Suspending Reality (95 page)

Jack raced through the brush, his feet pounding over crunching leaves and snapping twigs.

I gripped his shoulders even tighter, not daring to jump off just yet. “Think they’ll leave us alone?”

Mike peeked through a frond behind him, groaning.

My gaze darted over my shoulder. There were spiders galore. At that point, I realized Jack needed to put me down so he could run faster. A cold chill washed over me as I shimmied down his back.

Jack turned and clapped my shoulder, his eyes flashing with fear. “RUN!”

His wise words and worried tone registered a second later. If Jack was panicking, that meant the situation was serious. He was usually Mr. Calm Cool and Collected. My stomach lurched. Forcing my muscles into action, I raced through the ferns, hopping over logs and darting around moss-covered boulders. My breathing came in labored gasps as I sped forward, not daring to take another look back. I could hear the weird hissing, chirping sound through the jungle behind me, and it sent shudders down my spine.

I jolted to a stop when I saw a deep crevice in the ground. I peered left, then right. The hole was several feet wide, spread out as far as I could see. I figured if we could leap across it, we’d be safe from the cold-blooded web heads. There was no way the spiders would follow us across the chasm. I glanced over my shoulder; the arachnids weren’t in sight…yet. Backing up to gain momentum, I bounded forward, jumping five feet to the other side. Mike and Jack followed right behind me.

I knelt to catch my breath. “Most spiders can’t jump. I think we outsmarted them.”

Jack looked around, trying to get his bearings. “Let’s head back to the beach. We have to figure a way to get off this island.”

I nodded when Mike pointed. “Um, guys, they really want a taste of their new protein shake.”

To my horror, the red-flowered bushes started to quiver and rustle as spiders emerged, leaping across the gap, much like a grasshopper, with no effort at all. I rolled my eyes at my own naivety.
Did I really think those nasty things would give up so easily when we let their breakfast go? Geesh.

I bolted through the vegetation as ferns and branches slapped against me. After a few twists and turns through the brush and into a small meadow, Jack yelled for us to stop. I came to a halt, almost stumbling flat on my face.

Jack threw his hand up and gasped between breaths. “Dead end! Canyon…”

I eyed the ravine—a vertical drop of hundreds of feet. It was at least a good thirty feet to the other side. The steep, rocky formations of the two opposing cliffs made me frown. We’d break our necks trying to climb down; or worse, one wrong step, and we’d be impaled on one of the millions of razor-sharp red-stone spires lining the canyon floor. I scanned the trees, bushes, and ferns for a more viable escape route. There were none. Only spiders slowly advancing like the old-fashioned monsters in some kind of B-grade movie on a Saturday night at the drive-in.
Turn off the projector already!
I bit my lip. “They’re coming! We need to stall them while we figure out what to do.”

“I’m on it.” Mike charged toward the line of spiders, yelling like a banshee and swinging his arms in a wild frenzy. He frantically waved Jack’s shirt at the arachnids, like a flaming torch to ward off ravenous animals. The spiders scrambled back, hissing like a thousand angry snakes. How long would this ploy work?

At the bottom of the canyon were several trees resembling California redwoods; their tops towered over her head. I pointed. “We could shimmy down one of those!”

“Good idea,” said Jack, “but that’d be like climbing down a thirty-five-story building without proper equipment.” 

Mike shook his head. “Plus, don’t you think those eight-legged freaks will follow us in a heartbeat? Want to be mummified to the side of a tree?”

“Of course not,” I said, though I wasn’t sure what other choice we had. I peeled away my sweat-drenched shirt, scanning the area for another way out.

Mike handed me a long vine, thick as a rope, from one of the trees growing close to the edge. “Well, then…it’s Tarzan time.”

“What, you’re gonna swing across this gorge? You must be delirious. Are you sure one of those spiders didn’t bite you?” I looked over my shoulder and gasped. The army of agile hunters were still stalking and pursuing their prey, probably counting down the seconds until they could sink their fangs into their feast. Being wrapped up like a mummy and having my blood sucked out wasn’t an option either. I gripped the vine, praying it wouldn’t break, and hoping that Mike’s crazy plan would work. 

