3 Hour Tour (Dee Sanders Book 1), page 7
The boat drifted steadily. I pulled out the scope and checked the horizon in the direction we were headed. I looked for a long time. Jamal finally tapped me on the shoulder.
“What’s up?” A quizzical look was on his face.
“I think there might be something out there.”
Jamal arched his eyebrows. Mike was watching us. I waved them both closer.
“I see something on the horizon. We appear to be drifting toward it. I can’t tell what it is yet.”
People were beginning to mill around the boat. I kept the scope out of sight.
Forty-five minutes later, I snuck another peek. This time I could tell. It was an island. It looked to be good sized. If the current held up, we were headed toward it. It was still a long way.
Over the next hour, we continued to drift in that direction. The island grew larger in the scope. I could actually see the outline and the bluffs. It was a tall island, a good size landmass. Jamal and Mike had looked around the boat for paddles or anything that we might steer with. They had found nothing. We kept drifting toward the island.
In another hour, the other passengers caught on to the sight of the coast. There was shouting and applause.
"Oh, thank you, thank you, Lord, for delivering us to your salvation!" shouted out the heavyset woman with the skinny husband. Nobody else said anything.
The three bodyguards were firmly stationed at the front of the boat watching the island while the silver-haired man sat in the shade. They murmured among themselves.
We drifted closer. I saw the beach, the shoreline, and cliffs. There was a natural harbor straight in front of us.
We were almost there.
17
Land Ho
Another hour and the island loomed before us. Everyone was excited and jabbering. The current continued to push us toward the harbor. I hoped that it would hold the course. There was a reef and a channel to the inner water of the harbor. If the current didn't pull us through, we could have problems. It might smash us into the reef, or bounce us out of the current, or back to sea.
I spoke to Jamal and Mike, "If we don't clear the reef, we'll need to swim for it. I'll take my chances on an island, compared to floating around on a non-motorized boat with no sails, food, or water. The canopies are keeping us in the shade. Otherwise, we'd be having more problems with dehydration."
“What about the others?” asked Mike.
Concern lined their faces. I asked, “When you were looking for paddles, did you see an anchor or rope or any kind of line that might be attached to it?”
Jamal shook his head and said, “I think there’s a reel of line, and an anchor is probably at the end of it, back by the engine compartment.”
“If the three of us and a couple of the others got in the water, with the line, we might direct the boat through the reef and pull it to shore. Otherwise, I doubt that all of these people could swim from the reef to the beach. We’ll lose more to drowning,” I replied.
Angelic spoke, “Are you guys strong enough to pull us in?”
“If we get everyone in the water that we can, lighten the boat as much as possible, and don’t get a cross-current, we might make it.”
"The cross-current could really be difficult,” noted Mike.
I nodded and said to him and the others, "If we bounce off the reef and get caught in a cross-current, it could be almost impossible. If the boat gets damaged or smashed and capsizes, we could be stranded. The currents are steady right now. We should be able to navigate the boat. Everyone is in a life vest, if we could get them inside the reef, they would float to shore eventually. It would be nice to save the boat, it might be helpful if we can get it to shore. I'd rather not abandon it if we can keep from it."
“We should try to get everyone organized,” said Keno.
They looked at me. “Okay, I’ll give it a shot.”
I stood on one of the seats and got above the group.
"Hey everybody," I called and waved my arms. "There appears to be a reef around the harbor ahead. If the current doesn't lead us to the opening, we may bounce off the reef. If so, we need to consider abandoning ship and swimming for the shore. We could try to navigate the boat through the channel with the line from the anchor. As many strong swimmers as we have could go overboard, lighten the load, and direct the boat onto the beach. It would be nice to keep the boat intact, if possible. We may need it again.” I stood there for a minute and waited.
The heavyset woman from the pool called out, “That sounds like a good plan, and I second the motion!”
There was a group of young guys, four of them, standing close together, one of them called out, "We swim, and we can pull."
That would be at least seven of us in the water. That would be a good start. I looked to the silver-haired man and his group, still standing in the bow, arms crossed, shoulder to shoulder, saying nothing. That’s a lot of weight, those guys had to be 200 plus pounds apiece, that’s another 800 pounds of weight in the water and pulling, that could make a difference.
The skinny husband and the big guy from the bar were standing next to the young guys who had volunteered. They spoke up, “We’ll help.”
That was two more and another four hundred pounds in the water and off the boat. We might just make it.
I didn’t wait any longer. “Okay, let’s get the anchor line and see if we can rig it.”
We scrambled for the next few minutes trying to get something improvised. Basically, it looked like we were going to have to get in the water, drop the line, collect it as it came out, and then try to direct the boat through the opening in the reef. Not an easy task as we’d end up pulling the boat in stern first. We needed some way to get the line free from the anchor and attached to the bow of the boat.
We were drifting slower and appeared to be heading directly for the channel.
