Chapter 14- Island Revenge
Marie woke up suddenly, feeling disoriented. The sun was filtering through the palm leaves of the shelter above her head. Her head ached and her eyes seemed crusted together.
"F-feeling b-better?" Not waiting for an answer Brains proferred a half a coconut shell filled with milky liquid. "You slept w-well." He waited patiently as she sat herself up and sipped greedily at the sweet coconut milk.
"V-virgil found some coconut trees. H-he's out hunting now. S-said he found wild p-pig tracks."
"Oh." She brushed her straggly hair out her face. "I'm s -"
He interrupted her holding his hand up. "D-don't you d-dare say you are s-sorry." He was almost angry, something rather surprising from this very mild mannered soul. "You r-reacted as anyone w-would. D-don't th-think of it as w-weakness for one m-moment! It took c-courage to t-tell us and strength to c-cry."
"How do you get strength out of crying?" Marie felt out of balance, no longer sure of herself or what this man thought of her. Luckily Virgil wasn't there at the moment to witness her vunerability or confusion.
"Scientific f-fact." He said smugly. "You d-do feel b-better, don't you?"
She thought about it for a moment. Here she was kidnapped, legless, trapped on a deserted island, hungry, dirty, and she hadn't felt this - well not happy, exactly - satisfied. Brains smiled at her shyly.
"Oh alright." She admitted and then, almost felt happy.
Marie looked around for her stick crutch, certain matters were inevitable."Where's my...?" She began.
"Oh V-virgil b-borrowed it for a p-pig st-sticker. I c-can g-ive you a h-hand to ah the water hole?"
"Why can't he find his own toys?" Marie grouched. "And what's he doing going off into the jungle by himself?"
"Exactly m-m-my words." Brains agreed and slipped his free arm around he waist they started hobbling towards the stream. "B-but V-virgil c-can take c-care of himself."
Virgil eyed the furious porker warily. He wished he had a blaster rifle to vaporize the agressive animal rather than just a sharpened stick. How could something the size of small poodle be so darn agressive - and so hard to kill? He didn't dare glance down at the gaping wound in his leg. He could feel the warm blood pooling into his sock. As the only able bodied member of the castaways, he felt it his duty to be the provider, but it wouldn't help if he became incapicitated also. He was about ready to let the pig have its freedom and provide his friends with coconuts for dinner, but the pig had other ideas. With a furious squeal it charged Virgil. The pointed stick, which had previously imperviously bounced off the pig's tough hide , sank effortlessly into the charging body, the pig effectually suiciding itself for Virgil. He was then left with the incredibly messy job of butchering the animal with a dull knife. The sun was already westering by the time he made it back to the campsite.
"V-virgil! W-we were b-beginning to g-get worried." Brain took the package of meat from him that he had wrapped in palm leaves.
"I brought us pork chops." He grinned as Brains held up an unrecognizeable cut of meat. "Of a sort."
Marie had relieved him of her crutch. "And how much of that blood on you is the pig's?" He looked down at himself. Dried blood and some not so dried was all over his shirt and trousers.
"Uh most of it." He said sheepishly. "You can start dinner and I'll go wash up."
"Huh. Men." Was her parting rejoinder to his back. "Since when do I do the cooking?"
"I caught the food..."Virgil tossed back. "You could come wash my back."
"In a pig's eye!" She shot back to his turned back.
"If I knew you wanted the eyes, I would have brought them back."
"You are disgusting Tracy." She called louder.
"Virgil...call me Virgil." His reply floated back to him.
"I'll call you something else." she muttered and sat down to help Brains put the meat on spits.
"G-go and see how b-badly he's hurt." Brains suggested after they had the meat strung out satisfactorily over the fire.
"He'll be all macho and hide it." Marie poked at the fire a little unnecessarily.
"No. He's learned his l-lesson not to hide p-pain." Unspoken was the reminder 'As have you.'.
Virgil was just drying himself off with his shirt when Marie approached the banks of the little river. She admired the view for a few minutes, enjoying the play of muscles of his broad chest and arms. She knew how that chest felt as she had wept copious tears on it earlier. Despite their banter of a few moments ago, she suddenly felt unnerved around the man. She raised her chin defiantly. Surely, after all of her experiences of life and all, facing one Virgil Tracy shouldn't be too hard. Raising her chin might have been a mistake. The soft sand made walking with the crutch more difficult, but at least when one stumbled and fell it was onto soft sand, unfortunately, onto her face.
