Part 21 (2/2)
Sarah grimaced as she tried to stand again. ”You just said 'a.s.s'. I'm telling.”
”Don't you dare, or I won't help you walk back to the waterfall where you can have a shower.”
”Oh, so now you play dirty, too. Okay, fine, I'll remember that. By the way, did you notice the breeze up here? It's amazing.”
Jonathan stood, reaching his hand down to help Sarah up.
”Yep, it's awesome. And no bugs at all. Must be the breeze keeping them away.”
”No bugs, holy c.r.a.p. I wanna live on this rock.”
”Well, first we have to get you off this rock and back into those flip-flops.”
The two of them working together eventually located her shoes, which made walking around a bit easier, but not much.
Sarah stood under the trickle of water and s.h.i.+vered in delight at the feeling it gave her, working its way through her tangled, salty hair.
”Did you figure out where the water is coming from?”
”Nope. I couldn't see anything; of course, my exploration was cut short by my, well, you know, little mishap. It could be some sort of artesian well, but I thought those things had to be dug by someone. I guess it makes sense that there's fresh water under this island. I mean, how would anyone have ever settled in these places in the first place without fresh water?”
”Yeah, well, I hope it's a permanent thing and not just a rainwater thing.”
”Me too, but I'm glad you said that. Just in case, we need to have other ways to collect water so we don't run out completely during the dry season, whenever that is.”
Sarah nodded her head in agreement, but was too preoccupied to actually respond. She was looking at something just past the stand of bamboo next to the water. She finished her mini shower and walked over to check it out.
”Get a load of this tree, Jonathan. Is it a tree? What is this thing?” She was pointing at what looked like a large, gray elephant leg. It was a big, above-ground root that was connected to several others just like it, all part of a very large tree that had thousands of small, dark green leaves on it. The whole trunk was as big around as a car, but the roots spread out even farther than that. It was almost prehistoric looking.
”Pretty cool, huh?” Jonathan ran his hands over the smooth, gray bark. His eyes followed the path of the root. ”Look how the root is part of this huge network that's all above the ground. It makes all kinds of small caves and tunnels under the tree.”
”That is cool,” agreed Sarah.
”And the branches above the root system are pretty substantial too. Wow.”
”Yeah, and look! Some of them actually have roots coming down from branches, which have dug themselves into the ground below. I've never seen a tree this big before in person only in photographs.”
”Man, I would have killed to have a tree like this in my back yard when I was a kid. I mean, what kind of killer treehouse could you make in one of these babies?” said Jonathan, as if he were daydreaming.
”Hey, Jonathan, that's a great idea!”
”What's a great idea?”
”Building a treehouse here. Could we do it? In this tree, I mean?”
Jonathan thought about it for a second. He studied the roots and the branches above. ”I don't know for sure, but maybe. I mean, we have all kinds of bamboo here, which is a pretty good building material, really. I know they make floors and tiki huts with it. This root system seems pretty solid. The branches up there are in pretty good positions to support floor joists ... ” he trailed off thinking of the possibilities.
”Okay, well, I don't know what a floor joist is, but I'm sure you'll figure it out. Let's go back and tell Kevin and Candi what we found.”
She moved to take a couple of steps. ”Ooh, ah, s.h.i.+t. My heels are killing me.”
”Here, lean on me.” Jonathan came up next to her and offered his shoulder. ”Sorry I stink.”
”Don't worry about it, I need the crutch more than I care about your pits.”
They worked together, slowly making their way back to the beach where Kevin and Candi were waiting, eager to share their discoveries with their siblings.
”Oh, you're awake. How do you feel?” Candi set down the bits of wood she had been gathering for a fire and reached over to feel Kevin's forehead. ”You're not as warm as you were.”
”I feel weak, but better, actually.”
”Let me see your hand.”
Kevin held up his bandaged hand for Candi's inspection.
”It looks better. I think this sickness that you've had has been some sort of ... ”
Kevin put his hand on his stomach and moaned, ”Oh G.o.d, don't say it, please!”
” ... sort of bad tummy thing, that I'm sure will be gone soon,” Candi finished with a smile.
Kevin rested the back of his hand on his forehead. ”Bad tummy thing. That's good, I hope you're right.”
After a minute, Kevin sat up slowly, taking his time in case he felt dizzy or queasy again. ”Where is everybody?”
”Well, Jonathan and Sarah left a couple hours ago to see if they could find some water or more food. I expected them back already, but I'm not worried. Not yet anyway.”
”Probably the only thing we need to worry about is them killing each other. No biggie.”
Candi laughed.
”So, what have I missed?”
”Oh, not much. We were kind of waiting for you to wake up before we decided to do anything. We have some decisions to make.”
”Yeah,” Kevin said, noncommittally. He was watching her as she got up and walked around their campsite, organizing and preparing for their next big meal of bananas and water.
She stopped when she realized he was watching her. ”What? Do you want some water or something?”
”Nope.”
”Okaaay.” Candi continued organizing the wood she had gathered in the fire pit they had made with rocks and sh.e.l.ls. ”Tonight I want to try and light a fire. I'm hoping the smoke might keep the bugs away. They were a serious pain in the b.u.t.t last night.” She looked up and caught him staring at her again. ”What? Why do you keep staring at me? Do I have something on my face?” Candi self-consciously wiped at her nose and mouth.
”No, there's nothing on your face. Does it bother you that I'm looking at you?”
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