Mac and Jo climbed down from their cave and started through the woods again. They were going on toward the other side of the island. "Hopefully we can get there and back before dark," Mac said. "If we can't, I guess we can spend the night on the beach over there."

Jo grasped Mac's hand and looked at him. "Now, I feel better," she said.

Mac smiled and kissed her. "How's that?"

"Even better."

They walked on through the jungle looking up in the trees as they went. "There are some coconuts," Mac said. "Although I have never known how to get one down from there."

"You have to climb the tree," Jo said.

Mac laughed. "I have never been good at that and I can't imagine trying to climb one that doesn't even have limbs."

"Me neither."

"We may have to eat some coconut if we can't find anything else but seafood."

"You know that coconut milk is the healthiest thing you can drink and coconut is even used for a medicine?"

Mac looked at her. "Yes, I know it, and we'll eat the coconut for vitamins and coconuts have a lot of uses. They're even used for medicines and they're highly nutritious."

"I've heard that, read about it. I guess if we can't find anything else, we can survive on coconuts."

"I guess that's why they grow on a deserted island. If you can't find anything else, you can live on them."

"Quite an excellent plan."

They soon came to a tangle of vines that seemed endless. "Wow, this reminds me of Tarzan," Jo said. "You think we could really climb up one of these vines."

Mac held one between his hands and pulled on it. "Well, they seem indestructible to me," he said. He looked up in the tree that the vine was hanging from. "Question is: how do we get one down to use for a rope?"

Jo looked up. "We don't have a knife or anything," she said.

Mac looked up at the vine again. He jerked the vine very hard and it popped at the top and came falling down. Mac stepped back as the vine cascaded to the ground. Jo stared at it with her mouth open and then looked at Mac. "Well, I got it down," Mac said.

Jo shook her head. "Well, I guess that means you can't climb one."

"Yes, but not while it's attached to the tree. I'll show you." Mac jerked some more vines down and rolled them up like ropes. He looked at Jo. "I'll show you."

"You're something else, you know that?"

"I try to be."

Mac and Jo went on walking. "What are we eating for lunch?" Jo asked.

"Oh, I don't know," Mac said. "If we make it to the other side of this island, I guess we can eat seafood again."

"We should try and get some coconuts."

"I'll do that tomorrow."

"Why tomorrow?"

"Cause I'll be ready by then."

Jo did not know what he meant by that but she would not argue. She had been complaining enough since they had been here. She would be fascinated to know what he was going to do with those vines.

As they walked on, they realized that they had plenty of coconuts to survive on for a long time. Not only were there coconuts on the trees, but there were some on the ground too. "We have to figure out how to make something to carry things in," Jo said.

"I've been thinking about that," Mac replied.

"Oh really? Have you figured anything out yet?"

"Not yet but I'm thinking."

Jo looked up at the Palm trees. She could even see small coconuts on the trees and green ones as well. "I wonder how often they make coconuts," she said.

"I don't know," Mac said. "I have never studied that."

"Neither have I but right now I wish I knew."

As they walked on through the jungle, Mac saw a tree with some yellowish orange fruits on it. He smiled and looked at Jo who was watching the ground. "Hey, look up there," he said.

Jo looked up and her mouth dropped open. "Is that what I think it is?" she asked.

"Mangos," Mac said and looked at Jo. "I know those are going to taste good."

"I hope that means there are more fruits around here."

Jo looked up at the tree. "I think that it is going to be harder to get those down than it is to get the coconuts," she said.

"We'll figure it out together," Mac said. "Right now, I want to see how much further it is to the other side of this island."

They walked for another hour and finally started hearing the ocean again. "Well, that means this island is only about ten or fifteen miles wide," Mac said.

"It didn't look very long," Jo said.

"No, so we'll know how long it takes to get from one side to the other and we could always walk 'around' the island."

"It would probably be better than walking through all this."

"But we need to get back to our cave soon."

They soon came out of the jungle onto the beach again. The sand was so white, it was dazzling when they came from the shade of the jungle. "Wow, that is so beautiful," Jo said.

Mac nodded. He almost wanted to forget that they were lost. He looked out across the ocean and could see another small island. He knew it could be just as deserted as the one they were on now and it was far away. "Let's walk around a while and see what we can find," Mac said. He laid the vines down on the sand in the shade so they would not dry out too much before he got to them.

They walked down the beach and Jo got over in the edge of the water. "This place is just glorious if we weren't lost," she said.

