Chapter 2:
The sea was amazingly calm after the storm of the last two days. In fact looking at it now you would never have guessed that the storm had been that bad, unless of course you happened to see the ship that had wrecked on the uninhabited island. Deep within the bowels of the ship laid four people. The youngest two lay sleeping peacefully, unaware of the fate that had befallen them, while the other
A seagull landed on Ann's chest, startling her awake. Blearily, she rubbed her eyes and shrieked in surprise, waking up Andy as well.
"What'cha screaming about? Why is it so bright out?" The twins looked around.
"Where are we Andy?"
"I don't know." he replied.
"Where are Miss Rae and Mr. Spot?" Ann asked with a whimper.
Andy climbed to his feet, shaking the sand off his torn pants and shrugged. "Maybe over there?" he pointed to the wreckage several feet off from them.
"Andy, be careful." Ann whispered, following closely behind him.
"I'm always careful." But he slowed down to a crawling pace and picked his way over the debris. "Mr. Spot? Miss Rae? ..." Then he froze.
Ann bumped into him. "What is it?" she asked.
"I... I think they're dead." He pointed to them.
"They can't be dead, Andy. Take it back!"
"Well they aren't moving!"
Ann crept slowly forward and knelt beside Spot, gently shaking his shoulder. "Mr. Spot?"
Her lip quivered when he didn't move. She moved to Rae. "Miss Rae?"
Rae moaned and stirred slightly. Ann shook her again, "Miss Rae?"
Slowly, Rae opened her eyes. "What?" She groaned when she sat up. She glanced around. "Where... are we?"
Ann threw her arms around Rae's neck, "Miss Rae, I can't get Mr. Spot to wake up."
Rubbing her aching head, she grabbed Spot's shoulder and gave it a rough shake. But still he didn't wake up.
"Spot," she said, shaking him harder.
He opened his eyes slowly and stared at her blankly for a moment. He sat up, shaking his head. "We're on a beach?" he mumbled, puzzled.
"The ship broke," Andy said, pointing to a huge piece of wreckage.
Spot placed a hand on his forehead. "That explains the headache..."
Rae looked at the twins, "Have you seen anyone else?"
They shook their heads.
"We just woke up before you," Ann added.
Spot stood shakily to his feet and reached to help Rae up. "We should go see if anyone else is here."
They nodded in agreement and the four went to explore this new beach wilderness
Nearly an hour later Ann collapsed on the sand. "I can't go no more."
Andy nodded and plopped down next to her. "I'm tired... I wanna go back home... Can't we go back?"
"We can't Andy. The boat broke remember?" Spot asked.
"Can't we make another?"
Rae looked around. "There isn't another one, sweetheart."
Andy began to whimper.
"Are we stuck here then?" Ann asked tearfully.
"It looks that way." Spot said.
The twins were on the verge of crying. Rae made quick to shush them. "It's going to be all right. I'm sure someone will come for us today."
"I don't know about that Rae." Spot said quickly.
"Well, we have to hope, don't we?"
"I suppose so. Until then we need to see about rigging some kind of tent."
"Do... you know how to build one? Because I've never built one before."
"I wanna help!" Andy exclaimed readily.
"It can't be too hard." Spot said. "Let's go back to the boat and see what we can use." he added.
Andy bounded after him. "Can I help? Can I?"
Spot laughed and swung Andy up to take a seat on his shoulders. "Sure, kiddo." he said, as Rae and Ann followed at a slower pace.
"Is a boat really gonna come save us Miss Rae?" Ann asked worriedly.
Rae sighed. "I hope so Ann. I really do."
She gripped Rae's hand as they headed for the wreckage. "I'm scared..."
"Me too, sweetheart."
Andy and Spot boldly clambered over the broken planks and torn fabrics in search of precious treasures that would help them survive their duration on the island.
"Spot, please be careful!" Rae called.
"Aw, I will. Andy, look out for nails. Don't step on them."
"I will!" the little boy said. He bent to pick up a board, gasped and then dropped it back. He picked it up again and then screamed when he saw two people staring up at him.
"What in the...?!" Rae and Spot ran over to him and looked at what Andy had been looking at... Simultaneously, they screamed as well. The two pairs of eyes they had gazed upon screamed back.
Rae was the first to recover and she knelt carefully on the wreckage. "Are either of you hurt?" she asked.
The older one, the boy, just stared at her, wide-eyed. The little girl with him stammered a "no."
