Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Chapter 3

   As I said at the start of this story, my supply boat had been here
yesterday and left me what I needed for the next couple of weeks.  I saw
that the skies were getting darker and didn't need a weather forecaster to
tell me a storm was on its way.  I made the rounds of my cabin area making
sure everything was tied down or stowed out of the wind.  I fueled up the
generator so that it could run for an extended period if needed.  I lowered
the shutters over the windows that would feel the brunt of the storm and
prepared to wait it out - a situation I'd dealt with many times since
coming to the island.  I turned on the computer and looked at the weather
forecast for our area for the next few days.  Things didn't look good as
there appeared to be several storms brewing out in the North Pacific and
we'd likely see them coming at us one after the other with only a few days
reprieve between storms.  Just as I was about to shut the computer down, I
got an email from a friend, Ben, on the main island.  He told me there had
been reports of an ocean going sailboat having been disabled and that it
was somewhere in our area.  He asked me to keep an eye out and let him know
if it was spotted so that the authorities could be alerted.  I promised
that I would and shut the computer down.

   There's one high point on the island where I can look out to sea for
quite a distance I put on my wet weather gear and with my faithful friend
Maggie at my side, I headed out to see if I could see any sign of the
sailboat.  After a three-quarter hour hike to the top of the rocky
outcropping and then back to the cabin, the only things Maggie and I saw
were high waves and the start of the rain.  Even the small forest creatures
like squirrels and chipmunks had found places to hide from the impending
storm.  Well, I'd done what I could for now so back to the snug cabin and
stay warm until the storm blew over.

   The storm was one of the fiercest I'd experienced so far and lasted for
three days.  When it was over, I went out and discovered that a large
branch had blown into my satellite dish and had knocked it off kilter. 
That didn't surprise me since it had happened before and I realigned it.  I
went down to the water and discovered that my boat had survived well, even
though I'd have to bail quite a bit of water out.  I got the pump I used
for this job and after about 20 minutes the water level had dropped to the
point where I could use it.  Maggie and I got in and started to circle the
island looking to see what had washed up that we could use.

   For the most part it was logs and trash but as I reached the very
northern end of the island, I could see a large, semi-submerged object in
the water.  As I drew closer I realized that this must be the sailboat I
been asked to keep my eye out for.  It was in really bad shape - the masts
and sails were gone and I figured there must be a hole in the hull for it
to have sunk that low.  I didn't see any sign of life and wondered if there
were any bodies left inside.  I pulled up alongside and called out several
times.  I didn't hear any answer but just as I was about to head out I
thought I heard a faint noise.  Maggie must have heard the noise as well
since her ears perked up as she looked at the wreck.

   I found a place where I could tie up my boat and managed to clamber
aboard the wreck to look around.  Surely Maggie and I must have been
mistaken - no one could have survived this.  There didn't seem to be any
place that a person might have hidden in and survived.  I looked back at
Maggie and saw she was looking at the very forward end of the sailboat and
barking.  Cautiously, I made my way forward and there was that noise again.
I called loudly and heard a faint reply.  I told the person to keep talking
so that I could try to find them.

   After a few minutes, with Maggie's help, I narrowed my search down to
what had been the sail locker right at the very front of the boat.  By now
I had determined that I was searching for a young girl who appeared to be
the only survivor.  I told her to stay calm, that I wasn't abandoning her,
but that I needed to go back to my boat for some tools.  I gathered up
anything that I thought might help in my rescue efforts including an axe.

   When I returned I could hear the relief in her voice and I asked if she
was able to get away from the sail locker door so I could try to break the
door in.  She assured me she was away from it and I used the axe to break
the door so I could pull the pieces away and get the girl out.  I took a
few minutes, but soon I was able to look inside where I saw the girl curled
up in the extreme front of the compartment.  As was expected, she was
soaking wet and shivering but other than that, she didn't seem to be
seriously hurt.

   "Hello there, are you hurt?" I called to her.

   "There's something wrong with my arm.  I think it's broken," she
replied.

