Part 26 (1/2)
”It's not exponents, Sarah, it's friction coefficients, and I didn't just fall on my a.s.s; I nearly fell to my death.”
”Whatever. Don't slip and fall, Jonathan, otherwise I'll have to rescue you again.”
They all scrambled up, being careful to stay away from the sloped edge.
Once they reached the top of the rock, no one said a word. Sarah had not been exaggerating; the view was really incredible. They could look out over the island in all directions and see where it met the ocean on the south end. Even under the darkened sky, the water was a beautiful blue-green, fading to turquoise and then light brown as it met the beach. Turning northward, they were able to see over the treetops to the far end of the island. The tree cover was too dense to see through. They could see what Sarah meant when she said the island was shaped like a peanut not a sh.e.l.led peanut but a whole one with a couple of nuts inside.
”Wow ... imagine all the stuff that's out there under the trees that we haven't seen yet,” said Kevin.
”Maybe we'll get lucky and get rescued before we have a chance,” added Candi.
”Well, I for one think this is a good spot to light a signal fire,” said Jonathan.
”You're right. Tomorrow I'll lug some wood and stuff up here and get it ready. No point in doing it now since it's probably going to get soaked.”
”Speaking of which,” Jonathan continued, ”I think there's some sort of rainy season here, and if it's like the other areas in the tropics, it comes up in the next couple of weeks or so and lasts all summer. I think we'd better make it a priority to try and find a sheltered area, or maybe we could make one, where we can store firewood and stuff. I know it's hot here, and we really don't use the fire much, but later in the year it will probably get cold, at least at night.”
Candi was too engrossed in the view to respond. She was straining her eyes as hard as she could, trying to see an island, a boat anything at all other than Peanut Island. There was nothing.
”I agree,” said Kevin. ”I guess we have our work cut out for us. Tomorrow, workout on the beach, signal fire building, firewood storage, and then we start on the treehouse. Did I forget anything?”
”Karate practice in the late afternoon,” added Sarah.
”Yeah, a little kung fu action, too, that's right.” Kevin practiced some slow motion martial arts moves.
”It's not kung fu, that's another discipline. We'll be doing karate,” corrected Jonathan.
”Whatever, dude. All I know is, I'm gonna judo chop some of those bamboo trees down.”
Jonathan climbed down the rock, sighing. ”It's not judo either, it's karate.”
Kevin smiled. He clearly loved messing with Jonathan. ”Yeah, okay, are we gonna do some tai chi moves then?”
Jonathan looked up at Kevin. ”Are you kidding me?”
Kevin feigned innocence. ”What?”
”Never mind, you're messing with me.”
”Ah, I can't put anything past you anymore, Jonathan, you're onto me.” Kevin joined him back on the ground next to the waterspout, putting his hand on Jonathan's shoulder. They both watched the water coming out over the rock.
”Man, could I ever use a shower.”
”No kidding. You go ahead, you smell worse than me. I'll go after.” Jonathan walked away, leaving Kevin standing there.
”Wait a minute ... Did he just mess with me?”
”Yep,” said Candi as she walked by.
”Well, I'll be d.a.m.ned,” he said, a smile in his voice.
”Hey, what are you doing?” asked Sarah as she came down from the rock.
Candi turned to see what the fuss was all about.
”Taking a shower, what does it look like?”
”Well, before you strip down to your birthday suit, maybe you want to wait until we've gotten outta here.”
”Doesn't bother me if you guys see me naked.”
Sarah looked at him like he was crazy. ”Well it bothers me. Ew.”
Candi stood there panic stricken, speechless. Kevin was standing there without a s.h.i.+rt on, about to be totally naked.
”Ah ... um ... yeah ... I'm ... I'm gonna go now,” was all Candi could say before the heat in her face made her feel like her head was going to explode. She turned and walked away as quickly as she could, back to the base of the tree and out of sight of the Peterson twins.
”I think it bothers her too,” said Sarah, as she turned and walked away, smiling.
Kevin chuckled to himself. The pained look on Candi's face was priceless. She was a virgin, he was nearly sure of it. The thought made him excited and worried at the same time. Here they were on this deserted island. He was the only guy in sight; she was the only girl. It was probably inevitable that they would eventually get together if help didn't come for a while. Normally he wouldn't give having s.e.x with a girl a second thought he'd just do it, so long as she was willing. But he knew for some reason that he couldn't and shouldn't be that nonchalant about it with Candi. She was different. Not to mention the fact that there was no birth control out here in the middle of nowhere.