Jack took a deep breath and threw his shirt back on. “Ready?”

My legs shuddered beneath me, but I wouldn’t admit to fear. Mike and Jack expected me to be strong, like one of the guys. I wiped my forehead and then nodded; ready to do whatever it took to save our lives.

***
 

Beads of sweat trickled down my face. Being chased by spiders and swinging across some canyon on a vine that could snap at any given second took “nerve wracking” to a completely new level. It would be a leap of faith…literally. 

Jack gripped a vine tightly, till his knuckles turned white. He gave it a hard yank and then turned to face me. “It’ll hold your weight,” he assured me. When my lips pressed together in a grim line, he gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. “You can do this.”

“Of course I can,” I whispered. I nodded and glanced over my shoulder one last time. Only feet away now, a myriad of eyes glared at me, and in an instant, the spiders sprang. In one fluid movement, I clutched the vine, pushed off, and swung through the air, cool gusts of wind rushing against my face and whooshing in my ears. The rubbing of the vine and the creaking of the branch from the stress of my weight made me groan.
If this thing breaks...

Mike’s shouts echoed in the air. Extreme sports was always his thing, not mine. Relief flooded through me as I landed on solid ground on the other side. I hadn’t been liquefied into spider food, and I hadn’t splattered like a watermelon at the bottom of the canyon. Letting go of the vine, I fell on the soft grass, thanking God I was okay. My gaze drifted over to the spiders on the other side of the canyon edge. “Yeah, I’d like to see you try to jump that one!”

Jack smiled and held out a hand to help me up. Triumph flickered in his blue eyes as his dark, wild hair was tousled by the wind.

Standing a little too close to the edge, Mike shouted, “I don’t know what you are, but I’ll be sure to Google you when I get back. So long, suckers.” His strong arm hooked around my waist, making my heart flutter. “Isn’t gloating fun?”

I smirked, squeezing him back. “C’mon. Let’s go.” I focused all my energy on walking straight ahead and refused to look at whatever else might be in the trees. The thought of anything squirming made me shudder. I scanned my surroundings again: just lush, green jungle. There was no sign of spiders, but that didn’t mean they
couldn’t
be somewhere there, hidden in the thickets. I shuddered at the thought and grabbed Jack’s arm.

He gave me a pat on the back. “Let’s try this way. We can’t let spiders keep us from finding water.”

Mike nudged her shoulder. “Hey, Casey. How’s your throat?”

My throat?
“Huh?”

“Well, you were screamin’ pretty loud back there.” Mike put on his concerned look, but I could see the amused glint in his eyes. “If you want, I can take you back to the fires.”

I could have slapped myself for acting so wimpy. What would Mike think? Okay, from now on I’d put myself in Lara Croft mode and show off every single tomb raiding skill I knew. After all, I had a blond-headed Indiana Jones to impress.

I put on a brave front and slugged him. Mike liked his girls cute, but he also liked them to have guts—the kind of guts I used to have when I was pure tomboy and had no problem dangling creepy-crawlies in their faces. “No way! I’m game if you are.” I pushed past Jack and stomped down on some enormous green and purple leaves. “Tell ya what. I’ll even lead the way.”

“Tough, strong, and fearless. Now that’s the Casey I remember,” said Mike.

Yep. Lara Croft all the way.
I hiked through ten foot tall ferns and clusters of giant oval-shaped leaves and finally found a way to cross back over, without negotiating a huge gap in the canyon. While trekking through the jungle, I breathed in the salty air.

“Smell that? We’re back by the ocean.” I smiled when the sound of rushing water echoed from our right. I craned my neck, trying to see over giant blooming plants. I parted the large fronds and peered through. My heart jumped. Winding deep into the tropical rainforest was a magnificent river. Crystal clear water trickled over moss-covered rocks. Tiny red and blue fish—normal-sized, thank God—darted about. “Check it out!”

