Salvage
The vessel was capsized, and he could see a gash near the keel deep below the waterline. Staring at that maw of splintered wood, he could see now why it had sunk so quickly. The storm had dragged it across the sharp rocks, pretty much tearing out the bottom. He had never seen such extensive damage to a boat before. There was no chance of getting it seaworthy again, but that didn't mean it couldn't be useful. It lay heeled almost completely over, caught on the reef.
"The tide and the storm surge must have covered it earlier," Cammy remarked.
Lance pointed to some smaller objects floating nearby, pieces of wreckage or supplies from the yacht. "Let's go collect those," he said. "They might be useful. And I want to see if I can retrieve anything from the boat while the tide is low. Come on."
The three of them hurried down the beach to the liferaft. They climbed in, and Lance took the oars. Luckily, Cammy had not untied the securing lines for the oars in order to fit them into the rubber rings in an attempt to row, so the oars had remained secured to the liferaft.
It took a little effort to get out past the breakers, but soon they pulled up alongside the broken hull of the Siren's Song. Lance pointed to some large pieces of the sail floating nearby. "You two see if you can gather those up," he told them. "If we dry out that sail cloth, it will help to make a good shelter."
"Where are you going?" Autumn asked.
He grinned and pointed down to the submerged yacht.
"You're not serious?" she said, stunned. "But... what if you get trapped inside?"
"I'm a pretty fair free diver," he replied. "I can hold my breath for about five minutes. Besides, I'm not going to go exploring; I'm going after something in particular, and I know exactly where it is. I'll be down there two, maybe three minutes tops."
"You be careful," Cammy told him.
"I will," he nodded. "Don't worry; at the first sign of danger or if I decide I can't find my way without getting lost, I'll come right back out."
Autumn stared at him and looked like she was going to say something, but she kept her silence. It was obvious that she didn't like the idea of him going down there. Of course, he didn't like the idea either; free diving was always a little risky, especially without a direct path to the surface and someone there with you to drag you out of the water if needed. Cammy knew CPR, but it would do him no good if he got trapped inside the wreck. No, he had to operate completely under his own power.
Lance took a few quick hyperventilating breaths, ignoring the slightly dizzying euphoria that came with them, then took one deep breath and slipped over the side of the raft into the water. He took only a couple of seconds to orient himself, then grasped the nearby gunwale of the yacht and used it to navigate toward the dark opening to the interior.
As he passed into the darkness, he wished he had his diving watch. Not only could he use it to tell him how long he had been under, but it also had a luminous face, making it easy to read and providing a little more light. But he had lost it either when his arm was bashed against the companionway railing last night, or later after being washed overboard.
He glanced back to make sure the opening was clearly visible. As long as he remained in the main passageway, he would be able to see his way to safety. He took note of the position; it was all too easy underwater to lose one's bearings and forget which side was up. It was important to orient oneself with a known sight.
The once-familiar confines of the boat took on a strange, alien atmosphere here under the water. Familiar sights juxtaposed with unfamiliar colors and orientation produced an uncanny effect that threatened to upset his confidence in finding his way to his goal, and he was tempted to admit defeat and return to the surface. Only the clear sight of the main hatch opening behind him gave him the courage to continue.
Fortunately, his was the aft cabin, which made his journey shorter. At the angle that the boat lay, the door would be below him. He soon found it, and pulled it open.
As he slipped down into the nearly pitch black room, he thought about how long he had been down here. Time seemed to flow strangely underwater; what seemed like only a few seconds could actually be a minute or two. He had learned not to trust his sense of time when diving. Expert free divers learned to estimate how much longer they could last by the sensations in their chest and know a minute or two ahead of time before they ran out of air. That was why they could stay under so long; they knew not to panic at the first sign of pressure in their chest. The world record was over ten minutes, but Lance wasn't quite as trained. As soon as he sensed that he would need to take a breath soon, he planned to drop what he was doing and return to safety. He figured on ten seconds to get out of the cabin even if he had to search for the opening above, then another fifteen down the passage and up to the surface. That would give him plenty of time.
