Chapter Nine

Lauren was sobbing, her hands digging into Sara's shoulders, her face etched with panic and fright. Tears streamed down, and Sara tried her best to calm her, though her own heart was racing. Her mouth hung wide as she stared at the dead boar, breath and words escaping her.

Catherine materialized on Sara's right, her eyes large, looking shocked.

"Hello?" Catherine called out of the cave.

No answer.

She took a cautious step forward, her heart pounding and stomach churning as she pressed forward. "Hello? I-Is anybody there?" Again, no answer. Catherine stood at the front of the cave, peering around its edges, trying to spot the shooter. Nothing. With a deep breath, she stepped out of the cave's security, into the jungle and looked around. She glanced to her left and right, ahead and behind, even up, and nothing strange appeared.

Catherine threw her hands up.

"Nobody. There's nobody out here except for this dead boar."

Greg stepped out as well, rubbing his head. "Did what I think just happen, really just happen?" he asked, "Or am I still dreaming? Maybe I should go back to bed. I don't feel so good."

"That depends on what you're thinking Greg." Catherine muttered, bending down to the corpse and examining it.

"I'm thinking that a wild boar has just been shot down at the front of a cave filled with six unarmed people on a supposedly deserted island."

"You're awake."

He pinched himself anyway then spoke once more, standing next to Catherine and the boar, gazing down at it as though vaguely interested. "Boy we're going to feel really stupid if we discover some village where there's food and water and showers. I could use a drink. Do you think they'd have a nice margarita handy? I could really use a drink."

Sara found her voice and answered Greg flatly, "Greg, if there are people on this island they would have noticed the plane crash." Matt walked up behind her, taking his still crying sister's hand in his, wrapping his fingers through hers. Lauren freed Sara and squirmed, allowing Sara to release her and head over to the other two. "The beach we got here on has the best view of the crash. They'd have seen us and, supposedly, come to help."

"If they were friendly," Greg added cheekily. He rocked on the balls of his feet, hands in his pockets. "What if it's somebody else from the plane?"

"Despite the fact that there was clearly nobody else in the water with us, how could they have a gun?"

He pursed his lips. "Okay, next theory. Any ideas, Cath?"

Catherine was still closely studying the dead animal, turning her head one way and then the next, taking in the overall appearance of it. Its jaw was slack, showing a row of teeth framed by the large tusks. The boar's black beady eyes stared out from its head, the eyelids half-closed. The bullet hole was nestled between its shoulder blade and neck, most likely lodged in the vertebrae or a through-and-through, piercing a number of organs on its way out.

"Catherine?" Greg prodded. She looked up at him, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. It was growing steadily warmer, and humidity was pungent, something the Las Vegans weren't exactly used to.

"Um. Well we're definitely not alone. Unless Ecklie is hiding a gun."

The man didn't seem amused as he stood with his hands on his hips, thumbs in his pockets. Catherine glanced at him for his response then looked back.

"The bullet…" She reached around to the back of the pig's corpse, looking around its other side and spotting what she was searching for: an exit wound. "The bullet was a through-and-through." She dug around in the mud for a couple of seconds before pulling out victoriously, a shiny, muddy, blood-covered bullet in between her finger and thumb.

She squinted at it, turning it in the faint light of a cloudy, tree-shadowed morning. "Looks like a rifle." Catherine turned back to the wound, following the angle from the exit wound, to the entrance wound, and beyond. "The shooter…" She shook her head and stared. "Was standing above us."
Catherine stood up, bullet still in her fingers, her eyes fixated on one spot located above the cave. Numerous ferns and trees grew on the hill, providing good cover.

"Hello?" Catherine called nervously. She stepped past Greg and Sara, who followed her quickly. They moved in the direction of the papaya plant then turned at a palm tree, before they hit the hill. Catherine put the bullet in her pocket to free her hands as they climbed up the rocky, dirt covering that padded the top of their shelter.

When they reached the top, there were no madmen carrying rifles, but Catherine almost instantly spotted water-saturated footprints in the mud near a large tree. She walked over to the prints while Greg and Sara headed to the edge of the cave, staring down at the boar.

"Deep footprints mean heavy shooter, or heavy load." Catherine stated, reaching her hand out to the deeply set tracks and barely brushing the edge of it with her fingertips.

Sara and Greg joined her side.

"It feels strange to be doing this without a field-kit in hand, huh?" Greg said quietly, watching Catherine as she continued to examine the impressions.

