Ahhhhhhhh, I’m so excited to be posting this chapter! I think it’s my favourite…hopefully you enjoy it too! The title has a bit of a double meaning; it could just have easily have been called Mourning. 
Also just a warning, the next two chapters after this are pretty long.
Chapter 33: Morning
‘No!’ she called out as Slade took off his jacket, stony determination on his face as he looked out to sea. She knew that look, knew exactly what he was thinking, and she didn’t like it. ‘Slade, don’t you dare!’ She marched out onto the deck and grabbed his arms as he bent to pull off his boots, nearly bringing him down on top of her, but he quickly righted himself and pushed her away gently. As unsteady as her sea legs were, he handled her as easily as he would have a doll.
He cupped her chin with one hand, forcing her to look up at him. She did so, but with a sullen glare. ‘Don’t worry about me,’ he said with a frustratingly beautiful smile, then he kissed her. Her anger melted away in surprise, and she gave in to her feelings for him, then just as quickly it was over, and before she could come back to her senses she heard a splash and he was gone.
‘Slade!’ she cried weakly, still getting her breath back, and flung herself at the rail, clutching it tightly and using it to support herself as she leaned over the edge. She glowered at Salene next to her, just standing there doing nothing; she should have stopped him!
‘Slade!’ Out there was nothing but the sea, the wind and the rain. Time ticked away in her head, yet still there was nothing; no sign of anybody living. Any second now he would resurface. Any second now.
‘SLADE!’
‘Slade…’ she thought she heard herself say, echoing her memory as her mind returned to the present. She was sitting at the shore, her arms hugged around her legs, which were tucked up in front of her chest. Before her the water sparkled pale blue in the first rays of the morning sun, lapping placidly around the sharp rocks that ringed the whole beach like a fence. She shivered, remembering their close calls the night before. Had she really been sitting here all night? How long had it been? She remembered the terror she had felt as if it were moments ago. She could still remember…
‘Don’t worry about me,’
‘SLADE!’
She flinched. She had been remembering all night.
She clutched her legs more tightly, staring straight ahead of her out to sea, to a fixed point on the horizon, rocking slightly back and forth to give herself something to focus on, anything to stop her mind coming up with those dreadful thoughts. But time and again her thoughts kept wandering back to Slade. Sunrise, she had thought. If she could only keep watch until sunrise, Slade would come back. The sun would come up, and she would see him swimming back to her. He would emerge from the water, framed in the sunlight, and he would scoop her up in his arms, laughing, and kiss her, and…
He kissed her. Her anger melted away in surprise, and she gave in to her feelings for him, then just as quickly it was over, and before she could come back to her senses she heard a splash and he was gone.
But the sunrise had come, and there was no Slade. And yet…it all made sense. He couldn’t make it all this way in the dark, not with all those rocks around. He would have found somewhere to shelter for the night, and now that day was breaking he would set out again and find her. Yes, that was it. She just had to wait a little longer. She would tell the others…
She stopped her rocking abruptly. The others. She had forgotten all about them. Turning her head to look behind her, she saw that they had set up a makeshift camp further up the beach, with blankets clustered around a dying fire. Only one of the blankets was occupied, however, with two people sleeping closely together. Very close, she noted. By a process of elimination she decided it must be Salene and Jay. Another time she might have felt a pang of jealousy at seeing Jay there with somebody else, but now she felt nothing, literally. She sat there watching the two of them lying next to each other and just felt…numb. It should be her and Slade up there, lying by the fire. She blinked, wondering why her vision was blurring.
Suddenly a hand placed itself on her shoulder. Tensing, she was about to react violently when she had a sudden thought.
‘Slade?’ she breathed, whipping her head around and wiping her eyes.
Lex looked as surprised as she felt, and abashed with it. ‘Ebony,’ he said, holding his hands up defensively. ‘I’m not…I didn’t mean…It’s me.’
Hope wilted into disappointment, before both were smothered by anger. How dare he make her think he was Slade! She stood up, wincing at the stiffness in her muscles, and shoved him away from her. He stumbled backwards a couple of steps, leaving deeper than normal footprints in the sand, but that was it. Looking behind him, she saw that his footprints led from further along the shore, rather than from the camp. He had been up and about for some time, it seemed.
‘What are you doing here?’ she spat. ‘Come to gloat, have you? We made it to your precious island, are you happy now?’
Lex’s face contorted in a struggle of emotions, with stubborn defiance winning out. ‘I’m happy I’m alive,’ he snapped, eyes darting momentarily to the rocks surrounding the beach. His face suddenly softened. ‘Look, Ebony, I’m sorry about Slade - we all are - but we’re here now, and the plan hasn’t changed. As soon as the camp’s down we’re heading inland. We’re so close now, I can feel it, and I’m not going to give up on the others; I won’t give up on Tai San!’ He stared ahead towards the forest, unconsciously stroking his ring finger.
