Savage Island Read online

  “What about you, Will?” Lizzie tilted her head. “What’ll you do?”

  “Start my own business.” He adjusted his rucksack. “App design, consultancy, something like that.”

  Lizzie dropped back to walk beside me. “What about you, Ben?”

  My eyes slid away. “Haven’t thought about it.”

  “Liar.” Lizzie nudged me. “You must have.”

  I shook my head. “What are your plans?”

  “Pay off my parents’ mortgage and cover my uni fees so Dad can retire. Buy a house. Come on, Ben, you must have a wish list.”

  “I’d invest the money,” Grady called. “Eventually I’ll be able to … uncover some real truths.” Grady’s breath got shorter as he spoke. “Then I’d set up my … magazine. I’ve figured it all … out. It’s gonna be called … The Con: Conspiracies You Can Believe.”

  I stared. “What’ve you got in that bag, Grady? It must weigh a ton!” He wasn’t that unfit, so I couldn’t see why else he’d be struggling.

  “Oh … you know me.” Grady waved his hand.

  “But we agreed what we were all bringing.” Light glinted from Lizzie’s glasses and nose ring. “We wrote a list.”

  “I didn’t want to … forget something … important.” Grady ducked his head and shifted his bag, which clanked like an old car.

  I shook my head and looked at Lizzie. She shrugged and we walked on.

  “I’d give my money to Will, for his business,” I said finally, my voice so low only she could hear. “He’s the brains of the operation, after all. I’m just the brawn.”

  “You’re not just the brawn.” Lizzie frowned. “Since when have you started saying that?”

  “I am though. Come on, Will’s not even seventeen and he’s going to uni.”

  “So are you. You’re doing engineering!”

  I cleared my throat. “I … I turned the place down. Mum wants me to get a job in Oxford – to keep an eye on Will.”

  Lizzie stumbled to a halt. “But … what about our plans? We were going to be close. Oxford’s nowhere near Swansea!”

  I flushed. “I can still come and see you. Look, it’ll be fine. I’ve found a place offering apprenticeships for mechanics, so I’ll be earning right away.”

  “But … that’s not what you wanted. What about being able to work all over the world? You were going to build better buildings, disaster-proof schools—”

  “Lizzie, please. This is something I’ve got to do. And Mum’s buying me a car. I’ll be able to drive us places.”

  “I don’t care about that.” She looked away. “But I guess it’s your life.”

  I gripped the straps of my rucksack. “Don’t be like that.”

  “I never understood the hold your mum’s got on you.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “You don’t have to do your dad’s job for ever. Don’t you want to see who you can be when you’re not looking after your brother?”

  I didn’t reply. What could I say to that?

  “I’ve got the place.” I skidded into the kitchen. “Mum, I got in!”

  Mum was standing at the sink, scrubbing with single-minded focus. She didn’t reply.

  I got a tea towel from the drawer and began to dry the pan on the draining board, careful not to leave streaks.

  Once she had removed her gloves and set them down, I said it again. “I got in.”

  “In?”

  “To Cardiff, to do civil engineering.” I put the tea towel into the washing machine, closed the door and buffed my prints off the handle with my sleeve.

  Mum cleared her throat and straightened a placemat. “What about Will?”

  “Will?” I frowned. “He already got his results. He’s going to Oxford, like you wanted.”

  “Yes.” Mum wiped an invisible stain on the table.

  “And I’m going to Cardiff.”

  Something wasn’t right. Hadn’t I earned a smile? I sat in the chair opposite her and gnawed at my thumbnail. “You’ll be fine. You’ll love having the house to yourself – it’ll be so tidy.”

  As if I ever made a mess. I knew better. I glanced at her hands, knuckles raw from endless cleaning. Her sleeves were still pushed up from the washing and I could see her scars. I looked away quickly and she tugged her blouse down over her wrists. She still hadn’t met my eyes.

  She cleared her throat. “I was hoping…”

  “Hoping what?”

  “That you wouldn’t get in,” she said eventually, lifting her eyes to mine. “Hoping this wouldn’t be an issue.”