He had to grope around in the darkness to find his way. He thought of what this cabin looked like in daylight, especially the tactile details that could guide him by touch. He moved toward the end of the cabin and the closet. Finally, his hand settled on the knob. He turned it, and suddenly it burst open and he was attacked by all of its contents. Clothes tangled in his arms and legs, and he had a moment of panic as visions of getting caught up in it and not being able to escape filled his thoughts. He forced himself to calm down; he was naked, so there was nothing for the coat hangers or fabric to catch on. At worst, he would suffer some scratches.
Soon enough, the items drifted down and settled on the bulkhead of the cabin, and he was free again. He thrust his hand into the closet and searched around. Eventually he found what he was looking for: a large package, vacuum-sealed in an airtight plastic cover. He took no time to check for leaks; he didn't have enough air to waste any time. Taking it by a handle at the top, he dragged it out to the cabin. It took some exertion to pull it up and out of his cabin into the main passageway, but eventually he got there. The sunlight shining through the main hatch opening was a welcome sight after the darkness of the cabin. He was starting to feel the squeezing in his chest that meant he was running out of air, so he grabbed the package and propelled himself towards the hatch opening and daylight. The bundle was too heavy to float, so as soon as he reached the entrance he left it there and swam upward. A couple of seconds later, his head broke the surface of the water and he glanced around.
Cammy and Autumn were only about ten feet away, dragging the torn pieces of sail into the liferaft. Autumn's eyes lit up with delight and relief as she spied him. Then she looked away, not wanting to appear too excited. He swam over, then reached up and rested for a minute with his arms on the edge of the raft.
"I found the survival kit," he smiled. "Even if we salvage nothing else, the trip will be worth it. Wait here."
He dove down again and grabbed the package. It was a strain, but he managed to drag it to the surface. He had weighed it before the trip, and it was about thirty pounds, so it wasn't the lightest thing to be carrying. The water made it feel much lighter, but it was still bulky and hard to drag to the surface. The girls helped him pull it into the raft, then he climbed in himself and rested there, tired after the exertion.
"You had us worried, Lance," Cammy told him. "You were down there a very long time."
"I told you it would be two or three minutes."
"Neither of us has a watch, but I was counting seconds in my head. It was closer to five minutes."
"Really?" he asked, shocked. He hadn't realized he had been down so long. Now that he thought about it, not having a watch with him wasn't the only risk he had taken. "I must really have hit my head earlier, to be so foolish," he commented. "Diving without a line to lead me back to the surface, even diving at all so soon after being unconscious. The last thing I needed was a prolonged period without air. I took a serious risk there. Well, let's just chalk my poor judgment up to fatigue so that I don't have to feel so embarrassed about making a couple of stupid mistakes like that."
"You shouldn't have said anything," Cammy grinned. "Neither Autumn nor I would have even thought anything of it if you hadn't mentioned it. I'm just glad you're back. You scared us. Autumn said she was about to go in after you."
Lance stared at his sister's friend, surprised to know that she would have risked her life to rescue him. He knew she liked him, but he had never thought of her as particularly brave. Then again, physical fears and social fears were different. One of his friends who had accompanied him to the top of Everest, for instance, could stand on the edge of a thousand foot drop and not bat an eyelid, but would freeze up and panic any time he had to do any kind of public speaking. Lance shouldn't underestimate Autumn just because she wasn't good with words.
"Thanks," he told her with a smile. "I appreciate that."
"I didn't mean anything by it," she blurted out. "I just don't think our chances of survival are very good without you."
He could have told her that it was nothing to be ashamed of to be concerned about his well-being, but he decided just to drop it. "Let's get our bounty back to shore," he said instead, reaching for the oars.
"Oh no you don't," Cammy said, slapping his hand away. "You look exhausted. I'll row."
"Thank you," he nodded, actually relieved that she had offered to take his place. After his exertion the thought of rowing back to the beach didn't excite him in the least.
Lance lay down in the boat and rested, letting Cammy take the oars. He stared up at the blue sky, noting with interest how foreign a solid color could appear to eyes used to seeing many things at once. It reminded him of their predicament. Back home they had so many things to occupy them: school or work, friends, family, hobbies, books and television. Here, on an island in the middle of the ocean, their cares were few.