‘You won’t will you?’ she sneered. ‘Well I’m not about to give up on Slade either! So you go, Lex. Take the others and leave me alone! I’m staying right here!’ She jabbed her finger towards the ground for emphasis.
Lex stared at her for a long time, lips thinned, until finally he gave a sigh and, to her great surprise, sat down on the sand, looking out to sea. Dumbstruck, she stood watching him as if he had suddenly grown another head before closing her mouth and slowly lowering herself back down to sit next to him, still casting sideways glances in his direction.
‘I’m not waiting forever,’ he warned her quietly, not taking his eyes off the water.
Unable to say anything, she simply nodded her head in reluctant gratitude and resumed her vigil.
Salene woke slowly; in her mind she was back at the mall, in happier times, and she was quite content to stay there. That should have been her first clue, really. She didn’t think she had been very happy at all in those happier times, but here and now she was happy, and that was all that mattered. She slept. A breeze fluttered across her face. Indoors? She tried to sense the bed beneath her, but it was hard and uneven; the aches in her neck and back told her that. Something wasn’t quite right, but at least Ryan was still there beside her…
Her eyes shot open. Ryan was gone, she knew that, so who…? She sat up, painfully, using her arms to lever herself. Feeling sand under her fingers the reality of her surroundings started to seep back in, and she knew who she would see beside her before her stiff neck allowed her to turn her head. Jay lay stretched out on the blanket sleeping restlessly. There were dark circles under his twitching eyes, and his mouth worked in half-formed mutterings. One hand lay slumped on his middle, while the other lay stretched out to his side, where it had fallen from her shoulder when she had lifted her head from his chest. Looking around the camp she noticed that both Lex and Sammy were gone, though glancing down the beach she saw Lex sitting at the shore with Ebony. It was too much to suppose that the others hadn’t seen her and Jay, not that she had anything to feel guilty about, of course. It wasn’t as though she had deliberately ended up in that position; she had been asleep and dreaming about Ryan, that was all, and no wonder, with all Lex’s talk of finding the others. If it was anyone’s fault, it was his! Looking down at Jay, she considered moving, but getting up might wake him and he needed rest right now. Instead, she gently lowered her head back onto his chest. It really was the only thing to do. And you like it , a voice in the back of her head said mockingly, but she quickly fought it down.
‘Slade!’ Jay cried out as soon as her head was down, sitting bolt upright and knocking her away from him. She sighed regretfully. ‘Oh,’ he said, noticing her and quickly shuffling away, looking abashed. ‘I…’ His mouth worked, but he left whatever he had been about to say unfinished. Taking in his surroundings he gave a sigh. ‘It wasn’t just a bad dream then,’ he said in disappointment.
‘I…guess not,’ she replied, pretending to have just woken up herself.
‘I suppose it’s too much to hope that Slade and the trader made it ashore safely?’ he asked.
She shook her head sadly. ‘Lex and Ebony are still on the beach,’ she said, then realised she was supposed to have been asleep. ‘At least, I assume that’s where they are,’ she covered weakly, gesturing around at the empty camp.
Jay nodded obliviously, peering down the beach. ‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘I can see them. No sign of Sammy though…he was amazing last night, wasn’t he? In the storm? So calm.’
Salene sat upright at mention of Sammy. ‘I think I know where he might be,’ she said. ‘I’d better go find him.’ She stood up unsteadily, brushing sand from her clothes with limited success. ‘Will…will you be ok?’ she asked as she grabbed her coat from where it had been hanging over the remains of last night’s fire.
Jay laughed mirthlessly. ‘As long as Ebony doesn’t try to kill me,’ he replied. ‘Not that I’d blame her if she did.’ He must have seen the concern on her face because he suddenly smiled. ‘Go on,’ he said. ‘Go find Sammy. I’ll be fine.’ She nodded and turned away, though the image of his smile lingered in her mind for a few moments.
The journey from the boat to where they had made camp had seemed to take a lifetime the previous night but Salene reached the rocky outcrop that sheltered the concealed harbour in a surprisingly short time; she could even see the camp as she made her way up the scree-littered slope. It hadn’t taken much thought to realise that Sammy must have returned to his father’s boat, and going to find him seemed as good an excuse as any to put a bit of distance between herself and Jay. It wouldn’t do for Lex to start jumping to the wrong conclusions, after all; nothing to do with the confusing feelings she was beginning to have when she was around the ex-Techno. She bit her lip worriedly, but refused to entertain such thoughts. There were far more important matters to worry about right now, such as what they were going to do now they had reached what she could only hope was Lex’s island. Topping the ridge, she looked back down towards the beach, thinking it was a miracle that they had all managed to avoid slipping and breaking their necks on the way down in the night, before making her way down the rock steps into the cavern. Since the storm had calmed, the tide had taken some of the water from the inlet, so that part of the boat now rested on a build-up of sand. What she could see of the exposed hull was covered in scratches that must have come from their encounters from the rocks on their way in. It was a sobering sight, and made her think sadly of Slade and the trader. And then of Ebony. How were they going to handle her this morning? They would have to approach her at some point, but it wasn’t going to be pretty.
