Siobhan Curham - Dark of the Moon

We all look around, trying to find the source of the voice.

‘I said, what’s going on?’

I see a slight movement out of the corner of my eye and turn toward it. A woman is standing at an entrance to the clearing. She’s wearing an over-sized, faded T-shirt as a dress, with a wide black-leather belt fastened tightly around the middle. Her Afro hair fans from her head like a dark halo and her brown skin gleams like a coffee bean in the sunlight. Her legs and arms are long and slim and she’s standing bolt upright. She looks like an Amazonian queen. All that’s missing is the spear.

The Flea jumps to his feet. ‘Are you Ruby?’

The woman starts striding toward us. ‘Who the hell wants to know?’ Her accent is American. It sounds southern. As she gets closer I see that she actually isn’t that old – early twenties max. It’s her height and the way she carries herself that make her seem older.

‘We’ve been shipwrecked,’ I say, scrambling to my feet.

Ruby stares at me. Her eyes are pale blue and incredibly piercing against her brown skin.

I instinctively look down at my feet. ‘We were trying to –’

‘Grace!’

My skin erupts in goose bumps and I stare frantically into the dark of the rainforest. Maybe I was hearing things. Maybe it wasn’t her . . .

‘Grace, is that you?’

I watch, my heart pounding, as Jenna stumbles out of the forest behind Ruby.

‘I thought I’d never see you again!’ Jenna runs across the clearing toward me and hugs me tight. Her pale blonde hair is as brittle as straw, and what’s left of her make up has smudged into dark rings beneath her eyes.

I’m so numb with shock I can’t speak. Over Jenna’s shoulder I see Todd make his way into the clearing. Cariss is right behind him. Their clothes are soaking and tattered and they all look totally shell-shocked. I watch the gap in the trees, waiting for Ron to appear.

‘Grace, what’s happened?’

I look down at Belle. She’s staring up at me, her eyes filled with panic.

‘It’s okay. It’s the others.’ My mouth is suddenly so dry I can barely get the words out.‘They – they’re here.’ I look back at Jenna – and grip her arms real tight to make sure she’s not an illusion.

‘Are these the friends y’all were telling me about?’ Ruby asks Jenna. ‘The ones you were shipwrecked with?’

Jenna nods, still staring at me. Her eyes are shiny with tears.

I swallow hard. They’re alive. Relief surges through me, making my body tremble. I look back at the trees, but there’s still no sign of Ron.

Everyone apart from Belle is standing now, and for a moment we’re all silent. I guess no one knows quite how to act, or what to say. It’s like everyone’s waiting for someone else to take the lead.

Ruby stands motionless, watching.

‘What happened to you guys?’ the Flea asks, finally breaking the stunned silence. ‘The boat washed up on the beach, totally trashed.’

‘We hit some rocks,’ Jenna mumbles.‘We had to swim back to the island.’

I look at Todd. He’s staring at the ground. I notice that his hands are trembling.

‘How did you find the retreat?’ Ruby says to the Flea, her voice as icy as her pale eyes.

‘Lola brought us,’ the Flea says. ‘She found us down by –’

‘Ruby!’ We all turn at the sound of Lola’s voice. She’s standing in the doorway of the kitchen, holding a pile of plates. When she sees the others her mouth falls open in shock. ‘Oh. Who are –?’

‘These are our friends,’ the Flea says. ‘The ones we –’

‘I found them at the bay,’ Ruby says curtly. ‘Can I have a word with you please, Lola? In the house.’

‘Of course.’ As Lola walks past me she nods. ‘Don’t worry,’ she whispers. ‘I’ll sort it out.’

I smile gratefully.

Lola hands the Flea the plates, then she follows Ruby over to her house and up the ladder inside.

I wait, half-expecting to hear raised voices, but it stays ominously quiet.

We all look at each other again. All apart from Todd, who keeps on staring at the ground.

The Flea goes over to the fire and grabs hold of the skillet. ‘The others are safe, Beau-Belle. Isn’t that great?’

Belle nods and gives a tight smile. I guess that given the hell Jenna and Cariss put her through before she’s hardly going to be throwing a party.

‘Where’s Ron?’ I whisper to Jenna.

Her eyes fill with tears again and she looks away.

I turn to Todd. ‘Todd – what happened to Ron?’

Todd starts shaking his head.

My stomach lurches.

Dan goes over to Todd and places one of his huge hands on his shoulder. ‘What happened, bro?’

‘We lost . . .’ Jenna starts to cry. ‘We lost him.’

Todd lets out a weird whimpering sound and covers his face with his hands.

‘You lost him?’ The Flea puts the skillet down and stares at Jenna, his mouth open in horror. ‘But where?’

Jenna’s now crying too hard to answer. We all turn to Cariss.

‘In the sea,’ she mutters. Then she starts crying too and sinks to the ground, hugging her knees to her chest.

I let out a gasp of shock. Cruz is over in an instant and takes hold of my hand.

Dan puts his arm round Todd’s shoulders. ‘Oh, man!’

‘He might be okay,’ Cariss stammers between sobs.

‘He’s not okay!’ We all turn to face Todd as he finally speaks. Tears are streaming down his face. ‘He was so out of it from that stuff he drank from the bottle in the forest. I tried to keep hold of him, but I lost my grip. I saw him get swept away. I saw him . . .’ Todd chokes on his tears . . . ‘I saw him go under.’

Cruz lets go of my hand and strides over to him. ‘It is not your fault,’ he says softly. ‘The sea, it is too powerful. You did everything you could. You mustn’t blame yourself.’

Todd wipes his eyes and stares at Cruz. I think of the tension between them before and for a horrible moment I think Todd might lose it with Cruz again. But then he starts nodding his head real slowly.

‘Thanks,’ he whispers.

Cruz places his hand on his arm. ‘No problem.’

‘Did Ron die?’ Belle asks suddenly, causing us all to jump.

The Flea goes and crouches down beside her. ‘It looks that way, yes.’ I’ve never heard him so serious.

Jenna wipes her eyes and stares at Belle. ‘What’s up with her,’ she whispers to me. ‘Why is she staring like that?’

I move closer to her so I can whisper. ‘She’s gone blind.’

Jenna steps back in shock. ‘What?’

I shake my head and put my finger to my lips.

‘What’s up?’ Cariss says immediately.

‘Nothing,’ Jenna says quickly. Then she turns back to me. ‘But how?’ she whispers. ‘What happened to her? Where did you find her?’

‘I’ll tell you later,’ I whisper back.

Jenna nods and gives me a weak smile.

We all fall silent again.

‘So, how did you guys end up here?’ Cariss asks, eventually.

‘We sailed,’ the Flea replies.

‘You sailed ?’ Cariss stares at him.

‘But how?’ Jenna looks at me, then immediately looks at the ground, her cheeks flushing.

Seeing her look so embarrassed makes me think of her journal and its shock revelation. I wait for anger to hit me, but all I feel is exhaustion, and overwhelming relief that they’re still alive.

‘Would anyone like a pancake?’ the Flea asks hesitantly.

‘Pancake?’ Cariss says. Her voice is as timid and weak as a little girl’s and nothing like the super-bitch she was before.