She was spitting out sand when Virgil hauled her to her feet. "I just seem to sweep you off your feet..." His face changed from a grin to something a little more serious as he felt the length of her body on his. "And you knock mine out just as fast." His lips approached hers.
It was a comfortable kiss, not sloppy or hesitant, not too passionate or too indecisive. It was like two close friends meeting again after a long time. They parted without words, for it didn't seem necessary.
The sun set quickly, as it does in the tropics, and Marie and Virgil walked arm in arm back to the welcoming glow of the fire and beckoning smell of cooking meat.
The feline sniffed delicately at the fresh kill and with the inborn senses of her species curled her lips over the large canines. A few powerful scrapes from her claws covered the tainted meat with dirt and leaves.
The smell from the cooking meat was tantalizing and all three of them waited impatiently for it to be done. Fat dripped and fell with sizzles into the fire making the smell even more enticing.
All attempts at dainty eating were put aside as the stranded survivors ate their first good meal in days. The remainder of the meat, which was prudently set to smoke for breakfast was eyed thoughtfully.
"I c-could eat m-more." Brains inelegantly licked his fingers.
"Me too." Marie admitted.
Virgil gave a stifled burp. He was a big man and definitely could have eaten more, but it was better to be fair and share evenly.
"You need more than the rest of us." Marie said as if reading his thoughts, and not for the first time Virgil realized.
"Ah, I'm okay. In the Air Force we had to eat field rations for two weeks and that was slim pickings."
"Not very tasty either I suspect." Marie said.
"Somewhere between airline food and sawdust..."Virgil said poking at a piece of meat lodged between his teeth with his tongue.
"I th-think we'll sleep w-well t-tonight." Brains stretched cautiously.
He was wrong.
Virgil stirred uneasily as the full feeling in his stomach began to turn to something uncomfortable. He shifted slightly aware that someone else was turning restlessly also. Brains was muttering what sounded like mathematical equations. The discomfort seemed to fade and he sighed, thinking it no more than a full stomach complaining after being empty for so long.
The next time he roused it was to pain. A pain that became even more demanding and acute when he realized that both Brains and Marie were being sick. His own stomach revolted and he found himself scrambling to leave the camp space towards the treeline where the other two were throwing up.
Marie woke up suddenly, feeling disoriented. The sun was filtering through the palm leaves of the shelter above her head. Her head ached and her eyes seemed crusted together.
"F-feeling b-better?" Not waiting for an answer Brains proferred a half a coconut shell filled with milky liquid. "You slept w-well." He waited patiently as she sat herself up and sipped greedily at the sweet coconut milk.
"V-virgil found some coconut trees. H-he's out hunting now. S-said he found wild p-pig tracks."
"Oh." She brushed her straggly hair out her face. "I'm s -"
He interrupted her holding his hand up. "D-don't you d-dare say you are s-sorry." He was almost angry, something rather surprising from this very mild mannered soul. "You r-reacted as anyone w-would. D-don't th-think of it as w-weakness for one m-moment! It took c-courage to t-tell us and strength to c-cry."
"How do you get strength out of crying?" Marie felt out of balance, no longer sure of herself or what this man thought of her. Luckily Virgil wasn't there at the moment to witness her vunerability or confusion.
"Scientific f-fact." He said smugly. "You d-do feel b-better, don't you?"
She thought about it for a moment. Here she was kidnapped, legless, trapped on a deserted island, hungry, dirty, and she hadn't felt this - well not happy, exactly - satisfied. Brains smiled at her shyly.
"Oh alright." She admitted and then, almost felt happy.
Marie looked around for her stick crutch, certain matters were inevitable."Where's my...?" She began.
"Oh V-virgil b-borrowed it for a p-pig st-sticker. I c-can g-ive you a h-hand to ah the water hole?"
"Why can't he find his own toys?" Marie grouched. "And what's he doing going off into the jungle by himself?"
"Exactly m-m-my words." Brains agreed and slipped his free arm around he waist they started hobbling towards the stream. "B-but V-virgil c-can take c-care of himself."
