Escape, a New Life (7 page)

“Listen,” Sara said
,  “you don’t have to believe me, but whatever the reason is that we are here, we are in the same crappy situation.  I haven’t spoken to another person in months.  I saw you. I know you’re not one of them.  I figured we might be able to help each other out, that’s all.  If you are not interested, fine.  I’ll turn around and head back to where I came from – just as soon as you promise that knife is going to stay right where it is.”

Abby looked at her knife and slid it back into its sheath.  “Fine
.”

Sara smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.  She
opened her arms and took a step toward Abby, who held her hand up to stop her.

“Turn around,” Abby ordered. 
“We won’t bother you, if you don’t bother us, OK?”

Sara just stood, staring at her.  Her blue eyes glazed over, and a tear streamed
down her cheek.  She stood staring at Abby for another moment, as if she hoped Abby would say something more, before turning around and walking back into the trees.

Abby watched her walk away for a few seconds
, and then broke into a run after her.

ABBY SHOUTED, “Wait!”

Sara stopped and stood standing with her back to Abby.

“I’m looking for the man who came here with me.  His name is Eric.  Have you seen him out here?”

Sara shook her head no, without turning around.

“I’m sorry,” Abby said.  “I’m heading back to our camp now.  We have some food there.  Are you hungry?”

Sara turned around
. “I’ve been hungry for eight months,” she said with a desperate smile.

Abby stared at her while she thought silently.  Sara seemed sincere.  She did not fight back when Abby could have easily killed her.  Most important, Sara was willing to walk away.  Abby thought she seemed genuinely lonely and pathetic, and her heart went out to her,
“Come on.”

As they walked back to camp
, they continued looking for Eric without any luck.  Abby thought that it was nice to have some company out here.  While she was keeping an eye on Sara, looking for any signs that she should not trust her, she was warming up to her.  Abby was certainly less nervous than she had been on the walk into the forest.  Maybe they could build a slightly bigger raft and bring Sara with them.  She figured it would not hurt to have an extra set of arms to paddle.  She decided that she would have to talk to Eric about it.

They arrived back at camp to find Eric waiting for them, though he was shocked by Sara’s presence.  “What’s this?” 

“This is Sara.  She’s going to stay with us for a bit.  Where were you anyway?”

“I’ve been combing the trees around this whole area to make sure none of them are here,” he said, pointing at Sara.  “What are you talking about, stay with us?  Who is she?  Is she one of them?”

“Relax, she’s not one of them. We can trust her.”

“How do you know that?”

Abby explained how they had met up in the trees when she was out looking for Eric.  She told him her story, and that she knew about Tom and had been hiding from him for months on her own. 

Eric looked their guest up and down
, skepticism showed on his face.  “I’m not buying it.  How did you find us?”

Sara opened her mouth to speak, but Abby
spoke for her.  She already felt bad about putting Sara through the third degree when they met up.  “I told you Eric, we went through this already.  I grilled the hell out of her with my knife to her throat.  She’s OK.  I could have killed her and she never fought back.  Trust me.  Let’s just relax and talk it out.”  She waited for his response and got none, “How about we have something to eat.”

“You go ahead,” he said, “I don’t have much of an appetite.”  He walked away, watching the sun
set over the water.

Sara and Abby were silent, though Abby could tell that Sara was in deep thought.  She looked troubled.  “Don’t worry about him,” Abby assured her, “I’ll talk to him again.  He’s just being protective.  We’ve been through a lot.”

“Abby, I appreciate you taking me in.  I’ve been lonely and hungry for months, but I don’t want to cause trouble between you two,” Sara said. “Maybe I should just go for now and let him cool off?”

“No, stay here
. I’ll talk to him.” 

Abby
walked out onto the beach with Eric.  He was standing on the wet sand at the edge of the water, letting the small waves lap his feet.  He gazed out toward the sun that was setting behind the island in the distance.  From behind him she rested her small hands on his large shoulders.