Jack gave me a high-five.

Mike grinned, picking me up and swinging me around. I felt dizzy when he put me down—and not just from being spun in circles. Wasting no time, Mike knelt down and cupped water with his hands, taking a long drink.

Jack held up a hand. “Wait! Shouldn’t we boil it first? Maybe we could use coconut shells or something.”

Small, smeared animal tracks lined the riverbank. I pointed down. “Look. There’s footprints everywhere. If these animals are drinking it, then it must be safe.”

“I don’t recognize these tracks,” said Jack, studying the imprints in the mud.

“Because they’re smeared.” I scooped up handfuls of water and let the refreshing liquid slip down my parched throat. Then I splashed my face.

“Just to be on the safe side, maybe we should still boil it,” said Jack.

I shot him an exasperated glance. “Okay, but I highly doubt the size of those spiders has anything to do with this river. This is an awesome find.”

He nodded. “Yeah, it is. You can go up to three weeks without food, but only three days without water. And another thing…this could be our Plan B. You’ve just got to have a Plan B.”

“Plan B?” asked Mike, washing his muddy sandals in the water.

“Yeah. We can follow the river if help doesn’t come. It might lead us to civilization, like a village or something.” Jack knelt down and swirled his hands in the water. He had probably come to the conclusion this was the closest thing we were going to get to a sink…a tub…or even a shower.

“Works for me,” said Mike.

I dipped my hands into the cool river and rinsed off my arms and face, and then splashed water on all the dirty spots on my shirt. The gross green spider goo came right off, and it was a good thing, because the thought of spider guts being smeared on me made me gag, Lara Croft or not.

Jack’s gaze swung to me. “Whatcha think of my plan?”

“Sounds like Plan B to me, as long as we don’t run into any more of those spiders.” I bit my lip as a thought occurred to me. Following that river wouldn’t help us one bit if this island was uninhabited, but I was sure that didn’t matter. We’d be rescued soon anyway. My parents would be relentless, hot on the Coast Guard’s tail.
Unless
…
Wait! Does the Coast Guard even come out this far? Maybe it’ll be the Fiji Navy.
My mom and dad would be hounding someone until their daughter was found.

As I bent to tie my shoe, a hard object jammed into my hip. I reached into my pocket to retrieve my cell phone. My heartbeat sped up; I’d forgotten I even had it. If it worked, then there’d be no need for boiled water, coconuts or a Plan B or anything! I flipped it open and stared at the black screen. Even pressing the ON button didn’t work. I felt like crying and screaming and tossing the useless cell on the ground, all at the same time—maybe even stomping it to pieces. “It’s dead…completely waterlogged,” I said aloud.

Mike’s shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Guess texting for a pizza is out of the question.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of an exterminator myself.” I smirked as I removed the battery and dried off the phone with my damp shirt. “All kidding aside, there’s still a chance the phone might dry out. It’s a waiting game now.”

Leaning against a tree, Mike blew out a breath. “What does it matter? No way we’ll get a signal out here in the middle of nowhere.”

“We can still use it to flag down a rescue plane,” said Jack.

Mike gave him a puzzled look. “If it’s fried, how’s that going to happen?”

Jack reached for the phone and ran his fingers over it. “The outside is silver. The suns will reflect off of it, and we might be able to signal a plane. A flash of light can be seen from fifty miles away.”

“Really? That far?” I asked. 

“Yeah, and you can use anything shiny too, like a belt buckle or canteen.” He handed the cell back to me.

I slipped the phone and the battery into my pocket. “There’s nobody else I’d rather be stranded with than you, Jack.”

Jack wrapped his arms around me. I could feel his heart racing. He put on a good show, but I knew he was scared to death. “It won’t be long before we’re back home,” he said, squeezing me tight.

“The sooner, the better.” I held back a sob, knowing that crying would only make things worse. I had to stay strong. “Okay guys, so what’s the very first thing a group of castaways should do for survival?”

“Find a volleyball and name it Wilson?” retorted Mike.