Stranded! by Pepper Pace Read Free Book Online Page B

discovered the first day. They had only gone back once, but they always talked about it when the day had been particularly long and arduous.

"Yes, that would be nice."

Marshall nodded, thinking that his life had resorted to taking a pretty girl out on a date to the local swimming hole. He'd taken dates to the top New York restaurants, to see plays, on ski trips...all of which were wasted on people who didn't matter and who didn't care. Oceans would have appreciated those things.

When the two swam together it entailed designated 'swimming attire'. For Oceans, it was an old t-shirt and Bermuda shorts. For Marshall, it was a pair of athletic shorts from Geddes' bag. The two castaways carefully packed away any remaining food and then discreetly changed into their swimwear. It didn't take nearly as long to get to the quarry as the first time. Their campsite was just closer to it. Still, it was a two hour walk. Along the way, they began to idly chat about things that made it obvious that they had expectations to be residence on the island for some time to come.

Oceans had just flicked a snake away. They were never large snakes but it still caused Marshall to shudder in disgust. "They say snake tastes like chicken."

Oceans gave him a look. "We can...yeah, we can try it." Before they had never thought to eat snake or Meer rat. Now...

Oceans told him that she could make cassava every day. It could be made into porridge, sauces and other things that they'd never tried; including medicine. She also told him that she had woven enough rope to maybe make a lobster trap. He had no idea what a lobster trap looked like, but was happy that she did.

Marshall indicated that the walls of their new hut would be ready to raise tomorrow. That excited her. She had seen him working on it but the various pieces made no sense to her. He kept them stacked neatly in the forest so that the wind could not carry them away.

Finally, they got to their destination. Slipping off their shoes, they walked carefully along the wet rocks until they reached the luxurious waterfalls. Marshall unconsciously gripped Oceans' arm to prevent her from falling. The sweat and heat from their journey was immediately washed away as they stepped under the cooling falls. Oceans shrieked and braced herself while Marshall immediately jumped into the water a foot or two below.

"Marshall!" Oceans screamed again, and this time he noted the change in her yell. This time it wasn't a scream of pleasure but of fear. He looked up at her from her position on the rocks above and she was pointing at something behind him. Marshall turned quickly and saw a family of wild boars, two adults and a baby! The adults were quickly rushing the water as the baby mewed on the rocky shore.

Marshall's mind went blank in terror. The apparent male and female were huge! All he could see were teeth! Reflexively he turned and dived underwater. He was a decent swimmer, better since being stranded on the island and fishing almost daily. He saw the two adult animals go under as well. Big yapping mauls were coming at him as he frantically kicked; moving impossibly slow.

One foot slammed into the face of the beast and it meant nothing. Marshall's lungs needed air and he came back up to the surface in time to see Oceans dashing around the circumference of the pool. He wanted to scream at her to stay back, though everything was happening too fast! He felt a tug on his leg and then immediately a sharp, piercing pain. Marshall was yanked under and luckily he had just filled his lungs with air. He began slapping, punching and kicking at anything that he could connect with and finally his fists and feet met with solid resistance and the grip on his leg was released.

Oceans' screams cut through the quiet of the forest and Marshall's already frantically beating heart spiked even more rapidly. But what he saw halted his movements. Oceans was angrily butchering the baby wild boar. Her arms were going up and down