“No, it won’t make any difference, it’s too small. You’ll get better use out of it. No point in both of us getting sick.” Jack coughed once more. “But thank you just the same.”
“So, did you see any roads?”
Jack smiled at Julie before he cleared his throat.
“You saw a road?” Julie’s face lit up.
“Nope.” Jack shook his head but kept smiling. “But I saw the ocean.”
“You saw the ocean?” Julie looked puzzled. “But Andrew said—”
“Andrew was wrong. I could see the ocean on the horizon,” Jack said. “It’s a long walk, but it shouldn’t take more than a week. And if we get to the ocean, then we’re bound to come across something.”
Jack coughed some more while he looked at the forest.
“If Andrew ran after Nancy, then why didn’t he return?” Jack asked.
“Perhaps he thought you and Kevin had left for good, and he couldn’t care less what happens to me. So…” Julie shrugged. “Perhaps he just kept walking.”
“He wouldn’t do that,” Jack said. “Maybe he’s lost in the woods. Andrew lost his glasses when the plane went down, and he can’t see very well.”
Jack convulsed and suddenly diverted his eyes toward the lake. “You can’t see very well without your contacts, am I right?”
Julie shook her head slightly and looked bewildered.
“Perhaps he went back to the other side of the lake.”
“You mean, Andrew?”
“No, Kevin.”
“He wouldn’t just sit there. I screamed for help all yesterday.”
“No, he wouldn’t do that,” Jack said and kept his focus on the lake. “We shouldn’t drink any more water from the lake. It could be contaminated. You know, like cholera, and such.”
“Nancy drank a lot of water the other day,” Julie said. “You think she’s all right?”
“No, she’s not all right, either way,” Jack responded. “She needs to get to a hospital.”
“Do you two know each other?” Julie asked.
“No, I told you, she must be confusing me with someone else,” Jack responded. “Why do you ask?”
“It sounded like she knew who you are.”
“Who I am?” Jack frowned. “Who did she say I am?”
“She didn’t specify.” Julie looked at her feet.
“She’s delusional, Julie. I’m not certain she even knows who she is, or where she is, for that matter.”
“I know,” Julie said, and kept looking at her feet.
Jack looked at the distress sign written across the shore.
“There’s another lake not far from here. If we leave now, we’ll get there before dark, and we’ll have access to fresh water.”
Julie looked at the SOS sign.
“I can go back, once a day, and check if the search and rescue team have arrived.”
Julie nodded, and then climbed up on Jack’s back.
They didn’t walk very far before they discovered a dead body.
26 DANNY
Wednesday evening
As George Stanton stopped his car in front of Trisha Boyle’s house, he reflected on how strange he felt driving his own car again. Despite driving the same car almost every day for the past four years, his car all of the sudden didn’t feel the same after just a couple of days driving a rental.
Trisha just sat and looked at him and didn’t seem to make any attempt to leave the car. She’d been quiet for most of the journey, and she hadn’t taken off her sunglasses, until they’d changed cars in Oakland. Now, she kept breaking eye contact, back and forth. George wondered if she expected him to say something.
He noticed the woman staring at them from the porch. “Is that your mom?”
“Yeah, that’s her,” Trisha said, and briefly glanced at the porch. “I would introduce you to Danny, but he should be in bed by now.”
George felt relieved the journey to San Francisco had taken longer than expected and he wouldn’t have to greet the boy.
“She has a lovely house,” he said.
“No, the house is mine. She lives with me,” Trisha said. “I don’t live with my mom. My mom lives with me. So make sure you get the office gossip right, George.”
George felt he understood what Trisha was getting at.
“I don’t gossip, Trisha,” he said. “I don’t care for it.”
“I don’t care for it either,” Trisha said. “Sorry about last night. I’m not used to drinking, and I guess I went a bit overboard.”
“What happens in Paradise…” George never finished the sentence—instead, he gave her a wink.
“Thanks, George.” Trisha smiled. “And thanks for not taking advantage of me last night. A lot of guys would have.”
Once again, George felt astonished by how wrong the otherwise so perceptive Trisha Boyle was. He was just about to set her straight, but decided not to, as she was well on her way out of the car.
27 THE BODY
Thursday afternoon
Jack and Julie sat next to each other on top of a pile of pine tree branches, which resembled a bed. Julie stroked her hand across the sweater on his back, the sweater Jack wore as a cape.
“Did the sweater make a difference?”
“Not so much.” Jack coughed repeatedly. “I wish I had a jacket.”
“If you go back and get his pants, then perhaps you could use them as a blanket or something,” Julie said. “It might not be much, but it could make a difference.”
Jack nodded slightly before he coughed hard and then shook his head.
“Are you all right, Jack?”
“I’m just so sick of it all. I just want it to be over.”
“You don’t think they’re coming for us?”
Jack shook his head and kept coughing.
“Perhaps we should just leave then,” Julie said. “Like you said, if we can get to the ocean, then we’re bound to come across something, sooner or later.”
“If we leave, then they’ll probably be here the next day.”
“Yeah, that’s the irony of life,” Julie agreed. “But they’ll see the SOS sign, and keep searching for us. I’m sure they can track us with dogs.”
“I suppose.” Jack coughed. “You want to leave?”
“That’s up to you, Jack. I’m just a passenger.”
“Today’s Thursday. How about if we wait until Monday. That’s ten days from when we crashed, a nice round number. How does that sound?”
“I prefer round numbers, too. I don’t care for odd or dodgy numbers. They don’t look right to me,” Julie said and smiled. “Or we could leave tomorrow. Then, we waited a week before leaving.”
“You want to leave tomorrow, Julie?”
“I could leave tomorrow.” Julie looked at her feet. “But like I said, it’s your call. I’m just a passenger on this journey.”
“Okay then, we’ll leave tomorrow, as soon as the sun rises. I’ll get Andrew’s pants today, and check the crash site to see if Nancy or Kevin has returned,” Jack said. “And fill up on worms. You should eat, Julie.”
“No, don’t eat Julie.” She giggled.
Jack chuckled at first, but then he kept coughing.
“It’s been a week,” Jack eventually stuttered.
“I have low metabolism, and I’m just sitting still. You need it more than I do.”
Jack chuckled and cleared his throat. “They’re plenty of worms to go around.”
Jack pointed at the rocks by the shore of the small and narrow lake. Julie never turned her head. Instead, she made an awkward face, and focused on the sweater, the sweater Jack wore as a cape.
“You still think Nancy killed him?” Julie asked.
“The back of his head was smashed in, so somebody killed him,” Jack responded. “He probably startled her, and she got confused, and hit him with a rock. Why do you ask? What do you think happened?”