Chapter Three
Stroke, kick, stroke, kick, shift Lauren, stroke, kick, stroke, kick; this was the pattern Greg followed during his turn helping the small child stay afloat. One arm wrapped around the airplane seat, the other stroking in rhythm, Lauren pressed gently between his chest and the cushion.
"So…where are you two from?" Greg grunted, pausing his strokes to push Lauren further onto the seat.
"Wisconsin," Matt answered from his lead position in the assembly line.
"Oh, so you're cheese-heads?"
"Greg!" Catherine scolded lightly. She was almost last, if only for Ecklie, who was struggling to keep up with the rest.
"Well it's true."
"What does cheese-head mean?" Matt asked, turning onto his back for a moment and kicking softly.
"It's just a nickname for people from Wisconsin," Sara muttered, closing the two foot gap between her and the boy and giving him a slight shove towards the nearing island. They had been swimming for approximately an hour, taking breaks here and there to float and rest. The island was probably no more than half a mile away now; its banks were distinguishable and the tip of a small mountain peak surrounded by tropical foliage was clear.
Stroke, kick, stroke, kick.
"Where are you from?" Matt asked, complying with Sara's cue to keep at a quick pace.
"Viva Las Vegas!" Greg cried, though he didn't sing.
"Where's that?"
"Nevada,"
"Hey, Greg?" Catherine butted into the conversation, her voice strained as she stretched her neck to keep above water, "Could we possibly keep our energy for swimming instead of talking? We can do all that once we get to the island."
"For your information, I have plenty of energy left. I was top long-distance swimmer back in middle school."
"Oh really?" Catherine's voice was full to the brim with skepticism. "And where would that be?"
"Well…it was technically doing laps around my four-foot-deep pool, but if I hadn't been laughed at in second grade during those mandatory swimming lessons I could have been an Olympic swimmer!"
"Greg, stop trying to fool yourself." She spat out a mouthful of water and thrust herself forward so she was just to the left of Greg's flittering feet.
"You're just jealous."
"Why would that be?"
However, Greg had stopped listening, and was now preoccupied with Lauren, who was watching the conversation curiously with her big brown eyes. Greg shifted himself so he had a freehand, and used it to tickle Lauren gently beneath the chin.She screeched gleefully and shrunk backwards with a giant smile on her face.
Catherine rolled her eyes, and turned her attention to Sara who was slightly struggling to keep herself and Matt afloat.
"Want to switch Sara? I think it's your turn to deal with the only real child here."
Sara glanced over her shoulder, her strings of wet brunette hair spinning around with her, droplets of water flying off their tips.
"Sure…"
Catherine sped up, and Sara slowed down.
"Catherine woke up from a nappy." Greg cooed to Lauren, resuming his original position. Stroke, kick, stroke, kick. "She gets cranky when you wake her up from a nappy."
"Greg, don't make me slap you in front of the kids." Catherine warned, glancing over her shoulder at him, one of her arms around Matt's chest.
"Will you both be quiet for a minute, please?" Sara snapped. She was still rather irritable. That was how she dealt with things, such as planes crashing in the middle of the ocean with her still inside.
"Sara's cranky too, but she's always a cranky old witch so—Ow! Hey!" Greg's head swiveled back to glare at Sara. "Sara!"
"What?" she said innocently.
"You kicked me!"
"I did not."
"Yes you did! Right after I said you were a cranky old witch!"
"I didn't kick you."
"Did to!"
"Greg, I'm having trouble just staying above water. Do you really think that I kicked you?"
Greg opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Ecklie, who, up until now, had remained quietly swimming behind them all.
"Both of you start acting your age. Please, it's just a petty matter."
Sara held her tongue, even though she hated to, using the bottled up frustration to propel herself further along.
They swam onwards, stroke, kick, stroke, kick. The island was drawing very close now. They could even hear the squawking of seabirds from the island's shore.
"Okay, that time I know it was you, Sara!"
"Greg, what are you talking about? I'm all the way over here!" Angrily she gestured best she could at the three-foot gap between them.
"I happened to notice how long your legs are, is that a crime?"
"Well if you two don't shut up, there very well may be one…or two…crimes committed here tonight." Ecklie spat.