As Lance rested and Cammy rowed, Autumn kept a look out for any other flotsam that might prove useful. Cammy altered her course so her friend could pick these up, and by the time they reached shore, they had quite a collection.
Lance carried the survival kit to the lagoon while the girls hauled the masses of sail. The first thing they did upon returning to camp was lay the fragments of sail out on the sand to give it time to dry. He was happy to see that some of the pieces were pretty large, a good size for making a lean-to or even a tent. That would give them shade during the morning when they couldn't shelter under the shadow of the cliff.
Lance tore open the plastic cover on the survival kit and withdrew the contents. The whole bundle was wrapped in a thick, wool blanket that would have to serve as a bed, and many of the other contents were equally as useful. The biggest by far was a machete that Lance had picked up on his safari in Africa. It would serve well to blaze trails or cut open coconuts. A chunk of flint and a steel pocket knife would provide fire. Though not as easy to use as matches or a lighter, it would last a lot longer. A flare gun with several flares could be used to signal a passing ship. There was a small yet complete first aid kit, but he hoped they wouldn't have to use it. One of the more useful items was a spool of nylon cord, about a hundred feet if he remembered correctly. Not a lot, but if they used it sparingly it could serve all their needs. The rest of the items were of varying usefulness, but one in particular stood out.
"Our number one problem is solved," he announced with a grin, picking up a large bottle of waterproof sunscreen.
They immediately set to work applying the lotion to their bodies. Being a gentleman, he looked away when the girls rubbed it on their more private spots, and especially tried not to glance when they rubbed it on each other's backs. Though it was all perfectly innocent, the sight of the two girls touching each other like that awakened certain feelings in him, though he somehow managed to suppress them.
Cammy then offered to do the same for his back, and he agreed. Tired as he was from all of the events of the past day, her hands on his back felt almost better than anything he had ever experienced. It wasn't quite a massage, but it might as well have been for how much it relaxed him.
Now that they had a some time to rest, the pangs of hunger set in. From the position of the sun, Lance guessed the time to be late morning, probably around 1100 hours or so. There was a package of jerky in the survival kit, which they opened and feasted on. They only took a small piece each, just enough to sate their hunger. Until they explored the island and identified the local fauna, it might be the only meat they had.
Lance perused the area and discovered a nearby fallen coconut, which he split open to accompany the meal. They each had some sips of the juice, then cut out and devoured the meat. It wasn't exactly a three-course dinner, but they enjoyed it all the same.
Despite the invigorating and refreshing brunch, Lance still had no energy left. As they got up to head back to the raft to retrieve the rest of their gatherings, Cammy insisted that he rest. He tried to argue, but Autumn came in on Cammy's side, and he found himself arguing with two girls who were at least as stubborn as he was. He gave in and let them carry the items back to camp.
"I think I'm going to take the raft out and see what else we can salvage," Cammy said, nodding toward the wreckage of the Siren's Song. "Do you want to come with me, Autumn?"
Her friend nodded.
"You two be careful," Lance cautioned. "Don't overload the raft or pick up anything pointed that could put a hole in it."
"We'll be fine," smiled Cammy. "Besides, it will give Autumn and me a chance to talk."
Lance nodded, picking up on the subtle hint that there were things the girls needed to talk about that weren't meant for his ears. It didn't bother him; while it would be nice to have someone himself that he could share a secret with, he knew from experience that women had a much stronger need than men to bond with members of the same sex. Besides, the talk might center around him, and he was sure there were some things they might mention that he really didn't want to hear.
As they headed back to the raft, he lay down on the sand to take a much-needed nap. He hadn't gotten much sleep in the past few nights, so it was time to catch up. He closed his eyes and basked in the warmth of the sun, letting its rays work their lethargic magic on him. It didn't take him long to drift off into peaceful oblivion.
He awoke to the sound of laughing voices. It brought back memories of happy times, of warm summer days at the park and cheerful afternoons at the public pool. For a moment Lance forgot where he was, and when he opened his eyes he was surprised to see unfamiliar surroundings. His disorientation didn't last long, and the events of the past day returned to his memory.
Survival, he thought. That had been at the forefront of his thoughts ever since the accident, and it was the first thing he thought of now. He had to make sure the girls got through this ordeal alive.
