After everyone got something to drink from the spring they made their way back to the beach, careful to leave a marked trail so they could find their way back.
"Ok," said Chris, drawing everyone's eyes on him, "The main goal today is food. Since we already know where the water is we will all go in pairs looking for anything edible."
"There's seven of us though." pointed JD after counting everyone.
"That just means one group will have three, Mr Dunne,"said Ezra rolling his eyes.
"No, I'll go by myself. The more we spread out the better chances of us finding something."
"And the better chances of us getting killed." Nathan pointed out.
"That's why you're being paired up. Josiah you're with Ezra, Nathan with JD, and Buck with Vin."
Vin looked at Buck warily, "Um, are you sure?"
Chris nodded.
"How come I can't be with Buck?" pouted JD.
"Cause he left you behind to get lost and we had to spend hours trying to find you." said Ezra.
"Alright guys." interrupted Chris, "Each group heads in a different direction. Try and keep a straight path. It gets hot so don't forget to take water breaks."
They all nodded and began walking into the jungle.
Chris waited until they had all left before running down the beach in the direction of the tree he had climbed in, but didn't stop this time. He kept running until the elevation began to get higher and the sand turned into rocks. The climb was rough and he slipped on the wet rocks a couple of times before he reached the top.
There was thirty feet between him and a tall wooden fence. The jungle had been cleared away to give way, allowing the fence to stretch far into the jungle.
From what Chris was able to spot yesterday, this was some form of a farm, and that meant food and people. If he could talk to these people then he and the others could get help to go to America.
Stepping up to the fence, he noticed that there wasn't any way he could easily climb over it. There was always the option of walking around, but he didn't know which side the gate was on and how far the fence went.
Kneeling, he began digging away the dirt to try and make a hole to go underneath. Several times he stopped and backed away from his hole to allow a spider to crawl away before going back to digging.
He cursed the critters under his breath as he kept going.
"Is this edible?" asked JD holding up the eighth plant he dug up to show Nathan.
"No JD."
JD threw the plant back down and wiped his dirty hands on his once clean pressed clothes.
Nathan knew JD was trying to help, but the constant questions from the little boy was too much for him to handle. He was definitely not Buck.
"Why don't you tell me what animal you spot?"
"Ok!"
With a sigh of relief Nathan went back to looking for edible roots and plants.
"Do you think Chris will get lost?"
Nathan looked up at JD who had his back to him, observing a butterfly.
"Nah I don't think so."
"But if he does we'll go looking for him right?"
"Yeah."
"Good, cause I saw him running down the beach like he was goin' somewhere."
"What?"
Nathan stood up.
"He was running like he saw something."
"Why didn't he tell anybody?"
"I dunno. Maybe he just wants to go by himself."
Nathan started walking to the beach but stopped and grabbed JD's hand, "Come one, we're getting the others."
The hole was barely big enough for him to squeeze into. Sucking in his stomach to help, he slid under the fence and crawled until he was on the other side to the wall.
There was a tall line of plants in front of him. It was corn.
He crawled until he was inside the corn field and well hidden before daring to stand up.
His heart raced as he went over the options of what he should do next.
He could try and find the owner and ask them for help, or he could get some food for his friends now and worry about that later.
He was still mulling over the two when he heard a shot fired and he ducked.
Chris was sure he was short enough not to be seen over the corn stalks, so it couldn't be him they were firing at.
"That's what happens to those who think they can steal from Mr Conklin. Move the body outside the fence for the wild animals."
The man was answered by two others and Chris heard someone moving nearby.
Staying low so as not to be seen, he moved away from the fence.
Feet passed by him dragging a body alongside them.
Chris held his breath as he watched them climb some steps and tossed the body over the tall gate and walk away.
Waiting a few minutes, he made the decision that these men were too dangerous to risk asking for help. Instead he would take the risk and steal some food.
His hands were sweaty as he reached up and pulled an ear of corn down and jam it into his pocket. He did this six more times before he heard voices.
"Must be another wild animal. Go check the back."
Chris scurried over to the fence, his heart racing as he tried to find his hole.
The footsteps grew louder as he searched the bottom of the fence. The hole wasn't there.
Trying to keep from panicking, he tried to think of something. Looking up, he saw the stairs that the men had dumped the body over.
Darting to the steps and without looking over his shoulder, he climbed the stairs by two and with a firm grip on the fence, climbed over the top and landed a few feet away from the dead body. He now heard shouts and he gathered himself up and began running.
Keeping a firm grip on his corn, he ran under cover of the trees until he was out of sight of the fence.
"What's all this about?" asked Buck as they all gathered on the beach.
"JD, would ya like to share what ya saw?"
Everyone looked to JD who wiped his forehead with the back of his hand and looked around at the others.
"I saw Chris running down the beach like he was heading somewhere."
"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" frowned Josiah.
The five year old shrugged.
"Well I think we should go after 'em." said Nathan crossing his arms.
"Looks like he's coming to us." Vin said as he pointed to the boy running to them.
Chris stopped short of the group and collapsed on the sand, breathing heavy, still holding the corn.
The others began questioning him all at once.