"Ecklie, please don't–Oh…" Sara cursed and stopped swimming abruptly.
"What?"
"Greg, give me Lauren and show me your arm."
"What! Why?"
"Just do it!"
Greg reluctantly passed the child over with the floatation device and lifted his cloaked arm up out of the stinging saltwater.
"How's it feel?" Sara asked urgently.
"Stings, 'cause of the salt."
"Is it still bleeding, has it clotted?"
"I thought you said we'd wait for the island to take a—"
"I know what I said okay? Just bear with me, please."
Catherine had stopped swimming now, and was hovering there with Matt by her side. Ecklie halted as well, and his face clearly showed he was annoyed.
Greg's makeshift bandage was shining a bright crimson, despite being compressed very tightly.
"Greg," Sara began, her voice wavering. "Swim, swim hard."
The air turned thick as her words lingered in it. The others sat, (more swam) there with completely thunderstruck looks upon their faces.
"Sara…" Catherine said uneasily, "Are you thinking that…thinking…"
"I'm not thinking anything right now except we have to get out of the water right now."
She gripped the cushion tightly and kicked as hard as her weary, burning muscles would allow. The others followed her, like a herd of confused sheep that had just been bitten by a wolf in sheep's clothing. Sara took the lead, frightened butterflies squirming in her stomach, punching it in a steady rhythm as she pressed onward.
The island was very close now, so close. Sara could feel the urge to put her feet down on soft sand, to run up to that shore and fall down in a blissful, worry-free rest. But of course, that wasn't happening right now. Right now, she was swimming from a hunch, a well-supported hunch, but a hunch all the same.
"Sara, could you explain, please?" Greg begged, falling into rhythm with her.
Kick, kick, kick, kick.
"One word Greg, sharks."
Greg looked dumbfounded, his boyish face morphing into one of concern.
"Sharks?"
"Just swim Greg!"
"Don't you think that's a little bit Jaws?"
"What does it matter? We're almost on shore anyway!" Sara panted. In fact, they were almost there. A few more yards and they would be safe. Sara kicked ferociously, water flying out behind her. Her muscles burned, burned so badly, cramping. No, don't you dare cramp! She attempted to stand up in the water and blessed her luck a hundred times over as her feet met with sand.
The water was about five-and-a-half-feet deep, settling somewhere around Sara's chin.
Step, step, swim, step.
The water level shrunk with each stride. Sara lifted Lauren off the seat cushion and placed her over her shoulder. Greg fell into step behind her, and then Catherine and Matt. The water was shallow enough for Sara to place Lauren on her hip, and she did so. Sara waded up to shore, the matter around her feet changing from water, to water and sand, to waves and sand, and finally: pure land.
Her weary muscles had finally had enough, and her knees buckled, sending her to a sitting position on the warm sand. Lauren wriggled out of her hold, and sat down as well. Sand stuck to Sara's soaked jeans, but she didn't care. Her legs could finally rest.
"Sara!"
Later anyway…
"What?" she groaned crossly.
"Ecklie's still out there." It was Catherine, pushing at her to help.
"Fine…"
Sara stood up, brushing the sand from her clothes. She began walking, and surprisingly Lauren followed, sticking her small hand into Sara's. Sara glanced down at the girl, who paid no attention to the fact that she had stirred surprise within the older woman.
Sara switched her gaze back to the waves ahead. Ecklie was thrashing through them, his over-the-top suit floating around him as he struggled to reach shore with the rest of them.
"Well I'm not going back in." Sara declared.
"Me neither." Greg agreed.
"Even though, technically it's your fault that a shark was following us?" Catherine pointed out.
"It wasn't my fault. It was the plane's fault."
"Riiight…"
"So do we go in and get him or do we wait for him to come to us?" Sara questioned.
"I vote for waiting until he actually asks for help." Catherine opted.
"Well that'll be never."
"Uhh…guys?" Greg began. He bent his head to get a closer look at the struggling supervisor, who was now hitting his suit to keep it from floating up around him.
"Hmm?" Sara asked.
"You were right Sara."
They gazed out over the waves towards Ecklie, and distantly they could indeed spot the ominous triangular fin of something marine.
