And I had to doit on my own this time.
Shiveringfrom the chill soaked into my bones, I whipped my head around,searching for a place to carry out the nefarious task. There was ahigh possibility I could pass out afterward. Especially if I did itwrong. I assessed that the island was surrounded by sand thatturned into thickgrass as it moved toward the center where a small forest oftrees could be found.
A few yardsaway, I spotted a large rock nestled in the grass. Perfect. Slowly,I made my way over to it, holding my arm close to my body. Keepingit as straight as possible, I placed a hand on the rock andcautiously began to turn. Back and forth. Repeating this slowly.Carefully. Each time I could feel the top of my arm creeping backinto place and the sensation sickened me. But the painlessened.
Finally, thesocket accepted the bone and I had a shoulder again. I screamedfrom the pain and my empty stomach heaved. I fell to the groundwhere sea water wretched from my guts. My mind spun, threatening togo under, but I shook the fog from my brain and leaned against thelarge stone.
“Okay,Dianna, think,” I told myself. What did I need to do first?Shelter? No, water. Then shelter. I still had hours of daylightleft. A bonus. My shoulder throbbed so I slugged off my red jacketand ripped the long, white shirt sleeve from where it attached tomy blouse and then fashioned it into a tight sling. The relief waspalpable.
After a momentto catch my breath, I fished around in the many large pockets of myjacket and thanked the heavens I thought to grab it on my way outof my quarters. In the end, my spoils were a knife, pockettelescope, and a palm compass. Not the best tools to be stranded onan island with, but I’d make do.
Now I had tofind fresh water.
I threw myjacket back on, carefully draping it over my injured shoulder.Close to an hour must have passed as I wandered around theperimeter of the forest. A sort of eerie silence echoed from thetrees and I dared not enter. But I did walk a few yards inland,across the grass, until I found a small pond of fresh water thatcollected from a run-off that seemed to come from the forestsomewhere. It couldn’t be more perfect.
Using myknife, I loosened the lens of the telescope until it popped out. Igathered up a few dried leaves, thin twigs, and some witch’s beardthat grew on the trees. I had everything I needed to start a fire.It took longer than I’d hoped, but after many attempts, the sunreflected through theglass lens and caught fire to a leaf.
“Yes!” Ishouted but quickly settled. I had to keep the little flame alive.Carefully, I added leaf after leaf until the flame grew bigger andthen began to add the twigs. After about ten minutes, I hadfashioned a small fire. I picked up a few stones to surround andprotect it before adding some larger branches. Grinning wide, Istood and stared down at my accomplishment. “Eat your heart out,Bear Grylls.”
It wastime to dismantle my palm compass. The ancient relic sat ina tiny brass bowl.Perfect for boiling water. It wouldn’t be much, but it was betterthan nothing. And it was definitely better than getting a parasitefrom drinking the pond water as is.
I loosened thetiny screws that held the compass together and pocketed the pieces.I walked over to the pond and scooped up some of the water and thenplaced it on a flat rock closest to the fire. Within minutes itbubbled and, using my thick jacket sleeve to protect my fingers,expertly removed it to cool.
While I waited,I wandered around the edge of the forest again, careful not tostray too far from the shore in case a passing ship spotted myfire. Remembering what I learned from my very brief time in GirlGuides, I gathered up as many thick, wide boughs as I could carrywith one arm and brought them back to my little camp. Next, I hadto find three fallen branches big enough to fashion a lean-to, butsmall enough for me to carry with my shoulder out ofcommission.
It tookforever, but I finally had a tiny shelter from the sun, a fire toboil water and keep me warm at night, and a straight view of thebeach where I could signal for help. I sat on my bed of boughs anddrank the little saucer of water. It tasted like metal and had bitsof sand in it but, my God, it was glorious. Immediately, I scoopedup another and placed it by the fire. While I waited for that oneto boil, I gathered up a pile of branches to feed the flames duringthe night. I was all set. I couldn’t help but grin at the thoughtof my crew finding me and seeing the surprise on their faces that Icould manage as much as I had.
But then mythoughts morphed into something dark. What if they didn’t make it?Did the storm destroy The Queen and take my crew down with it? Iwould have no way of knowing. I could very well be stranded on thisisland for the rest of my life.
Waiting for arescue that may never happen.
ChapterFive
The first night was rough. The sun went down and took with it what little warmthwas in the air. I snuggled as close to the fire as I could withoutsetting myself ablaze, but it wasn’t enough. The cool wind torethrough the air, tousling the trees and chilling my weary bones. Mybody shivered all night.
Finally, as theearly sun began to peek through the clouds, I gave into theexhaustion and crashed. I’d no idea how much time had passed when Ifinally awoke. The sun was high in the sky, so I could only guessit was around noon. After a few rounds of boiled water, I decidedto