They didn't share his concern, apparently. The girls were waist-deep in the lagoon, laughing and splashing each other. With the backdrop of the waterfall and the jungle behind them, the sunlight sparkling on the surface of the lagoon, and the rivulets of water running down their bodies, he could definitely get used to this sight. From what he could tell of their attitude, to them this was just another part of the vacation. For just an instant, he thought of getting after them; what were they doing having fun when there were so many things to worry about? But he decided to hold his tongue. It was his fault after all; he had done his job too well. His reassuring words, meant to keep them from being frightened, had comforted them even better than he had expected. They weren't aware of the dangers; all they knew was that everything would be all right.
Lance made up his mind. He would do nothing to disturb that peace of mind. Cammy in particular had already suffered more than one person ever should. She deserved a chance to relax and have fun without a care in the world. And Autumn, the poor, sweet girl, rarely came out of her shell, so he wasn't about to shove her back into it on the occasions that she did. Let them have their fun. He would take on the responsibility of keeping them alive.
He yawned and stretched, then, ignoring the complaints of his stiff muscles, rose to his feet and brushed off the sand that clung to his body. From the water, Cammy waved to him, and he flashed her a smile. Autumn, of course, blushed and turned away.
The girls had retrieved several articles of clothing from the water and laid them out to dry on the beach next to the sail. There were two pairs of his boxer shorts and a tee-shirt. Lance did a quick organization in his mind and realized that, factoring in Cammy's clothes that she had worn and assuming that Lance wore no shirt, they could all cover themselves to at least a certain degree of modesty.
He didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed. On the one hand, both girls had very nice bodies, and he wouldn't mind seeing a lot more of them. On the other hand, he knew he shouldn't be thinking those thoughts.
To take his mind off of it, he decided to get to work. His first thoughts were to salvage as much as possible from the wreck, but upon rising he felt some dizziness and a pounding in his head. Whether that meant a concussion or just the aftereffects of nearly drowning last night, it meant he shouldn't attempt to dive anymore. Although it would have been nice to collect a few more things from the yacht, he sensibly decided to stay on land.
There was still plenty to do without returning to the boat. After a couple of hours in the sun, the sail canvas was completely dry, so it was time to set up a temporary shelter.
"Hey girls, would you give me a hand with this?" he asked. The two of them waded through the water back to the beach. The clothes were still a little damp, so they continued with nothing on, to his delight.
Lance made some crude measurements by walking off distances with his feet. The two largest pieces were the perfect size to fashion a three-man (or more accurately three-person) pup tent with a floor to keep them from having to sleep on the open ground. There wouldn't be a lot of room to spread out; they would have to sleep huddled together side-by-side. He wondered how well Autumn would take that news. In fact, it bothered him a little too; he had always considered himself a gentleman, so the thought of sleeping in a small tent with a couple of naked girls clashed with his sense of propriety. Worse was the realization that it also excited him. Of course, he wouldn't be a man if it didn't, so he decided just to ignore those feelings. There was nothing to be done about it anyway.
There were two convenient palm trees at the edge of the beach spaced a perfect distance apart. He took the rope and had the girls help him to run a line between them, about five feet high. Then he used the pocket knife to punch holes in the corners of the largest piece of sail cloth, and together they draped it over the rope. The girls aided him in gathering small yet sturdy sticks to act as pegs to stake the corners of the tent down. For now, they only staked one side down. The other side they propped up on a pair of long sticks to give them an open shelter out of the sun. In the evening, they would lower it and stake it into the ground to form a large pup tent. Finally, they took the second largest piece of cloth and spread it out on the ground inside the tent. That gave them a space of about six feet by eight feet under the cover.
"That will serve for now," he told them. "Tomorrow we'll start work on a more permanent shelter."
"Permanent," Autumn commented. "That sounds so ominous."
"It's just in case we're here longer than we expect," he replied, trying to sound cheerful. "I figure we can put together a decent hut in a few days. I'd like to have a place to get out of the rain if another storm hits, and I don't trust the tent to survive it."
The job finished, the girls returned to their playing. Now that the shelter was built, he decided that the work was done for the day. Tomorrow, after salvaging everything he could from the yacht, he would go exploring to look for signs of civilization or, barring that, any animals he could trap. The jerky wouldn't last forever and they couldn't live on just coconuts and breadfruit. For now, though, he just sat in the newly created shade, relaxing.