I organized teams to get in the water. We‘d drop the anchor and then try to redirect as necessary. We’d try to pull the line manually and reattach to the bow.
Our backup plan was to go over the sides and try to direct the boat, bow first, through the channel.
I slid the scope out, from the back of the boat, as everyone watched the island grow closer, and followed the reef around. We were still headed straight for the channel.
As we got closer, all the volunteers lined up on each side of the boat to jump in the water and push toward the channel. The silver-haired man and his bodyguards had not agreed to help and had moved to the mid-section of the boat, deeper in the shade.
We glided with the current, drifting a little to the right, which didn't hurt us, and then just as we came up to the channel opening, the current swung us back hard to the left, and the boat bounced off the reef with a thud. I looked back to the sound and didn’t see any apparent damage.
Then we bounced back into the middle of the channel and continued to drift toward the beach. There was a collective sigh of relief and a cheer from the guys lining the side rails. We drifted for a few seconds and began to slow and finally stopped. I guessed this was where we got in and pushed.
We sat for another minute, and the breeze picked up slightly, and we began to move toward the shore. The water didn't look deep, but that's always deceiving. I nodded at Jamal and Mike.
"Let's see if we can push it into the shore."
I looked over at the other side to the young guys and nodded. Seven of us went over the sides, three on one, four on the other.
The water was about shoulder height. We got traction in the sand and started pushing, gaining speed as we progressed. As the water got shallower, we picked up the pace, and as it continued to drop, we lifted the boat and tried to leverage it as far ashore as possible. We hit the sand with a thud and kept pushing for several more feet. We were firmly ashore. We leaned against the boat and slipped down into the water to rest.
Up above, I could hear Angelic, Keno, and most of the others shouting and clapping. The Eagle had landed.
Part II
The 2nd Hour
18
The Island
The first person off the boat and onto the island, without getting in a drop of water, was the silver-haired man. He stepped ashore like a conquering hero, or an early explorer discovering the new world. He had an arrogance that radiated from him, as if he owned the island and expected servants to run forth with palm fronds and flowers. His bodyguards were the next three off the boat. They stepped onto the sand and formed a protective circle around him.
Everyone else disembarked. Some stood motionless, getting their land legs back. Others ran down the beach screaming and waving their arms. I sat in the water with Mike and Jamal.
Finally, we stood up, trudged to shore, and sat in the sand.
“We’re going to need those canopies for shade,” I said to them.
“It’s going to get hot here quick,” replied Mike. Jamal nodded his agreement.
We rose from the sand and walked over to the group. Angelic and Keno pointed excitedly at the beach and the peaks that were inland. Standing on the shore, it looked like a big island.
There were calls from down the beach, from the young guys that had jumped into the water with us.
“Hey, down here, we found it,” they yelled.
We jogged down the beach where, over a dune, stood the four young guys in a small stream of water. It appeared from inland, ran across the beach, and into the ocean. They were in the stream, splashing and throwing water in the air. Two of them jumped in as we crested the dune.
"Freshwater!" one of them shouted.
Jamal turned, looked at me and spoke. “Unbelievable!”
“Lucky,” said Mike.
“Grateful,” was the best I could add.
We walked over as the rest of the group made its way to the stream.
You could see relief in everyone’s face as they made their way to the water’s edge and drank.
It had been almost twenty-four hours since we left the ship. Was it really no longer than that? We had been sunburned, stolen by a rogue wave, smashed by a storm, and left adrift for hours with no communication. We'd been busy!
People cupped water in their hands or stuck their faces in the stream. There was a fast current, which indicated there should be a steady flow of water for us. It was clear and cold.
I motioned to Jamal and Mike.
“Let’s follow it inland and see what’s there.”
Angelic saw us and called out, “Shouldn’t we search the island to see if there are people here?”
"We thought we'd follow the stream a little way and see if it leads to anything," replied Jamal.
I noted the silver-haired man and his crew watching us closely. Mike seemed to notice it too.
He spoke. “I’ll stay here, call out or come and get me if you need anything.”
Jamal and I started up the banks of the stream.
Several of the younger men were already wandering further down the beach exploring. Most of the group was sitting by the water, just resting and drinking. I waved to Angelic.
“Why don’t we see if we can move the group back closer to the tree line and some shade?”
She grinned. “Keno and I were just about to suggest that. We’ll take care of it.”
Jamal and I were twenty yards into the trees and underbrush when we came upon a large pool. It was a natural watering hole. It would have great access to the beach and provide plenty of water. We couldn’t have been any more fortunate.
"Let's follow it out the backside and see if we can locate the source," I said to Jamal.
He nodded, and we moved on. There was a smaller stream feeding in that looked like it came down from the highlands above, probably the source. The water pooled in the pond, and when it overflowed, ran down to the beach where we first discovered it.
