Chapter 13

Mac woke up in the middle of the night. He realized it was still raining. He always woke up in the middle of the night. He supposed it was because he was used to getting a call about a dead body in the middle of the night. He looked at Jo who was snuggled up beside him. He turned toward her and touched her face with one finger. She did not move so he ran his finger up her arm. She flinched with that. Mac smiled and then ran his finger down her neck. Jo slapped at his hand then but then she opened her eyes and realized it was Mac.

Mac smiled. "Did I wake you?" he asked.

"Isn't that what you were trying to do?" Jo asked.

"I'm just tired of lying here with no one to talk to."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know. I get to feeling helpless."

"Mac, we'll make it. We just have to help each other until we do."

When Mac woke up the next time, he jerked out of his sleep as though he had been awakened by something. He looked around them but he did not see anything. Jo was still sleeping. He thought it must have thundered loudly or something. He sat up still feeling sleepy but he got over to the fire and put some more wood on it. He would have to get more wood tomorrow. He looked at his rope that he had not even finished. He got over to it and started braiding again. The rope would be handy if they had to climb up something high. He wanted to explore the other sides of the island. He wanted to know if there was a better place that they could stay over there than what they had here. He was glad they had a place to stay though because they did not have to worry so much about getting a sun burn. He did worry about going through the jungle though. He wondered what kinds of plants could be out there that could make them sick. However, he knew they could drink and use coconut milk for a lot of things. He thought about that crate that had washed ashore. He wanted to see if they could find something else out there.

Mac finally finished the rope and tied the end. He made sure it was tied tightly on both ends and then wound it up. It was a good rope. Tomorrow, they would start their journey to the left side of the island since they already knew what was on the other two sides. The next day, they would go to the other side.

Mac looked at Jo who was still sleeping. He could hardly sleep on that rocky floor. He thought he would rather sleep on the sand. At least it gave a little and was not so hard. He watched the easy rise and fall of Jo's chest under the blanket which he could only see by the firelight which highlighted her face. He crawled back over to the bed and got under the blanket with her. Jo took a deep breath and turned over on her back. Mac did not want to disturb her. It was hard to sleep anyway on this hard floor.

The next morning, Jo woke up first. She thought she smelled something burning and she realized they had left the muscles by the fire all night. She got into her shirt and got over to the fire. "Oh my," she said as she saw the blackened muscles. "What a waste." She threw them out the back entrance of the cave and then went back to the fire. She noticed that Mac had finished the rope and it was lying coiled together. She wondered what he was planning for today. She looked at him as he was still sleeping. She loved him so much she wished they could be married but that obviously could not happen here on a deserted island. She was sure Mac would want to be married too.

Jo felt of her hair. She thought it must look horrible. She noticed some pieces of the vine fibers that were on the floor of the cave. She smoothed her hair out as best she could and got it into a pony tail and tied a piece of the fibers around it. Then she twisted her hair around into a ball and tucked it in as best she could. She thought that would be better than it flying in every direction. She would try the coconut milk to make it soft too and maybe that would help keep it from getting so tangled. She also thought about her teeth. She thought it would be the worst thing in the world to get a cavity and a toothache on this island. She had read something about how to take care of one's teeth on the internet before.

As the sun came up, it got more humid in the cave. Jo was glad her hair was up. It was much cooler that way. Mac finally started to stir and stretched. He opened his eyes and looked at the top of the cave. "Good morning," Jo said.

Mac looked to see her sitting across the cave. "Morning," he said.

"Sleep well?"

Mac smiled. "Yeah, when I was asleep."

Jo smiled. "I saw that you finished the rope."

Mac nodded and looked at her hair. "You put your hair up."

"I don't want it to be crazy."

"We can go and bathe in the salt water again today but I want to travel to the left side of the island today and see what we can find."

"Okay, so are we going now?"

Mac sat up. "I'm hungry," he said. "We never got around to eating last night."

"So, are you getting up?"

"I'm thinking about it."