Mac nodded. "I know," he replied. "But since we can't get anywhere else right now, I would rather make the best of it and just be glad that we're together instead of alone."

Jo hugged Mac's arm. "I am glad, Mac. It would be horrible to be out here alone."

Mac nodded. "Very lonely."

As they walked along, they came to a crate on the beach along with some other debris from a boat. It was not a big crate but a wooden crate, nevertheless. "What on earth could be in that?" Jo wondered out loud.

Mac looked at the crate trying to figure out how to open it. Jo picked up a rock and gave it to him. "Try this," she said.

Mac looked at the rock and wondered if that would work. He figured he might as well try it. He found a place where the top stuck out further than the box and started to try and pound it upward with the rock. It was not an easy task but finally the lid started to come loose. They were finally able to pull the lid off and looked inside.

"This looks like it must have fallen off a boat," Mac said.

"That crate looks pretty old," Jo said.

"Everything in here is preserved though." He pulled a first aid kit from the box and looked at Jo. "I guess we'll have some medical stuff for a while." He also pulled two blankets from the box.

"Wow," Jo said. "This is luck."

"Absolutely."

"I guess we can take all this back to our little abode."

Mac pulled something else from the box and looked at Jo. She stared at the knife which was in a leather sheath. "Well, that's something we definitely needed," she said.

Mac pulled the knife from the sheath and checked to see if it was sharp. "Definitely," he said. "This will make things easier."

"Maybe. It won't help with getting fish or anything."

"Those muscles and crabs will come up there and get on those rocks like that all the time," Mac said. "We can eat those and we can eat the coconut too and those mangos."

"I can't wait to see you climb up there and get those."

"Everything falls off eventually. When they fall off, you know they're absolutely ripe."

"But they might be squashed after falling that far."

"Probably not. They'll have a lot of cushion."

"So how do you preserve fruits and things without a refrigerator or without the ability to can them?"

Mac looked at Jo. "I don't know, but maybe we'll figure it out if we're here long enough, but we don't really have to preserve them because they grow year round."

"I suppose, but isn't there any time that those trees rest?"

"I don't know. I have not studied them that closely."

"So you just really don't know anything about them, do you?"

"I know they taste good. What else do I need to know? I know that I'm not allergic to them."

Jo folded her arms. "Okay, I was just testing you."

"Why?"

"Because you seem to know about everything else."

Mac gathered up the supplies they had found which even included a backpack, and gave the first aid kit to Jo. "Well, I don't have anything to say," he said. "Except that I'm hungry."

"So, what are we going to eat?"

"What do you want?"

"Those muscles and crabs were pretty good. I guess those were the freshest I have ever eaten." Jo sighed. "I can't wait to eat peas and cornbread again. When I get off this island, that is what I am going to eat and I am going to eat cornbread and milk."

Mac looked at her. "Don't talk about good food like that."

Mac put the blankets into the backpack and put the knife on his belt. Then they walked on. They soon came to more rocks and found some muscles, crabs and even a lobster. Mac tried to pick the lobster up but he learned for real that the claws were not just for show.

"OW!" Mac yelled as he felt the lobster's claw clamp down on his finger. "Get it off!"

Jo was laughing as she saw the lobster hanging on Mac's hand. "I wish I had a camera now!" she said.

"JO, get it off!"

Jo got some surgical tape from the first aid kit and taped the lobster's other claw and then she managed to get the one off Mac's hand. She then taped that claw. She looked at Mac. "There is a reason why those claws are taped shut when you buy a lobster in the store," she said.

Mac looked at her as he was slinging his hand. "I know that," he said. "I thought I had him where he couldn't get me." He looked at his finger which was bleeding a little. "That hurt!"

"Aw, you poor baby."

Mac looked at her. "Don't say that," he said.

"You're just lucky that was not a really big lobster. If it was, he could have broken a finger for you."

Mac blew out a breath. "I think we'll just stick to the crabs," he said.

"Well, they have pincers too."

"Not like that."

Mac took the lobster and looked at it. "I'm going to dine on you tonight," he said.

Jo snickered. "I'm sure he's terrified," she said. "Threatening that poor thing when he's been rendered helpless."

"Ha ha. How do you know it's a 'he'?"

Jo folded her arms. "Don't get cute with me."

"Cute? You were laughing at me when I was in real pain."

Jo had to hold her laugh back. "If you could have seen yourself with that lobster hanging on your finger like that, you would have laughed too."

