‘Alright, alright,' grumbled Oli trying to smooth his afro, 'you can put me down now. I think I got it.’
‘Not just a pretty face, your husband!’ Elaine grinned, nodding to James.
‘Oh…no,’ Abbey corrected. ‘He’s not my husband.’
‘Oh I’m sorry, darl. Me and my big mouth.’
Abbey chanced a peek at James. He was smirking.
‘Well,’ Oli threw in, ‘I hate to break up the party, but since you’re all here on my behalf, I hope you won’t mind if I depart. I do believe the sun’s coming out. I need to work on this tan.’
Abbey waited for Anthony to second the notion. Instead he stayed back, the gloom absorbing him.
James led the way out, trailed obediently by Oli, Elaine and Eric who lumbered clumsily after them.
Looking back to Anthony, Abbey said, ‘You coming?’
Silence.
‘Anthony?’
‘In a minute,’ he murmured.
‘Okay,’ she frowned. ‘We’ll be outside.’
15
‘You’re doing what?’ Abbey gasped.
‘We need to see what we’re up against,’ James replied casually. ‘It’s no big deal.’
‘It’s no big deal?’
‘No.’
She took a step back. ‘What is it with you? Have you got a death wish, or something?’
Throwing a couple of water bottles into a rucksack, James turned and looked up at the towering and rocky tor overlooking the north of the island.
‘It’s bloody suicide, James! And in this heat? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the sun has burnt away every last bit of cloud, and there will be no shade up there.’
Tightening the cord on the bag, he said, ‘Don’t worry about it.' He rose from his haunches and faced her, placed his hands at the tops of her arms. ‘I’m coming back.’
‘You’d better! I can’t take care of this lot alone.’
Some of the others were scattered along the beach staring out to sea, preparing themselves for some miraculous rescue. Others were prying their way into suitcases, seeing what they could salvage. Anthony had finally turned up, his birthmark starker in the afternoon sun. Teri too had made an appearance. She seemed to have raided a man's case and substituted her torn clothes for a pair of khaki shorts and a large checked shirt, which looked too heavy for the weather. Everybody except Sol Delaney, the elusive Aussie, was accounted for.
‘Listen,’ James said quietly. ‘Everybody’s frightened. There are no leaders here, so we have to get organised. Get them working while we’re gone. Build shelters, keep them occupied. You have a couple of accomplices in Eric and Elaine. Use them. They’ll do anything for you, it’s obvious.’
‘Shelters? How long do you suppose we’ll be here?’
‘I don’t know,’ he replied truthfully.
‘Hang on a sec, you said we. While we’re gone. Which crazy bastard have you g –’
‘You all set, James?’ interrupted Oli. He too had changed. Now he boasted a pair of faded Bermuda shorts and a t-shirt which insisted Frankie was back.
‘Wow!’ James replied. 'Who's the eighties throwback?’
Abbey stashed away a grin.
‘What?’ Oli examined himself. ‘Nobody. I found my own case over by the tailfin.’
‘These are your clothes?’
'What's the problem?'
'There's no problem,' James grinned.
‘You guys crack me up!’ Oli deadpanned. Pushing between them he stormed into the jungle.
‘Oops,’ Abbey smirked. ‘I think you’d better go and apologise.’
‘I think I’d better.’
Glancing down at her feet, she murmured, ‘Please come back, James. I meant it when I said we need you. I can’t take care of this lot by myself.’
‘I’ll be back by tonight. I promise.’
*
It only took a half-mile for James to realise that Abbey had been talking sense. It was too damn hot for this crap. Earlier he’d changed into a sky-blue baggy shirt and knee-length khaki shorts, and in a suitcase not belonging to him, he’d found a good pair of walking boots which fit.
‘Can you remind me,’ Oli gasped from thirty yards back. ‘At what point did I agree this was a good idea?’
Taking a seat on a fallen tree, James waited for Oli to catch up. ‘It’s that afro, it’s weighing you down.’
Dropping his rucksack, he took a seat next to James, panting. ‘Don’t be dissing the afro, man. It’s what sets a brother apart.’ Oli took a couple of big swigs of water and handed the bottle to James. ‘So how much more of this feral garden do we have to conquer before we reach the base of the hill?’
‘We’re nearly there. But if the jungle is killing you, you’d better turn back now. The hill is going to be worse.’
‘How’d you figure? There’s got to be fewer bugs up there. I’m like a fricking banquet to the little assholes.’
James took another swig of water and bagged the bottle. ‘Sweet blood, that’s what my mom always used to say. When I was a kid, I was never bitten. She always said I had sour blood. Sucking on it was like biting into a lemon. You, my friend, are a strawberry.’
Oli swatted the back of his neck. ‘Awesome.’
‘Where are you from anyway?’
Oli hesitated and examined his shoelaces.
‘It’s not a trick question.’
‘Tinsel Town,’ Oli said coyly. ‘Hollywood. But don’t judge a book by its cover, man. There’s more to me than meets the eye.’
‘I wasn’t judging. What’s wrong with California?’
‘Nothing wrong with the place, per se,’ Oli clarified. ‘It’s the people I have an issue with.’
‘Plastic?’
‘Some of them make Barbie and Ken look positively real, in appearance and personality.’
‘So what sets