   "Okay, well let's see if we can get you out of here.  Can you move or
does it hurt too much?" I could now see she was holding one arm but due to
the cramped space I didn't think I could do much for her in there.

   She started to slide forward and soon managed to get to the doorway.  I
could clearly see that she was holding one arm and that she grimaced in
pain with every move she made.  "Looks like that arm is hurt.  Can you wait
here for a minute or two while I see if there is something I can use to
hold the arm steady.  Your boat isn't salvageable so we'll have to go back
to my cabin in my boat.  Okay?" A nod from the girl.  "By the way, I'm
Wally," I continued.

   "Jennifer," she said in reply.

   "Okay Jennifer, I'll go see what I can find.  Just stay still and wait
for me." I said as I headed aft to see what I could find in what had been
the cockpit of the sailboat.

   As luck would have it, I found what looked like a bed sheet.  I took out
my knife and cut a generous piece off of it and was about to leave when a
thought hit me - are there any documents that I can quickly find?  I
dropped down into the main cabin and looked around, opening doors and
drawers.  I almost missed one little cupboard as it was hidden behind a
picture.  `If you hide a cupboard, there must be a reason' I said to
myself. I'd left my tools behind with Jennifer so I headed back there.

   "Okay, Jennifer.  I found some cloth and I can make a sling for you. 
I'll tie it tight to your body so that it doesn't move about when you get
out of there.  For now, that's the best I can do for you."

   Jennifer gave me a weak smile and I could tell she was exhausted, in
pain, and scared to death.  I set to work and in a fairly short period of
time had managed to get her into a rough sling and had bound the sling
tightly to her abdomen.  Jennifer, while still in pain, relaxed somewhat.

   "I'm going to help you and we'll go back to my boat.  I'll leave you
there with Maggie, my dog while I take on last look around.  Ready to go?"

   Jennifer nodded and with my help stood up.  I helped her get out through
the hole where I'd entered and soon had her back in my boat.  Maggie sensed
she was hurt and came up beside her making little whimpering sounds.

   "I'm going to go back to your boat to see if I can see anyone else.  Who
was with you on the boat?" I asked Jennifer.

   "My mom and dad but I they got tossed overboard and I don't think they
made it back." Jennifer started to cry her heart out.

   "Oh Jennifer, that's terrible.  I'll try to see if I can let someone
know when we get back to my cabin.  Do you know where you had things like
the ship's papers?"

   Jennifer looked at me.  "There's a picture of Mom and Dad and me in the
cabin and behind it there's a little cupboard with all kinds of papers."

   "Okay, I saw that.  You wait here with Maggie.  She'll look after you
until I get back." Turning to Maggie I gave her an order to `stay' then
headed back to the boat.

   Once I was back on the sailboat, I retrieved my tools and again went
down into the main cabin.  I managed to get the picture down without
damaging it and using a pry bar, managed to get the cupboard open.  As I'd
suspected, there were, amongst other things, three passports.  I saw
several plastic storage containers floating near the floor and took all of
the papers out of the cupboard and stowed them in one of the containers.

   As I was getting ready to leave, I thought of Jennifer again and decided
I'd better look to see if I could find some clothes for her.  As I moved
forward into the cabin I could see two berths and one was clearly
Jennifer's as evident by some of the stuff.  Digging around I found a bunch
of clothes including some underwear and a couple of pairs of runners. 
Spying a duffle bag, I stuffed it all inside and headed back to the main
part of the cabin.  One more look around to check if there was anything
important that I missed, then with the duffle bag and plastic container in
hand, I returned to the boat.

   "I found some of what I think are your clothes and got everything out of
that cupboard.  Let's go back to my cabin." Pointing at a spot near to
where I would be standing, I continued, "I want you to sit down right there
facing backwards since the ride is going to be rough for at least part of
the trip." I helped Jennifer sit down and gave her a life jacket.  "I can't
get it on you because of the sling so hang on to it for all you're worth.
If we get tossed around and you fall out you'll need it.  As I'm sure you
experienced last night, it's very cold out here."