Day 34 - Only Laugh - Chapter 34 (1217 words)

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ONLY LAUGH WHEN IT HURTS

By Wayne Webb

CHAPTER 34

The ride did not last much longer before they came close to Raoul Island and he could let go ducking into the wake and keeping his head at water level as much as possible. No one was looking his way and he did not see the Stewardess Bridget again, no alarm was raised and no one shouted or looked for him.

Why she accepted his presence, he didn't know and would presumably never find out. He was close enough to the shore as the boat hugged the rugged coast to swim with little effort, though he was cold from being so long in the water, even in this tropical climate.

Midday was approaching from where the sun was in the sky, and he decided to stop on a rock, near the shore but far enough out and exposed enough to dry off substantially before making a final push for the mainland. Sea-birds were alighting, and seemingly unafraid of his presence, the sun was high above beating down, but after the morning spent in the sea it was more than welcome despite the salt crust forming on his skin. From where he was he watched the boat long in the distance, too small to see much detail and unlikely to spot him perched on the flat of the rock, but he saw the buildings on the mainland small and far away enough for him to get to the main island in safety, there was a chain of rocks in view, heading towards a stretch of beachy coast.

He took his time to get on the main land and then made his way inland, staying out of sight of the beach but keeping it in view so when he navigated towards the buildings he'd keep a sense of direction intact. The terrain was rocky in places and there were birds and small animals in the bush and trees, but noticeably calm and quiet for a wild and untamed land in the middle of nowhere.

It was dark when he got near the settlement and there were lights on and the noise of happy people came out of the structures. It had been a long hike up the island, which he suspected was volcanic, and therefore just his luck he thought. Would he end up sacrificed to the gods of the volcano? Was that the only way he'd find peace, it was a considerable chance given his propensity for attracting disaster. At the camp site, there were buildings and tents for the volunteers, they looked like they were a part of the set up there and all of them were empty, the conservation crew and the survivors of the flight were all together in the main area which left Tony free to scavenge undetected.

He did not want to take too much at once, lest it alerted anyone to his presence, but in short order he had a blanket and some spare clothes from a number of different sources, a collection of tools and some dried foods. He spotted some fishing gear in one of the boats enclosures and figured that it would be too much to take at one go, but he had his eye on it. In the meantime he ate and drank some clean water from one of the taps on the outside of the buildings, a rain water tank obviously supplied the community. He went into the brush again and found a cave surrounded by a group of rocks and trees not too far from the station, where he used a light he had stolen to check and then bed down for the night.

A few hours later a rumbling noise and the ground shaking woke him up, at once he suspected the worst, the volcano was erupting, he could feel the relentless roll of the earth and knew that no matter where he went it was never going to be far enough to get away from his own fate. The rumbling and shaking stopped abruptly and only then did he realise that the noise accompanying the 'volcano' was an engine and it had also stopped.

There were lights from the camp and he saw the passengers lining up, bedraggled tired and sleepy as they marched in a loose formation away from the buildings. He shadowed them down the hill side from the camp and saw what he thought had been the volcano was in fact the aircraft come to take them away. He came as close as he dared to the group and watched them and some of the volunteer group boarding the aircraft which looked to be from the military of a neighbouring territory he could not make out in the dark.

Bridget the stewardess broke away from the group and said something to the pilot, walking away towards the coast line and heading to the beach where she stood for a few minutes looking out to the ocean in the moonlight before turning back and getting on the plane. She stopped in the doorway and stared at the bush not seeing Tony, but imagining he was there. It was only a moment though and then with her on board the plane started up it's engines, taxied down the makeshift runway, light up in dotted lines and eventually lifted off for safer and more comfortable parts. Tony watched it in the night sky until the blinking lights of the tail and wings were too far even in the clear unpolluted sky of the Kermadecs to see clearly.

The remaining conservation staff trudged back up the hill to the huts and tents, and then the lights on the runway of the airfield clicked off one by one all the way into the dark of the night. Tony came out of his hiding place, according to his watch it was 3:30 a.m. in Tonga, a similar zone to here he had to assume. He had watched Bridget curiously when she had walked off to the beach for a moment alone. He had noticed her walking down there with a small bag clutched tightly, but when she returned it was nowhere to be seen.

He moved to where he thought she had been, unwilling to use the light he had as it was almost in view of the main area of buildings, and while they had all disappeared who knew if anyone was looking this way anymore.

He found a small bag in a dune, and opened it to find some packets of dried food, water and matches and two pieces of paper. The first was a map of the island, which unfolded and gave Tony a very clear view of the terrain and and size of the island. The second was a hand written note from Bridget. It was bright in the moonlight, but not enough to make out the words.

He chanced the light for a short burst to read the words there“I don't think you did, you seem like you might be looking for something, I hope you find it. Your secret is safe with me, Bridget ”

The light clicked off again and he sat down, in the same spot and looked out to sea himself in reflection of his situation and thinking about what he planned to do.

He had no idea.