Sara grunted softly in response then looked past Catherine, her eyes lingering on a trail of footprints leading further into the jungle.

"More tracks, lead in that direction," she said, pointing down another animal-made trail. The footprints followed it clearly, deeply set into the mud, puddles of water gathered in them, broken only by the soft drizzle. Sara made to walk down the path; thoughts of finding someone to help them get rescued bouncing through her head.

"Hold on there," Catherine's hand shot out and grabbed Sara's arm, sending both women almost off balance.

"What, Catherine? This person could get us back home!" Sara cried, pulling herself out of Catherine's grip and turning to face her.

"You know just as well as Greg and I do that they could be dangerous. They have a gun with them!"

Sara pressed her lips together.

"I can't believe you…I can't believe you Catherine, a chance to get off this island and head back home?" Her voice was higher than usual, with a certain intenseness that made her seem like she was on the brink of hysteria. "How long have we been here, 24, 48 hours? Greg's arm is infected, Lauren and Matt have lost their parents, I have a gash in my leg from a damn boar, Ecklie's driving everybody off the wall, we get a chance to get out of here and back to our everyday lives, and you want me to hold on? Just because this person might be dangerous?"

The two women glared at each other, brown eyes on blue, and nobody was going to back down.

"Uh…Sara—" Greg began, but he was cut off.

"Be quiet Greg," Catherine snapped, "I need to straighten a few things out." Her voice was stern, her jaw set and teeth clenched. "Okay, first off," She pointed her finger at Sara. "If you think that I don't want out of here as much as you do, you're wrong. Damn wrong. I have a daughter at home, and I have absolutely no idea how she is, what anyone has told her about us crashing or anything."

Sara folded her arms; not threateningly, just to give her something to do with her hands, and finally her eyes left Catherine's and fleeted to the ground.

"I have a mother at home, who's either worried sick about me, trying to console her granddaughter, or who has no idea what's happened." Her voice took on a different edge, as though she were trying hard not to cry, though she still glared at Sara. "I don't want to stay here Sara…Lindsey's already lost her father…I need to get home safe and sound as soon as possible, just so she knows that she's not going to lose me too…"

Sara looked back at Catherine, whose eyes had begun to water. She wiped them quickly, and her brow which was covered with drizzle and beads of sweat.

"I'm sorry Cath." Sara said quietly. "I don't know what I was thinking. Of course you want to get out of here."

Catherine seemed to brush the situation aside, as the next moment she was completely off-topic. "Now, if we're going to follow those tracks, we're going to have to come up with a sort of plan."

"A sort of plan?" Greg repeated.

"Well, sort of like…guidelines, really. How far we're going to follow them, what to do if we come across civilization—which, mind you, isn't likely since this island is much more than a mile wide."

Sara and Greg nodded in agreement.

"All right…how far do you want to follow these tracks for?" Catherine asked the two of them.

"Well, obviously until we find something or we start heading into unfamiliar territory." Sara said quickly.

"I say not much more than 50 feet. We should keep the cave in sight." Greg answered.

"Greg's right, we should make sure we can either see the cave, or get back to it. Sara, rip a strip of cloth from your shirt. Greg's probably always wanted to see you in a belly-shirt anyway."

Greg smirked and Sara frowned, but worked at ripping another strip of fabric.

"Lead the way Sara," Catherine said, nodding at her. Sara turned on cue and began to follow the footprints, still tugging at her shirt.

"Tracks are widely spread, as if they were running. Maybe when Lauren was screaming?" she offered.

"Maybe because they didn't want to be found," Catherine said, ducking under a giant leaf that Greg held up for her.

"Or maybe because they were as startled as we were at discovering that there were other people on this island." Sara defended.

They continued walking through the underbrush, following the crude dirt pathway forged by animals.

"Hey, you guys? I can't see the cave anymore." Greg said after a couple minutes of walking.

"This is where that cloth strip of yours comes in, Sara." Catherine said, "Give it here."

Sara handed the red fabric to her and Catherine tied it to a nearby tree.

"When we can't see this tree anymore, we'll head back." Catherine declared. Sara didn't argue, and again turned to the trail. The footprints were closer together now, as if the hunter had slowed their pace to a walk, though the tracks zigzagged back and forth.

"I can just barely see the tree." Greg said after another few minutes, stopping and squinting behind them. "Hey, do you think we should head back, this person is way ahead of us by now."

"Oh great…" Sara said suddenly, disbelief in her tone. "They're gone."

