Away (25 page)

Elizabeth still didn't look up. She thought about how he had seen her through another time like this—a dark time. She thought about how he had tried to keep her here. Now he was ready to help her go. But Indigo was dead. What was there to go for?

As if he had heard her thoughts, Jonathan answered her. “There are lots of different kinds of love, aren't there?”

She looked up at him.

“That girl loves you, Elizabeth. And I know you love her. That's worth going.”

Elizabeth looked back down at her sandwich. She still felt numb, and cold, and bleak. But maybe he was right. Maybe she wouldn't feel that way forever.

“Jonathan,” she said.

“Yes, Elizabeth.”

“I think, tonight, I'll cook.”

CHAPTER 26

A
BOUT FOUR HOURS into the passage, the skies turned gray. The wind grew chill and the waves grew choppy. They did their best to row, but the boat bucked so hard on the waves that much of the time the oars weren't even in the water. When the rain started coming down in sheets, Rachel didn't see how the storm could get worse.

The storm got worse.

The waves were so big by nightfall that Rachel began to think of them as fluid mountains; they rose up and up and up before the tiny boat, and then crashed down upon it with such force it felt like they would be driven below the sea. Malgam struggled to keep them headed toward shore with the last remaining oar. They were taking on water at such a rate that they couldn't hope to remain afloat for much longer. Pathik and Daniel bailed frantically, but they may as well have been lounging on deck for all the difference their efforts made; the storm was too much. Rachel, Vivian, and Nandy began to untie the duffels from the boat and tie them all together; they thought if they got washed overboard they might have a better chance of floating ashore in one piece. Rachel grabbed two of the orchid cubes and shoved them deep into her jacket pocket. She tried to bail water with her hands, but she almost fell out of the boat when a big wave hit. Pathik saw and shook his head frantically.

“Just hold on! Hold on to the boat!” He waved his arms so that Vivian and Nandy looked over. “Watch the rhythm!” Rachel could barely hear Pathik's shout over the storm. He pointed to a cresting wave. “Brace yourself when it gets like that. Otherwise you'll be swept away when it comes down.”

Rachel grabbed the side and held on. She looked for Vivian and Nandy and saw that they too were readying themselves for the onslaught of the wave. Nandy was holding on to Nipper as tightly as he would let her. Daniel and Pathik kept bailing until the last possible moment, and Malgam kept rowing, but when the wave reached its full height, they too held tight to the nearest part of the boat they could. For a time there was nothing but the water, battering them all, seeking their fingers, loosening their grips.

When it was over, Rachel wiped the seawater from her eyes and tried to see where everyone was. Everyone was still in the boat. She saw that Nandy's head was bowed, and she looked like she was crying, though Rachel couldn't hear over the sounds of the storm. She didn't understand at first, but then she realized Nipper was gone. She turned and leaned over the edge of the boat to see if she could spot him. She couldn't see anything but more waves, at first. But then she saw something . . . at least she thought she did. It was hard to tell with the rocking of the boat, but on the crest of the next wave she was sure. It wasn't the Woolly she saw—it was something else.

“Look! I see it!” Rachel shouted to the others over the sounds of the storm. She pointed at the thin, dark line. It had to be Salishan.

Then she heard Nandy scream. She was pointing too, at the biggest wave Rachel had seen yet. It was high above them, and on its way down. Rachel grabbed for the boat.

When it hit it felt like something solid, like a wall of rock hitting. It knocked Rachel out of the boat as though she were nothing. She flew, over the edge, into the water. And then under.

CHAPTER 27

T
HE LAST THING Rachel remembered was taking a deep breath, just as she was driven underwater by the waves. Then, nothing. So she didn't understand how she came to be lying on cold, wet sand, coughing up seawater in the dark. But there she was.

She lay, gasping, for some time. She could see a blotchy, starless sky above her, the moon peeking out from behind ragged clouds. She heard the waves washing ashore, felt them touch her legs with clammy fingers. She sat up. And saw Pathik, lying a few feet away.

It didn't look like he was breathing.

“No. No, no,” she mumbled, just under her breath. She couldn't stop shaking. She tried to stand, but her legs folded under her. Finally she crawled, scrabbling along until she was next to him. For a moment, she just lay there, aching and tired and weak. She didn't want to take the next step. She didn't want to know the future.

But then she felt his utter stillness. She sat back up and looked at his face, his pale, beautiful face, and then she pushed him over, so he was lying on his side. Water trickled out of his mouth, but he didn't breathe. He didn't breathe. She sobbed, and she hit him, hard, on the back. She hit him again, and again.

SOMEHOW, THEY ALL made it.

When Pathik gathered enough strength, he and Rachel staggered down the beach, leaning on each other, looking for hope. And they found it, in body after moving, breathing body. Nandy first, crouching in the wet sand, shaking from the cold. Then Daniel, then Vivian and Malgam, helping each other out of the surf. They all laughed and laughed and none of them could stop for a time. Then, they cried.

And then they built a fire.

“It's likely all of it will wash ashore,” said Daniel.

They had found one of the duffels; the one Rachel hadn't been able to grab to tie to the others. It contained dry clothes and three foil bags of stew. Daniel had heated the bags and they were all taking turns dipping into the contents with their knives. Everyone had at least one dry item of clothing on, and the rest were quickly drying from the heat of the fire. They tried to scout a bit; they could see dense forest farther inland, and it looked as though there was a mountain range in the far distance. They were too tired to get very far from the beach they washed ashore on.

They didn't find Nipper.

“We'll have to check along the beach in the morning.” Vivian looked exhausted, but somehow, she still looked as happy as Rachel had ever seen her.

“I'm for sleeping,” said Nandy. She didn't look like she held out much hope for finding Nipper alive. “And I apologize, but I cannot take first watch.”

Malgam put his arm around her. “I'm sorry, love. I know what he meant to you.”

“I can take first watch,” Pathik said, watching his father and Nandy.

“Me too,” said Rachel.

They finished the food, and dug out shallow beds in the dry sand. Soon the four adults were asleep. Rachel watched their chests rise and fall, and listened to their snuffling and snoring with quiet joy. She reached out for Pathik's hand. He took hers, and they looked into each other's eyes for the longest time, smiling.

“There doesn't seem to be anybody here,” said Rachel. “Or at least, they don't have a late-night welcome crew.”

He nodded. “Indigo liked to tell stories. Sometimes, only half of the story was true.”

Rachel thought about that.

“But sometimes,” said Pathik, “all of it was true.”

Rachel nodded, and smiled. She didn't even care if the whole story was true. She was alive and so was Pathik.

“It's a big island,” she said. “I guess we'll find out what's true in the morning.”

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