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phenomenon was man-made. The light and sound faded. It was usually still at
this time of night, before the coming of the sun, but a sharp wind had risen
and had caused the fire to burn itself out. All that was left was a bed of
glowing embers. The fire was their guardian angel while they slept. For it to
go out during the hours of darkness could spell disaster. He hobbled to their
fuel pile and returned with handfuls of dried streamer seaweed that he added
to the hot ashes. Although the fuel was dry, nothing happened for several
seconds. The seaweed merely hissed menacingly. He waited anxiously and
brightened the embers by blowing on them. The streamers curled in the heat and
suddenly flared up, burning with a brilliant blue flame. That the stuff seemed
to release some sort of organic gas was interesting, but it was important to
ensure that the fire was okay. He added some palm fronds to the blaze and made
sure that it was well-established before settling down beside Jenine. He
watched her serene face for some minutes by the light from the fire, drinking
in her loveliness. He felt a pang of guilt, bringing her here. No - that was
wrong; they had come together. Without Jenine he would never have succeeded.
Here, despite the deprivations, life had a purpose - the most basic purpose of
all and one which the people of Arama had been deprived of.
Survival.
His gaze travelled around the simple camp. They had come into this
strange world with virtually nothing. A length of rope. Now they had warmth
and a degree of comfort. Plates, bowls, eating implements made from bone,
water bags, even a large, woven sunshade, the basic of design of which he had
in mind to use to build a permanent home. They had taken the materials to hand
and made things; created wealth. He had no sharp tools apart from pieces of
worked flint, but tomorrow he planned to make some bellows and attempt
smelting some ore-bearing rocks he had found. With one crude iron tool he
could make more and better tools. They had even taken a few tentative steps on
the path to an understanding of the stars, and had puzzled over the curious
movements of some wandering stars. No doubt an answer to their mystery would
come. First they had explore this world. And that meant escape.
Watching the smoke and sparks lifting into the night sky and being borne
on the strong breeze towards the distant land gave him idea that brought him
to full wakefulness. Suddenly everything dropped into place. His heart
quickened with excitement; he wanted to wake Jenine and tell her. No... It
could wait until morning. He closed his eyes, planning ahead, foreseeing
difficulties and how they could be overcome. By the time he was drifting off
to sleep, virtually every detail of the bold plan had crystallized into sharp
reality in his remarkable mind. He wondered what Jenine would think of it. But
she was desperate to escape from the island, and she was practical, therefore
she was certain to be in favour.
2.
"I think," said Jenine, biting into her third breakfast fruit, "that it's
the most lunatic, damn-fool scheme that I've ever heard. It's crass, stupid,
ill-conceived and... and..." She groped for insults.
"Impractical?" Ewen offered.
"Impractical..."
"Cretinous?"
"Cretinous," Jenine agreed.
"Hopeless?"
"Hopeless."
"Muddle-headed?"
"Muddle- Listen, Ewen. I'm quite capable of thinking up my own insults,
thank you."
"Dangerous?"
"That too. How about a lot of hot air?"
Ewen looked admiringly at her. "An insult and a joke rolled into one. You
could also say that because the idea's based on a kids' toy, that by
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suggesting it, I'm reflecting my immature and juvenile thinking when
confronted with a problem."
Jenine started on her fourth fruit. "I could, but I won't."
"Why not?"
"You know what really annoys about this idea of yours, Ewen? Something
that crawls right under my skin?"
"Do tell."
"The nasty, nagging suspicion at the back of my mind that it might just
work."
"It will. It has to."
Jenine finished off the fruit and jumped to her feet. "Well it never will
if we just sit around talking about it."
* * * *
Getting the skull back to the camp took three hours. Although it weighed [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]