"What?" Catherine said questioningly.

"The footprints, they're gone. Look," She moved to the side so Catherine and Greg could see that the tracks were indeed, gone. They stopped as two evenly placed feet, next to a tree.

"Do you think they climbed the tree?" Sara asked, looking up and brushing wet hair off her face.

"Why would the hide?" Catherine said.

"I don't know. Like I said earlier, maybe they were startled."

"That would explain their running, but not their hiding."

"There's only one way to find out if they're up there." Greg interrupted. He proudly marched past the two women, wrapped his arms around the trunk of the palm tree and shook it back and forth. A few ripe coconuts fell and settled around the base of the trunk. No guns or people with guns followed.

The three squinted at the top of the trees and saw nothing.

"We should head back…they're obviously long gone…" Catherine said quietly, gently tugging on Sara's sleeve and a loop in Greg's shorts. Greg turned to follow her, and with one final long look, Sara did too.

The sun was high in the brilliantly blue sky, scattered thin wisps of clouds drifting every so often past it. Seabirds called from across the waves, screeching and soaring above the calm, clear shore, landing here and there to peck at the dead beached fish nestled amongst the seaweed strewn over the sand from the storm.

In a large area of sand, slightly farther from the cave, a very large pit had been dug out on the beach, piled high with the logs from felled trees and the bottom filled with coconut husk. Off to the side of the bonfire-to-be was a stack of palm fronds and other green vegetation. Sara stood next to it, Lauren on her hip, Catherine to her left, Matt holding tightly to her hand, and Ecklie standing to his left.

"What's taking him so long?" Sara asked, trying to fish Lauren's Barbie-doll out of her hair where Lauren had taken to putting it for the past hour they had taken accumulating all the materials for their signal fire, and then the next half hour after that in which they waited for them to dry off in the sun.

"You know Greg…he's probably trying to come up with this whole shebang, and then got distracted and forgot he was supposed to—Oh, wait…here he comes."

Greg emerged from the wall of trees, brightly flaming piece of wood in his hand, held high like a torch. He put a cautious hand around it to prevent the wind from blowing it out then jogged lightly over to the group.

"Okay, sorry it took me so long…I couldn't get the stick to stay lit. Same thing always happens to me with matches."

"What is he doing?" Lauren asked, looking curiously at the torch Greg held.

"He's going to light a fire." Sara answered, still trying to take the doll out of her hair. Lauren seemed satisfied with that answer and watched with interest. Greg stuck the fire under the tipi they had formed into the coconut husk. It burned quickly, and the flame spread just as fast. Greg dragged the torch to the undersides of the logs and bark, and with the combined heat of the burning husk and such, the logs too began to flame.

"There." Greg declared, standing up and blowing out the torch, and then tossing it into the fire. "Give it awhile to get going well and then we can put the leaves on it to make lots of smoke."

"Thank you Greg," Sara said through gritted teeth as she continued to tug at the Barbie doll.

"No problemo," he said, brushing his forehead to get rid of sweat. The afternoon sun was blaring down hard on them, the heat and humidity heightening still. The flame grew higher, the stack of logs properly burning now. "I would ask you Sara to put the smoke on them but you like kind of busy."

Lauren was standing on the sand now as Sara used two hands to pry the doll out of her curls.

"I'll get it…" Catherine walked over to the palm fronds, with Matt following her, and then she dumped them in the fire. They burned slowly, but smoke released from them thick and black.

"Perfect." Greg said, rubbing his hands together. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go for a swim."

"What?" Sara cried, "Oh this is stupid…" She grabbed the end of hair stuck to Barbie's head and wrenched. Barbie's head came free, numerous dark brown hairs tied around her neck.

"You strangled Barbie, Sara! You and your killer curls!" Greg laughed, a smirk playing at the edge of his lips.

"Oh ha, ha. You're going swimming?"

"It's way too hot and look at that water! Crystal clear, just begging to be jumped into."

"What about your arm?"

"What about it? It still feels the same, and it's scabbed over. I feel kind of feverish and tired but I'm fine enough to swim."

Sara looked annoyed as she handed the doll to Lauren who was whining for it.

"I'm coming with." Catherine stated, bending down and pulling off her shoes and socks.

"But what about that shark?" Sara pointed out. That shark that had been one of the first dangers on their way to the island, other than drowning and the prospect of getting burned to a crisp after the crash.

"Sara, don't you think we'd see it in that water?" Greg said, as though it were obvious.

