Chapter Fifteen
Using machetes, the rescue party managed to cut down a tall, but slim tree. Following Englehorn's orders, they carried the tree to the narrowest spot of the river, which was about forty or fifty feet across. There, they stood the tree upright, then carefully let it fall so that it touched the other side of the river. Now they had their bridge.
Englehorn eyed the bridge cautiously. "No more than three at a time should cross," he said. "That tree is rather narrow. I certainly don't want it to snap." He was quiet suddenly, and muttered under his breath, "I've lost enough crewmen on this island…"
Only Clytie heard him say it. "I'm sorry, Eric," she said quietly.
"It's not your fault, Clytie. We've been over that before," he said sharply. Actually, it's Carl Denham's fault, and when I get back on the ship… He sighed. It's partially my fault, too, for ever cooperating with that man.
"Who crosses first, Captain?" Jimmy asked.
"You should go first," the captain answered decisively, shaking himself from his thoughts. "You're probably the most nimble. You can try it out." He sighed. "Be careful, Jimmy. I don't want to have to jump in after you if you fall off that log."
"Yes, sir." Jimmy walked to the edge of the river and looked out across the log. Suddenly, memories rushed into his psyche like a mighty tide. The last time he had crossed a log on this island, he had lost his best friend--Mr. Hayes. He paused for a moment, swallowing down the feelings of sadness, loss, and fear.
"Jimmy… You okay?" asked a voice next to him.
He turned to look up at Jack. "I'm f-fine. It's just that--" His face twisted into a sad frown.
Jack immediately understood. He had been there. Gently, he patted the young sailor on the back. "It will be all right, Jimmy. Just think about now. You can do it."
Jimmy nodded quickly, thinking that this was just the sort of thing Hayes would have said to him. "Thanks, Mr. Driscoll," he said quietly. Then, he took a step forward, onto the log. Slowly, carefully, he began to walk across, holding his arms out at his sides to balance himself.
Oh, God, please let him make it… Clytie prayed silently, clasping her hands tightly under her chin.
Slowly, but easily, Jimmy made it across the log to the other side of the river. He smiled and waved his arms. "It's fine, Captain! I think it'll hold!"
Englehorn let out the breath he hadn't even realized he had been holding. "Good. All right. Mister and Mrs. Driscoll--you go ahead." He motioned to a crewman who stood near them. "Jacobs, follow them closely."
"You go in the middle, Ann," Jack said to his wife as they approached the log. "I'll take the lead."
Ann nodded. "All right." The thought of crossing the log didn't bother her much. Her years in Vaudeville had made her strong and agile, and her balance had always been quite good.
Jack and Jacobs opted for crawling close to the log, while Ann stood upright as Jimmy had, arms extended. Slowly, they began to cross on the log.
Clytie felt less nervous this time watching. It didn't seem like a very hard task, crossing this river.
Suddenly, there was an ear-piercing shriek from the jungle behind them.
Clytie spun around.
The natives!
Englehorn quickly stepped in front of Clytie and drew his rifle, aiming it at the natives. "Get back!" he yelled at them.
David, Jake, Preston, and Schmidt, the remaining crewman, gathered around Clytie and the captain.
On the makeshift bridge, Jack made the mistake of turning to see what was happening and nearly lost his balance. Quickly, he grabbed onto the log and held on tightly, stopping his advance across.
"Jack! What--?" Ann exclaimed, coming up behind him.
"Don't turn and look, but those crazy Skull Islanders are attacking us from behind!" Jack cried.
"Well let's get going then!" Jacobs called from behind them both. "The faster we get across, the sooner we can get out our weapons and start shooting!"
"Good plan," said Jack. He was still a bit shaken from having almost fallen. "Let's go." He began crawling across the log again, this time a bit faster.
On the other side, Jimmy was brandishing his Tommy gun. "Captain!" he hollered. "What do you want me to do?"
"If they keep coming, fire at them, Jimmy!" the captain called. He turned to where the natives were slowly creeping from the trees, occasionally pausing to make horrible screeching noises. "Get back!" he yelled, pointing his rifle at the air and firing.
The natives kept coming.
Englehorn quickly handed David the rifle. "Here. Fire on my command," he ordered, taking out both of his pistols.
"Awesome rifle!" David exclaimed, smiling brightly. "Where did you get it?"
"David! We're in the middle of battle!" Clytie cried.