As she reached the rock ledge at the bottom of the steps, noise from the boat startled her out of her thoughts and she slowed, suddenly hesitant. It was a steady methodical clatter; not a sound an animal would make if it had managed to get down here. Somebody was definitely on board, but only now had it occurred to her that it might not be Sammy. Perhaps she shouldn’t have come across on her own, not when they knew nothing about who else might be on this island. Shaking her head, she told herself she was just being silly and walked the rest of the way to the boat with confidence, lowering herself down softly onto the deck, which had dropped away from the ledge along with the water level. Who else was going to be snooping around after a storm like last night’s? Of course it was Sammy! Still, it was a relief to cross the now-dry cabin into the control room and see the flame-haired youngster kneeling on the deck, rifling through the vessel’s glove compartment and tossing the trader’s accumulated junk to one side as if searching for something.
‘Sammy?’
Her fellow Mallrat leapt to his feet, whirling to face her with terror in his eyes, which he quickly lowered in shame as he recognised her.
‘Sorry,’ she winced, stepping further into the room. ‘I didn’t mean to startle you.’
Sammy shook his head. ‘It’s this place,’ he explained. ‘I haven’t been out of the City since the Virus. It’s weird not knowing what might be out there, it feels…I don’t know…wrong.’ He shrugged and wrinkled his nose as if the word were unsatisfactory, but Salene nodded. She knew what he meant, it felt wrong to her too, like unseen eyes were watching her all the time, laughing at her. The fear of the unknown.
Not that she told Sammy that, of course. No need to spook him even further. Instead, she said ‘I guess this is what it must have been like for explorers in history books, coming ashore on a new land, with no maps or travel guides to help them.’
‘Like Christopher Columbus?’ Sammy asked.
She smiled. ‘Only Christopher Columbus didn’t have to deal with Lex!’
Sammy laughed, then looked worried. ‘Is he mad at me?’ he asked. ‘For last night?’
‘Of course he isn’t!’ she said, surprised. ‘Sammy, if you hadn’t taken over when you did none of us would have made it out of that storm alive. And you were right to avoid the beach, there are rocks all the way along it. It’s thanks to you we got here in one piece, and Lex knows that, even if he won’t admit it.’
‘We’re not all here though, are we?’ he said, lowering his eyes. ‘I tried to say something earlier, but the trader wasn’t letting anyone near the controls apart from Lex. If I’d tried harder…’
‘It’s not your fault, Sammy,’ she said, giving him a hug. ‘We shouldn’t have been out there at all. You did well, ok? Your dad would have been proud.’
‘Ok,’ Sammy nodded into her coat. ‘Thanks Salene.’
Straightening, Salene pushed her hair back behind her ear, grimacing at the sand she found there, and watched as Sammy returned to the drawer. He removed the last few items from inside and then gave a deep sigh, though not of relief, more of resignation. Curious, she moved so that she was standing next to him over the glove compartment. There, in the bottom, were the crudely scratched letters of his name. Realisation dawned on her as he reached out gingerly to trace them with his fingers.
‘You weren’t sure?’ she asked.
Sammy shrugged. ‘Deep down I think I was,’ he said softly. ‘But it’s different seeing the proof. All the memories just come flooding back. I had to know though, I kept waking up from dreams of him last night.’ He looked up at her, almost challengingly. ‘I bet you think I’m being silly.’
She put a hand on his shoulder. ‘I still dream about my parents sometimes,’ she told him. ‘Sometimes I wake up and think I’m back in my old bedroom, expecting them to be downstairs making breakfast. And then I remember, I’m not. And they’re not. It’s hard, and it’s sad, and it’s unfair, but one thing it isn’t is silly.’
Sammy smiled up at her, then reached to the back of the compartment, grabbing hold of the corner of something that had slipped partway out of the back of the drawer, underneath a loose section of panelling. It was a set of photo booth pictures, she realised as it was extricated, of Sammy and his father. In the top one they looked quite serious, but further down they had begun to pull faces and in the bottom picture Sammy’s dad was wiping away a laughter tear.
‘We were evacuated so fast in the end,’ the younger Mallrat said, wiping away a tear of his own. ‘I never got to keep any pictures.’ He put the strip of photos away carefully in his pocket and took a deep breath. ‘Can we leave now?’ he asked.