  My cheeks went cold. “An issue?”

  “You know you can’t go.” Her eyes were defiant. “You’d be too far from your brother. He needs you.”

  “But … you let him apply early.”

  “I’m not holding Will back,” she snapped. “Not for…”

  “Not for me.” I swallowed back the threat of tears, bitter and salty. “I’m going to Cardiff.”

  “I won’t pay.”

  “Dad will.”

  “Hah. He can’t even afford his new family. And he’s helping with Will’s—”

  “I’ll get a job, then.”

  “And manage uni on top of that? Be sensible.” Mum leaned forwards and caught my hand. Her fingers were hard. “You know in your heart, Ben, that you can’t leave your brother. How would you feel if something happened?” Her eyes narrowed. “You know I’d die if something happened.” Her eyes flicked, just for a moment, to the drawer that held the packets of pills: pain relief, sleeping tablets, antidepressants. “I love you, Ben, but we have to look out for your little brother. He’s your responsibility as much as mine.”

  “You could move to Oxford.” I looked up but I already knew…

  She gasped. “Move?”

  Mum barely left the house these days: her clean bubble, where she had total control.

  She shook her head. “I’ll buy you a car. Think about it. And you can be a mechanic. That’s only what you’d end up doing in the end. This way you’ll be earning money while you learn.”

  Feeling a hundred years old, I took the letter out of my pocket, balled it up and added it to the recycling.

  Mum smiled. “You’re a good boy, Ben. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Most boys your age wouldn’t be as responsible as you are. I did something right bringing you up. Didn’t I?”

  I nodded and went to grab my skateboard from its place by the door. “I’ll be back for dinner.”

  “We need you, Ben. Remember that.” Her voice rose and I looked back. Her sleeves were pulled up and her wrists turned out. See, Ben? See what happens when you drop the ball.

  How could I explain things to Lizzie? How could she understand? Eventually she pulled ahead to walk with Carmen, leaving me alone.

  My foot came down with a splash. Around us, pools of water had appeared, reflecting the rain-heavy sky.

  “Will, is the tide coming in?” I failed to keep the worry from my voice.

  “Can’t be.” Will waved his arm without looking at it. “My alarm hasn’t gone off.”

  “We had … an hour and a … half,” Grady panted.

  “So how long have we got left?”

  Will glanced at his wrist, then frowned. “That can’t be right.”

  I halted. “What can’t?”

  “It still says quarter past.” His eyes widened. “Uh…”

  “What’s the matter?” Lizzie turned.

  “My watch is frozen.”

  “Will!” Grady’s voice was a wail. “Watching the time was your job.”

  “So, what time is it actually?” Lizzie snapped.

  I pushed up my sleeve. Grandad’s watch was ticking reliably. I swallowed. “Will’s alarm should have gone off ten minutes ago. We’ve already had almost an hour and a half.”

  “Right.” Lizzie’s expression set into lines of grim determination. “We’ll have to pick up the pace.”

  Even during the short time we’d stopped to talk, the sand on top of the crossing
had become wet. When I put my left foot down again, it squelched and water dampened my socks.

  Lizzie and Carmen took the lead, marching swiftly. They were lighter and their rucksacks smaller, making it easier for them to walk on the wet sand.

  “This is already not fun,” Carmen called.

  A fat raindrop splattered my forehead and I looked up. “Perfect.” I turned to check on Grady. He was staring back at the bank of solid grey that stretched from the island we had left to the horizon. “C’mon, Grady, get a move on.”

  He took a faltering step, wobbled and fell.

  “Grady, are you all right?” Carmen called.

  “Grady! You’re slowing us down.” I grabbed the back of his rucksack and hauled him to his feet, trying not to lose my own balance. “Why’d you have to bring all this extra stuff.”

  “We might need it.”

  “Dammit, Grady.” The puddles around us had started to run together, like the parts of a movie monster, forming ominously into one. On our right, the crossing was now the same level as the water. “Swap bags with me for a bit.”

  Grady brightened. “Are you sure, Ben? You don’t have to.” On his cheek a long smear of wet sand looked like camouflage paint against his black skin.