"Let's get you out of there." Rae said, beginning to pull away the boards that had them trapped.
Once free, the boy stood, grabbed the girl's arm, and quickly pulled her to a stand and down the beach.
"Where are you going?" Spot demanded.
The boy turned. "You can't keep us here and punish us. The boat's done and gone, we can't be in trouble anymore," he said, with false bravado.
"No one is going to punish you." Rae said quickly.
He stared at her. "You're just saying that so we'll come closer."
"No I'm not. We aren't going to punish you. What is it that you have done that deserves punishment anyway?"
The boy looked down and muttered something.
"You have to speak up, kid." Spot said.
"We stowed away on the boat," the girl piped up.
"Julie!" the boy hissed.
"What Chris?" she asked. "She said they weren't going to punish us!"
"Grownups lie all the time!"
"We don't lie," Spot said, "Well... not most of the time..."
Rae rolled her eyes. "My name is Rae."
"I'm Spot. The two midgets are Andy and Ann. And you two would be?" though he knew perfectly well what their names were now.
"I'm Julie." the girl said. "He's Chris."
"You gotta go telling people who we are all the time? You're gonna get us in trouble one of these days!" Chris hissed.
"No I'm not!" she protested.
Rae leaned over to Spot and whispered in his ear, "And I thought the twins were bad." Spot grinned.
"Yes you are!" Chris argued.
"Are you two related?" Rae finally asked.
"He's my brother!" Julie said, making a face.
Spot nodded. "Figured. So... how did the two of you end up stowing away on the ship?"
"We were going to be with our father." Julie said, before her brother covered her mouth with his hand.
"Hush, Julie," he hissed.
Rae nodded. "Where is your father?"
Julie's response was muffled.
"Let her talk," Spot ordered.
Biting her brother's hand, Julie smiled. "Our father is in London," she said proudly.
"Why were you here?"
"Because-"
"Stop answering all the questions!" Chris yelled.
"Fine, you answer them!" his sister replied.
"FINE!" he yelled. "We had to get out of New York."
Catching on to the "why" game, Ann asked, "Why?" the exact question that was just forming on Rae's lips. Rae laughed slightly.
"We got into some trouble with the police and our aunt was going to send us to the orphanage." Julie said, hanging her head.
"Well, we have a couple of born newsies," Spot replied with a grin.
Rae laughed and then looked up at the sky. "We better get that tent set up. It looks like it could rain again."
Ann and Andy began to whimper. "I don't want it to rain again," Andy whimpered.
"Oh shut it, you baby," Chris muttered.
Rae glared at him. "You shut up. He's five years old for goodness sake!"
"Watch it lady!" Chris said, glaring back at her.
Spot stalked over to Chris and grabbed his collar, giving him a very mean glare. "Don't you threaten my wife."
"Alright!" Chris yelled, wiggling from his grasp.
Spot snorted before continuing. "Now, we're stuck on this island for who knows how long, so we'd best learn to get along." He gave the boy a look.
Chris rolled his eyes, obviously not liking this sudden show of authority from Spot. "And what if I don't, ya freak?"
Balling his hand into a fist, Spot backhanded him across the face. "Watch who you're talking to, boy…or I'll…" he growled.
"SPOT!" Rae hissed, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"What?!" he snapped. "My patience only goes so far...." He frowned deeply.
"Please try to stretch it a little bit further. For everyone's sake."
He sighed heavily.
Meanwhile, Ann stalked over to Chris. "Now, it wasn't nice for Mr. Spot to hurt you, but you're a big meanie! Mr. Spot's very nice and you weren't being very nice to him at all!"
"Shut it," he said, shoving her aside. Andy, suddenly being the protective brother, came at him, his tiny fists flying.
Rae threw herself between Andy and Chris. "KNOCK IT OFF RIGHT NOW!" she yelled, stunning them into silence. "Who knows how long we are going to be here, but until we are able to leave, I suggest that we all keep our tempers under control."
Both Spot and Chris grudgingly muttered their consents.
"That's better," she said. "Now if you gentlemen would kindly put up some kind of shelter, Julie, the twins and I will attempt to find some food."
They nodded mutely, eyed one another suspiciously, and then headed off down the beach.
Rae sent the twins off to gather small pieces of wood, while she and Julie searched among the wreckage for some canned goods. "What happened to his face?" Julie asked.
Rae sighed. "He was working at a factory and there was an accident that he got involved in," she explained.