She nodded, and they made their way off the boat, stopping only to collect a few more supplies from the cabin that looked salvageable. Back on the rocky ledge, Salene looked back at the boat and the damage it had sustained in the storm.
‘Do you think it’ll be alright?’ she asked. ‘Can it get us back home?’
‘It should do,’ Sammy replied. ‘As long as we stick to calm waters this time. It might be an idea to look around for some tar or something though, just to be on the safe side?’ He looked to her as though expecting an answer, or perhaps permission. He may have taken over in the storm, but he was clearly embarrassed to do so now.
‘Sounds good to me,’ she said, though in truth she didn’t have a clue how to go about finding tar. Sammy knew far more about these things than she did. Still, if it was going to make the boat safer she was all for it.
Making their way back to the beach, Salene saw that Jay had been busy while she was gone; the ashes from the fire had been buried to hide the evidence of their camp. There were too many footprints on the beach now to do anything about those, but they could at least pretend to be just passing through. The stakes were all down too, and their belongings folded into bundles in preparation for setting off inland. In fact it was only the Mallrats themselves who weren’t ready. Lex and Ebony were still at the end of the beach, staring out to sea in silence, while Jay was kneeling in the sand a little way off from where the camp had been, occupying himself with something fixed into the ground in front of him. As she and Sammy approached him she saw just what that was. Jay had made two crosses out of driftwood and bits of jetsam, fastened together with lengths of strong seaweed and driven into the sand, with a mound of shells piled up around each one to anchor it in place. One of the crosses bore Slade’s name written with a stick dipped in ashes from the fire; the other was blank.
Jay looked up as they arrived. ‘He was a man of secrets to the end, our trader,’ he said sadly, nodding towards the blank cross. ‘He never did tell us his name.’ He stood up, brushing the sand from his legs, and studied the two crosses. ‘I had to do something, Salene. It wouldn’t be right otherwise.’
Salene went to stand next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Sammy stuck his hands in his pockets and stared very hard into the forest. So he had seen them this morning. Grinding her teeth in frustration she told herself once again that she was doing nothing wrong. The pain and guilt etched onto Jay’s face was more important than what Sammy or Lex thought anyway. He needed her right now.
‘It’s lovely, Jay,’ she said simply, rubbing his back comfortingly. ‘I’m sure Ebony…’
She was cut off by a wail from the shore. Sammy jumped, and the three of them looked to where Ebony was rising from the beach. Lex rose too, trying to calm her, but to no avail. She fended him off angrily, eventually giving him a shove that knocked him off his feet in a shower of sand, then turned and stormed up the beach. Straight towards them. Salene tensed further with every step that brought her closer, trying to brace herself for the confrontation that was inevitably to come.
Jay didn’t so much as flinch as Ebony strode purposefully towards the gathered Mallrats, with Lex catching up behind her. Even her furious gaze failed to affect him as it passed over the three of them, lingering on each one in turn. Whatever she was about to say or do, he knew that he deserved it. He took a step forward, placing himself between her and the other two. It was his fault that Slade was dead, and his alone.
Ebony stopped a few paces from where he stood, scowling at them all but seemingly unable to speak. A mixture of emotions crossed her features, and she curled her lip in distaste as her eyes fell on the two crosses. At the arrival of a slightly out of breath Lex, she rounded on him, almost sending him to the ground again as he took an instinctive step back. When her words came, they came in abundance.
‘Have a good laugh, did you?’ she spat, then turned on the others. ‘And you? Watching me? Poor mad Ebony, staring out to sea, waiting for Slade. She’s really lost it this time! What were you doing, placing bets on how long it would take for me to come to my senses? Who won? Was it you, Jay?’ He did flinch this time, though her eyes settled on him only for a moment before she attacked Lex again.
‘It wasn’t enough for you though, was it?’ she accused. ‘You had to come down and taunt me!’
‘It wasn’t like that!’ Lex protested. ‘I was trying to be nice!’ A little anger entered his tone, doubtless at having to admit to an act of kindness in front of an audience. He was a good man, Lex, if proud. Jay didn’t think he could ever feel proud of himself again, not after what had happened.
‘Well you’ll all be glad to know that I have come to my senses,’ Ebony continued, ignoring him. Salene stepped forward with a sympathetic smile and opened her mouth, but Ebony rode over her, raising her voice slightly. ‘Yes,’ she affirmed. ‘Everything is very clear to me now. You planned this.’ Salene, still trying to speak up, suddenly stopped, standing with her mouth gaping open in shock.
‘What?!’ Lex spluttered in astonishment. Sammy fidgeted nervously, but Jay just sighed sadly.
‘This was always meant to be a ‘Mallrats only’ rescue mission wasn’t it?’ she sneered. ‘You didn’t want Slade or me around in the first place.’
