Chapter three

There was a scraping noise, a footstep – almost before her conscious understood it, Kate was awake and sitting up. The cot in the corner was small, and the blanket thin – but somehow, she had been tired. Emotionally drained might be a better way of describing it.

A dark haired man came into view. He barely glanced at the open cage door opposite her, where Finn had been. He showed no surprise, and turned to Kate.

"How long has she been gone?" he asked. She shrugged, not really wanting to be helpful.

"There a clock in here I haven't seen yet?" she asked, a faint trace of sarcasm in her voice. He gave a small smile.

"I could get you one," he offered. She couldn't tell whether he meant it or not. There was a sardonic quality to him that reminded her slightly of Sawyer. She hadn't seen him before – and she thought to herself that she would remember if she had. He was tall, but not thin. He had strong, broad shoulders and chiselled features that sparked something in her memory. She couldn't place it until she saw the dark blue – almost violet – flash in the man's eyes.

"Are you related to her?" she asked. She didn't mention that she already knew the girl's name, or her suspicion that this was the brother Finn had mentioned.

"She's my sister," he said. Kate searched for his name, knowing the girl had mentioned it, but it wouldn't come.

"So why do you keep her locked up?" Kate asked, curious as ever. She rationalised it for herself, thinking that the more she knew about these people, the easier it would be to escape.

"Because otherwise she runs away," the man replied. Kate suppressed a groan. She was wise enough not to get into another circular conversation.

"Are you going to go after her now?" she asked. He glanced at the empty cage again, the door brazenly open, as if defiantly advertising the escape.

"Soon enough," he said, leaning back against the wall opposite her. It made her uncomfortable, the way his piercing eyes shot across the gap. She forced herself not to look down, and met his eyes as steadily as she could. He smiled, and blinked slowly. She bit her tongue so as not to copy him.

The silent battle of wills went on for a few minutes. Then he laughed softly, though not unkindly.

"Word to the wise, Kate," he said, and she started a little when he said her name. "Eyes down. Don't do anything stupid. And for now at least, we keep you alive."

Finn ducked out from under the tarpaulin on the deck of the great freighter, quickly looking around. No-one was watching her – it had been an hour or so, she guessed. It would be unfair to take off without giving her brother any clues. Before anyone could notice the waving edge of tarpaulin, the one that was supposed to be covering the crates full of food that kept their protein levels up while at sea, Finn was scampering across, towards the low railing.

It was only a few metres. She made it in two and half seconds. Without hesitating, she swung over the barrier and slid down the side of the freighter – she carefully slowed her descent, and entered the water at ninety degrees, determined not to give away her escape with a splash.

She could see land, barely two or three miles away. She gave a small smile, treading water. For a second, she wondered whether she had done wrong leaving the other woman behind. But then again, her escape had to be perfect, if she didn't want them to catch her.

There was one very easy way to stop anyone from seeing her as she swam towards the island – swim underwater. She could hold her breath for nearly two minutes, but paced herself and came up for air every minute or so. She reached the shore without even breaking a sweat or straining a muscle.

Pleased with herself, Finn looked up dubiously at the jungle. It certainly wasn't inviting. But it had to be better than that ship, right? The meat on board was tough. The fruit supply only lasted a week after they left land, and by the end would be very squishy and horrible. It was dark in the cells, and bright on deck. The beds were awful, even the captains.

Finn gave a small shiver at the thought of the captain, a thick set man with dark eyes named Drake. Everyone she knew called him 'sir' or 'the Captain', however, and she avoided him as best she could. Thinking of him, waiting back there, was enough incentive to make Finn shake away the feeling of foreboding and move into the jungle.

Kate felt like screaming. How could this happen – twice? Bad enough that she was captured and caged by one set of maniacs. Now another group; and to be honest, this second group scared her more than the Others did. She still felt sick when she remembered the attack on their beach. They'd fed her – a mango and a few strips of dried meat, and a bottle of water. She'd eaten the mango, but had been hesitant to eat the meat. She was only a semi-vegetarian, but still...

Eventually, hunger had made her relent. She wondered where Finn had gone, and whether she was on land. Somehow, the idiotic remarks she had made earlier seemed even worse, even more weird, without the girl there to reassure her that – at least in comparison – she was completely sane.

Worst of all, she had no idea where Sawyer was. She needed to know that he was all right. What were they doing here? Interestingly, why had they been caught and brought here, instead of killed outright, like so many others?

Kate rubbed her face with one hand. More than anything, she was getting restless, and bored. How long had it been? She found herself wishing she had taken up Finn's brother's offer of a clock. Though it seemed bizarre.

She lay down on the small cot, ignoring the chill that came from being under water. This place was always too hot, too cold, too wet... she was heartily sick of it all. And she was heartily sick of being captured. Now... all she had to do was rectify that.