"I want to go swimming." Lauren whispered, tugging on one of the loops in Sara's jeans. She looked up at Sara with pleading eyes.

"Go ahead, have Catherine take you."

"But I want you to come."

Sara had been afraid of this. She bent down and studied Lauren, trying to think of the best way to convince her she wasn't coming. Well, maybe she'd go wading and Lauren could do what she wanted.

"Catherine…you're a mother, what's appropriate swimming attire for a 3-year-old without a swimsuit?"

Catherine pondered it as she took off her navy blue t-shirt. Sara gaped at her.

"What are you doing? I should have asked what the appropriate swimming attire is for you when you don't have a swimsuit!"

"What? I told you it was just like wearing a bikini. Besides, I was saving my lingerie for the seminar." She winked at Sara, who was looking past Catherine at Ecklie, who looked shocked to the point of speechlessness, not that he had said much to anyone for awhile. He wasn't looking at Catherine, but at the bonfire which was smoking gloriously now.

"Anyway, Sara, your original question. I would just let her go in her underwear. She told me about it when I took her to go potty when we got back. It's Minnie Mouse, isn't it?"

Lauren beamed and nodded.

Greg was already half-way to the shore, stretching as a few seabirds flew up when he walked past him. Sara dropped her head. Nothing she would say would make any the difference. She pulled off Lauren's turtleneck and then her shoes, socks, and jeans to reveal, as Catherine had said, a pair of yellow Minnie Mouse underwear.

"Can we go swimming now?" Lauren asked.

With a sigh Sara nodded. She bent down and rolled up her jeans, careful of her injury even though it was only a large scab and bruise, and then pulled off her shoes and socks.

Matt had pulled off his shirt and left it lying in a pile along with everybody else's and was walking down to shore after Greg, with Catherine slightly behind.

"Are you coming Ecklie?" Sara asked, noticing that he was not making a move to do anything other than stand there with his hands on his hips, staring at the fire, morbid look on his face.

"No." he said through a sigh.

"Are you sure? That outfit looks like its pretty uncomfortable."

"I'm going to go for a walk."

And that's just what he did; walking towards the forest in the opposite direction of the ocean, which Sara and Lauren trudged down too. Greg was having a conversation with Catherine, Matt wading into the water slowly, his hands skimming its surface as he went in deeper. It was a very pretty clear blue, soft waves curling onto the debris-covered shore.

"Very sexy Cath…but I suppose the plain, black cotton bra and plain, matching underwear aren't nearly as flashy as what you wore way-back-when?"

"A woman never tells." And with that she waded into the water and dove in. She came back up to the surface, brushing hair out of her face, "Oh God that's nice…" She dove off again, into slightly deeper water.

"Sawa, go in." Lauren ordered, grabbing Sara's finger and pulling her forwards. Greg laughed and kicked water at Sara, who glared at him.

"You're going to get wet. And you know it." Greg passed Sara up and did a belly-flop into the water. He came up to the surface. "That kinda hurt," he said, rubbing his stomach and then swimming away.

Sara sighed as Lauren dragged her further in. The soft waves knocked against Sara's knees and Lauren's chest. Lauren seemed to be enjoying herself, for she had finally let go of Sara's hand and was hitting the water.

"Do you want to splash?" she asked Sara.

"The waves are splashing you." Sara stated as another roll of water brushed past them. Lauren looked at her as if to say, 'You're no fun…'then she turned back to splashing the waves. Greg swam past, doing the backstroke and squirting a fountain of water out of his mouth to get some laughs from Lauren. Matt was standing in the water, looking as if he were deciding whether to dive in or not.

Greg swam up behind him and asked, "Are you going to go in or not?"

Matt looked at him, then back at the waves and shrugged.

"Want me to throw you in?"

Matt's eyebrows went up and he stared at Greg, then he smiled and nodded eagerly. Greg stood up, grabbed Matt by the armpits and tossed him in Catherine's direction. The splash Matt created drenched Catherine, who then proceeded to a splash war between the two.

Lauren stood splashing in the water, bending down and throwing it, letting the waves hit her face.

"Rarr! I'm a shark! I'm going to eat you, Lauren!" Greg growled, letting the waves carry him to the giggling girl. He grabbed her around the waist and dragged her into deeper water.

"Careful, Greg!" Sara commanded anxiously, taking a step forward as Greg began spinning Lauren through the water.