‘That’s not true!’ Salene cried.
Lex folded his arms angrily. ‘Last I saw you had the same symbol on your hand as the rest of us,’ he said through gritted teeth.
Ebony whipped her head in his direction. ‘Doesn’t make me a Mallrat though, does it?’ she said with a dark look. ‘We all try and pretend but I never have been, have I? Oh, I could stand all the looks and the snide comments behind my back - came to expect them, even - you’ve never accepted me as one of you. And who’d want to be? Not me! Bunch of hypocritical pigs the lot of you!’ She swept a look of disgust over all of them, but kept right on talking. ‘You think you’re so much better than everyone else, so high and mighty, but you’re not! You never accepted me, fine; but you never accepted Slade either, because he was with me, and that’s what I can’t stand! After all that he’s done for you!’ She glared at Lex. ‘He saved your bacon enough times. The Technos would never have been defeated without him. He lost his own brother in the process, and how do you repay him? Alright, so maybe you didn’t get rid of him on purpose, but you abandoned him out there, and that’s worse! You never gave him a chance. As soon as Jay was out all you wanted to do was leave! And now you stick this…this thing!’ She kicked the cross bearing Slade’s name, knocking it over and toppling the mound of shells. ‘In the ground,’ she continued. ‘And think everything’s ok! Back to normal! You couldn’t care less about Slade; he clearly meant nothing to you. Well he meant everything to me, and now he’s gone! Because of you lot, the Mallrats.’ She invested as much scorn as she could into the name. ‘Anything I’ve ever had in this world you’ve either taken away or ruined. Everything! Slade’s gone, and it’s all…your…’
The tirade stopped abruptly as Ebony seemed to hear herself for the first time, to really hear what she was saying. ‘He’s gone,’ she said quietly, eyes wide in shock. ‘He’s really gone.’ Her arms fell limply to her sides and she sagged, looking vacantly through the assembled Mallrats, who stared back, just as stunned.
Jay shook himself. He couldn’t let her torture herself any longer. He stepped forward, extending his arm towards her. Her eyes focussed on him and narrowed, and she jumped back as if from a viper.
‘Don’t touch me!’ she snapped. ‘Don’t you dare touch me! You’re the one he jumped in there after. Why are you standing here in front of me? You should be dead! I wish you were dead, Jay! It should be Slade here today. It should be Slade!’
‘Ebony don’t do this!’ Salene pleaded, finally getting a word in. ‘We want to help you. We’re all upset about Slade, and the trader, but there was nothing we could do for them. You remember what it was like out there! It’s a miracle any of us are still alive.’
‘You want to help me?’ Ebony scoffed.
‘It doesn’t matter what’s happened between us in the past,’ Salene explained. ‘Nobody should have to go through what you’re going through. We care about you.’
Ebony laughed. ‘Oh, that’s rich!’ she said. ‘All you care about is having your way with him!’ Jay was taken aback when she suddenly pointed at him. He looked at Salene but she wasn’t meeting his eye, focussed as she was on Ebony. Her cheeks were red, but he couldn’t tell if it was with anger or embarrassment. ‘Don’t think I haven’t noticed,’ Ebony continued. ‘And don’t pretend you care. You just want to make yourself feel better, because you’re just as guilty as he is. You’re the one who gave up on Slade. If you want to help, then you can leave me alone!’
Salene frowned, but stayed silent. Nobody dared say anything anymore. Nobody but Ebony.
‘And YOU!’ she went on, this time pointing at Sammy, seemingly intent on working her way through everybody present. Sammy’s eyes widened, fixed on her finger as if it were a knife she was thrusting towards him. ‘You little coward! All this time you knew about the boat and said nothing! If you’d grown a spine we would never have had to go through all of that!’
‘That’s enough Ebony!’ Salene said firmly, stepping between the other girl and Sammy. ‘I know you’re upset, but that is way out of line! Without Sammy we’d all be dead.’
‘Without Sammy,’ Ebony said gravely. ‘I’d be wherever Slade is, and free of you lot and your false pity!’ She turned to walk away but Lex blocked her path like a statue, his arms folded.
‘And me?’ he asked sneeringly. ‘Are you going to take a shot at me too?’
Ebony made a scornful noise. ‘I wouldn’t know where to begin,’ she replied, skirting around him and away down the beach.
There was silence for a short while among the Mallrats before Salene finally clicked her teeth in exasperation. ‘Ebony wait!’ she called out. ‘Where are you going?’
Ebony stopped and turned, a look of contempt on her face. ‘Haven’t you got it yet?’ she asked acerbically. ‘I’m leaving! You should be pleased, I’m giving you Mallrats what you’ve always wanted - rid of me! So take a good look because it’ll be your last. I certainly don’t want to see you again.’