“I’m sorry,” he said
. “After the other night, I’m just having a hard time believing that this random woman finding us is a coincidence.”

“We met in the woods, while I was out looking for you.
I sent her away, and she was willing to go.  That’s when I knew she wasn’t lying.  I figured maybe we could help each other out.  If we’re going to paddle however far it is to that island over there, an extra set of arms would be helpful, don’t you think?”

Eric thought about that
. “She will be extra weight, too.”

“I really think she’s alright.  She seems lonely and desperate.  She never even tried to put up a fight when I easily could have sliced her throat.  But if you don’t trust me on this, then we’ll just send her away and do our own thing.
”

“I trust you.  I don’t know
, though.  I’m keeping an eye on her.”

Walking back toward their camp, Abby said over her shoulder,
“Just be nice and come have something to eat.”

Eventually he made his way back and t
hey sat down together, Abby and Sara shared stories about their lives before they got to the island.  Eric just sat and had a few bites and watched them talk.  He did not join in the conversation. 

*********************

She certainly is beautiful
, Eric thought.  Sara reminded him of a whole bunch of blond-haired, blue-eyed Texas girls he had known.  That did not mean she was worth his trust, though.  She and Abby seem to have hit it off rather quickly.  He figured women were just like that.  They needed someone to talk to beside a guy.

Something about her was just not sitting right with him.  Abby had said that she seemed genuine, and that when she told her to take a hike, she was willing to leave.  Maybe she should have let her walk.  That would have been a real test. 

He decided to go along with Abby for now, but he would keep a close eye on their new companion.  When he met Abby on the beach, he had a good feeling. He felt at home with her almost instantly.  He thought it was very strange at the time, but then he had the same gut feeling the other night when they ran into Robert in the trees, the night that he helped them hide from Tom’s people.  He did not have the same feeling about Sara. He was feeling that he should keep her at arm’s length, a feeling he could not shake.

********************

After a night spent trying to sleep without much success, Eric spent the next morning dragging wood to the beach for their raft.  He had to rely on trees that had already fallen, given that they had no way to cut anything down.  The tricky part was finding enough that were the same length, or close enough.  For the vines to lash the raft together, he decided to cut some fresh using Abby’s knife. They were much more flexible and less likely to break apart than the dry vines he was finding on the ground. 

Abby and Sara were on paddle duty, which was somehow more tedious
than hauling logs.  They attached the paddles to the ends of straight, strong branches.  The paddles were constructed of dozens of palm leaves that they layered and wove together to make a scoop that they figured would make a good paddle.  Sara, in her time on the island, had taught herself how to weave these leaves together to make baskets to store fruits and supplies at her camp.  They just adapted the shape and made them stronger.  Abby smiled at the thought that their friendship had already proven very useful. 

“I’m going to take a break and go refill our water,” Abby announced
. “Want to come?”

“No, I’ll stay here.”

“Alright, I’ll be back in a bit.”  Abby grabbed the mostly empty water bag and walked off into the trees.  The bag could purify salt water too, but she had found that the fresh stream water tasted better and purified faster than the salt water.  The salt water option would have to do once they launched their raft, but as long as she had the clear fresh water from the stream nearby she decided she would use that.

She thought about their new friend, Sara.  She was definitely not the kind of girl that would be her friend in another life, but right here and now, it made sense
, given their situation.  She was very pretty.  She was exceptionally skinny now, but Abby pictured her with another ten or fifteen pounds on her and she became a knock out. 

As skinny as she
was, her chest certainly had not suffered.  The skintight tank top definitely did not do anything to hide her assets.  Abby assumed they were implants.  It would explain why they hadn’t shrunk along with the rest of her body.  Looking down, Abby was thankful she was well enough endowed that she had never considered it for herself. 

It was not that she was
not friends with pretty girls.  It was just that Sara did not strike Abby as the type of person who would give her the time of day had they not been trapped on an island together.