  I was already undoing my chest strap. “Will, give us a hand,” I shouted.

  Will had kept walking, but when I called he came back and took hold of my rucksack while I helped Grady lift off his. I grunted as I twisted it into place on my shoulders and settled into the soggy straps. I could smell Grady’s sweat on the canvas. Instantly I was heavier, my feet crunching into the road.

  “Thanks, Ben. That’s better.”

  “We’re changing back as soon as we’re on dry land. You brought it, you carry it.” I rolled my shoulders, trying to get comfortable. “What’ve you got in here?”

  “It’ll be a bit lighter on the way back,” Grady said brightly.

  “You brought extra food?”

  “I can’t function without sugar,” Grady said as he marched past.

  “But did you have to bring a whole sweet shop?”

  “Come on, Ben,” Lizzie shouted and I followed the line of her pointing arm. Ahead of us puddles were turning into pools.

  “How much longer till we reach the shore?” I muttered to Will.

  Will frowned. “We’ve come three-quarters of the way and it’s taken us seventy-eight minutes.”

  “So how long?”

  Will barely paused. “At this pace – twenty-six minutes.”

  “But the tide will be in … in twelve?”

  Will nodded. “The crossing will be completely underwater.”

  I looked at our route towards the island; there was a shorter way on our left, and it was drier – the crossing was holding back some of the tide. I stared at the water forming between us and the beach. The other path would put us a little bit further round the coast, but at least we wouldn’t have to finish our walk underwater.

  “What if we go that way?”

  Chapter Two

  “Not far now,” Lizzie called. “Think about how great it’s going to be when we get to the island.”

  The route back to Fetlar was completely cut off. To our right, buoys had started to bob; the crossing was covered now. Ahead, the sea level continued to rise. As I watched, the last of the dry patches on our new route, the one that had led us away from the crossing, was submerged.

  I groaned as my shoulders screamed under the weight of Grady’s rucksack.

  Jellyfish had been drying all over the boggy sand to either side of me – fat, slimy, transparent. Now they bobbed in the water, trailing stinging tendrils around my trouser legs.

  I kept my eyes on Aikenhead as I pushed myself to move faster. Our new route was taking us towards an enclosed inlet surrounded by seaweed-covered rocks. The plan was to climb the cliff and walk from the top to the official starting point.

  A faint beeping caught my ear.

  Carmen shoved her hand in her pocket. “I set an alarm, too,” she whispered.

  It was officially no longer safe to be out on the sand. We were out of time.

  “Guys, we’re going to have to run,” Lizzie called.

  Carmen nodded and splashed ahead of me. I tried to keep up, but with Grady’s rucksack I could barely lift my feet out of the water, let alone run.

  Because the rucksack was set up for Grady, the straps were biting into my armpits and I could feel blisters. If I carried on and they burst, I could end up with an infection and that could cause real problems for the team. The water was up to my knees now, but I had no choice; the others had reached the rocks but I had to stop and adjust the pack.

  I unclipped the chest and hip straps, and shifted so that the pack slipped down to my elbows. I groaned with relief.

  “What are you doing, Ben? You can’t carry the bag like that! We have to get off these rocks before they get cut off too.” Lizzie was balanced on a boulder studded with barnacles. The rain lashed her shoulders and painted her hair to her head.

  She was right. I loosened the straps and resettled the pack on my shoulders. But when I tried to take a step, I couldn’t move.

  “What the…?” I tugged at my left foot. It was cemented in place. The water splashed up to my thighs.

  “Ben?” Lizzie’s voice shifted up a register.

  “I can’t move.”

  “Are you serious?” Carmen stepped gingerly from one rock to another, coming closer to the sea. “What’s the problem? ¡Vamos! Let’s go!”

  Will’s expression was calculating. “The old man said it wasn’t safe to leave the crossing,” he said and tilted his head. “Ben must have stopped in quicksand.”

  Carmen’s hands flew to her mouth. “¡Dios mío!”