‘Ebony don’t be stupid!’ Salene cried, but Ebony had already started walking again, refusing to look back. ‘It could be dangerous out there! We need to stick together! Ebony!’
There was no reply. As far as Ebony was concerned, the Mallrats had ceased to exist.
‘Ebony!’
Salene strode forward after her but Lex grabbed her arm. ‘Let her go, Sal,’ he sighed.
‘But…’ Salene gestured towards the other woman, then let her hand fall with a sigh.
Lex looked towards Ebony, his eyes narrowing. ‘We tried to help her, and she threw it back in our faces,’ he growled. ‘She wants to go it alone, so let her. Do you really think you can convince her otherwise? I’m not going to waste my time on her anymore; we came here for a reason, remember? I’m going to get our stuff together, then we’re leaving. Come on, Sammy!’
At the order, Sammy immediately jumped to follow Lex back to where the camp had been, eager to be away, but Salene remained where she was with Jay, watching Ebony sadly until she was out of sight.
‘You could have said something, Jay!’ she said sulkily, rounding on him.
He shrugged in reply. ‘Would you want to be reminded of Slade all the time?’ he asked. ‘That’s what she’d see when she looked at us.’ When she looked at me , he corrected mentally. ‘I’m not saying I’m glad to see the back of her, but I understand why she wants to go. Maybe she’s better off on her own.’
Salene looked at him sadly, shaking her head, then looked down at the two crosses. Her jaw set stubbornly and she bent down to reposition the cross Ebony had kicked over, scooping the shells back around the bottom with her hands.
‘Lex! Sammy! Get back over here!’ she yelled.
Lex stood up from where he had been tying a cord around one of their bundles. ‘What is it now?’ he sighed.
‘What it is,’ Salene replied acidly. ‘Is that we lost two people last night, two friends, and we WILL take some time to remember them, and to say goodbye. Or do you want to prove Ebony right?’
Lex and Sammy looked at each other, then dropped the bundles they were holding and made their way back to the memorials. Salene nodded in satisfaction.
Ebony tried not to think as her legs carried her away, walking in the opposite direction to the various sets of footprints in the sand. All of her thoughts since getting off the boat had brought a mixture of sadness and anger, an exhausting combination, particularly after a night without sleep. All she wanted right now was some peace. Being around the Mallrats was unbearable; every time she looked at one of them she saw visions of frightened faces in the night, mirrors of what she herself had felt, and the panic started to rise in her again. Even thinking about them now those spectres filled her mind, her imagination making them all the more terrible, taking her back to the night before. She felt the oppressive weight of dark storm clouds forming all around her, and was suddenly afraid that if she turned around or closed her eyes, she’d find herself in the middle of the ocean, alone, with nothing to cling to.
Forcing herself, she looked over her shoulder, and saw only the beach stretching behind her, her single set of footprints vanishing out of sight. She shook her head to clear away the images and the feeling of dread, and carried on. The beach started thinning out, becoming the rocky beginnings of the cliffs ahead of her, crossing over the cave leading to the harbour where they had moored the boat during the night. It would be a harder path than the one they had taken down to the beach from the other side of the spur, but she would remain in sight of the sea here. In sight of anything that might approach the island…or wash up on it. Her legs quivered slightly as the land began to rise in a slope towards the towering spur, still not acclimatised to being back on solid ground, and she began to stumble over the rocks that increasingly sprang up along her path. This happened with greater frequency, until a misjudged step almost dropped her off the edge and into the jagged jaws of the foam below, and she was forced to sit down and re-evaluate her journey.
Perching herself on a rock, she rubbed her eyes with her palms and was surprised when they came away wet. No wonder she was falling all over the place, trying to see through that! She blinked away the worst of it; this was no time for shedding tears. She had to keep going. Her stomach rumbled and she regretted not bringing any food or supplies with her. Was it too late to go back and claim her share from the others? Of course it was; she had left them behind now, and not before time. She had meant what she said down there on the beach; disaster seemed to strike her every time she had anything to do with the Mallrats. Now she was free to make a new start, to build a new life for herself without their interference. She stood up, confidence returning, looking up at the great rock in front of her. It was there - her new life. Just on the other side of that cliff.
Nodding to herself, she set off once again, her eyes fixed firmly on the rocky road ahead; her new beginning.
Salene stood alone by the two crosses, frowning thoughtfully. The memorial had been short, and Lex had left to finish seeing to the preparations for leaving the beach as soon as it was over, followed by Sammy and then Jay. She found it difficult to walk away, however, and kept thinking over what had been said. Or rather what hadn’t been said; none of them knew very much about the trader - not even his name! - and although Lex and Jay knew a little about Slade, both were reluctant to say much. That was clearly due to male pride in Lex’s case, but she was worried about Jay. He had been quiet since the confrontation with Ebony, and she suspected that he was still feeling guilty about Slade jumping in after him, and not being able to rescue the trader. What really worried her, however, was how little she herself had been able to contribute. Slade had been a Mallrat just like the rest of them, and she had shared the journey here with him, often confined in close quarters, but she had hardly known him. Could there be a grain of truth in what Ebony had said?