After refilling their water bag, she hurried back to the camp.  Eric had been dragging wood all morning, and had never so much even come over for a sip.  The thought of him put a little extra spring in her step.  He was another one that she probably never would have associated with if not for their current situation.

He was handsome, and very sweet.  He was genuinely concerned for her, even though they had only known each other for a short time.  Of course, she thought, she would never have fallen for him in her world. 
He is too good
.  She mentally ticked down the list of the men that she had let into her life.  By and large, they were all bad choices.  She could not think of a single one of them she would want to be stuck here with.

No, Eric was a great guy.  She decided that it was time she should do something
about it, too.  She remembered what a miserable failure trying to kiss him the other night had been.  She was not going to let that be the moment she let him get away.  No, that would be a minor hiccup in their otherwise fantastical story.

At least that
was what she thought until she got back to the beach to find Sara off “helping” him with the raft.  Abby watched from the edge of the trees.  If he had not noticed the full breasts barely concealed in her tank top before now, there was no way he did not notice them at this point.  Abby watched in disgust as Sara leaned over in front of him, practically hitting him in the face with them.

Abby was too far away to hear what they were talking about.  Eric was
not doing much talking, but whenever he opened his mouth, Sara laughed and touched his shoulder.  Abby kicked herself for not kissing him when she had the chance.  Who is this woman she brought into their little circle, and forced him to be nice to?  She could just about slap herself across the face. 

No,
she thought,
relax
. 
He’s not buying into it. 
Abby could tell from fifty yards away that Sara was laying it on thick and sending out all the right signals.  At the same time, she could tell that Eric was not into it.  There was no way he could be missing what she was putting out there, but Eric was focused entirely on the raft.

Abby smiled
.
He’s not into Sara, he’s into me
.

What kind of person does that?  She comes into my camp and starts making a move on my guy?
  She laughed to herself.  No fighting it now.  She was referring to him as “my guy.”  What does she know about this woman?  Her story seemed believable.  What sold her was how genuine she seemed.  Her heart had gone out to her.  Sara was so lonely and vulnerable.  She certainly did not seem that way now, prancing around the beach like a puppy, a cute little puppy, begging for attention. 

Eric saw Abby at the edge of the trees and waved.  Sara’s demeanor instantly changed.  Abby waved back and held up the water bag,
and Eric trotted over to her, with Sara bringing up the rear.

“Thanks,” Eric said, gulping down close to a full liter.

Abby turned to Sara. “Give up on the paddles?”

“No,” she
said, smiling, “just taking a break.  This guy looked like he could use a hand.”

“I’m sure he did.”  Abby turned to go back to her weaving.

Eric shrugged, “I’m gonna get back to it.  If I can finish this afternoon, we can talk about heading out for a test run tomorrow morning.”

“Sounds great!” Abby said.

After Eric had left them alone, Sara spoke up.  “What’s that supposed to mean, ‘I’m sure he did?’”

Abby looked at her and rolled her eyes, “I saw you out there, and you were obviously flirting with him.”

“So what if I was? He is a handsome man, and we’re on an island without much to do.” Sara smiled at Abby, who did not look up.  Her smile quickly dissipated, “Oh my, are you two a thing?”

Abby laughed, “No, we are not a
‘thing.’”

“Then
what’s the problem?”

“Maybe I want to be a thing.”

“Then why aren’t you?”

Abby sighed
. “I don’t know.  I always wind up with the wrong guys, and he’s so sweet.  I just don’t want to screw it up.”

“Well
, if that’s what you want, don’t let me stop you.”

“Thanks,” Abby laughed, “I don’t think I could compete with you anyway, at least with those,” she said, gesturing to her chest.

“Life is a competition sweetheart, especially here.”

Abby wondered exactly what she meant by that. 
They sat in silence weaving, strengthening and lashing, until they had four good solid oars.  They figured it would be best to bring a couple extra.  If they somehow lost one out there, it was going to be a long way to land being down a paddle.

Abby nodded in approval
. “I think this just might work.”