Misplaced 1, part 3.

There was no sugar, the milk salvaged from the plane was on the point of turning bad and the water tasted faintly of dust, but Ruth thought it was the best cup of tea she had ever drunk. She felt much better after it, and she could see that the others did too.

The smell of tea had brought the techies over to the fire, still arguing about the best way to build a shelter. Ruth listened to them for a while. Then she got up and wandered away.

Near the crash site were the uprooted remains of several trees. Ruth began to collect some of them and drag them over to an outcrop of large rocks. Rachel and some of the other girls joined her.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked.

"If we wait for the techies to build a shelter we'll still be waiting this time tomorrow," Ruth said. "I was going to try to make a shelter for tonight, even if it's only temporary."

They collected long bits of wood from the crash site and forest floor, and carried them to the rocks where they made a rough framework by lashing them together. The filled in the gaps in the roof with sheet metal which had been torn off the plane. It was a bit rickety, but it was sheltered by the rocks and would keep off the rain- if it ever rained here. It was so hot and sunny that it was protection from the sun that seemed more essential. The metal roof was burning hot, so they collected broad leaves that they hoped would insulate it.


The techies were still arguing round Jack's campfire, but when they saw what Ruth and the others were doing they came over to look and comment.


"It would be better if you put cross bracing on the sides," Jack said.


"No, I don't think you need to," Nick said. "The rocks keep it pretty steady."


"We haven't got any more wood," Rachel said.


"We can always improve it later," Ruth said. "But at least we've got somewhere now, especially for the people who are injured. It'll be dark soon."


She was right. The sun was now close to the horizon, and to everyone's relief it was cooler. The techies gave up arguing for the moment and went to collect more wood for Jack's fire. They had decided to keep it going all night, as it would make it easier for anyone searching for them from the air to find them. Some of the others were sitting round it, talking quietly. Everyone still seemed a bit dazed from the crash. At one side of the fire sat Rick, his broken arm in a makeshift sling. His leg was also painful, although he insisted that this was just his normal 'brokenness' made worse by being shaken around by the crash. The others had made him sit and rest, but it was obvious that he was still in some pain. Claire too had spent the afternoon sitting in the shade, dazed from hitting her head hard against the seat in front. Most of them bore cuts and bruises from the crash.


They all sat around the fire, tired. They had eaten some of the fruit the foraging party had found, but no one seemed very hungry. Everyone was very quiet, Ruth thought, and she wondered if they were still in shock. Nick and David had some of the plane's radio equipment and were fiddling about, trying to mend it, but they were having no luck. They had, of course, tried to use their mobile phones as soon as they had crashed, but unsurprisingly there was no signal.


Ruth stared at the fire. She had always loved watching the flames, feeding them and feeling the heat. She had never been afraid of controlled fires, like some people she had known. She had used them for heat, for cooking, for a sense of company and fellowship. Fire was somehow alive.


But she had never been so dependent on it as now. There was no escape route, no back up plan, there was no gas stove or electric kettle. The fire was all they had. One by one each of them gathered round its flames, drawing together against the dark.


The fire crackled and burned. In the background she could hear the swish and rush of the sea. And now night had come the forest was waking up. The leaves rustled. Patrick was staring up at the sky, where the dark shapes of bats were just visible against the sky. Further off they could hear a sounds that were somewhere between screeching and roaring. Something was declaring that this was its' territory, that it would not back down. Although distant and obviously nothing to do with them, it sounded threatening, unfriendly.


"Do you think there are any predators here?" Rachel said, breaking the silence.


"Depends what you mean by predators," Tom replied. "If you mean are there any creatures here that prey on other animals, yes, I'm sure there are. If you mean are they a danger to us, probably not. The island isn't big enough."


"I do wonder what that noise is, though," Emily asked.


"Some kind of bird?" Rachel suggested.


"It's more like a mammal, I think," Tom said.


Ruth thought of another use of fire- for protection. Keeping the fire burning all night would serve that purpose too.


In the dark the island was a different place. It seemed threatening, hostile, wilder than it had during the day.


The unspoken fear of each of them seemed to close in, to be lurking just beyond the firelight. Would a search team find them tomorrow? Or the next day? Would they ever be found? And how long could they survive here if they weren't? Their thoughts were dark and melancholy, even in the firelight. The song she had sung during the crash came back to Ruth. They had escaped death then, but what had they escaped to? Like the character whose song it was, they were free and yet still prisoners.
 
 
The story continues...