The girls swam out to the waterfall and bathed underneath it. He watched them with what he hoped looked like apathy, but the truth was that the sight of their naked bodies under a tropical waterfall was something he would never forget. It was like something out of a gentleman's magazine or a nude photography exhibit, except that the girls were young enough that anyone who photographed them was likely to get arrested.
As the afternoon wore on, there was no sign of ships or planes. That was a bad sign. Even in the middle of the Pacific, rescues usually happened within the first twenty-four hours if the signal from the EPIRB had been picked up. If it hadn't, that meant that nobody knew they were missing, and they might have to wait until a passing ship spotted them, which might take weeks.
He decided not to tell the girls that. They were in good spirits, all things considered, and he didn't want to ruin it. Morale was always important in survival situations.
In the mean time, he took a couple of the smaller scraps of sail cloth and began sewing together a pair of moccasins. Going barefoot on the beach was fine, but if he planned to venture inland at all, he would need something on his feet. The canvas wouldn't prevent him from stubbing his toe on a rock, but at least it would keep him from cutting himself on sticks or brambles.
As he worked, he watched the girls splashing in the water. It was good to see them enjoying themselves, after the ordeal. Were it not for the fact that they had no means of returning to civilization, they might as well have been on vacation. But then, why not? They had spent time on several islands like this already, though admittedly the others had always been inhabited, and there had always been the boat to return to whenever they wanted. This island might lack the amenities of the others, but aside from the fact that they didn't know how long they would be here, it really was no different from camping.
His eyes kept lingering on Autumn's body. At first he tried to keep from staring, but knowing that it was a losing battle, he eventually gave up. He reasoned that it was better to get used to the sight, and let the novelty of it wear off. Still, he wondered whether that might ever happen. She had the kind of body that could keep a man entertained forever.
The more disturbing thought was that Cammy's looked every bit as nice. He shouldn't be thinking about his sister like that, but he couldn't help but recognize the beauty of her figure. Both girls had slender waists and graceful curves. Autumn was slightly skinnier, but that was in no way an insult to Cammy, whose body was just naturally more developed. Autumn's breasts were smaller, but that was just due to her age. A year could make a huge difference in their early teens.
Another thought lingered in the back of his mind, one that he had managed to keep from thinking about until now. But with the chores finished and nothing to do to occupy his attention, it fought its way to the forefront of his mind.
If they ended up staying here on the island for an extended period, especially with the sight of the girls' bodies before his eyes constantly, certain feelings were likely to arise. He already knew of Autumn's affection for him, but until today he hadn't given any thought to returning it. In a civilized culture, such a relationship would be unthinkable, illegal even. But they were far from civilization. Aboard the Siren's Song, they had known that the next port was never more than a couple of weeks away, so he hadn't even thought of developing more than a casual friendship with Autumn in a limited time. She was nice enough to look at, and he had always tried to be friendly with her, but never had he considered anything more. Now that they no longer knew how much time they would spend together, things were different. What if he was wrong, and they didn't see another boat for months, or even years? They were two members of the opposite sex on a deserted island. Despite the difference in their ages, could a romance between them develop? If so, was that something he should be looking forward to, or trying to avoid? He didn't know the answer to either question.
Cammy's presence, of course, changed things, probably for the better. With just Lance and Autumn together, a platonic relationship might be more difficult to maintain without them either falling in love or ending up hating each other. Cammy was a link between them, but also a barrier; Autumn would always be, first and foremost, Cammy's friend, and Lance would always be Cammy's brother. Besides, he might never find a private moment to spend with Autumn.
Most disturbing of all was how disappointed he felt by that thought.
Eventually the girls returned from their bathing, but Cammy didn't want to just rest. Instead, they all took a long walk down the beach. It wasn't a true exploration because they only wandered about half a mile from camp. He kept his eyes on the peak of the hill in the distance as they walked so that he could make a rough triangulation and figure out about how far away it was. Assuming it was in the center of the island, his first guess wasn't far off; the island was likely about four or five miles in diameter. Hardly a speck in the middle of the Pacific, but still large enough to provide all of their necessities.
