AN: Sorry if the last chapter was confusing. We might rewrite it later on, but I really like the way it is written. If you have any suggestions, leave a review.

Chapter Four

I groaned and shifted uncomfortably. Some jerk was poking me in the back with a stick! What's with people these days and rudely waking people up at ungodly hours? I tried to tell whoever it was to go away, but it came out more like,

"Mur wah!" I swatted weakly at the stick, and rolled over to try and escape its incessant jabbing, right into some very cold water.

"What the heck!" I yelped as I shot up. Water dripped from my pajamas and hair, and I felt light-headed.

"That is what you get for falling asleep on the bank of a lake. What are you doing here young one? It is not safe to be around these parts. You look like something exploded in your face. Your hair and…pajamas… are singed. What happened?" The concerned, gravelly voice came from an old man wearing the robes of a monk; obviously the one who had woke me up.

"Well you see, an elephant knocked over a tree while trying to get at me and my friends which set off a buried mine. It blew me back into the water. It was probably left over from the wars between the Burmese and the Japanese. Do you happen to know where my friends are? One is a native Burmese years and the other is American, both of around fifteen years. They belong to my father's regiment, which is camped on the other side of this island." I was very worried about my friends. I was lucky enough to land in the water, but they could have been seriously hurt.

"Child, I am sorry. I have not seen your friends. But are you sure that a mine went off? I would have heard it, and there is no evidence of an explosion in the area. I have also noticed no army camp on this island. Did you hit your head maybe?" He seemed very concerned, but he had obviously gone crazy in his old age.

"How could you have missed it? It's huge. Here, I'll show you. Haru and James probably went back to camp to get help." Without waiting for an answer from the crazy monk, I jogged in the direction of the camp. Surprisingly, he had no difficulty keeping up. Who was he, super monk? After about half an hour I came to the clearing where the camp was set up. Only there was one problem: where once rows and rows of tents stood, trees now took their place.

"What kind of sick joke is this? Very funny James, you can come out now. I have no clue how you pulled this off, but I am in no mood for this!"

"See, there is no camp. Please sit down child, you look terrible." The monk pleaded.

"Thanks for pointing that out. I feel terrible! A mine exploded in my face, how do you think you would look after that? And stop calling me child, my name is Sarae!"

"It is nice to meet you Sarae, my name is Hilltop. Now please-"His voice faded into the background. Where had I heard that name before? Wait, could it be…He wasn't the same monk from my book Elephant Run? That would be impossible. Couldn't hurt to check though…

"You wouldn't happen to have a grandson by the name of Nick Freestone would you? And you definitely wouldn't be hiding with him on this island with his friend Mya and two elephants by the names of Hannibal and Miss. Pretty?" I expected him to look at me like I was insane, but instead he looked shocked. If he was indeed the Hilltop from Elephant Run this was an impressive feat on my part.

"How on Heaven and Earth do you know that?" He asked in a whisper. I smiled at the shocked monk.

"Well, it's quite simple really…