"Oh," was all Julie said.
Rae reached over and placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, "It's all right now."
"Is he... is he mean because of it?"
"Good heavens no. He's always had a temper problem, come to think of it, I have too."
Ann and Andy nodded in agreement.
"They always fight," Ann quipped.
"They don't fight, Ann," Andy said. "They argue." he added, remembering what Spot had once told him.
Rae laughed and Julie grinned a bit.
"What? It's true!"
Rae looked down at the small pile of tins they had collected. "Well, kids, I think this will be enough for dinner. Let's go see if Spot and Chris managed to build us a shelter without killing each other."
Julie grinned. "I doubt it. Chris is very stubborn."
"So is Spot," Rae answered, gathering the twins in her arms, and leaving Julie to gather the food.
They headed down the beach, keeping an eye out for the boys.
They found them, standing beside the piece of sail that they had managed to stretch between four trees, glaring at each other, as if daring the other to throw the first punch.
Rae set Ann and Andy down and stalked over to them. "All right," she began, folding her arms over her chest. "Who started it?"
"He did," they both said. Rae grabbed Spot's arm and pulled him away from the four children. "Would you stop it already?" she asked.
"It's not MY fault! It's his!"
"I said stop it. You're acting like a two year old!"
"Well, so is he!" Spot retorted.
Rae sighed in frustration and threw her hands in the air, before turning and walking further down the beach.
Throwing a glance at the group of children, he then trotted after Rae. "Look.... I'm sorry.... I'm just getting really stressed about this whole thing...."
She turned suddenly. "I am too, but you don't see me taking it out on any of them, do you?"
"I can't help it!" he replied on edge. "It just... happens before I can think!"
"You need to stop and think."
"Yeah, I need to. But I don't," he replied. Rae sighed and Spot wrapped his arms around her, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
She nodded, "What's going to happen to us?"
"I don't know," he replied.
She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Come on, let's go take care of our charges."
"Amazing, how, in a period of probably one hour, we've gone from having two to having four... It usually takes couples a few years to get that many kids." He smirked.
"Maybe one day we'll have that many of our own." she said with a smile.
Spot smiled and took her hand.
"I love you." she said.
"I love you more."
"Oh, don't tell me you two are going to start all that mushy couple stuff," Chris muttered.
Rae smirked at him, before leaning over to kiss her husband.
"Ew, gross!" he yelled. The other three children soon mimicked him.
Spot and Rae laughed. Then she gave Spot a playful shove. "Why don't you build us a fire, so that I can warm up this food," she suggested.
"Oh, no you don't," he said, "You aren't cooking anything!"
She planted her hands on her hips. "I can cook..." Spot gave her a look. "A little," she added.
"Its the rest that I'm worried about," Spot said.
She swatted his arm. "Just do it. If you have to, you can help."
"How about, I cook, you help," he suggested.
Wrinkling her nose, she finally agreed. Julie and Chris stared at them.
"YOU do the cooking?" they both exclaimed to Spot.
He laughed. "Rae has attempted to burn down buildings with her cooking."
In turn, they stared at Rae.
She shrugged, "So I never learned to cook."
"I thought all girls cooked," Chris murmured.
"Not Miss Rae," Andy replied. "Mr. Spot does all our cooking."
Julie giggled and then covered her mouth with her hands.
Spot just shrugged and smirked. "All right, so who wants to help me cook some food?"
"Me! Me!" The twins shrieked.
He scooped one up under each arm and carried them a short distance away to build a fire.
Julie glanced at Rae. "What are we supposed to do now?"
"We sit and wait for Spot to decide that he needs help." Rae said sitting on a log. She jumped up suddenly. "My book!" she yelled, running toward the wreckage.
Chris and Julie exclaimed glances and then, after realizing that they didn't have much to do anyway, ran after her. "What are we looking for Rae?" Julie asked when they caught up to her.
"A book that was very special to me. I need to find it."
"It wouldn't be anything more than a mess," Chris said wisely. "Not if it was in the water."
"I don't care." Rae said. "I just want to find it."
"What's it called?" he asked after a moment.
"Beauty and the Beast," Rae answered, throwing anything that was getting in her way.
"I read that before!" Julie shrilled excitedly.
Her brother rolled his eyes. "Girls," he muttered, digging through the wreckage.