She thought about this as she made her way back to the others. Perhaps she hadn’t welcomed Slade in the same way as she had Ruby or Darryl, for instance, but then part of her had always expected Slade and Ebony to go their own way once things were back to normal in the city. Now that they both had, in tragic circumstances, she regretted not seeing them as part of the tribe. After all they and Ebony had been through together, it would be hard getting used to the idea that they might never see her again.
All this made her certain of one thing. Arriving back at the site of the camp, now just a bustle of footprints and neat bundles, the last of which Lex was securing onto his back, she took a deep breath as the three boys all looked up at her. ‘I just wanted to say,’ she announced. ‘I’m really glad the three of you are here.’ Sammy smiled at that, pleased to be included with the older Mallrats, which saddened her. She could remember a time when every Mallrat had an equal say, regardless of age. How much of a family were they anymore? ‘We had an awful night,’ she continued, ignoring the thought for the moment. ‘And now with Ebony…I don’t want to lose anybody else. Let’s look for our friends, but let’s do it carefully, ok? We tried to get here quickly, and look what happened. We need to take things slowly from here. We need to be prepared.’
‘Agreed,’ Jay said, and Sammy nodded emphatically.
‘Lex?’
Lex stared into the forest for a while before answering. ‘Fair enough,’ he conceded. ‘But we can’t waste any more time either. We make a start now, and travel as far as we can until nightfall. Then we’ll find a safe place to camp. Ok?’
‘Ok,’ Salene agreed. That sounded fair.
‘Then let’s get a move on,’ Lex said gruffly. True to his word, he started off immediately, leading the way as they left the beach and entered the forest.
Rain sighed with boredom as she lowered the binoculars and started to settle them carefully on her chest before she remembered there was no need to worry about damaging the multitude of shell necklaces she usually wore around her neck. Shells were noisy, a distinct disadvantage when you were a scout, and she was one of the best, so the only cord she wore around her neck today was the one holding the binoculars.
In truth, she wasn’t just one of the best; she was the best in her tribe, or at least she had been. Since her appointment to the governing council, however, just over a month ago, she had done very little in the way of scouting, and it was surprising how quickly you could fall back into bad habits. But the Coyotes trusted her, and everyone had been spooked by the rumours of a boat spotted out at sea during the night. They wanted the best, and that was her.
And Ash of course. He was waiting for her when she climbed down from her vantage point on the cliff, her sturdy boots providing a sure footing, and desert camouflage combats blending in with the sandy rock around her. A couple of years older than she, he was lean but muscular, with coppery skin and jet black hair. He had almost as many red chevrons running up the right-hand side of his face as she had yellow, and an additional vertical line running down the middle of them, signifying his skill at hunting, something she had never taken more than a passing interest in. That would have made them more or less equals had it not been for her position on the council, but there was never any question of leadership here; scouts always worked as a team, and besides, Ash was her friend. He stood there patiently, occasionally glancing around instinctively, studying the land around him, bare arms folded across his chest in a brown shirt with rolled up sleeves over a black vest, and olive cargo trousers tucked into black military-style boots. All the Coyotes wore plain colours; she herself wore a simple cream-coloured blouse and sleeveless fleece jacket. She still found it difficult to imagine herself wearing the more colourful styles sported by the mainland tribes. The only embellishments she wore were a few hawk feathers in her wavy blonde hair, and the necklaces she had left behind this morning. Ash had done the same, though he still wore one thick spiked bracelet.
‘Nothing, again,’ she said impatiently. ‘The kids must have got it wrong.’ It had been some of the younger tribe members who had first brought the news of a boat sighting, and most thought they had made it up, or at least been mistaken - who would take to the water in a storm like last night’s? But everyone knew to be cautious since the invasion, and enough people had been concerned to merit further investigation. She should have been glad to escape her duties and get out and about again, but she hated wild goose chases, and this looked like it might just be one. The further west they came, the fewer safe landing spots there were, and the less likely it was that any boat could have made it ashore.
‘Probably,’ Ash agreed. ‘But we’d better keep looking anyway. You know what…some people are like.’
She smirked. What the council are like, he was about to say, but he was right. If they thought the two of them had been slacking there would be words, no matter that she was one of them now.