"Fire!" Englehorn shouted. The small party on the near bank fired--along with Jimmy on the other side.
As they were fending off the natives, the three party members crossing the river ran into a problem. A large snake had crawled onto the log and curled up around it, blocking them from crossing. They were stuck at the halfway point.
"I don't want to find out if that thing's poisonous," Jack said, backing up a bit.
"Shoot it!" Jacobs exclaimed.
"I can't! I might crack the log!" Jack shot back.
"No you won't!" the sailor snapped. He stood quickly and drew his Tommy gun, aiming over Ann and Jack at the coiled reptile.
"No! Don't!" Ann screamed.
The man rolled his eyes at her and squeezed the trigger. A burst of fire slammed into the snake, killing it instantly--and going through its body to hit the log beneath. There was a sharp popping sound.
"Hang on!" Jack shouted, turning to grab Ann with one arm and the log with the other.
Suddenly, the log, weakened by the gunfire, bowed under the weight of the three people and snapped right in front of them, where the snake had been. The makeshift bridge tilted toward the water. Jack, Ann, and Jacobs had to hang on tightly to keep from sliding into the rapids.
Jimmy instantly noticed what was going on and stopped firing at the natives. He reached into his pack for rope. "Mr. Driscoll! Here!" he shouted, running to the edge of the river. Holding tightly to one end, he tossed the other out at the three people stranded on the broken log.
As Jimmy was attempting to rescue Ann, Jack, and Jacobs, the rest of the party was managing to fend off the natives.
Clytie fired her pistol from behind Englehorn, who refused to let her in the line of fire. She was sure that if he hadn't been firing two pistols, he would have one arm around her. It made her feel safe to be near him, but once again, those feelings of dread for his safety haunted her…
(LINE)
"Do you hear that?" Carl asked as he and Wilson trudged through the jungle.
"What?" asked Wilson irritably. He was already sick of the large mosquitoes that kept buzzing around his face.
"Gunfire, I think," said Carl, panting. Carrying all this equipment by himself was almost more than he could take!
Wilson's expression brightened. "We must be close to them."
Carl nodded. "Yep. Once we get there, you do whatever you want, just as long as you let me film it."
Wilson nodded. "Certainly." He grinned. "Do you really think the film companies are going to support you if your film is really violent?"
"Sure!" Carl exclaimed. "Action and violence are what the film business is all about these days!"
"Well I can give you plenty of the latter," Wilson said.
Carl glanced sideways at his companion, suddenly a bit afraid. Somehow, he would have to get away from the man before he discovered that the checks Carl was paying him weren't any good… This man was dangerous.
(LINE)
Finally, the natives had given up and scattered into the jungle. Englehorn sighed and holstered his pistols. "All right. Let's get across that bridge." He turned around, then frowned at what he saw. The log bridge was snapped in two pieces, and one piece was starting to get dragged away by the rapids. There was no way anyone else could cross that bridge. On the other side of the river, Jimmy stood over Jack, Ann, and Jacobs, who were sitting on the ground, shivering and wet. "Jimmy!" the captain called. "What's going on?"
"There was a snake on the log, Captain, and Jacobs shot it, but he hit the log, too," Jimmy called back. "And it snapped. But I got them across, sir, with rope."
"Good work, Jimmy." Englehorn stood akimbo and surveyed the river. It was going to be difficult, dangerous, and time consuming to get everyone across using ropes…
"Some rescue mission," Jake muttered from nearby.
Englehorn and Clytie turned to glare at him at the same time. "Jake!" Clytie exclaimed. "We're trying! At least we got David back!"
Jake looked from Clytie to the captain and back again. He pointed to Englehorn, keeping his eyes on Clytie. "You're just making excuses for him," he said. "His poor leadership has caused us to suffer today." He motioned to the cracked bridge. "Wasn't that log bridge his idea?"
Englehorn clenched his teeth, fighting down the temptation to deck Clytie's godfather.
Clytie stepped forward. "What's your problem, Jake?" she hissed. "What do you have against Captain Englehorn?"
"Don't you mean 'Eric?'" Jake asked, his tone mocking.
"Jake!" Clytie cried, her voice tinged with sorrow and anger.
David quickly came to his sister's aid. "Jake, I definitely approve of this guy," he said. "Calm down. He's taken good care of my sister so far. Stop ragging her about it!"
