troupe decked out in pink tights and tutus.”

Blair giggled. “They’re Americans, I think. That’s your flag flying off the mast, isn’t it?”

Zach caught a glimpse of the pattern as it fluttered in the breeze, but enough to identify the red-and-white stripes and the blue corner of stars. His eyes misted and his throat closed up. Never had he been so glad to see that flag, and never would he take it quite so much for granted again. The rubber craft, after first heading directly for them,
veered to the right. After the morning’s experience, Kelly began to panic. “Where are they going?”

Zach drew her close, holding her to his side. “Calm down, love. I imagine they’re just trying to find a better place to negotiate past the reef. They don’t want the coral ripping the raft to shreds. C’mon. Let’s go meet them.”

Kelly needed no more urging. Grabbing Sydney into her arms, she loped down the beach, Blair and Zach right beside her. They arrived just as the craft drew onto the beach.

Blair let loose a delighted shriek, and ran toward the black man alighting with two men in sailor’s suits. “Gavin!”

Kelly had to chuckle. The way Blair launched herself at Gavin, anyone would have thought the two were long-lost lovers. He endured the embrace for a moment, then set her on her feet in front of him, complaining in pure-Gavin style, “Whoa there, little mama! Watch the lips! They’re blistered to beat hell, along with the rest of my body. This sunburn business is the pits!”

At this, everyone else burst out laughing. Gavin blessed them all with a frown. “What? Did you think only white folks suffered from this sort of thing?”

Kelly hugged him lightly, pecking at his cheek with her lips. “I love your tan,” she teased. “Sure hope you don’t peel.” Before he could comment, she asked, “Did Alita come along? Is she okay?”

“She went on to Honolulu, but she’s fine. As beautiful and bitchy as always, even if she does look a little like Rudolf.”

Zach stepped up, and enveloped Gavin in a loose bear hug. “Man, it’s good to see you! We were worried out of our minds.”

“So were we,” Gavin admitted. “Especially after our water ran out. Then, just when Alita started eyeing my jugular with this really weird look on her face, this cruise
ship appeared. Next thing I know, we’re guzzling champagne and lolling around in a bubble bath as big as a swimming pool, and getting the royal treatment—after we informed the captain about you and the location of the island, of course. He passed the word on to the navy, and they picked me up on the way.”

Kelly gave an ironic shake of her head. “Leave it to Alita to get rescued by a cruise ship instead of an oil tanker!”

“I’d settle for a garbage scow, and not mind a bit,” Zach declared.

“Will a U.S. navy vessel do, sir?” one of the sailors inquired politely.

“Yes, indeed.”

“Are you ready to board, then?” He waved toward the dinghy. “Ladies, first. Here, let me help you with the little girl.”

Kelly had one foot over the rim when she remembered her traveling bag and bundle, still several yards down the beach. She backtracked hastily. “Wait! I’ll be right back! I’ve got to get something!”

“Her bottomless bag,” Gavin surmised.

Zach nodded and laughed. “I guess, like American Express, she never leaves home without it.”

“And aren’t we all lucky she doesn’t?” Blair put in with a feminine smirk.

“
C
ozy, wouldn’t you say?” Zach ushered Kell
y into the
tiny cubicle which would serve as their sleeping quarters , for the next several hours.

She looked around at the postage-stamp size room. “You, Zach, are a master at understatement. I’ve seen broom closets larger than this. Superman’s telephone booth had more space.”

He chuckled and drew her close, not merely because
he wanted to have her crushed to his chest, but to enable him to shut the door behind them. “I know it’s a bit cramped, but it’s all ours, darling. Privacy, at long last, and perhaps the last we’ll get for a while. Once we get to Hawaii, I imagine things will be rather hectic.”

She had to agree. The captain had already told them that their families had been notified, and were being flown, courtesy of the airlines, to Honolulu to meet the ship when it arrived. Moreover, they were now the top news story of the week, which meant they stood a fair chance of being swamped by the media.

“I thought I was supposed to share a room with Blair and those two women sailors, or sea-women, or whatever they’re called,” Kelly said. “And you were supposed to bunk with Gavin and a couple of male crew members, weren’t you? How did you finagle this?”

“By talking myself blue in the face and throwing myself on the mercy of two lonely sailors with sweethearts waiting for them at home.”

“I see.” She eyed the double bunk skeptically. “So, which teensy-weensy bed do you get? I’d prefer the lower one, if you don’t mind.”

He grinned at her. “If you think I’m taking that top bunk, you can just think again. We’ll be sharing the lower one. It’ll be a tight squeeze, but we’ll make it work, with a few innovative contortions, I suppose.”

“They’d better be awfully inventive, lover boy,” she informed him drolly, “because this is going to be like trying to make love in the backseat of a Volkswagen bug.”

He drew her over to the bunk, a mere two steps backward, and began undressing her. “Do you want to ride top, or shall I?”

She ducked her head to peer at the metal underside of the upper bunk. “I’ll take the mattress, thin as it is. This being your bright idea, you can bump your backside on
the overhead frame, thank you. I
just hope it doesn’t sound like someone bea
ti
ng on a bass drum.”

He gave her a lopsided, rascally grin. “I’m sure your cries of ecstasy will drown out any noise I make banging it—and you.”

She tugged playfully at the dark lock of hair drooping across his forehead. “So gallantly put, you silver-tongued devil. But might I remind you, I’m not the one who lets loose with that warbling yell, like Tarzan slidin
g down a greased tree vine.”

After one extremely awkward session in the bunk, they piled pillows and blankets onto the floor in the narrow walkway beside the bed, and proceeded from there. Much, much later, Kelly collapsed atop Zach with a sated sigh. “One of these days, we’re actually going to get to do this in a real bed, and we probably won’t know how to act.”

“We need a soundproof bedroom to go with it,” Zach told her. “You nearly smothered me, pushing my face into your chest that way.”

She giggled. “I was only trying to muffle your shouts. And we can’t have a soundproof room. How would we hear the baby when it cries?”

“That’s why they make monitors, darling. So Mommy and Daddy can have their private moments and still hear the little rug rat.”

“Speaking of dads, it was nice of the captain to patch your call through so you could check on your father’s condition.”

Zach sobered. “Yes, I
just wish the news was better. I’m thankful that Dad’s alive, and that he went ahead with the tests, but I wish they could have found a blood donor and done the heart bypass. Mom says they’ve been trying medication in the interim, but he’s got to have surgery soon.”

Kelly stroked his chest soothingly. “Now that you’re back, they’ll probably schedule it as quickly as possible.”

“Will you be there with me, when they do? I’d really like to have you there.”