Holly’s Island: The Complete Collection (2 page)

Holy was an exceptionally pretty girl, the perfect mix of her
beautiful down to earth mother and boyishly handsome father. She had thick
reddish-brown hair that she kept short and sort of messy, in a 'I just came
back from the salon' kind of way even though all she did was get up and run her
fingers through it every morning.  She had huge brown eyes that made you
desperately want to hug her and protect her from all the badness in the world.
Tall and thin, she had long legs and an equally lengthy torso that she
unintentionally showed off through her predilection for short above the knee
dresses and simple t-shirts that never went below her bellybutton. In the
island heat, there was little reason for her to wear any more than that,
usually just completing her outfit with a pair of flip-flops or tennis shoes
with no socks.

Caleb was immediately enamored with her style, immense
intelligence, and stubborn strength, but it would be several months before
Holly finally started to warm up to Caleb.  The raw emotion she showed
during her first few weeks slowly softened, giving away to her naturally shy
personality. She finally gave in to letting him teach her, which given her
bright mind and voracious appetite for books basically amounted to her asking
him a few questions when she wasn't clear on something.  Otherwise, she
just took the lesson plan for the day, did the work, and took the achievement
tests on her own.  Caleb was impressed by her academic ability, but
worried by her shyness and propensity to spend most of her time reading by
herself. 

He tried to get her go play with, Sara, but she would always
brush him off saying that she would rather just finish whatever book she was
reading. Of course he was hoping that she would make friends with Sara for another
reason as well, as it was now approaching three months since he had been with
Ashley and he didn’t fully understand how much he would miss the amazing
physical and emotional bond he had with her, not to mention Sara's young naked
teenage body pressing up against him at night.

Sara had come to live on the island in much the same way as
Holly. Ashley had been a friend of Sara's mother and when she died of cancer,
and with her abusive father not in the picture, Ashley offered Sara a place to
stay. Sara was fifteen when she moved in with Ashley and had now been on the
island for more than six years, but only need a few days to fall in love with
her new surroundings. In less than a year she agreed to become Ashley's
dependent, promising to carry on the family tradition and live in the huge
plantation house when Ashley passed on.

Caleb didn't give up on trying to get Holly and Sara together
and finally, after months of nagging, Holly gave a big sigh, flopped her book
down with a dramatic flair, and compromised.  She didn't want to hang out
with some girl she had never met, but if he would stop pestering her she would
go for a walk every day.  Given the fact that he had to almost drag her
out of the house to go into town once a week for supplies, Caleb happily
accepted her terms hoping that maybe Holly and Sara would run into each other
at some point and become friends on their own.

For some time Holly had wanted to get out and explore the
island, but she had put so much effort into maintaining her sullen demeanor
that she was hesitant to give it up.  It sort of felt like she was
betraying her parents memory if she allowed herself to have any fun, but the
island's beauty and her curiosity finally started to break down her
walls.  Using Caleb's daily pleadings to get out and see the sights made
her feel better, like she wasn't doing this for herself, but as a favor for
him.  She knew she was being silly, but even after many months; the loss
of her parents was a raw wound that she didn't want to heal.  She felt
that if she stopped feeling pain she might also stop remembering.

She walked for an hour or more every morning.  The
island's mid-day heat was a bit too much for her so she always made it back to
the shade of the lodge's huge covered patio before the sun got too high. 
At first she just stayed close, walking up and down the beach or just sitting
and watching the small waves lap up against the sandy shore.  But soon she
began to walk to the island's only town, if you could really call the seven
buildings and several dozen scattered homes that made up Bonefish Harbor a
town.  Of course there was the resort, but that was all the way on the
other side of the island and restricted to members and guests only.  For
the rest of the island's residents, which included mostly workers at the New
Victoria Ocean and Atmospheric Research Station and a handful of others like
Caleb who had homes and property scattered around the island, Bonefish Harbor
was their lifeline. 

Lining the road on the right side was Tom's Grocery and
General Store, The Blue Water Cafe and Bar, the government office, which was
basically just a Post Office, and Bonefish Hardware.  On the left side
stood the three story, twelve room red brick Bonefish Bay Hotel, which had
essentially been taken over by the research station for visiting scientists,
Cousin Jack's Boat Repair and Sales was next, and then Bill’s Second Hand
Store, which also served as Bonefish's unofficial library.  It was the
library that had finally pushed Holly to make the trek into town, but it was
the owner that kept her coming back.