  “He’s right, I’m sinking.” I could feel the sand clutching at my calves. “I’m going to have to take off your rucksack. Come and get it, Grady.”

  “All right.” Grady removed my pack and handed it to Will. Then he climbed back into the water. He gasped and shivered, then stopped a few steps out, his arms around his chest. “Wait – if I come to you, won’t I end up in the quicksand, too?”

  “You’re right.” I was sinking fast but I didn’t dare struggle. Everyone knows struggling in quicksand makes it worse.

  “Don’t struggle,” Lizzie called.

  I rolled my eyes. So did Will.

  Carmen looked at Lizzie. “What should we do?”

  Something brushed past me under the water and the current pulled me sideways. I fought to stay upright as the sea crept past my stomach. Fear chilled me. I’d heard about tides rising faster than a man could run. I hadn’t believed it though.

  Lizzie didn’t answer and I could see Will thinking furiously, assessing options and dismissing them, his eyes flickering like a computer.

  My heart raced. Surely Gold wouldn’t risk one of us drowning here? There would be someone watching, someone coming to help. Then I remembered all the disclaimer forms we’d had to sign.

  “I’m coming, Ben!” Lizzie propped her rucksack high on a rock and rain hammered on the canvas. She stuffed her glasses into a side pocket, then jumped into the water. She hissed as the cold slammed into her but waded forwards. She passed Grady without looking at him.

  “What are you going to do?” Grady called.

  When she was about a body length from me, Lizzie stopped. She held her arm up to protect her face from the lashing rain. “This is where the sand softens.”

  “Move back.” Carmen wrung her hands.

  “How’d the rest of us miss this?” Lizzie shook her head. “Dumb luck, I guess. Can you push Grady’s rucksack over to me?”

  “It’ll be caught by the current,” I said. “Go that way.” Lizzie sidestepped and I shoved the rucksack towards her. Instantly its weight took it underwater and the current pulled it sideways. Lizzie reached for it and tried to pull it out of the water but staggered with the weight.

  “Take it, Grady!” she yelled. Grady splashe
d to her side and she shoved the bag at him.

  “My electronics!” He looked stricken.

  Lizzie pushed him back towards the rocks. “We’ll dry out what we can when the rain stops. Go.”

  Freed from the weight of Grady’s bag, I remained stuck just past my knees. Water lapped my chin.

  Lizzie was fighting the current, moving her arms frantically in the water to remain in place.

  Suddenly Will pulled his foam bedroll from the top of his pack, then waded into the sea. When he drew level with Lizzie, he stretched it out to me.

  I managed to snag the end. Immediately I saw what Will intended. “OK, let go.” I wrapped my arms around the buoyant foam and the sand loosened its grip a little. It wasn’t enough to free me, but at least I wasn’t sinking any more.

  “Now what?” Lizzie’s face was pale. “We’re running out of time.” She grabbed at Will as her legs were swept out from under her.

  “Carmen,” Will shouted as he yanked a spluttering Lizzie back to her feet. “My folding shovel is in the front pocket of my bag, with my tent pegs and axe.”

  Carmen crouched by Will’s pack. After a minute, she pushed sodden hair out of her eyes and held up the shovel.

  “Pass it to Grady.”

  The world seemed to shake as a growl of thunder reverberated across the sky.

  “This is the worst August ever.” Grady pushed his soggy rucksack on to the rocks and took the shovel. “Where’s the sun?” He suddenly frowned. “You know the US military defence programme HAARP has a project that controls the weather. I bet Gold has something similar – this could be—”

  “Not now, Grady,” Lizzie yelled.

  Rain battered harder and I blinked water from my eyes.

  Will grabbed the shovel from Grady and opened it out. “I’m going to dig you out. Don’t struggle.”

  Before I could say anything, my brother took a deep breath and bent. He grabbed my thigh to hold himself in place and I felt the sharp edge of the tool against my knee as he started digging.

  I counted thirty seconds, forty. The water around me darkened with the sand Will was disturbing. Lizzie was holding her breath, her eyes on mine. My leg started to feel looser and I tensed to hold it steady. Then Will came up for air.