Jake frowned down on his godchildren, then shook his head and turned away.
Clytie gave Englehorn an apologetic smile.
He returned it, then announced, "We'll cross on the log up until the part where it is cracked. From there, we'll have to use the ropes."
"Great," said Preston dryly. "I'm really looking forward to this."
"Preston," the captain said quickly. "You go first. Take Clytie and Jake with you."
"All right," Preston replied. He motioned to Clytie and Jake. "Come on."
"No," Clytie said, shaking her head. She moved closer to Englehorn. "I cross with Eric."
The captain glanced at her, his blue eyes narrowed. "Clytie--"
"I'm not leaving your side," she whispered.
He started to argue, then shook his head, smiling wryly. "All right. Preston, take Jake and Schmidt. Clytie, Mr. Seaborne, and I will cross last." As Preston and the other two men hurried to obey, Englehorn turned to Clytie. "If anything happens to you because of this…"
"Nothing will," she replied quickly. Because I know you'll take care of me, even if it means compromising your own safety… Darn it. There it is again. Why do I have such a bad feeling about his safety?
Glancing back at his goddaughter, Jake thought that this choice she had just made was symbolic of a bigger choice. She would choose this Captain Eric Englehorn no matter what Jake had to say about it. He shook his head sadly as he crouched down to cross the log behind Preston and Schmidt. She was slipping through his fingers, that girl. What would her dear, departed parents say if they knew how little control he had over their daughter? A ship's captain! A German!
Jake looked up at the sky at the sound of thunder. He winced at the feel of a raindrop on his face. Great! What a day! It was just his luck that it would storm again…
(LINE)
"What do you see?" Wilson asked Carl from where they crouched in a dense area of the jungle.
Carl looked through a camera lens at the view on the riverbank. "Looks like everyone has crossed that river but Englehorn and the Seabornes." He turned to smile at the big sailor. "Everything seems to be working well for you."
Wilson looked up from the rifle he was loading. "For you, too, Carl. I think you're going to get your film. You've already shot several dinosaurs, and now--an action scene by an exotic river." He grinned. "The film giants are going to swallow this one up. You'll be famous." And I… I'll have my revenge… No man insults or wounds Joe Wilson without suffering the consequences…
Carl quickly readied his camera. "I'm ready when you are."
Wilson nodded. "I'm ready." He drummed his fingers on his rifle, frowning thoughtfully. "Wait. I've got an idea."
As Wilson related his idea to Carl, Carl felt a moment of guilt. But he quickly shoved it aside in favor of his ambition…
(LINE)
Preston, Schmidt, and Jake were just getting to the other side of the river, when Clytie, Englehorn, and David were startled by the sight of Carl Denham walking out of the jungle and setting up a camera on a tripod, careful to shield it from the rain.
"Denham?" Englehorn exclaimed. "What are you doing?"
"Filming," Carl said simply.
"Something's going on," Englehorn whispered to the Seaborne siblings. "Clytie, stay close to me. David, be ready to use that rifle."
Clytie silently moved close enough to the captain so that their arms were touching.
David cocked his rifle, almost hoping that he got a chance to use the well-made weapon again. "Yes, sir."
Englehorn brushed his fingers against the holts of his pistols. "Denham, what's going on? How did you get off of my ship?"
"None of your business," the short man replied sarcastically, looking at the small party through his camera.
"Captain!" Jimmy called from the other side of the river. "What's going on?"
"Stay there, Jimmy!" Englehorn replied. "Where's Wilson? Is he with you?" he asked Carl.
Carl shrugged. "He's out there somewhere," he said, motioning at a wide area of the jungle. He started to crank up the camera.
"Denham! What's going on?" Englehorn asked again, moving protectively in front of Clytie. If Wilson was really out there, the level of danger had just risen.
"I'm just shooting a film, Englehorn!" Carl replied irritably. He cursed loudly. "Can't you just leave me alone?"
Clytie knew that wasn't the whole truth. Something else was going on. "Eric…" she whispered, touching his back. "I think we need to cross the river. And fast. I don't trust this…"
"Neither do I," he said quietly. "Let's go." Out loud, he said to Carl, "All right, Denham. We'll leave you alone." For the second time in less than an hour, he resisted his inner impulse to punch someone out (Carl, this time). "Clytie, David--let's cross that river."
From his hiding place in the trees, Wilson chuckled to himself. Everything was working out perfectly.