Jo smiled. "You're lazy."

"I'm on vacation."

Mac got up and Jo peeled a mango to eat. "We better rinse with ocean water this morning," she said.

Mac nodded. "That will help cut down on cavities," he said. "I'll make us a toothbrush from some bamboo or something."

Jo smiled. "My grandpa used to make toothbrushes from Sweet Gum trees. He would be chewing on one of those when we came to visit and he would make us one."

"Mine too, but he usually used hickory."

"Do you really thing you can make one from bamboo?"

"I can try. If it's frayed at the end, it will work. I don't know much about these other trees around here except the palm tree but I don't think you can use that. We could use a mangrove for a lot of stuff if we find any of those…plus, they have their roots out in the water and they attract fish so we might find something to eat."

"We better take the backpack," Jo said with a mouth full of mango.

When they were done eating, they climbed down from the cave. Mac had the backpack and the rope he had made. "I'm really impressed by your expertise at surviving," Jo said. "This rope looks pretty sturdy."

"It is," Mac replied.

They turned to the left as they left the clearing where the cave was. This way was much more rocky and had more hills. They climbed and made their way around through the rocks and the undergrowth which was very thick. "Bamboo," Mac said as he looked up at a thick bamboo thicket.

"How are we going to get through that?" Jo asked.

Mac looked both ways and listened. "You hear that?" he asked.

Jo listened. She looked at Mac. "Water?"

Mac nodded. "Where there's bamboo like this, there's bound to be water."

"But how do we get over there?"

"Come on, there must be a way around this."

They walked a long way before they finally found a way around the bamboo. There was other growth however and it was not easy to get through but they finally made it and found a rocky outcropping. "I definitely hear water," Mac said.

"Me too," Jo replied.

They made their way around the rock wall and came to a large pool of water with a waterfall. Jo gasped. "Oh, Mac, this is beautiful," she said.

Mac had to agree with that. He looked up at where the water fall was coming from which was right over the edge of the rocky hill. It extended back into the woods and Mac figured it probably went all the way to the side of the island.

Jo walked out into the water. She gasped. "Oh, that is cold!" She looked at Mac.

"It's coming down from that hill up there," Mac said. "It's probably shaded all the time."

Jo walked until the water was too deep. "Come on, Mac."

Mac looked around him hoping there was nothing out here that was dangerous. However, the water was so clear, he could see almost to the bottom and he did not see anything in the water except he thought he saw some fish in there and a crab or two. Mac set the backpack down and pulled off his shirt and pants and left them lying with the backpack. Just as he was about to step into the water, he almost stepped on a large frog which let him know its displeasure with a loud croak. Mac was surprised. "How did that frog get here?" he wondered.

"Oh, Mac, there are mysteries all over the world," Jo said as she was about to reach the waterfall.

Mac got into the water and realized how cold it was. "Wow, this really is cold." He drank some of the water and it was soothing going down. He swam over to the waterfall, where there was a rocky shelf that Jo was standing on as though she were in a shower. "Oh, this feels good even if it is cold," she said as the water cascaded over her.

Mac stepped up behind her. "Maybe I need a cold shower," he remarked.

Jo turned in his arms and looked up at him. "I don't think a cold shower can even cool you down."

Mac smiled. "You might be right but…" Mac shivered. "This one can." He jumped back into the water.

Jo laughed and turned back to the shower. "You like skinny dipping?" she asked.

"Doesn't everybody?"

"I don't know. I've never asked everybody."

Jo looked around at Mac who was just floating on the water. "Oh, if I only had a camera," she said.

Mac looked at her. "Don't even start that. I'm glad you don't."

"That would be quite a picture."

Just then, they heard a bird call. Mac looked up into the canopy of trees and so did Jo. "I wonder what kind of bird that was," Jo said.

They listened a moment and heard the call again. "Some sort of water bird," Mac said. "They must live on that side of the island. That means there could be a mangrove forest over there."

"And that means fish," Jo said.