He also looked for footprints in the sand, although that was unlikely because the storm last night would have erased them completely. Not surprisingly, he found none. He also found no litter or anything man-made at all except for the items washed up on the shore from the Siren's Song. If there were any people on the island, either they were meticulously clean or they didn't venture to this side very often.
By the time they returned to camp, the clothes had dried. Lance expected Autumn at least to immediately dress, but she surprised him by remaining nude. Cammy did as well, so he also left his clothes off. None of them mentioned it at all; they just had an unspoken agreement between themselves that it was all right not to wear clothes.
They dined on more jerky and coconuts, but they built a fire so that they could cook some breadfruit to add to the meal this time. After dinner, they sat in the fading light, relaxing and talking. As usual, Autumn said nothing, but Cammy talked enough for the both of them. The two girls were, in a way, complete opposites. Whatever Cammy did, she did with enthusiasm, whereas with Autumn, those who didn't know her might suspect that she didn't enjoy doing anything at all. Lance knew better; she just liked to let everyone else do all the talking.
They were on the wrong side of the island to see the sunset, but it was just as enjoyable to lie out on the beach and watch the stars come out. August was the best time of the year to watch for shooting stars, and they saw plenty as the light faded into darkness. The blue of daylight turned to pink, then purple, which gradually deepened as bit by bit the stars came into view, and the whole universe opened up to their eyes in a way that could only be truly appreciated out here thousands of miles from the lights of the nearest city. He marveled at the wonder of it all, at the fact that right now he could literally see forever.
The last time they sat out like this had been aboard the Siren's Song a couple of nights ago, and they had stayed out almost all night. They couldn't afford to do that again this time; although they had no urgent business the next day, he wanted to make sure they got up early so that any tasks they needed to do they could complete in the morning before it got too hot. There would be plenty of time for a swim in the heat of the afternoon.
"Okay kids," he said teasingly. "Time for bed."
"Aw, do we have to, Lancy?" Cammy whined in her best baby voice, and despite the darkness, he could sense her grin from the tone of her voice. He used to hate it when she called him that, but ever since her illness, he was just so happy to hear her voice that she could say anything she wanted and he wouldn't mind.
"Aren't you looking forward to spending your first full day marooned on an island in the South Pacific?" he asked.
"Well, since you put it that way..." Cammy rose to her feet and brushed off the sand. Lance and Autumn did likewise, they then headed back to the camp.
As they walked, Cammy moved in close to him. She put her hand on his shoulder and pulled him gently down so that she could whisper in his ear.
"You're not just eager to get Autumn into our bed, are you?" she asked.
"Oh, very funny," he told her sarcastically, and she giggled.
In fact, Lance had been nervous about it all day. Despite the fact that Autumn and he had spent last night in each other's arms, it felt awkward preparing to go to bed with two naked girls, one of whom was his sister. He would have been happier setting up a separate tent for the girls, but there wasn't enough canvas for that. He was tempted to tell them to put more clothes on, but it seemed silly to wear more clothes to sleep in than they had worn during the day, so he didn't say anything.
There was really no point in building a campfire, since the temperature wasn't likely to drop enough to make another source of heat necessary, especially with the blanket from the survival kit to cover them when they went to bed. It would be cool, but not cool enough that it would be worth the effort to keep a fire burning all night. There was just enough light from the moon and stars to help them find their way to the tent and climb into bed.
When they crawled into the tent, Cammy offered to sleep in the middle, which alleviated most of his worries. At least he wouldn't be sleeping next to Autumn. That didn't mean he wouldn't have enjoyed it; just the opposite in fact. He would have enjoyed it too much. He knew the pleasure of holding the girl in his arms, though it had been mostly just to comfort and console one another the first time. Although he would never take advantage of Autumn, it would be a test of his willpower and self-control if she were to lie next to him all night.
With Cammy between them, most of the temptation was gone. Cammy was a beautiful and sexy girl herself, but she was his sister. He could hold her nude body in his arms all night and not feel the slightest temptation to make love to her.
He wondered how much of that was true, and how much was self-delusion. He fell asleep worrying about his unnatural thoughts, and what it meant for their future on the island.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.