She kicked a puddle of mud at him before continuing, "I really liked it! But I don't know why she went to go live with a stinky, smelly beast instead of her pa. I mean, he was the one who got in trouble."
"Because she loved her father." Rae answered. "And her two sisters were too stuck up to do it."
Julie frowned. "Well, if I was Beauty, I would have made my sisters do it. I would have grabbed them by the hair and…"
"You would not," Chris retorted. "She's scared of a little LIZARD," he explained to Rae. "Ain't no way she'd ever make anyone do anything."
"Would too!"
"Would not, baby!"
"Would too, and don't call me a baby, muttonhead!"
Rae laughed. "Alright you two, knock it off."
Julie sniffed and flounced over to the opposite side of the wreckage.
"Sisters," Chris muttered.
Rae shook her head, rolling her eyes slightly. Moving a board, she found her book, waterlogged with slightly runny ink. Frowning, she crouched down slowly and carefully extracted it from the mess.
She carefully turned a few of the pages, trying to keep back the tears that were quickly filling her eyes.
Chris went over to her. "It's just a book," he said, but not in a mean way.
"It was more than just a book to me and Spot. So much more." she whispered.
"Can't you just get another at a store?"
"It just wouldn't be the same." Rae stood and walked further down the beach alone.
Julie stepped up to her brother and watched Rae walk away. "Poor Miss Rae." Her brother just shrugged, not understanding the significance of a book.
The brother and sister walked back over to the fire that Spot had built. "Where's Rae?" he asked.
"She went off that way." Julie pointed to Rae's disappearing silhouette.
Spot frowned worriedly. "What's the matter?"
"She found a wet book," Chris replied with a shrug, sitting down to warm himself by the fire.
Spot glanced at Julie, hoping that she could explain better than her brother.
She nodded. "Miss Rae got sad when she found Beauty and the Beast all wet and gross."
Spot nodded in understanding. "Will you two keep an eye on the twins for me?" he asked. She nodded, pleased to be given such a responsibility. Spot followed the figure of his wife down the beach. "Rae," he called softly.
She stopped, shoulders hunched and shaking. "It's ruined, Spot!" she cried, turning to him and holding out the book. "It's ruined!"
"Shh," he said, pulling her into his arms, the destroyed book between them.
"I know I'm being silly," she sobbed, "One of us could have been injured or worse, and I'm crying over a stupid book."
He stroked her tangled hair. "It's okay. We've had a really rough time..."
"Spot, I'm so..." she started weakly, but trailed off as her knees buckled beneath her.
Gripping her tightly, he set her gently in the sand and sat next to her. "You okay?"
She weakly rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm so tired Spot."
"Well, let's get you back to the campsite, okay? You can rest better there in our... tent... thing."
She nodded weakly as he stood and lifted her into his arms. "Spot?" she whispered.
"Yes?" He looked at her inquisitively.
"I love you," she whispered, "and I'm sorry to be such a burden."
"You aren't a burden," he replied, kissing her forehead. "Now, those two brats we picked up, THEY are a burden," he teased gently.
"They really aren't that bad." Rae whispered. "Just give them a chance."
"I am... well, I am to Julie. I think Chris needs a good dose of respect."
"Spot Conlon, who are you to talk about respect?" Rae scolded with a small smile.
"Ah... well...."
"Honestly, you two are going to be more trouble than the twins."
He smirked. "You know you wouldn't have me any other way," he replied as they reached the camp.
"Of course not," she said, kissing his cheek.
"Ewww!" the four children around the fire echoed.
"Get used to it, kiddos," Spot said, setting Rae on a blanket by the fire.
"Mr. Spot, when are we going to eat?" Andy asked, tugging his shirt torn shirt sleeve.
"As soon as we can get something warmed up." Spot said, ruffling the boy's hair.
"How long will that be?"
"Hopefully not too long," Spot said, turning to the pile of food that Rae and Julie had managed to find. "Dinner ain't gonna be big, I'm warning you. We want some of this stuff to last us because we don't know how long we're going to be here... So, if you're really hungry, see if you can figure out how to fish."
Chris snorted. "I'm going to figure out how to fish then." he said, heading toward the water.
Spot just rolled his eyes some. Then he looked at the can. "Uh... how are we gonna open this?
Rae pulled her knife from her boot. "Use this."
He took the knife and stabbed at the can's tin until he could poke a hole through it. Once he managed to get the lid off he set it near the fire. Just as he sat down next to Rae, they heard screams coming from the ocean.