Mac stared at her a moment. "Okay, I'll remember that. If something bites you or something, I'll try not to laugh."

"Please."

Mac squatted and looked beside the rocks again to see if there were anymore muscles and crabs. Jo leaned over his shoulder to look. "Beware of those lobsters," she said.

Mac shook his head as he heard her snicker. "Very funny."

Mac felt Jo's arm slide around him as she kissed the back of his neck. "I love you, Mac," she said as she leaned on his back.

Mac picked her hand up and kissed it. "I love you too."

They soon had a few more muscles and even some oysters. "Should we eat those oysters?" Jo asked.

Mac looked at them. "I don't know. I think I would rather just let them go rather than risk getting sick."

They gathered up everything and headed back to the jungle. "Mac, how can we make something to carry things in?" Jo asked. "Or something to cook things in?"

"We'll figure that out," Mac replied. He hoped they would not be here so long that they would actually need something that badly.

Mac picked up his vines as they were going back into the jungle. As they were walking through the jungle, they noticed that it started to get cloudy and the humidity was oppressive. "We need to hurry," Mac said.

"A storm is coming," Jo said.

They moved as quickly as they could, stopping to pick up some coconuts from the ground as they went. "How are we going to get all this up to the cave?" Jo asked. "Take a little at a time?"

"That's the only way I see to do it," Mac replied. "I'll use the backpack to get everything up there."

By the time they arrived at the cave, it was really starting to get darker and the wind was blowing. "Oh, Mac, what if this is a hurricane?" Jo asked.

Mac did not know how to answer that. He knew that the cave was elevated but he also knew that when hurricanes came along, some islands were completely covered. "I didn't hear anything about any hurricanes over here in the Pacific before we left on the cruise," he said. "I don't think that's what this is. It's probably just a storm. Storms occur over here because of the humidity and the water."

They laid everything down that they could not carry and went up into the cave. Mac emptied the backpack and quickly climbed down to get more. He soon had everything in the cave and he was just in time because the rain started to pour. "I guess some of that fruit will fall now," Jo remarked trying to talk over the sound of the rain.

"Yeah," Mac agreed. He took his shirt off. "It's hot in here."

Jo took the muscles and crabs and the lobster and put them beside the fire. "We can make bowls out of some of the coconut shells," Mac said as he was looking at the coconut in his hand. "I've never actually opened one of these. I've seen it done on TV but it is a big task."

"I know," Jo agreed. "I'm tired. I'm going to rest a while." She took her shirt off and got her blanket and lay down.

Mac yawned as he leaned back against the wall of the cave. He could already smell the seafood cooking. He dozed while he listened to the rain. He was just glad they had a shelter. They could have been on an island with nothing but trees and sand. Mac woke up a short time later when his head fell forward. He looked around him and rubbed his face. He could hear the rain still falling and could hear thunder as well. He looked at the seafood that was still cooking. It was not ready yet but it certainly smelled good. The next thing Mac knew, Jo was waking him up with a kiss. He held her in the kiss making it a little longer.

"I think the food is ready," Jo said.

"Good," Mac replied. "I'm starving."

They got the seafood and started eating. "Have you ever tasted anything this good?" Jo asked.

"No," Mac said. "I've never had anything this fresh."

"Right out of the sea."

When they were done eating, they laid down on the blankets and listened to the rain. "I wonder how long it will rain," Jo said.

"No way to know," Mac replied. He looked at his watch. "At least we'll have a watch for a while. This battery is supposed to last five years. I just got it this year. The time here should be about what time it is in Hawaii so it is about five o'clock here."

"Eleven in New York. I wonder if they even know we're missing yet."

Mac wondered about that himself. "I hope so."

"Mac, turn over this way."

Mac felt Jo's hand on his chest. He looked at her and turned over to face her. She caressed his face and kissed him. They shared a long, intimate kiss and Mac pulled Jo closer to him as they groped each other. They stared at each other in the dim light of the fire. "Mac, I love you," Jo whispered.

Mac ran his fingers through her hair. "I love you too," he whispered and kissed her gently. He ran his fingers across her stomach and watched her reaction. He smiled a mischievous smile and kissed her stomach causing her to gasp.

Jo thought she would die as she felt his hands coming up her sides and kissing her chest and neck. She had to admit it had been a long time for her. "Don't stop," she whispered.

Mac leaned over her and kissed her lips. "I don't intend to."