"Forgive me, Matt, Lauren," Catherine said with a hint of brightness in it. However, the happiness faded instantly, as she cursed under her breath.
"Ecklie!" they all shouted. He was distracted by the obstinate suit. "Ecklie!" He looked up. "Swim you idiot!" The man glanced around himself, spotted the fin now encircling him, and yelled out in fear and surprise.
"Damnit…" Catherine breathed. "What do we do?" she said, partially to herself.
"You're the mother, you get to stay here and baby-sit." Greg declared. He walked around behind Sara and plucked Lauren from the ground. The girl giggled playfully as he zoomed her over his head and placed her at Catherine's feet.
"Say, 'up'!" he ordered.
"Up!" Lauren repeated. She raised her hands to Catherine, who had no choice but to lift the toddler onto her hip.
"Sara, we get to rescue people today."
"Great…I get to save Ecklie's life…"
Greg grabbed the hesitant Sara's wrist and dragged her forward, leaving Catherine standing there with Lauren on her hip and Matt sitting cross-legged in the sand beside her.
"Ecklie! Stay calm and don't thrash!" Sara ordered as they drew nearer to the water. She wrenched her arm out of Greg's grip.
The man paid head, but still twitched around as he stared at the animal around him.
"Now swim slowly towards us." Greg commanded. They had reached the very edge of the waves, which crashed against their ankles gently.
Ecklie, who was about three yards from the shoreline, began to follow their orders cautiously swimming forward.
"Good…" Sara muttered with slight hints of sarcasm. "Keep coming and don't panic."
He continued carefully onward, his suit still full of water like a sponge. The fin came right up to Ecklie, hitting him in the back of the leg, causing the man's face to take on a look of panic, which before now, Sara would have found humorous.
"Ecklie, don't panic. He's not attacking yet. Get out of the water now." Greg ordered. The two on land stepped further into the water, until it hit their mid-calves, hands outstretched.
Ecklie managed to stand up and he waded forward. The shark once more bumped him in the back of the leg, swimming quickly away again. Ecklie latched his hands onto their hands and Sara kept herself from drawing away. They turned around and ran forward, Catherine hurrying towards them with Lauren and Matt.
"Let go of me!" Ecklie snapped, pulling his hands away from Sara and Greg with an evil sneer on his face as they made it onto the dry sand again.
"Sorry, we didn't mean to save your life like that Ecklie." Sara mumbled under her breath. She then dropped back to the ground, legs crossed, placing her head in her hands, and heaving an enormous sigh.
A heavy dropping sound next to her signaled somebody else had sat. She folded her hands and lifted her chin onto them, glancing towards the noise's origin. Greg was lying splayed out on the warm sand, eyes closed peacefully, bandaged arm resting on his bare chest, the other beneath his head.
Ecklie too, was sitting on the ground, though in a much more prim and proper way. His suit was gathering sand just as much as Sara's jeans and Greg's shorts. Only Catherine was left standing, staring out over the curling waves of the ocean.
Catherine was too tired to take in much of the sites right now; in fact, she was only going to stand like this long enough to glimpse the shark that had coursed fear through all their veins. And there it was, its pale white side flashing out of the water for a split second, its fin lifting itself in an almost wave as it swam away.
Lauren sighed softly, resting her small curly-top head against Catherine's side, closing her eyes and absentmindedly stroking Catherine's shirt, as if in comfort. Catherine vaguely remembered when Lindsey was as small as Lauren was, and in the back of her head, something of realization made itself known. They were on a uninhabited island with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
"Day one of trip to Australia…" Catherine muttered aloud, finally sitting down across from Sara, Greg, and Ecklie, trying to distract herself from thinking of her daughter.
"Crash plane," Sara filled in.
"Get sliced by plane…" Greg mumbled, raising his bandaged hand.
"Rescue two kids…" Catherine muttered as Matt crawled up on her left, resting his head against her other side.
"Nearly drown, swimming three miles," Sara added.
"And almost get eaten by sharks." Ecklie piped in to everyone's surprise, his tone frustrated and angry.
"Well," Greg opened his eyes, exhaled noisily, and propped himself into a sitting position with his hands. "So much for vacation…"