Chapter 1

Dennis came in and sat at the foot of my bed. He put his hand on my leg; his dark skin a black canvas against my pale ankle. I could just make out his eyes as the candles in the room flickered, revealing a glistening in his glasses. I shuffled slightly to discover an agonizing pain in my knee. Dennis shushed me whilst he stretched and reached for the aloe leaf remedy beside me head.

"Why do you insist on playing out? Jessica, you should be helping Albeela prepare food and flowers. You're nearly 16". Albeela was a woman that was kind enough to offer me a bedroom in her place. She, along with the rest of the women in the Amanaki Town, raised children and stayed house bound. She looked after me, as did Dennis, and they were like parents to me.

Ever since I arrived here, I had always wanted to explore the island but Dennis warned me of a man with a scar, and this man's pirates. He roamed the jungle, calling it his own. He captured animals and people, what he would do with them I never found out. Albeela said he was insane, and what he did with women was unthinkable. But these cautions did not scare me; there was something out there I needed to discover.

"But I'm young to the island Den! You never told me what happened on the boat". Dennis set the bottle back on the pine table. My knee throbbed with each pulse but the sensation was bearable. I always got cuts and scratches where I had misjudged a jump or step; I'd tumble down through the bushed to the bottom of a hill where I lay dirty in the tracks. Dust would fly around once my body was still, quickly settling on my clothes.

"You never asked my dear". Dennis stood up at my feet.

"Well what did happen?" I had always thought I asked Den of my arrival, but obviously not. He scraped a wooden stool along the floor to further up the bed, and then sat on it hastily, making sure the legs did not give way.

"Can you remember anything about your mother?" Dennis asked. His entire face was lit now by the nearby candle. He hadn't shaved for a week now and his curly stubble had reached all corners of his face. I could now also make out his muddy eyes behind his smeared glasses; sharp boxed frames enlarging his eyes behind them.

"Unfortunately I can't. I bet she was really nice though, like you and Albeela".

"I'm sure she was!" Dennis smiled and took out his hand for mine to hold.

"I found you in the water amongst the wreckage of the boat," Dennis started. "I couldn't see any more live people and my deep sea dive serum was about to run out so you were the only person I could save," Dennis looked up and smiled. He then looked back at our hands and continued. "You were probably five or six when the boat crashed. I had to be careful getting you back to Amanaki, the pirates were out in their numbers." I had never come across anyone that had wanted to hurt me during my expeditions around the island. I'd never seen a pirate.

"What do they look like?" I asked.

"Have you not come across any? I thought the amount of times you'd been out that you ought to." Dennis looked into my eyes, his glasses on the end of his nose. I laughed and pushed them so that they sat correctly.

"Well if I had come across one, would I still be here?" I raised one eyebrow and smirked.

"Jessica, you shouldn't be joking like that. Pirates are foul-mouthed creatures that wear red clothing. I always told you to stay away from the smoke towers because they are in fact pirate camps". He paused slightly, but I twitched my hand to motion for him to carry on. "Pirates carry guns, and knives, and explosions. They own aggressive dogs and keep animals in cages". I was listening carefully to what he had to say. Then he simply said; "Stay away." These words hung in the air like a thick fog suffocating me, until Albeela walked in, letting cool air flush the mist away. She leant in through the doorway; the dusk sun instantly poured in and the entire hut was visible. Albeela smiled, her while T-shirt, hung over her chest, blowing slightly in the evening wind.

"Dinner is ready" she said, and then exited promptly, her long black hair swished with her motion and a little hair fell from the tight hair band she made. Dennis moved the stool to its original position and helped me up. I grabbed at my own home made band and roughly tied my golden curls up. I looked at Dennis' face; it was serious and in deep thought. I looked away and took steps on my newly treated knee. It felt back to normal so I ran out through the door to test its strength.

I turned around to see Dennis finally come through the door. Miya, another Amanaki woman that lived three doors down from us, was sat in front of a large pot above a fire. She called for Dennis and he quickly looked up and smiled, raising his hand to acknowledge her. She soon called my name and I mirror Dennis. I grabbed a bowl off of Albeela and sat on the log left of Miya and the pot, making conversation with the younger children.