"Yes."

Jo swam out to Mac who was lying with his hands behind his head as though he were lying on a bed. "How do you do that?" she asked.

"Do what?" Mac asked.

"Float like that. You look like you're just lying on the water."

"It's relaxing. Better than laying on that hard rock floor."

"Is it?"

"Yeah."

"There's no place here to sleep."

Mac looked around them. "I wonder if there's a cave behind that waterfall," he said.

"No. I checked. It's a rock wall behind it."

"I wish we could find one here somewhere. They're good shelters."

"Yeah especially when those storms come."

Mac looked up the rocky hill. "Maybe we should inspect that, "he said. He looked at Jo. "Maybe I should. If one of us gets hurt, at least the other one will still be well."

"Oh, Mac, don't say things like that."

"Jo, we have to face facts."

"I know but I don't want to think of you being hurt on this island with no help."

"Let's get moving."

Jo whistled at Mac as he walked out of the water in his underwear. He looked at her with a grin as he started to get into his clothes. "What would you say if I whistled at you like that?" he asked.

Jo smiled. "Go ahead," she said.

Mac looked her up and down and then whistled at her. "Mmmm, mmm, fine looking piece of woman flesh."

Jo's mouth dropped open. "Why you!"

Mac laughed as Jo came out of the water. He got his pants on before she got to him. "Now, hold it!" he said.

Jo gave him a fake glare. "You just remember that we're on this island alone and may never see anyone again so I could hurt you!"

Mac laughed. "Shut up," he said trying to sound serious.

Jo put her clothes back on and they started on through the woods when they got around the water in a shallow spot. They found more bamboo on the other side of the tree. Jo looked up at the beautiful tree close to the bamboo. "Oh, Mac, just look at that," she said as she was admiring the yellow flowers.

Mac looked at the tree. "That's a flamboyant tree," he said.

"Aren't those supposed to be rare?"

"Yeah, but I guess one got on this island somehow."

"Do you know that coconuts can float for miles and miles and land on an island and then germinate and form a tree?"

Mac nodded. "Yeah, I've heard that."

"I guess that's how they get on all these deserted islands."

"I guess but how does everything else get here?"

"Maybe those seeds hitched a ride with the coconut."

Mac shook his head. "You never know. I do know one thing though."

"What?"

"If we find a Mangrove forest, we can use the ashes for soap."

Jo looked at Mac. "Are you kidding?"

"No. You can use them for soap and you can clean your teeth with them. It's funny how you can remember all this stuff when you have time to think of it."

"It is."

"How did you learn all this?"

"I've always been a bookworm."

"Well, that sounds like you."

"What? Do you think I'm stuffy?"

"Not now."

Mac looked at her. "You mean you thought I was stuffy before?"

"Sorta. I wondered if you would be the kind of man who would want a woman like me. I mean, you worked all the time and never did anything else."

"But I learned better, and I have you to thank for that."

Jo hugged his arm. "You're welcome."

They soon came to another small clearing. Jo gasped and pointed. "Mac, look at that!"

Mac looked up at what Jo was pointing at. "Star fruits," he said.

"Oh, I want some of those!"

Mac laid the backpack down and got his rope. "Let's hope this works," he said.

Jo watched as Mac attempted to throw the rope over the lowest limb on the tree. The tree was not all that tall but the fruit was too high to reach without climbing. After a few tries, Mac finally got the rope over the limb. He made a slip knot to hold it to the limb and then began his climb up the tree. The star fruits were growing in big bunches so he cut a bunch down. "I guess we can eat off that for a while," he said.

"I'll say," Jo agreed.

Mac got the slip knot loose from the tree and then made his way back down. Jo was already eating one of the star fruits. "Oh, these are so good," she said.

Mac smiled. "You're welcome, Madam."

Jo smiled. "Have one."

Mac took one of the fruits and then picked up the bunch which was quite heavy. "You better take the backpack," he said. "I can't carry that and this too."

"Okay."