Candi was already different from how she'd acted on the cruise s.h.i.+p. These few days away from the world in a place where they had to fend for themselves had already made its mark on her. Somehow she had gone from mildly cute to kinda s.e.xy. Maybe being stuck on this island with the little sand beast won't be so bad after all.
He wondered if this experience had done the same for him changed him at all. He felt the same, but he was starting to notice things he'd never noticed before, and he was feeling really relaxed for some reason, which really didn't make any sense.
As he rinsed the grime from his body as best he could, he thought about how he should be really freaked out and worried right now. Worried about surviving, worried about his team back home, worried about his parents his life. But he wasn't. It's as if all that stuff had ceased to matter for now. Oh well. He shrugged it off. Might as well enjoy it while it lasts.
The next few weeks were spent using the lifeboat hatchet to cut down bamboo poles of varying lengths and widths. They used the widest ones to create support poles and joists for the floor of the treehouse which they wedged against various parts of the tree trunk and its root system.
The guys spent a lot of time on the jungle floor and in the tree, studying it from every angle. They didn't want to spend too much time or waste materials on something that wasn't going to be secure or that would have to be re-done. They'd already made that mistake once, and they were still kicking themselves over the wasted effort.
The girls, in their explorations for cloth and other items that could be used to make things for the treehouse, found a group of plants in the jungle that came from what Jonathan thought might be hemp. They were very fibrous and so far were turning out to be very useful. Jonathan had the girls pull the plant fibers off in long strips; they used these strips that were braided together to make a plant rope to wrap around and bind the bamboo poles to one another.
Kevin and Jonathan also did their best to make corresponding notches in the wood so it would join together like puzzle pieces on the ends. It was difficult because the wood was very strong and hard to cut with just the hatchet. Each notched joint was fitted into place, then tied with several lengths of plant rope. Next, it was tested by Kevin bouncing up and down on it. Anything that had too much give or seemed loose was re-done. No one wanted to come cras.h.i.+ng down out of the tree to the ground below.
The rock next to their tree was good for sharpening the hatchet, which was a good thing, since the bamboo was so thick and strong and dulled the blade pretty easily. They couldn't believe their luck at having a whole stand of it right near their water source. Now that they'd cut quite a bit of it down, they were seeing how the poles that remained were going to act as a wall that could close off a section of the bottom of their root system, giving them ground storage areas they could protect from animals. Not that they'd seen any animals on the island yet but they had heard stirrings in the night, so it was highly likely something was out there somewhere.
Sarah's roof building and weaving skills had proven themselves over and over. From the first night when they got a downpour until today, they had been able to sleep in relatively dry quarters. Once they were off the jungle floor, it was going to be perfect.
Sarah had been weaving floor mats, roof materials, bed materials and all kinds of things in antic.i.p.ation of the treehouse finally being finished. She'd convinced the guys that the girls needed cots to sleep on, so they had cut some thinner bamboo poles to her specifications; she put the frames together, tying them at the corners using the fibrous plant rope. Now she was working on woven palm fronds as the slings to put between the bamboo pole frames. She had a feeling once the guys saw what she was doing, they would want sleeping cots of their own, so she made extra.
Candi was gone every day, always down at the water trying to figure out how to spear fish. She had found a spot on the south side where there were some large rocks spread apart in the shallow water. The tides and water currents had created small pools where the fish loved to look for food. She'd stand on the rocks and try to spear the fish from above. She claimed that she got close once, but so far had come back each day empty handed. She was determined, though, and no one had the heart to give her a hard time about it or tell her to give up.
The morning exercises organized by Kevin now included a rugby scrimmage at the end. They used a coconut with the husk still on as their rugby ball. It was about the right size and weight. Kevin was determined not to forget his moves or lose his agility.
Unfortunately for him, his team was pretty lame although he had to admit, they'd come a long way in three weeks. Now they could all run around and do what he told them without getting side cramps or collapsing on the beach, gasping for air. He'd even felt Jonathan's strength improving as he tried to tackle Kevin to the ground.
Jonathan's muscles had really started to noticeably develop with the combined work of morning exercise and treehouse building. The coconuts they were eating had natural fats and protein, which gave their bodies the fuel they needed to put on the muscle. Kevin told them that as soon as they had fish added to their diet, they could really amp up their improvements.