"Where did you run off to?"
"Where did you find that?"
"Why did you go alone?"
Chris held up a hand while he caught his breath.
The others quieted down for him long enough to begin speaking.
"I went to this place further down the beach. I saw a fence there yesterday and went to investigate. There's a farm down there and they are growing corn as far as I know. Someone was shot while I was hiding in the field. These men are dangerous, so I didn't take a chance on talking to them. I took as much corn as I could carry though." He showed the corn he had in his hands, "Unfortunately I think I was seen escaping. It's not safe here on the beach. We should head into the jungle."
"No." whined JD.
"I have to agree. I don't particularly like sleeping in such an unsanitary place."
"What I want to know is can we eat the corn." asked Vin.
"Let's see if we can cook this a bit." said Chris, finally standing up and leading the others into the jungle.
Two went to fetch wood while the others peeled the corn from its shell.
"How are we going to cook these exactly. Like how are we going to start a fire?" asked Vin.
"We rub two sticks together like this and then when you see smoke then there will be a flame." JD demonstrated by rubbing two little sticks together fiercely.
"Here let me try." said Buck, grabbing the sticks.
Each boy took a turn except Chris and Ezra, who was enjoying the scene.
"Do you have a light, Ez?" asked Chris, turning to Ezra.
"Do you think I just so happen to have a lighter in my pocket because I am a pickpocket?"
"Yeah."
Ezra sighed and pulled a small silver box from his pocket and tossed to the other boys.
"You couldn't have said something earlier?" frowned Buck.
"I honestly found your little efforts entertaining to watch."
Buck muttered under his breath as he lit the dry sticks and produced a flame.
They all skewered their corn on long sticks and held it over their small fire.
When they were all eating it was a good silence.
"I could go for some meat." mumbled Buck.
"Yeah, I'm not particularly fond of my starches, but I won't complain."
As the boys threw away their finished corn, Chris cleared his throat getting their attention.
"I know our first instinct is to run and get help from anybody we find, but we don't know if they are dangerous or not, so I think until we can determine whether or not these men safe to approach we should stay clear of them and the fence."
"But they have food." moaned Vin.
"That may be the case, but they also have guns, and they aren't afraid to shoot thieves."
"So what are we going to eat then?"
Everyone looked to Chris who ran his fingers through his hair trying to think of something.
"I'm not sure yet, but we'll think of something."
"Why can't Ez go and get some, he's a good thief and he ain't been caught." pointed JD.
"Yet, and I don't want to risk anybody's lives, okay."
JD nodded.
"I'm still pretty hungry." murmured Vin.
"You're growing after all." agreed Josiah.
"Hell we all are." said Buck stretching his aching limbs.
"How about we work on a shelter for the night?" suggested Nathan.
They all slowly got up and made their way back to the spring where they had slept the night before.
After they each drank, they began fumbling around, looking for something to make a shelter with.
"Use the big leaves as cover and pillows. Roll them up to make a padding for your head." instructed Nathan before showing them all what to do.
The others watched at first before grabbing some big leaves for themselves and copying him.
"Josiah, Buck and Chris can help me move some of these fallen limbs between those two boulders to make a roof and the rest of you can spread some leaves on top to keep the rain out."
They all got to work and they soon had a rugged looking shelter.
"What if there are wild animals? We got lucky last night, but shouldn't we look for a place a little higher off the ground?" asked Ezra.
They all looked up to the jungle canopy over head. Long vines hung down from trees just out of reach.
"If we can grab that vine right there, we could try making hammocks."
"How, Chris? None of us can reach it. Not even Josiah."
Chris walked up to the tree and got a firm grip of the trunk. Taking a deep breath, he pulled himself up just a little and then he reached up quickly to grab another holding place before he could fall back down.
The others watched his slow progression up the tree and winced when he lost his grip and was hanging from one hand before finding his footing again.
Chris gave the vine a firm tug before he grabbed onto it and pulled his whole body away from the tree until he was dangling like a monkey.
JD and Vin laughed and the other boys clapped.
Chris looked down and flashed a grin before heaving his body up the vine in a slow shimmy.
When he reached the wide branch that the vine was slung over he had to haul one leg over until he was sitting astride.
pulling the vine up with him, he uncoiled it until it almost reached the ground, but was still strong enough to hold their weight.
Once they were all up and sitting on the branch together Nathan began telling them what to do in order to make the hammocks.
The rest of the day was spent making beds and going up and down their tree.
Since night came early in the jungle, they all decided to end the day with Josiah telling them a story. This one he shared was called Tarzan which JD loved and got everyone else a little excited to try and swing from the vines.
That night they slept up in the trees in their new hammocks.
Only one person however had fallen asleep.
Buck slipped from his bed and slid down the vine to the jungle floor.
When he reached the bottom he looked up to see if anyone had heard him. Hearing nothing, he pulled the lighter out of his pocket and lit it.
Grinning, he made his way out of the jungle and to the fence.
A/N: I don't know the name to the cattle ranchers so the name maybe wrong. If you know please tell me. Also I'm not sure when or if there is a Tarzan book, but just work with me.