The old man that ran Bill's was not Bill, but his son,
Sam.  Sam, like everyone else on the island, knew who Holly was and knew
what had happened to her parents, which was one of the reasons Holly had
avoided going into town for so long. But Sam was different that the
others.  Instead of feeling sorry for her and talking to her with sad,
sympathetic faces, Sam treated her like an old friend. It wasn't until her
sixth visit to his shop that she finally got up the courage to ask why the
store was named Bill's when a guy named Sam owned it. So Sam told her a
rambling tale about his long dead father.

“Well, my father, William August Thorne Jr., was one of the
first inhabitants on this here island.  He had spent many of his early
years working on sailing ships that traded in these waters and he had heard the
rumors of what living here, on this particular island, did to people. Stories
of people living into their hundreds, of never getting sick, a place that
brought all its inhabitants blissful happiness and soulful knowledge and
romance. He believed these stories, took them as fact instead of the tall tales
that they were, and longed to make this place his home.  He built the
first harbor and the first house, the very house where I was born, in fact. And
he was an enthusiastic promoter of turning this little known island into a
tourist mecca, a sanatorium for the ill, a romantic getaway for lovers. It was
through Bill's efforts that people like Caleb's great-grandfather came to the
island, both to try and cater to the tourist crowd or just to live the island
life. It certainly looked like Dad would get his wish when, in the early
1930's, he sold a wealthy investor on the idea of building a high class resort on
the island.  Unfortunately, the investor decided to locate his new private
playground for the rich and famous on the north side of the island, about as
far away from Dad's harbor and fledgling little town as he could get.  The
resort brought people to the island, but they stayed within the confines of the
retreat's high stone walls.”

“How awful, why would they do that?” Holly asked.

“Well, the investors had all the money they needed … they
didn't want a shabby little town messing up their 'feng-shui'. And while they
didn't believe all the bull my daddy was slinging about long life and eternal
bliss they had experienced firsthand the strange … 'romantic properties' of the
island. They saw the money they could make from such a sensual place that lowered
people's inhibitions.”

“What do you mean?” Holly said intrigued.

“You might still be too wrapped up with your grief to notice
it my young friend, but let's just say that even after a few days spent on this
island most people are more … romantic.”

Holly stared at him still not comprehending, but before she
could ask another question Sam continued his story.

“Anyway, my father spent most of the next decade watching his
little town slowly sink into disarray and neglect. When the Second World War
broke out he joined the Navy and headed off to fight the Nazi U-Boats, leaving
his wife and young son, which would be me, to look after the town.  When
he returned he once again started trying to encourage tourism on the island,
offering charted fishing trips, access to swimming and snorkeling, guided trips
into the rainforest.  And his vision of a bustling town and an island
filled with tourists staying in his hotels, taking fishing trips on his boats,
buying his merchandise, and basking in the glow of the unique properties of his
island just might have come true, if it weren't for the discovery of several
exotic and very endangered species of plants and animals that called the island
their only home. It was big news, even stateside, at the time the island was called
the Galapagos of the Caribbean and in 1951 it was set aside as a
preserve.  That killed dad's dream, as it prohibited any new building or
development on the island.  Those who owned property on the island were
grandfathered in and could continue living there as long as the property
remained within the family.  But you couldn't sell your property anymore,
those who left, forfeited their lands back to the island.  That's one of
the reasons why Caleb wanted you to come here. He hopes you'll fall in love with
it like he has and carry on his family's heritage.  His piece of land,
that big old lodge you guys live in, well, that is his birthright.  If he
left, if he died without an heir, it would be gone forever.”

Holly thought about that for a long while on the walk back
home. Caleb had tried to explain it to her so many times, but hearing it from
Sam finally made it sink in. That was why he kept bringing up his desire to
adopt her even though she was already eighteen years old and legally an adult.
It made her feel sad that she had been so hard on him, how she had only thought
of herself and her troubles. For the first time she put herself in his shoes.
It must be tough on him too, she thought, not only does he lose two close
friends but he also gained a teenager that has been nothing but angry, bitter,
and sullen to him since she got here. He had a nice life living on his own in a
peaceful paradise; he didn't need to take on the responsibility of giving room
and board to an ungrateful girl.

By the time she got back to the house she was nearly in
tears.

“Hey, Holly, you getting hungry, I've got … oh, honey, what's
wrong?”  Caleb asked when he noticed her lips quivering and her eyes
welling up with tears.

Holly burst out crying and ran over to Caleb and hugged him
for the first time ever.  After much reassurance from Caleb, Holly finally
started to settle down and they had their first real conversation since she
came to the island.  She apologized for her dreadful attitude, all the
moping and grumpiness, and promised to make more of an effort.  He assured
her that he was in this for the long haul and that as long as she wanted or
needed to stay with him he would be there for her.  This was the turning
point in their relationship and they would just grow closer as the months and
years went by.