"Oh she's fine," he answered, stopping. "Aren't you?" Lauren nodded, her large smile agreeing with her nod. "Hey, Lauren, should I go get Sara?" Another nod.

"No, Greg!" Sara cried, taking a step backwards, holding a hand out. "I don't want to get wet!"

That was a lie. She was sweating and the nice, cool, knee-deep water she was standing in wasn't cooling her off nearly enough. She kept imagining how good it would feel to just let loose and dive in, but she wasn't looking forward to having to dry her clothes out afterwards.

"Aw, come on!" he said, swimming closer, Lauren in the crook of his arm.

"No Greg!"

"Get her Greg!" Catherine shouted, laughing and holding a hand out to shield herself from Matt who was splashing her.

"No!"

"Get her!"

Greg stood up and set Lauren down. She walked over to the side and watched Sara, a horrible mischievous look on her face as if she had planned this.

"Don't, Greg." Sara whispered, her right hand held out over the water, her knees bracing, and her left hand keeping distance between her and Greg.

Greg cocked an eyebrow, a smirk beginning to spread.

"Didn't I tell you, you were going to get wet?"

"I'm not going to get wet because you're not going to do what I think you're about to do."

Greg smirk was arrogant looking now. He turned to look at Catherine, who was smiling widely. She looked at Matt, who nodded. Catherine then nodded at Greg, and he turned back to Sara.

"No, Gre—Ahh!" Sara screamed as he grabbed her arm and pushed the small of her back, sending her catapulting headfirst into the water. It washed over her, cool and inviting just as she had expected it to be. The heat of the sun was gone and her skin felt cool, other than the dull sting of the wound on her leg. She came back up to the surface, coughing and sputtering.

"GREG!" she roared. "You…you jerk!" But she was laughing, as was everybody else. "You jerk…" she muttered through the smile she was trying to hold back.

"Sawa, you got all wet!" Lauren cried, giggling madly and clapping her hands. Sara sighed and looked at her, then waded over to Greg, whose eyes were closed in laughter. Then she grabbed his good arm and pulled him roughly into the water.

He came back up to the surface sputtering as Sara had and shook his head out.

"What was that supposed to do, get me wet?"

"Payback."

"Right, like I deserved it."

"You threw me in the water when I didn't want to get wet." Sara told him through a smile.

"Yes you did. Your mouth said no, but your eyes said yes. Plus there was the fact that you were sweating in those jeans and shirt."

Sara rolled her eyes then dived back into the water, letting it rush over her again. When she stood back up, Greg was smiling. "Told you so,"

Sara didn't hear him. She had turned and was looking out at the waves, her mouth set grimly.

"What?" Catherine asked, standing up and walking over.

"What do you see?" Sara asked her quietly.

Catherine followed her gaze.

"Umm…nothing."

"Exactly. The plane is gone. It must have gotten swept away or pushed further under."

"Sara, they have ways of seeing things underwater. Satellites and plus we have the bonfire going."

"Hey you guys!" Greg cried, stepping up next to them.

"Hmm?"

They turned to him.

"Look," He pointed out over the ocean and they followed his finger. There, zigzagging through the waves, were seven or so triangular fins.

"Sharks?" Sara said quickly, taking a step back. But Greg was smiling. He shook his head and turned his head to look at her.

"Dolphins,"

"I'll get Lauren," Catherine said. She trudged through the water over to the girl who was still splashing. Matt stepped up next to Greg, the water up to his chest. Greg looked eager as the fins neared. Catherine appeared on Sara's right, Lauren on her hip.

"Do you see that Lauren?" she asked her. "Do you see those dolphins out there?"

"Yeah…" she said slowly, brushing a piece of her hair out of her face.

The pod of dolphins drew nearer, and the group could see them clearly, zooming quickly through the waves, jumping out of the water and then diving back in. They could hear the clicks and squeals of the animals as they neared.

With a soft intake of breath, Lauren twisted around on Catherine's hip, trying to get a look at the dolphins that were now swimming in the water around the adults' waists.

"Wow…" Catherine whispered, reaching out to one of the Bottlenose dolphins who had turned right-fin-up in the water. She stroked its pale underside softly, dragging her fingers along its rubbery skin. Lauren too reached out and patted it. Then with a click and high-pitched trill, it righted itself, blew water out of its blowhole and swam away.

"Friendly, aren't they?" Sara stated, petting the back of one as it swam past.