Virgil eyed the furious porker warily. He wished he had a blaster rifle to vaporize the agressive animal rather than just a sharpened stick. How could something the size of small poodle be so darn agressive - and so hard to kill? He didn't dare glance down at the gaping wound in his leg. He could feel the warm blood pooling into his sock. As the only able bodied member of the castaways, he felt it his duty to be the provider, but it wouldn't help if he became incapicitated also. He was about ready to let the pig have its freedom and provide his friends with coconuts for dinner, but the pig had other ideas. With a furious squeal it charged Virgil. The pointed stick, which had previously imperviously bounced off the pig's tough hide , sank effortlessly into the charging body, the pig effectually suiciding itself for Virgil. He was then left with the incredibly messy job of butchering the animal with a dull knife. The sun was already westering by the time he made it back to the campsite.
"V-virgil! W-we were b-beginning to g-get worried." Brain took the package of meat from him that he had wrapped in palm leaves.
"I brought us pork chops." He grinned as Brains held up an unrecognizeable cut of meat. "Of a sort."
Marie had relieved him of her crutch. "And how much of that blood on you is the pig's?" He looked down at himself. Dried blood and some not so dried was all over his shirt and trousers.
"Uh most of it." He said sheepishly. "You can start dinner and I'll go wash up."
"Huh. Men." Was her parting rejoinder to his back. "Since when do I do the cooking?"
"I caught the food..."Virgil tossed back. "You could come wash my back."
"In a pig's eye!" She shot back to his turned back.
"If I knew you wanted the eyes, I would have brought them back."
"You are disgusting Tracy." She called louder.
"Virgil...call me Virgil." His reply floated back to him.
"I'll call you something else." she muttered and sat down to help Brains put the meat on spits.
"G-go and see how b-badly he's hurt." Brains suggested after they had the meat strung out satisfactorily over the fire.
"He'll be all macho and hide it." Marie poked at the fire a little unnecessarily.
"No. He's learned his l-lesson not to hide p-pain." Unspoken was the reminder 'As have you.'.
Virgil was just drying himself off with his shirt when Marie approached the banks of the little river. She admired the view for a few minutes, enjoying the play of muscles of his broad chest and arms. She knew how that chest felt as she had wept copious tears on it earlier. Despite their banter of a few moments ago, she suddenly felt unnerved around the man. She raised her chin defiantly. Surely, after all of her experiences of life and all, facing one Virgil Tracy shouldn't be too hard. Raising her chin might have been a mistake. The soft sand made walking with the crutch more difficult, but at least when one stumbled and fell it was onto soft sand, unfortunately, onto her face.
She was spitting out sand when Virgil hauled her to her feet. "I just seem to sweep you off your feet..." His face changed from a grin to something a little more serious as he felt the length of her body on his. "And you knock mine out just as fast." His lips approached hers.
It was a comfortable kiss, not sloppy or hesitant, not too passionate or too indecisive. It was like two close friends meeting again after a long time. They parted without words, for it didn't seem necessary.
The sun set quickly, as it does in the tropics, and Marie and Virgil walked arm in arm back to the welcoming glow of the fire and beckoning smell of cooking meat.
The feline sniffed delicately at the fresh kill and with the inborn senses of her species curled her lips over the large canines. A few powerful scrapes from her claws covered the tainted meat with dirt and leaves.
The smell from the cooking meat was tantalizing and all three of them waited impatiently for it to be done. Fat dripped and fell with sizzles into the fire making the smell even more enticing.
All attempts at dainty eating were put aside as the stranded survivors ate their first good meal in days. The remainder of the meat, which was prudently set to smoke for breakfast was eyed thoughtfully.
"I c-could eat m-more." Brains inelegantly licked his fingers.
"Me too." Marie admitted.
Virgil gave a stifled burp. He was a big man and definitely could have eaten more, but it was better to be fair and share evenly.
"You need more than the rest of us." Marie said as if reading his thoughts, and not for the first time Virgil realized.
"Ah, I'm okay. In the Air Force we had to eat field rations for two weeks and that was slim pickings."
"Not very tasty either I suspect." Marie said.
"Somewhere between airline food and sawdust..."Virgil said poking at a piece of meat lodged between his teeth with his tongue.
"I th-think we'll sleep w-well t-tonight." Brains stretched cautiously.
He was wrong.
Virgil stirred uneasily as the full feeling in his stomach began to turn to something uncomfortable. He shifted slightly aware that someone else was turning restlessly also. Brains was muttering what sounded like mathematical equations. The discomfort seemed to fade and he sighed, thinking it no more than a full stomach complaining after being empty for so long.
The next time he roused it was to pain. A pain that became even more demanding and acute when he realized that both Brains and Marie were being sick. His own stomach revolted and he found himself scrambling to leave the camp space towards the treeline where the other two were throwing up.