‘Head down to the beach?’ he suggested. She nodded in agreement; the cove down below was the one place along this stretch of coastline she hadn’t been able to see from her position on the cliff top, the view obscured by the forest canopy, though only small fishing boats could make it in or out of the narrow inlet leading to the bay. If there had been a boat last night, and it had found its way to the cove, it was no invasion force. She and Ash made their way down the cliff path, rock giving way to sand as they reached the secluded beach. There would be good fishing here today, after last night’s storm, though the Coyotes had plenty of fishing spots of their own further south.
As she suspected, there was no boat on the shore. About to turn back - surely there was no point continuing any further, any boat that tried to land up the coast would have been smashed to pieces - she was suddenly distracted by a birdcall from the forest, and as her eyes drifted over the beach again they froze. There was something there, or rather someone! Sprawled out on the sand at the other end of the cove. Gasping, she started forward, but another birdcall answered the first and Ash placed a restraining fingerless-gloved hand on her shoulder. She spun around, confused.
‘You’re seriously rusty if you’re ignoring your birds now,’ he said quietly. ‘I doubt there’s many nightjars flying around at this time of day.’
Her eyes widened in comprehension, and she felt a stab of annoyance at herself for not paying attention. She would lose a chevron for this. She let Ash lead her out of sight behind a rock just as the ‘nightjars’ emerged from the forest. Two Islanders, unmistakeable in their dark grey and silver tunics and boots, and their white-painted faces highlighted with blue tribal markings. One of the Islanders was female, her dark hair in a bun fixed with elaborate pins. Carrying harpoons and nets, they appeared to be part of a foraging party. Their birdcalls had clearly been to communicate to each other that the coast was clear.
‘I was one of them, remember?’ Ash whispered behind her. ‘I know their tricks.’
She gave him a look of gratitude, before focussing on the Islanders again. There was no excuse for her not catching the fake birdcalls, but he was telling her that he wouldn’t make her alter her tribal markings over it. She couldn’t understand those who thought Ash was immature; to her, he often showed a maturity beyond his years.
The Islanders had caught sight of the figure on the beach now, and were approaching cautiously, dropping their nets but hefting their harpoons in case of a trap. After prodding a little with the butts of their weapons, the girl dropped hers and dragged the man - she could see that it was a man, now - further up the beach, checking for signs of life. She must have found some as she said something to her partner that Rain couldn’t make out, before attempting mouth to mouth. After a while the boy on the ground spluttered, causing the male Islander to point his harpoon at him, but the girl snapped at him and he helped her lift the castaway to his feet. Then two more nightjars called from the forest and the two Islanders looked at each other and stiffened. Rain looked at Ash, who nodded gravely. More Islanders had arrived, and the two on the beach weren’t expecting them. That could only mean one thing.
As she expected, two more Islanders stepped out onto the beach, only their tunics were blue, and their faces unpainted. She supposed they weren’t Islanders anymore either, just as Ash wasn’t. Both the new arrivals were male, one dark-skinned and the other pale, and they both carried fishing gear like the other two. They must have had the same idea about the cove. The two pairs of Islanders stared at each other for a short while, before the young woman took a hesitant step forward, holding out a hand as if to old friends. The two newcomers, however, clutched their harpoons more tightly, and the girl spoke quickly to her partner before they let the castaway drop to the ground and ran away, leaving their nets behind. The two remaining Islanders watched them go before turning their attention to the castaway. After doing their own share of prodding, they tied his hands and feet with the discarded nets and dragged him back into the forest with them. Only then did Rain let out the breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding.
‘So there was a boat after all,’ she mused.
Ash nodded. ‘Poor guy,’ he said. ‘Surviving a shipwreck only to run into that lot. I wonder if there were others with him.’
‘If there were,’ she replied. ‘Then they’ll probably be with the boat, up the coast, but we can’t afford to head up there now and look for survivors, not when the other tribes are in the area; I doubt the ones we saw came alone. Besides, the others need to hear about this.’
Ash chuckled and she frowned at him. ‘What’s so funny?’
‘I was just thinking of the day you joined the council,’ he smiled. ‘How they dragged you kicking and screaming to the chamber, shouting about how you’d make a lousy leader. You’ll have everyone whipped into shape in no time, Rain!’
She stuck her tongue out at him, but secretly relished the compliment. Not that she enjoyed being on the council of course. Not at all.
‘Anyway,’ she said, changing the subject. ‘Whoever they are, if anyone else did make it off that boat alive, they’d better be ready for trouble. After what just happened here it won’t be long before both the Queen and the Guardian know there are strangers on the island.’
Ash looked at her and nodded gravely, before the two of them emerged from behind the rock and headed back up the cliff path, discussing what they would tell the council, and what today’s events might mean for them all.
he had Siva… 
kind of karma issue you wrote there 
I am going to guess the Queen could be Taisan or even Danni. Cannot wait to read more. Keep the dream alive. 
Or not, we’ll see… 