"I bet these guys have been to Hawaii. They're probably used to tourists and stuff, know about humans." Greg said, "They're probably following the storm, chowing down on the schools of fish left behind."

"Hmm…" was all Sara answered him with. The dolphin she had stroked was now settled next to Matt, who rubbed its belly softly, looking slightly uncertain.

"Oh, look at that!" Catherine exclaimed, pointing farther out. "That dolphin just did a flip! That was something, huh Lauren?"

Lauren nodded, smiling widely, and reaching down to a smaller dolphin circling them.

"Hey, guys, watch this." Greg said, smiling. He grabbed onto the fin of one of the large dolphins. The animal appeared thrilled and took off, dragging Greg with. It jumped in and out of the water, not high, like a skipping stone. Up, down, up, down. Finally, it dove completely underwater, pulling Greg under.

Seconds passed, and Catherine and Sara held their breath, waiting. A whole minute went by.

"Greg?" Sara called, taking a step forward, but next second the dolphin headed for her and broke the surface, Greg still hanging onto it. He gasped for breath and coughed.

"A little slow when it comes to humans needing air more than them," he said, wiping water from his face and ruffling his hair.

Sara stared down at the dolphin. It was hitting her hand with its snout and clicking.

"Have a go Sara." Greg said, nodding at her.

Sara looked uneasily at it, petting its bill softly, though it continued to bump her.

"You're going to insult it." Greg declared.

"Well, it…are you sure I'm not too heavy for it or anything?"

Greg laughed out loud.

"Didn't you see how it dragged me? The guy knows what he's doing."

Sara looked uneasily at it once more, then took its dorsal fin in her left hand, plastering the rest of her arm on one side of it, and then her other arm on the other side. With a loud click, the dolphin took off, pulling Sara along with ease.

"I'm going to do that." Catherine declared as the dolphin continued to pull Sara along, skipping the waves.

Greg and Matt were splashing with one of the dolphins and Lauren was still petting them. Catherine set her down in shallower water so she could stand then looked around for a strong enough Bottlenose.

The dolphin Sara was clinging desperately onto zigged and zagged across the surface of the water, then suddenly, it propelled itself downwards, into the water. Sara took a deep breath, mustered up some courage, and then let the animal drag her down. She could feel its back fin moving up and down, feel every muscle of its body flex as it turned and swerved. Just when she was beginning to yearn for air, the animal's nose turned upwards. Its tail fin pushed up and down forcefully, pushing the water hard, and then Sara felt air around her, but then she felt no water. The dolphin had leapt full out of the ocean. It turned in the air and dove down for the water. Sara finally let go, breathing heavily out of surprise at the amount of strength the dolphin had, being able to thrust itself and Sara out of the water.

Sara swam into shallower water, though she was cut off by Catherine, holding tightly to the fin of a dolphin as it dove by. But as she was swimming, the dolphin that had thrown her clear into the sky came up behind her, stuck its head between her knees, and pushed her forward. She gasped in surprise and tried her best not to fall off.

Greg was laughing when she reached him, and she splashed some water on him.

"You should have seen your face when it came up behind you!" he cried. "And when it took you into the air, wow. Too heavy my butt,"

"And when did you learn so much about dolphins Greg?" Sara asked, petting one as it swam past, straight for Matt. Lauren was laughing with a small baby dolphin beside her in the shallows.

"Me and a couple of surfing buddies, California, Florida, Hawaii. Dolphins make excellent surfing partners and excellent shark repellent when together."

"Uh-huh." Sara studied him for a moment then trudged over to Lauren.

"Hey!" Greg suddenly shouted.

"What?" Sara asked. "I didn't kick you," she added, petting the small dolphin near Lauren and then sitting down in the water.

"No, but your dolphin buddy just splashed me!" Greg stared down at the animal whose mouth was wide open. "Yes, you. Don't look at me that way. I know you're a beautiful marine mammal. Yes I know. And I don't have any food for you. I'm sorry, I'm not a tourist. Nope. Not a tourist."

Sara chuckled to herself and leaned back. Her curls had flattened due to the water, but they were still tangled as ever. She could see the smoke from the bonfire swirling up to the sky. They would be out of here soon, and then she might even look back on the memory and smile. It's not everyday you get to swim with dolphins. She closed her eyes and dipped her head back into the water, the coolness of it heaven against her skin. The dull ache in her leg was nothing.

The sun warmed her face gently, and the water cooled it. And then she heard it.

"Help! Help me you…well, damnit just help! Help!"