We followed the stream another hundred yards as it climbed gradually up the slope of the cliff, as the island rose out of the sea. We broke into a clearing and looked back at the beach. We weren't that high up the cliff face, but we could see the open ocean and the shoreline. Our group was not visible through the trees. It wasn't a jungle, but it was thick tropical foliage. There were lots of palm trees and underbrush.
Hopefully, we'd be able to exist on fish, coconuts, and freshwater until somebody found us. We could explore the island and see if there might be a town, a village, a settlement, a fisherman, anything that would help us. The island looked too big to be uninhabited.
"We could find people this afternoon, and it would all be over," I said to Jamal.
"That would be great," he replied. "It's going to get hot, and if we get very far off the beach, it's going to get muggy and buggy."
“Yeah, summer is coming to this part of the world.”
He nodded toward the beach, and said, “You want to start back, tell them what we found?”
19
Getting Acquainted
We walked back to the beach and found the group huddled under the trees. Mike, Keno, and Angelic were standing at the rear of the group. The silver-haired man was standing in front and began speaking as we walked up.
"My name is Antoine Debaucher, and I am CEO and COB of Global Unlimited Network Systems formerly United Amalgamated Logistics. These gentlemen,” he pointed to the three men who were standing beside him, “are my assistants. I manage several thousand employees and multiple locations around the world. I could suggest several things for us to do, and make what I'm sure will be a short stay more pleasant. I will be happy to manage this, and my assistants can execute the details while we await our rescue."
I looked at Mike, he shook his head.
The heavyset woman, and the man from the bar, both nodded and shouted, "That would be great."
The silver-haired man smiled.
My group looked at me. “Let’s see what he suggests. “
I wasn’t interested in him appointing himself king, but I wanted to hear his ideas.
"I think we should organize a search party, now that we have water, and try to determine if there is anyone else on the island. Some of the rest of the group can gather up coconuts, and a third group can see about catching some fish. I think we might take shelter right along the tree line so that we can see anyone approaching, and they can see us," he concluded.
None of it sounded like bad ideas. I nodded to the group.
“Let’s give it a shot.”
Antoine looked at the group for another moment. “Who has a cell phone?”
Everyone in the group appeared to have one and pulled them out. “Does anyone have any reception?” he asked.
Most shook their heads, and several called out, "Mine's dead or no signal." It appeared that over half of the phones were already out of commission. Antoine nodded and put his phone away. I noticed that while he pulled his phone out of his pocket, he never checked the screen.
Earlier that morning, while we had been drifting, I noticed several people had tried to make calls. I didn't see anyone succeed, and no one mentioned getting a call to go through. I felt like we were too far out of the shipping lanes for consistent coverage or too remote for a steady signal. That made me think we had drifted a long way out of cruise ship traffic.
This was a sizeable island with water and a beautiful beach, so maybe casual sailors and fishermen frequented it. Hopefully we'd see someone, or somebody would sail into the harbor and spot us.
My thoughts were brought back to the present as the four young guys stepped forward, and one of them said, "We'll catch fish," to Antoine.
Antoine’s face was frozen for just a second, then he smiled and nodded. He turned to the older husband and wife, the blonde and the big man, and the balance of the group, other than us.
“Let’s take a look at some shelter,” he said as he grouped them and prepared to walk the beach.
He looked at our group and said, “Would you see about gathering some coconuts?” Then he turned back and led the others away.
Jamal looked at me and then broke into the old Harry Nielson song, "Put the lime in the coconut, and call the doctor, wake him up."
“Say doctor, doctor,” chipped in Mike.
“Call me in the morning,” chimed in Angelic and Keno.
As I started inland for the trees, I sang out, "I said doctor, is there nothing I can take to relieve this belly ache, oh doctor."
They followed me along while they laughed and continued to sing.
Coconuts are from a specific type of palm, meaning that not all palms have coconuts. Our good fortune continued as we shortly discovered a grove of the trees. There were several with coconuts hanging and a large quantity of the fruit lying on the ground. The ladies started rounding them up.
I stopped everyone for a second to say, "The ones on the ground are older or riper, watch to see how soft or mushy the shell is. If you pick it up and tap on it, you should get a hollow sound if it's ripe. Gather up about two dozen. We'll use those for the meat. Jamal, Mike, and I will try to get a few out of the trees for some coconut water."
They looked at me like I was from outer space, except Keno, who grinned.
Angelic put her hands on her hips. “I get my produce at the grocery. How do you know all this?” then she smiled at the others and pointed at me, “you lived in Hawaii as a kid!”
“My mother took me shopping and showed me around the island, so I’d know what was going on. I guess she thought it might be helpful someday. Looks like it is,” I said, and grinned back at all of them.
“How are we going to get these open?” asked Angelic.
Keno jumped in, “Without a knife or a machete, we’ll have to split them on the rocks,” the others looked at her, “I’m half Hawaiian, we know these things,” she smiled and laughed.
We split up, and the ladies started gathering the fruit on the ground.
Jamal looked at me and said, “You think we’re climbing those trees?”
